Weight-Loss Atkins/calories/plateau.....switch in the future?

Weight-Loss
trynagetskinny

trynagetskinny

New member
I guess I'm going to switch to Atkins for now because of my Cholesterol levels are bad and Atkins is the best diet to raise HDL which im in desperate need of, not that I want to switch, but I have to.

On my current diet, my goal was to lose 2lbs a week, I was eating 3,000 calories daily balanced between carbs, proteins and fats and have been achieving this goal consistently.

Before the diet I was eating about 3,500 to 4,500 calories daily, so I took it down to 3,000 to make a calorie deficit and give me room to lower the calorie intake more when I plateau.

My basic question is, can I still eat 3,000 calories on Atkins until I plateau or, because of the loss of carbs, does the plateau effect work differently?

Also If I go on Atkins, and in the future when my Cholesterol gets back to Normal, will switching back to my regular carb,protein,fat balance screw me up?

thanks
 
There is no need to go on Atkins to lower your cholesterol. Quite frankly, I'm against the idea of "going on" any diet, because then you have to deal with what happens when you "go off" the diet.

Eating properly, healthy foods, and getting proper amounts of exercise will reduce your cholesterol w/out having to follow any restrictive diet plan or elminating groups of foods.

In fact, I'd say that exercise was hugely important, based on a recent study. A study out of Louisiana State Univeristy took a look at the benefits of losing weight by diet only or by a combination of diet and exercise. They found:
“Both the diet and diet plus exercise groups lost the same amount of weight, pounds of fat, and belly fat. The diet plus exercise group increased fitness level by 22% with no change in the diet or control groups.”

“Total and bad cholesterol (LDL-cholesterol) decreased significantly in the diet plus exercise group only. Good cholesterol levels increased significantly in all three groups including the control group. However, blood pressure and insulin sensitivity improved in the diet plus exercise group only.” – via Cooper Institute Blog Fitness vs Fatness: Diet vs Exercise for Weight Loss
Click to expand...

What do you eat now and maybe we can help you tweak your diet some.
 
Thanks Kara I appreciate the help :)
I'm not really trying to lower my cholesterol. I don't even want to do Atkins, as I love my current diet. Only reason I want to do Atkins...or low carb in general is because my LDL Cholesterol is Pattern B (small densely packed) which is bad and when you have pattern B your risk for heart attack is 3 times normal, and to switch it from Pattern B to Pattern A( large fluffy LDL) you need to mainly stop eating wheat and carbs. So i'm kind of scared to continue my current diet which has carbs and wheat in it.

my HDL is also 26 and it's supposed to be around 60.

To up HDL you need to eat saturated fats, take omega 3 fish oils and exercise aswell as a few other things, I could do this on my current diet, but even if I did my LDL would still be Pattern B I think.

This is what I eat on my current diet

3,000 calories each day combined of:

Water
Fruits
Veggies
Chicken
Turkey
Fish
Hamburger rarely
Whole Wheat Pasta
Regular Pita Bread
Cashews


Also I do 45 mins to an hour of cardio 5-7 times per week
 
Um ... ok. So stop eating wheat and carbs w/out "doing" Atkins. :)

If you need to cut back on those things, then adjust what you eat on a daily basis to eat less of them and add more of the good things that you need. You don't need to "do" a diet of any kind to make adjustments to what you eat.
 
First, it helps to eat more fish oil etc. for HDL, but you don't need full Atkins for that. Exercise seems to be a much larger factor in HDL levels, but you seem to be working out regularly already...

Second, you don't have to go on the Atkins plan to cut out wheat and lower carbs. You can just cut out the whet and make a push for more fruit & vegetables. The difference being that Atkins limits you do X number of net carbs a day. You could still lower carbs, but be more focused on calories and nutrients than the magic net carb limit.

However, calories in vs. calories out still matter on Atkins. There's no reason you should need to drop below 3000 calories just because you're on Atkins. It sounds like you need to ditch the pita & whole wheat pasta and find other substitutes. You can get gluten/wheat free pasta if you need to. You may also want to up your meat intake or add in some higher protein dairy to keep protein & fat up. Avocados are one of my favorite sources of fat, too.

I've heard recommendations that if you're low carbing and below 100g of carbs a day it's a good idea to once a week eat enough carbs that you're above it. May not be necessary, but there aren't really any long term studies of being in ketosis.

Hope that helps!
 
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