It's probably not something that a lot of Atkins devotees want to hear, but there is more and more mounting evidence that when it comes to weight loss, and long term success with keeping weight off, it's not so much the type of diet you choose, but in the end, it's the amount of calories you are taking in that matters the most. In the past, we've had a myriad of "fad" diets telling us that calories don't matter as much as excluding certain kinds of foods or eating at certain times of day, or maybe even eating only foods that, according to our blood type, are the foods that will allow us to remain thin.
With all of the different regimens out there claiming to be the gospel when it comes to being thin, it's no wonder people are as confused as ever about what types of foods they should eat, or to which diet they should subscribe. I'll never forget my first foray into the world of dieting and weight management. I was only 15 years old, just starting to lose my baby fat, and just starting to care about the way I looked (yes, a blooming interest in boys was the primary catalyst, I'll admit). I remember picking up a book at a used book sale for a quarter that looked interesting called "Fit for Life".
This book essentially was about a way of eating that gained a large following in the seventies and eighties amongst health nuts, that involved food combining, which is actually still a principle that many follow today. It seemed to have merit, the way they were describing that chemical reactions that occur in our bodies when we eat certain foods, such as a starch and meat, together, and why eating some foods together not only led to weight gain and obesity, but also conjured up a host of other health problems in it's wake.
I did in fact lose weight on this diet regimen, however I noticed that eating the way they wanted me to was really hard sometimes, especially when I would go out to eat at a restaurant, since food combinations are common, even in one dish recipes. Not only that, but half the time I still felt starving after eating a meal, and wanted more food. I'm not saying the diet was bad, in fact I think it had many merits, but it was too stringent for me to last on, or to make a lifetime habit of it.
There are other diets like this as well, like the Atkins diet, which more so than calorie or fat intake restriction, wants you to radically reduce or cut out any sort of carbs. The bad thing is, you are cutting a lot of healthy foods like fruits and veggies out of your diet, simply because their carb count is too high.
Again, Atkins can work, but at the expense possibly of your colon health, and your blood sugar isn't exactly stable all the time, with it plummeting every time you burn off the protein you just ate, which burns quickly. Many people on these types of severely limiting diets find that they are sluggish, their bowel movements are irregular, and they are not getting the vitamins and nutrition they need.
Well, it turns out that everything your grandma taught you about "everything in moderation" is true. The key to weight loss and continued weight maintenance, and many even think the key to longevity, is limiting your calorie intake every day. When I say limiting calories, there are really no exclusions as to what you can eat, but in the interest of staying fuller longer and your continued health and energy levels, there are certain foods that you should concentrate on including in your diet more than others, because for the calories they add, they really fill you up and stabilize your appetite for hours and hours.
New studies have shown that it's clear what results in weight loss and sustained weight loss, and that is the reduction of calories, whether you are on a diet like the Zone, or the South Beach Diet, or even Atkins or Pritikin diet, those that lost weight and kept it off had one thing in common, and that was a reduced calorie diet for a sustained period of time.
The smartest way to eat without taking in very many units of energy (aka, a calorie), is to make sure you load up on foods that are low cal and also very filling. These include foods like salad, spinach, broccoli, pickles, cucumbers, some kinds of nuts, low fat dairy products, lean protein like chicken and tuna fish, and light whole grain bread products. Because you are eating high quality, fiber rich foods, you are really eating that same amount of calories as you would in one tiny chocolate, but only you are enjoying a whole salad, or an entire piece of fresh fruit for the exact same amount of calories.
If you abide by the simple rule of choosing low cal foods with high fiber content, and limiting your intake to about 1400 to 1800 calories a day whether you are a man or woman, you will definitely lose weight and feel great, it's only a matter of time before you get used to it and it becomes second nature.
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