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Diets: Atkins

I love meat, and really, protein of any variety. Maybe that's why the Atkins diet has always intrigued me.

But I've never really needed to do anything so strict; I've usually been able to lose weight through the Self-control or the Breakup Diet.

Well, my friend, you hit about 35 and all that self-control stuff goes to hell. Unless you manage to regularly have your heart torn out--or stay more active than any human consultant has time for--stuff starts shifting. The days of frozen pizza twice a week for dinner come screeching to a heartbreaking halt.

So, as of this writing, I've been on Atkins for 9 days. Observations so far:

It's hard to tell precisely because of a combination of poor memory and laziness, but it seems as though I've lost about 3-4 lbs.
This is miraculous because, while I've been relatively honest about watching carbs (they tell you the limit is 20 grams per day during the "induction phase," which is the first two weeks and reportedly the hardest part, but I've probably ranged from 30-50 most days), I have used the diet as an excuse to eat massive quantities of fat and protein whenever my stomach even remotely considered feeling like it wasn't stuffed.
The theory, as I understand it, is that when you so strictly limit your carb intake (specifically high-glycemic index carbs, namely sugar; fiber and sugar alcohols and some other carbs are okay, but not very satisfying), you force your body to start burning fat for energy. I figure I've succeeded in doing that, but it must still be possible to eat SO MUCH FAT that the lack of carbs no longer matter. My body, I'm guessing, is working its ass off just trying to deal with all the fat I'm shoveling into it.
They tell you that getting through the first couple days is hell, and they are not BSing you my man. My second full day of the diet (btw I started on a whim on a Tuesday morning after drinking a glass of orange juice, which had about 30 grams of sugars in it), I thought I was going to die. Eating more jerky (and I probably ate a pound) did make me feel full, but didn't satisfy my hunger, and made me feel like my stomach was overflowing into my esophagus, which it almost certainly was. But the worst part was the effect on my IQ--it seemed like I lost about 20 points. And if you know me, you know that's quite a significant loss.
After that day, things got a lot better. In fact, by the first Friday, I felt great, even during and after a solid workout. I continue to apparently have more energy and require less sleep, and the indigestion problems that I normally have are almost completely gone. My bad back is even strangely less sore lately.
It does seem to make your breath stink for the first few days, but then I can't be sure since no one got close enough to notice. But for the first two full days I did have that feeling that I had bad breath. It doesn't seem to be a problem anymore and my girlfriend hasn't complained, but then of course she loves me.
It's very interesting to look at the foods you typically eat and see how many carbs they contain, then add up a typical day's carb intake and compare it to the 20 grams you get on Atkins. When I did the math I came up with an easy 400-500 grams of carbs (the USRDA is about 300; and yes, I'm a freaking pig).
On a related note, it's kind of amazing how easy it is to make a kick-ass meal that's Atkins friendly. For example, the other night I roasted a pork loin, stuffed with scallions, shallots, leeks, garlic, blue cheese, and rosemary, sitting in a pool of herbed red wine and olive oil, with artichokes as an appetizer, asparagus, and a salad. The total impact carbs from one serving of this was probably less than 15 grams (not that I limited myself to one serving, of course).
So don't believe the tree-hugger veggie-lover anti-atkins hype. You can eat extremely healthily on Atkins, and you can eat a lot of vegetables. In fact, you can even do a vegetarian version. And if you're really masochistic, you can do a low-fat version. But I wouldn't recommend that.
This is not to say that I wouldn't gladly trade my left eye right now for a gigantic plate of pasta, a half a loaf of crusty Italian bread, an extra large pizza with everything, and a half barrel of double bock. Oh, and of course, tiramisu and regular Ben and Jerry's triple fudge chunk ice cream for desert.
I say regular Ben and Jerry's because they actually make several varieties in low-carb versions, and they're actually pretty good. Other cool low-carb stuff I've found: grainy soft tortillas that you can use to make sandwiches; unsweetened soymilk that I actually like better than the sweetened crap; macadamia nuts and almonds; sauerkraut; rapini; parsley roots; mushrooms; water chestnuts; bean sprouts; and most any green vegetable.
The drinking is a little tough. Red wine is 2 grams/glass, white about 1. Clear alcohols are a free-for-all. The bummer is that you can't have beer (I don't consider Michelob Ultra to be beer).

For more info, check out:

http://atkins.com/

The coolest feature of this site (if you're on the diet) is the carb-counter; click on "Food&Recipes" and look in the lower left corner. Another great nutrition info page:

http://www.friedas.com/productcatlist.cfm?category=Greens%2C%20Roots%20%26%20Vegetables

Just click on what your interested in and navigate to the specific food.