Training & Nutrition - Atkins alternatives

At one time I was at 290, now I'm at 240 with a goal of 200. In January, I was at 260 so I started Atkins. I lost a few pounds and it did stop my midwinter weight gain. Since Illinois temperatures have gotten back over 40, I have resumed riding. My typical ride is 12 miles, 2-3 times per week with a 25 mile ride once a week. On the Atkins diet, I find my average speeds are reduced. I seem to be more depleted towards the end on the trip then I was last year. I see on this board that Atkins is not widely endorsed by bikers. What alternative diets would you suggest?

MrEworm,

Check into The south Beach Diet... if your're already on Atkin's.. then you should be able to slide into phase 2 of the plan... it doesn;t stress NO-Carb, like Atkins... but stresses eating the RIGHT carbs... check it out... read the book for sure though.. it's a good read, with good info, and excellent recipes... and the best thing is, is that it works...

also, if you are going on longer rides... try a slight carbo loading before hand... oatmeal is a good thing... good carbs... gives you lots of energy...

good luck

jeff

At one time I was at 290, now I'm at 240 with a goal of 200. In January, I was at 260 so I started Atkins. I lost a few pounds and it did stop my midwinter weight gain. Since Illinois temperatures have gotten back over 40, I have resumed riding. My typical ride is 12 miles, 2-3 times per week with a 25 mile ride once a week. On the Atkins diet, I find my average speeds are reduced. I seem to be more depleted towards the end on the trip then I was last year. I see on this board that Atkins is not widely endorsed by bikers. What alternative diets would you suggest?

Weight Watchers.

With their points program, you can eat more towards the carb side or more towards the protein side, your choice.

I think the biggest thing though is no matter WHAT diet you follow, if you eat waaaay too many calories, and aren't exercising enough to burn ALL those calories, you're gonna gain weight...

Sounds like you need some carbs, and probably more than you are currently getting on the Atkins diet. Go by what you body tells you. If you listen carefully, you can hear it. . .

Good luck and keep up the good work!

At one time I was at 290, now I'm at 240 with a goal of 200. In January, I was at 260 so I started Atkins. I lost a few pounds and it did stop my midwinter weight gain. Since Illinois temperatures have gotten back over 40, I have resumed riding. My typical ride is 12 miles, 2-3 times per week with a 25 mile ride once a week. On the Atkins diet, I find my average speeds are reduced. I seem to be more depleted towards the end on the trip then I was last year. I see on this board that Atkins is not widely endorsed by bikers. What alternative diets would you suggest?

My riding partner was on the Atkins last year, but struggled on the longer rides. Carbo-hydrates were not there. He still had 14lb to lose, but stopped the diet, as we were out on the tandem for an extra 30 mile ride each week, and he realised he needed the carb's. It took 3 weeks to lose 10 lbs of the 14, but then his weight rose again. He had lost all the fat possible, and put on muscle. He gave up trying to lose weight, and for two weeks before our Big ride, A planned 12 to 14 hour offroader, he began to Carbo load,. He put on 4 lbs in that two weeks., a total of 7lbs above his target weight. On the day of the ride, we each drank water, eat as much many carbs as we could take, and I lost the 7 lbs for him on the day. He lost 10 lbs. Two months later, we were still riding a lot, still eating a lot, but all the weight loss had stayed off, and a bit more.
Over the winter we have not been riding quite as much, but we still get in at least one 30 mile ride a week, and gym twice a week. Both our wait losses have stayed, and I am not on the Atkins, and neither is my Tandem partner.The Atkins diet did have its use, and to a degree worked. Problem is, you are now an athlete. You will need the carb's to sustain yourself on the ride, and Atkins will not provide that. Eat sensibly, if necessary eat less or more correctly, but keep the carb intake up. To burn it off get out on the bike more, or get down the gym.

Try the 250 diet, Its simple!

Ride your bike 250 miles a week, and you can pretty much eat whatever you want, whenever you want.

Try the 250 diet, Its simple!

Ride your bike 250 miles a week, and you can pretty much eat whatever you want, whenever you want.

Why didn't I put it that simply

It's just so easy. Eat carbs when you need to exercise a lot and don't eat them (or only a bit) when you don't. Just like you don't put gasolin in your car when the tank is full already and you don't need to drive.
Atkins got a bit overboard on recommending very low-carb and just add back in 5 grams each week. It works for people who only exercise very moderately (aerobic only) or are prepared to perform a lot less.

If you adjust your carb intake in that way, you'll see that you will perform better in sports and still lose weight. Some even manage to get into ketosis even when they eat more carbs before exercising. Not that ketosis is vital for losing weight, but if you adhere to the Atkins point of view, you might have been fooled into that thing.

As for me.. I eat 50-75 gram of carbs on non-exercise days and 150 g on (normal) exercise days and pig out on carbs on days when I cycle all day long.

