Many shed the weight on Atkins Diet
Wednesday, February 04, 2004
By Jaye Beeler, Press Food Editor
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Barb Willet swears she's tried every diet invented. Two and half years ago, she turned to Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution and successfully shed almost 80 pounds.
"I never gave up on myself even when I was a size 23 1/2," said Willet, 51, of Wyoming as she sweated through a Nautilus lap at Ramblewood Tennis and Health Club. "At my heaviest, I was 203, and now I'm at 126. I have never been this little. I didn't plan to be this thin. In high school, I was a little chunky. I wore a size 9. Now I'm a size 5, and it feels wonderful -- physically and emotionally."
This is the second time Willet has slimmed down with Atkins.
"I lost the weight with Atkins, and then I went back to my old eating habits and gained it all back," she said.
With everyone touting low-carb prepackaged foods and menus, Willet is sure this time will different.
"In all honesty, I can eat anything I want -- low-carb breads, ice creams, chocolate bars," she said.
Losing weight is almost a toxic obsession in this country -- at any one time, 50 million Americans are dieting, according to the American Obesity Association. Yet, 60 percent of the adult population is overweight, that's 70 million people. More than one-third of adults and one in five kids are classified as obese.
The late Robert Atkins, the protein prophet who started the low-carb mania, changed our attitudes about food and how we eat. His eating plan shuns empty refined carbohydrates, such as white flour, white sugar, bread, pasta and potatoes, while embracing protein and good fat -- the polyunsaturated and monounsaturated kind found in vegetable oils and fish.
Atkins sired a whole industry hawking low-carb everything, from bunless burgers at Burger King to low-carb stores such as The LoCarb Center, 2055 28th St. SE, which opens Monday. The store will stock around 700 to 800 products, ranging from breads, cereals, chips, candy, frozen foods, condiments, cookies, bagels, muffins, bars, supplements, pasta, bake mixes, crackers and syrups.
The nutrition authorities have long urged caution when following the Atkins diet.
"From a dietitian's standpoint, Atkins is a terrible eating plan for a long-term basis," said Gail Postner, registered dietitian, who runs Healthy Ways Nutrition Counseling in West Bloomfield.
The downside of Atkins, according to health professionals, is the low-carb, high-fat diet might trigger existing kidney or heart problems.
"A lot of people are naive about Atkins and shouldn't be doing it," said Vicky Ferguson, registered dietitian at St. Mary's Mercy Medical Center and Press nutrition columnist. "They don't know enough about it. Maybe a friend did it, and now they're taking a stab at it. They haven't read the book. They're just cutting out carbs."
Before embarking on such an extreme eating plan, Ferguson recommends discussing the diet with your doctor.
"It's good to get blood work at the onset," Ferguson said. "Your doctor might want to keep an eye on your liver, enzymes and a lot of other things that you don't realize they are looking at. If there's anything, it will raise a red flag. So if you do have any trouble, you'll know this is not a good diet for you.
"I've seen people who had super-high triglycerides but didn't know it and ended up in the hospital with worse problems," Ferguson continued. "If you have a history of cancer in your family, a diet high in red meat isn't the best one for you. A meat and fat diet will set you up for something bad happening a couple of years down the road."
All of this begs the question, just how many carbs do you need to get through the day?
"Adults should consume a minimum of 130 grams of carbohydrates a day to keep the brain and muscles running in good metabolic order," said Ferguson, quoting the National Academy of Sciences which comes up with the recommended daily allowance for vitamins and minerals. "That might sound like a lot, but most people consume twice that much. A 20-ounce bottle of regular pop has 40 grams of carbs, and juice has even more."
All of that is sensible and sound, but people want to lose weight without starving themselves, and they can on Atkins.
"People like this plan because they fill up on high-fat, tasty foods, and the weight comes off. The goal is not to be thin and unhealthy," Postner said. "The goal is to develop a healthy eating plan that incorporates whole grains, cereals, fruits and vegetables. The other component to a healthy eating plan is exercise. People who want to take the weight off and keep it off must do some form of exercise, activity."
Postner predicts a reliance on low-carb, snack foods might be the undoing of many Atkins faithful.
"One of the reasons people lose weight on Atkins is the grabby foods available at supermarkets and gas stations were off limits to them," she said. "Now, with all these low-carb snacks, ice creams and candy bars right there, people will eat more calories. Calories count."
But the Atkins testimonies keep luring in friends, family, co-workers and neighbors.
"As a cardiac nurse, I know that I needed to do this for my health," said Brenda Bowers, 38, of Plainfield Township. "I love working for my doctors, but I refuse to be a patient with them. The energy that I have just amazes me. I know that this will be a lifestyle change, and I'm willing to do it. It may not work for everyone, but I am truly blessed."
Bowers, who has dropped 56 pounds, is looking to take off another 30 pounds to achieve her wedding-day weight.
Back in August at the beginning of football season, Hamilton High School football coach Gregg Stoel and two other coaches on the football staff at Hamilton High School pledged they would lose a total of 100 pounds between the three of them.
"We followed a self-prescribed Atkins diet for a period of 11 weeks. We lost the 100 pounds," said Stoel, 40, of Hamilton. "I have continued on the diet beyond the football season and have lost a total of 66 pounds myself. My starting weight was 283 and my most recent weight was 217. I plan to stay on the diet for a while yet and see if I can maintain the weight loss. I have been on the diet for 16 weeks and have lost an average of 4.1 pounds per week."
On Atkins diet, Robert Durdle of Holland might have just discovered the secret of dieting.
"I try not to eat when I'm not really hungry. At work, I was always at the snack machines, looking for something to eat," said Durdle, 60, who has cast off 60 pounds. "I eat until I'm satisfied, not full or stuffed."
See Jaye Beeler with Gerry Barnaby at noon and 5:30 p.m. today on WOOD-TV (Channel 8).
"Many shed the weight on Atkins Diet"
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