Atkins Low carb diet- help needed

[Elice]

I've been working out for a while and I built up a nice muscle mass, for which my diet consisted of great amounts of protein, complex carbs, and non-saturated fat. When I decided to start working on decreasing body fat, together with increasing cardio, i tried lowering the amount of complex carbs, but i barely lost any fat. I was now advised to go on the Atkins diet that includes almost no carbs at all. It sounds good, but i'm really confused.
First, the recipes indicate you can eat saturated fat, but is it really so? And how much of it can i actually have?
When searching for food with no carbs, i notice it barely exists. Even cheeses have a few grams of it.. So if I can't go over about 50 grams of carbs a day, how do i still maintain eating a fair amount of protein for maintaining my muscle mass? And what about before and after work out? I used to have a banana which alone is about 25 grams of carbs before weights work out, and 3 table spoons of grape sugar mixed with my protein shake right after that work out (which i'm not sure how much carbs it contains, but probably a fair amount..) So do i need to quit eating that? And if so, what can i have instead?
Please help.. anyone...

 

[javaguru]

Atkins isn't the best choice for a bodybuilder IMO. Most people here use a cyclic ketogenic diet when they low carb it. There are plenty on here who have experience with it. I prefer to "carb time" my meals. Which means I consume most of my carbs at breakfast and around my workouts.

BTW, check out the CKD stickes for more info.

 

[Elice]

Atkins isn't the best choice for a bodybuilder IMO. Most people here use a cyclic ketogenic diet when they low carb it. There are plenty on here who have experience with it. I prefer to "carb time" my meals. Which means I consume most of my carbs at breakfast and around my workouts.

BTW, check out the CKD stickes for more info.

Thank you for your reply. From what i've checked out about it, seems that this diet is about 5 days of no carbs, a lot of protein and fat: saturated as well as non saturated, and then a weekend of a lot of carbs (complex?), a lot of protein, and very little fat- non-saturated mostly. And so forth.
You did say though that you prefer eating carbs during breakfast and around work out.. But won't that mean your body won't go into a catatonic stage? From what i got so far, this is what this diet is about.....(?)
Please help me understand better.. I think i'm no less confused than i was before.. lol

 

[*Bunny*]

WHY are you limiting your carbs? WHO advised you to go on the atkins diet?

 

[velvett]

When I decided to start working on decreasing body fat, together with increasing cardio, i tried lowering the amount of complex carbs, but i barely lost any fat.

Just an observation - any "diet" is a blanket statement and no BS covers all people successfully (ironic that Blanket statement and bull shit share the same initials).

Atkins, CKD, South Beach, Zone (30/30/40), etc - they all work for most people but not all people and not most all of the time.

So - Post up what exactly you were eating and when before you decided to loose fat and after.

 

[javaguru]

Thank you for your reply. From what i've checked out about it, seems that this diet is about 5 days of no carbs, a lot of protein and fat: saturated as well as non saturated, and then a weekend of a lot of carbs (complex?), a lot of protein, and very little fat- non-saturated mostly. And so forth.
You did say though that you prefer eating carbs during breakfast and around work out.. But won't that mean your body won't go into a catatonic stage? From what i got so far, this is what this diet is about.....(?)
Please help me understand better.. I think i'm no less confused than i was before.. lol

Basically, I consume 1g CHO per pound when dieting, that's roughly 240g for me. I'll consume 50g at breakfats and around 150g during and immediately after my workout. Otherwise my meals are protein and fat with veggies(broccoli and spinach). Most of my fats are from healthy sources, fish oil and flax but I do consume lean red meat daily. Another advantage with this diet is that compliance seems to be easier. Protein needs to be high as well, I consume at leats 1.5g per pound. I don't do well on keto diets, I can't mentally function and I'm extremely lethargic, this is a nice "compromise" approach.

 

[Elice]

Just an observation - any "diet" is a blanket statement and no BS covers all people successfully (ironic that Blanket statement and bull shit share the same initials).

Atkins, CKD, South Beach, Zone (30/30/40), etc - they all work for most people but not all people and not most all of the time.

So - Post up what exactly you were eating and when before you decided to loose fat and after.

I always eat every three hours or so.

When gaining muscle mass:

breakfast:
tuna/salmon/cooked turkey breast sandwich (whole wheat bread)

after 3 hours:
1-2 0% fat, rich in protein yogurt
an apple

launch:
tuna/salmon/cooked turkey breast sandwich (whole wheat bread)
Salad (no tomatoes) + olive oil

2 hours before workout:
1/5% fat cheese sandwich (whole wheat bread)

15 min before workout:
a banana

right after workout:
protein shake+3 tea spoons of grape sugar (mixed with water)

an hour after work out:
tuna sandwich (whole wheat bread) + mustard

before going to bed: 1 whole boiled egg, 2 boiled egg whites.


The diet that I started a while ago for reducing body fat is almost the same, except the whole wheat bread changed to light whole wheat bread (4.5 grams of carbs a slice) and instead of about 15-20 grams of protein in the tuna/salmon/turkey breast sandwiches, i now consume about 30 grams in each.

Thanx for the help

 

[pitbullrocco]

however many cals that is ^......needs to be less than your BMR. calorie deficit to lose weight, including fat.

and is this 0.2% cheese?: or what

1/5% fat cheese sandwich (whole wheat bread)

 

[Gymgurl]

Read some of the stickies in the womans board on eating clean....that might help