I'm not sure how happy I am with The Diet Channel. Two things jumped out at me when I checked their Web site. First, their description of themselves:
The Diet Channel provides expertise on weight loss, sports nutrition, low fat and heart healthy diets, diet and cancer, preventative nutrition and a healthy lifestyle. Additionally, we offer a free 8 Week Weight Loss Program to provide you with the latest nutrition information and a healthy diet plan to meet your goals (emphasis mine).
Their 8 Week Weight Loss Program is, of course, low-fat, with carbs as absolutely essential - they are not - and making up the bulk of your calories. Why would anyone in their right mind make the bulk of their calories something non-essential?
My second problem is their description of the Atkins Diet. Why doesn't anybody bother to do more research before writing these things? How can I take anything they say about any other diet plan seriously if they can't get Atkins right? What else did they get wrong?
Some examples:
Atkins followers can eat all of the meat, cheese, eggs and fats (like butter and oils) that they like, without counting calories.
Not wholly true. You are to eat until "satisfied," not until you are full, and certainly not "all you like." Additionally, cheese is limited to 4 oz. a day.
Fruit and dairy products are also extremely limited.
Ah, fake Atkins makes a comeback (also see my follow-up fake Atkins post). Berries are fruits and they are the first thing to be added back in Phase 2. Many fruits - such as tomatoes and avocados - are even allowed on Induction (Phase 1). Other fruits that Atkins dieters are allowed to eat are eggplant, green, yellow, and red peppers, and cucumbers. Yes, they are all fruits!
Cheese is dairy and allowed in Induction. Cottage cheese and sugar-free yogurt can be added in Phase 2. In fact, someone on Atkins can eat just about any dairy product except milk.
At one time I ate a cup of cottage cheese every single day. Now I am on a yogurt kick and eating a cup of plain yogurt every day.
The Atkins diet places no limit on the amount of saturated-fat-laden products one can have each day. Large portions of foods like butter, red meat and bacon are advocated and encouraged. A limited amount of carbohydrates can be introduced in the maintenance phase.
Do I even have to respond to this? This is so silly that it would be funny if it weren't so sad. It's false, plain and simple.
And carbohydrates are part of all phases of Atkins, not just Maintenance. *sigh*
For the most part, exercise is not strongly emphasized in the Atkins diet.
Completely, totally, and 100% false. Atkins stressed that exercise was vital. But hey, since when did a little thing like facts stop people like this?
Read the book, people! Get the facts straight from the man who created the diet and knows best what it's about.
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6 comments:
I agree with you on the diet channel - I am not totally happy with them. They seem to be simply out for as much free SEO work as they can get - lots of links off high profile, on topic blogs will help them no end. It's fun being a cynic ;-).
On your post about atkins, I have been eating 50-60% carbs and lost plenty of weight. Atkins has never seemed like a sensible plan (to me), but I have not done much research at all - my current method works fine and I can eat most foods that I like, while still avoiding sugar where possible. I may try a high protein plan if the last few pounds get stubborn - but I will do my research first.
I agree with you on many points, and please know that I am planning on suggesting as many changes as possible - please give them a chance.
More on this later...
I dont know....i dont think they are so bad. It looks to me like the atkins diet is an advertiser. That content may just be ad copy. They have another page that sorta rips Atkin's
http://www.thedietchannel.com/atkins.htm
and it is linked straight from the Atkins page and is written by a nutritionist.
It's not the ad that I'm upset over. Lots of diets advertise there - totally normal and fine.
It's their writeup on it that I found full of misinformation, th eone that "rips" them.
I personally wouldn't be able to do Atkins, but I know a lot of people who have & it's worked for them.
My sister lost 80+ pounds on Atkins, but she wasn't able to maintain the eating & has already gained back 25 pounds.
I don't necessarily blame that just on Atkins though. It's just that when you go on a diet to lose weight, you pretty much have to stay on the diet or you'll gain the weight back.
Amber,
You are so right. It has to be a lifestyle change. Any good diet has a lifetime maintenance phase (including Atkins). It seems like your sister didn't follow that. I know I will have to restrict carbs for the rest of my life, and I've slowly come to terms with that.
I did gain back 6 pounds, and I went right back to weight loss mode to get it off, and it looks like it's pretty well gone now. Dr. Atkins recommends not letting yourself get more than 5 pounds above goal before putting the brakes on it.
My mom has done the same thing on Weight Watchers - lost 70 and kept it off by continuing to count her points.
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