Yvana

I discovered the same thing. I lost about 20 lbs on Atkins diet, but when I started riding and working out I had little endurance. I found that I really need to have some carbs a few hours before my next workout. I try to eat nothing but "good carbs". A banana and yogurt for breakfast instead of my beloved bisquits and gravy. A sandwich on whole wheat bread for lunch, and a grilled chicken breast and steamed asparagus or spinach for dinner. (Asparagus is loaded with vitamins, fiber and antioxidents, and happens to be in season right now) That pretty much sums up my diet for the last 5 months and its working. Oh, and I drink gallons of water.
If I know I'm going to ride long and hard Saturday, I'll splurge and have a loaded pizza on Friday evening. Started at 238 lbs in January. Now at 197. 10 or 15 more to go.

I'm making a new rule...

You can't talk about Atkins or South Beach or any other diet plan unless you have read the book....

Above, sipperphoto says that Atkins stresses No carbs...not true

And right here Fietser Ivana talks about Atkins requiring Ketosis for weight loss...again only partially true (Ketosis only last the first couple weeks).

That's my rule...and I'm sticking by it.

Try the 250 diet, Its simple!

Ride your bike 250 miles a week, and you can pretty much eat whatever you want, whenever you want.

Miles is not realy a good measure of how much you ride, it's volume that counts eg, you would benifit more from a 3 hour 40 mile ride then you would a 2 hour 40 mile ride. AND JUST BECAUSE YOU RIDE ALOT DON'T MEAN YOU CAN OVER EAT AND NOT GAIN WEIGHT.for what i do i need 3-4k cals a day now if i subed a meal(for a week) for say a mc donalds big mac meal i would gain fat, beacuse that meal would be about 500 more cals then the meal i would regulary eat.

Yup... actually it seems that everyone only talks about Atkins as if it is ketosis only.
Still.. adding just 5 grams/week back in is a bit slow for really active people.
He's talking about the carbohydrate level that would not give any weight loss or gain. For very active people, this can be as much as over 100 grams of carbs/day.

It's a self-perpetuating thing.. everyone thinks they 'know' all about atkins. Mind you, the 3 books are very different, eg. in the first one there are barely any veggies allowed, while the 2nd and 3rd one allow a lot more.

I'm a member of the low-carbers forum and from the information there I gather that the SBD is wrong in assuming that saturated fats are bad for you. They aren't .. fats just give an ass-load of calories. If they only are combined with proteins, there is little chance of overeating. If combined with carbs, you DO overeat.. everyone will have had the experience of feeling stuffed after dinner but still being able to cram in a rich fat & carb loaded dessert.

Anyway... i've been on just 20 grams of carbs/day for 2 months. It worked beautifully for 1 month but later it showed that eating more carbs was better given the amt of anaerobic activity (both weight training and spinning lessons). I've done more athletic versions of low-carb diets: both cyclical and targeted ketogenic diets.. there's lot of info on the Internet if yyou're interested, but the best book on the topic is : The Ketogenic Diet, written by Lyle McDonald.

Yvana

Having read the South Beach Diet book (SBD) I don't recall anything about
saturated fats being bad (not specifically). In fact throughout the book fats
are encouraged (cheese etc.) for snacks etc. The book does encourage
eating fats with other sources of protein.

Oh and one minor point, SBD is not a low carb diet, it is more of a low
Glycemic index diet.

marty

kidney killers.

Nonsense... that is a sheer myth. Provided you don't have a kidney disease already there has not been A SINGLE CASE of kidney disease due to protein overdose.
Only thing you need to do is drink more water.

read and be informed rather than to perpetuate myths..
BTW, saturated fats ain't bad.. trans fatty acids are bad (found in fried food & non-butter spreads)

Just because I work with the guy...South Beach Diet.

non-butter spreads
Care to elorbate? I have not read the book yet. Doing what my doc said for hypertension and reducing my salt. It is amazing how much fried fatty food, refined sugar and salt we consume with fast food and junk food from snack machines. I have hypertension so I watch my salt in addition. Look a the salt contend on a "preserved" dinner in the super market. Most have 2000mg of salt or more!

The best source of information is www.westonaprice.org

I've got a book from Mary Enig, the authority on trans fatty foods. In short she says there's nothing to fear about fats.
After protein, fats are the most important food source.. not carbs. Except for anaerobic workouts, you don't need them... your body can make carbs perfectly fine provided you eat more than 150 grams of protein a day.

Trans fatty acids need to be avoided like the plague.. it is gross what they do to you and they are above all to be found in those fast food stuff.
More: http://www.westonaprice.org/know_your_fats/oiling.html , which is one of the very best articles someone should read if they want to know more about fats.

Thanks for the info. That was one deep article and a lot to show what politics and big business will do to bury an issue

I like my diet. I eat fewer calories than I burn and ride my ass off.

I like my diet. I eat fewer calories than I burn and ride my ass off.

That's WAY to radical of an idea - burning more than you eat?!!? Are you crazy, man! Eat FAT, and continue to eat mounds of FAT! Just stay away from those nasty carbs - you'll be fit like the rest of America that's on the Atkins diet - oh wait, that's a bad example. :D

I say to heck with diets, eat what you want, but find a way to burn it off...

Heck We could have a "Jared" for KFC....just have him cycle 8 hors a day and eat two whole fried chickens a day and still watch him lose weight like mad...SHEER GENIUS :D