Is it ok to skip the first step of Induction when starting a low carb diet. My partner thinks its ok to skip that step and will not eat anything with carbs. He thinks he has a weight problem and when I try to talk to him about what Dr Atkins' book says he doesn't want to listen to me and tells me to let him do it his way. Any advice???

I don't understand what you mean "skip the first step."

Induction is keeping your carbs 20 grams or below. It's main purpose is to get the glucose out of your system and get into ketosis.

If he's not eating any carbs, which means he's not eating any vegetables, then yes, he should be in ketosis, but that's not good to not eat any kind of vegetables. Hoepfully he is taking some vitamins???? If he's feeling good and not hungry, you may have a hard time changing his mind. Ketosis can totally rob you of any appetite whatsoever, so it gets even harder to eat right then.

Good luck and give us a little more info.

The best you can do is try for zero carbs (induction) till you are so skinny and healthy you can't stand it any more.

The second best is to do induction for two weeks and then switch to a higher carb diet.

The third best is to start at a higher level of carbs and stay there.

The absolute worst diet is to eat a lot of carbs.

BTW, Dr Atkins says most people lose weight if they are eating less than 40 to 60 grams of carbs per day. Above that -- they are gaining weight.

So is he doing the best or optimal? No. But if he is cutting his carbs he will be healthier.

How fast you burn fat is directly proportional to how few carbs you eat, supplements, exercise, metabolism.

So if he wants to lose weight slower then he can eat more carbs. But if he exercises a lot, that will more than make up for higher carbs. For example, people that exercise a lot and have high metabolism may gain/lose weight at 100 carbs per day.

Your body is going to burn carbs and alcohol first. If it burns all the carbs and alcohol then it starts burning your fat. The fewer carbs and alcohol you take in -- the sooner your body has to start burning fat and the more fat it will burn.

Second reason for doing induction -- some people that are bad off (like I was) do not acheive true health unless they cut out (nearly) all carbs. When I cut all carbs from my diet -- I feel like speedy gonzales and hercules. When I eat even small amounts of carbs -- I want to go lay down and go to sleep.

Third reason for doing induction -- you lose a lot of "gunk" from your body the first 2 to 4 weeks and then stall. So again, if you are at zero carbs for the first 2 to 4 weeks - you will probably lose twice the weight as you would at 40 grams of carbs.

But some people are afraid of induction. I love it. I've been doing it for 3 years.

If you can't get him to, then you should probably read at least one of the books to see if you cant subtly guide him.

Protein Power and Life without Bread are both excellent methods that don't have such a severe starting period.

He really shouldn't avoid all carbs. Most commercially available meat doesn't really have the right nutrients any more, so you need veggies for optimal health, and to keep from stopping up the 'recycling system' completely.

IMHO, and in the opinion of most low carb doctors, that is completely untrue and unfounded.

I think he will hurt himself if he doesn't have *any* carbs, by no carbs I am assuming he doesn't really mean that....? That would be cutting out almost everything he eats....veggies included? That's just not healthy.
Cutting out white bread/pasta/rice/potatoes and sugars is the best way to lose weight and be healthy on LC. Any form of extreme dieting just doesn't work in the long term....yeah you might lose weight initially but you will mess up your metabolism in the process and probably end up larger as a result.
Healthy food with lots of protien a little good fats such as olive oils and fish will promote weight loss, but it will be a long term lifestyle change, not a quick fix.

IMHO, and in the opinion of most low carb doctors, that is completely untrue and unfounded.

Yeah and you might think this, but I know that the times I lost weight better with LC was when I was having a healthy amount of carbs and a balanced diet. I think cutting out a large aspect of a diet is wrong and will not work in the long run. You and I will have to disagree.

Kebaldwin, Where did you read that the meat we eat today has all the right nutrients. From what I understand from my research is that is not true. From what I understand, raw meat especially organs has more nutrients than cooked. This is why Native Americans, Inuits and/or Aborigines have rare, if any, occurances of scurvy.I don't eat my meat this way. I eat mostly muscle tissue such as steaks and roasts. So since my protein intake is limited shouldn't I get other nutrients by other means?

No problem with disagreeing. How about one item to agree on?

I won't go around posting that eating carbs is unhealthy if you won't go around posting that not eating carbs is unhealthy.

I never said that I did!



You are correct. All food should be eaten raw for maximum nutrients. For foods that must be cooked, they recommend rare, or at worst, medium rare. You get fat, protein and amino acids from the low carb diet. That is why low carb doctors recommend supplements. Much more vitamins and nutrients without the carbs.

We have had this discussion and general consensus is -- you need fat and protein - but you don't need carbohydrate.

[QUOTE=kebaldwin]I never said that I did!

In quoting both of Bat Spit's sentences, I assumed you were disagreeing with the second, about meat, rather than the first, about low carbs.

I'm in Foxgluv's camp, myself. Everything got a good bit healthier when I went up in carbs and allowed sweet potatos back in. I spend somewhere in the vicinity of $2K/year on supplements, so I don't think it's simply a matter of lacking vitamins. I'm still way lower than both the average American, and where I used to be, but VERY low carb didn't suit.

I will agree that you can use either veggies or vitamin supplements to obtain the necessary additional nutrition that our grain fed feedlot meat no longer provides.

It is true that you don't need carbohydrates. But, most people transitioning from the Standard American Diet (SAD) require plenty of fiber to keep the bowels open because the refined grain irritation no longer triggers emptying. Once the body adjusts, this may or may not continue to be necessary.

kebaldwin, I have no trouble agreeing to disagree, but if you were more forthcoming in exactly where the disagreement is, perhaps you would find that it isn't such a disagreement afterall.

What I would love to find out is -- are men better at an extremely low carb diet but women better at a higher carb diet that includes low glycemic veggies?

I don't remember Atkins saying anything about that -- but my gut feel is that this would be true.

I think we can all agree that - any low carb diet is better than any medium / high carb diet.