Rick G

ok fall is over and I am not hardy enouph to ride in the winter unless we have a decent day,I have started on the atkins diet and will ride once in a while.all I am trying to loose some size in the middle.
am I looking to bonk by doing this or will I be all right?
this diet is tuff enough to do with out putting me in to trouble.
what do ya all think?
Rick G

Guest

You'll bonk. Good luck.

Koffee

danch

If a diet is tough for you, it's probably not right for you. You might find it easier to moderate rather than going on an extreme diet of any sort.

I've lost about 50 lbs. in the last couple of years by changing my habits rather than being on any 'diet' per se. Sure, what I've eaten has changed, but for me, anyway, approaching this as a change in my normal behavior rather than "being on a diet" has made it a lot easier to go without (really go with less of) my beloved peanut butter cups, etc. Basically the way I think about it is that if you're 'on a diet' you can easily go 'off the diet' which is where people typically balloon right back up. I'm not saying that I don't indulge myself ever, or that I don't have spells where I'm stressed out and eat crap and put a couple pounds back on, but my outlook is that that now is the exception rather than the norm - I'm not 'off a diet' I simply ate a bunch of crap over the holidays.

Maybe it sounds like mental double-talk, but it amounts to changing my attitude so that eating relatively healthy foods is normal for me and eating crap is the exception where it seems like for most people dieting winds up working the other way around.

cash76

I know plenty of people who hav elost a lot of weight on the atkins diet...and then gained it right back when they start eating carbs again. Atkins is a good lifestyle change and it's something that should be done for long term. You would probably lose weight in the next couple of months, and may be ok on a ride every once in a while over the winter, but if you are just going to go back to carbs once it warms up, you're just going to gain back anything that you did lose on atkins.

bpohl

I lost 180 pounds, and all I ever ate were carbs. Seriously, I'd say that my diest consisted of 70% carbs, 20% protein, and 10% unsaturated fats. You'll be okay cutting carbs for the time that you're not riding, but you are begging for troubles if you do it during the iridng season. It's also very tough on your body to process all the extra protein that you'll be consuming. I'd still avoid sugary stuff, but your body needs carbs.

JBBOOKS

What Koffee said. I did Atkins - took a ride on a cold day, with brisk winds. After only 20 miles I hit the wall, barely made it home. Got inside, sat down and actually COULD NOT get back up.

Never again.

pablo27

atkins only works if you reduce your caloric intake significantly as a result

i didn't like the diet much myself

it is more effective for me to count calories religiously

clausen

Atkins is Ok if you want to loose weight quick and are not active. I first tried the diet 4 years ago in the winter and lost 25 pounds in 3 month. Did again the next winter and lost a futher 15. I think if you stay active it would make you bonk tho.

2manybikes

YOU WILL BONK !!!

To Ride you need CARBS ...... I did atkins a little. Thought I could carb up the day of the ride. Did a long ride while eating carbs but could not catch up,then passed out while walking in a restauraunt after dinner.
Then I told others and three other people had the same problem.

Roody

The more I ride my bike, the more I can eat. Of whatever.

JavaMan

Why don't you try riding a little at first, then if you feel OK, a little more? Your liver can turn protien into carbohydrate. Maybe that will be enough for you.

Once you try it you'll have knowledge and experience you can share with others.

trirmk

You don't want your liver to have to use muscle protein as an energy source. During exercise protein MAY only account for up to 8% of total energy contribution anyway. The protein will not be able to provide enough energy (quickly enough) to sustain him on a ride of any moderate or greater intensity.

The Atkins Diet is worth crap IMO for anyone involved in sports. The nature of the diet is barely able to gain my approval as a weight loss routine only because it causes you to reduce your caloric intake. Other than that, it's useless, unless you're inactive and NEED to loose weight for one reason or another (not cosmetic reasons either).

oldspark

Atkins is not a good lifestyle change, people eat too much of the wrong food and do not exercise enough. The thought that carbs are bad for you is just plain wrong-the lack of exercise and not eating right is what is bad. Atkins is a quick fix and then you need to adjust to the correct lifestyle.

gcasillo

Please, no one take this personally, but I believe the Atkins diet is just damned foolish. It's biochemical sorcery, not a "lifestyle change" short or long term. A plan that pardons ingesting virtually nothing but protein should scare you off, period.

Carbohydrates are not poison. The human body is quite well adapted to using them for energy. (Just don't go on a doughnut bender.) You need energy to MOVE. Moving helps when exercising which provides all sorts of sweet benefits you won't find in a link of sausage.

Every time I see "low carb" food on the shelf at the grocery store, I just want to hunt down the marketing sod responsible for putting it on the box and rip his still-beating heart out of his chest cavity. And I could, because I don't deprive myself of carbohydrates.

Here, make a batch of beer biscuits with this recipe tonight, and if you don't feel better in the morning, call me:

BEER BISCUITS

3 Cups Bisquick Mix
3 Tablespoons sugar
Beer to Moisten (About 2/3 or 3/4 of a can or bottle)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all above together until the right mixture. (Should be between thick and runny) and then put into muffin tins which have been wiped with soft butter. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until lightly browned on top. Makes 12 biscuits.

A good pilsner is best. Miller Lite seems to work well, but if you want to spend a little, try Pilsner Urquell.

2manybikes

Lance's coach, Chris Carmichael said it best.......something like....

You're not fat because you eat carbohydrates, you are fat because you don't exercise enough.

Obviously there are people with serious health problems that are unable to exercise, but that's the exception.

'nother

While it's hard to argue with the results many people seem to experience with the Atkins diet, my brain tells me it is just not good idea if you are at all active. It's a basic physiological fact that your body needs carbs; they are not devil fat-makers in and of themselves. Too many of them, of course - but that can be applied to any food type.

To the OP, I would suggest that you would be better served by either reducing your overall caloric intake or finding an activity you can do indoors over the winter. Personally I'd go for the latter since you'll stay fit for the next season, get ahead of the game a little bit, and still enjoy whatever you are eating without putting extreme stress on your body (by switching diets).

gcasillo: thanks for the recipe! Beer and Biscuits: a combination made in heaven!

motorhommmer

New Supplement with the Paper today, called the GI diet. Glaycaemic index, try and aim low. What is it all about. You guessed, carbs, pasta, fruit, porridge etc. Sorry to appear a little narrow minded on this one but this whole adkins and diet thing is a load of rubbish. Someone then rebrands healthy eating and calls it a diet. I get a full little booklet "GI tested" in association with some supermarket.

Please give me a break.................

jedi_rider

Just eat a balanced diet. No need to go on the atkins diet...especially if you are an active individual.

Bonking is not fun and takes the joy out of riding.

Rick G

I have done the atkins thing before.all i gotta say is my energy level goes way up and I loose the extra tire around the middle.well i don't loose it but it does shrink a bit.
I ask these things cause when i did it before I was not riding a bike then.I don't want to get into the middle of nowhere and crash cause of the diet.I will let you all know how things go
Rick G

hi565

Atkins + Cycling= Find yourself a new sport

Im not kidding like other people said, YOU WILL BONK. (sorry to sound like others but it is true) Atkins diet is for someone who does minimal exercise and just wants to lose weight. (not exactely minimal but close) Really all you need to do is cut out as many sugars as you can, portion food etc.,and have some type of workout scheduel that you STICK to, it cant be something that you do for one week then off for another then agina for another week etc. I think that is all i have to say.

H23

Yep, it does seem that atkins is pretty much for sedentary folks. The only people I know who follow it are rather over-weight, over-worked, under-active programmer types-- they have lost enough weight so they are no longer obese, but are still kinda puffy.

Another thing is that their skin looks awful and waxy.

The best thing you can do for your body is to eat the best food-- and if you need to lose weight eat less of that food, and exercise.

JavaMan

OK, all you EXPERTS on this subject...

How is it that a cheetah eats only meat, but is still able to leave all of us carb eaters in the dust? Wouldn't they become extinct if they just bonked?

How about other carnivores like polar bears, eskimoes and our early ancestors (like JavaMan)?

Rather than discourage the guy, why not let him try it? What if it works for him?

The main energy source for normal riding is fat, remember?

Roody

Well cheetahs are a different species but I'll give you the eskimos and the Java men, Java Man. And Java women.

'nother

I dunno. Cheetahs are among the fastest; that's true. But only for short distances and only infrequently. Maybe they *do* bonk

The main energy source for normal riding depends very much upon the definition of "normal", which may vary from person to person. If you are at a low intensity/heart rate, you're right, you are likely using more fat than carbs as fuel. But as you increase intensity you consume proportionately more carbs, and you need to consume carbs to replenish (as you ride and after).

This guy doesn't need discouragement from us to get him off of Atkins. From his own post, the diet is already "tuff enough". One bonked ride should snap him the rest of the way out of it

OTOH, if it does work, truly work (not just scrape by), I'd be very curious to hear about it.

Bontrager

It's threads like these that I really have to bite my tongue.

I will say to the original poster that you're doing activities that require glucose to be released into your blood so that your cells including your muscle cells, can break them down very quickly to use for energy.

In my opinion (as a doctor) I think the Atkins diet is generally good for normal people that are 1) not active (athletic) 2) do not want to be active 3) are not willing to eat diet in moderation that is well-balanced.

That being said, the average American diet is full of refined sugars. There are too many simple carbohydrates being ingested vs. the amount of exercise most people that are on the Diet are willing to commit to.

The comparisons between humans and other animals (especially in extremes like cheetas) spread FUD.

Your body uses muscle as a last resort. It will derive energy from fat first. The human body, as a whole, is designed (somewhat like other animals) to store energy (fat) for use later. Unfortunately, we're not cavemen anymore and most of us will eat, at least every 8 hours, a meal who's caloric content far exceeded the previous 8 hours' worth of energy spent.

Anyway.. if you're going to be regularly doing activities that require glucose/simple sugars you need to have a diet that is consistent with delivering/having the reserves to deliver that sugar over an extended period (hours if you're talking cycling).