Robert C. Atkins (1)Critiques

It's a shocker. Really.

I loved this book, first diet that ever worked for me...it became my bible. However, like all diets, I regained the weight over time when I stopped following it. So I bought the new volume and it was terrible. I hunted down the old one at a second hand book store to use to restart the diet and it worked for me again.

Very similar to original 1972 book and 1992 update. Fleshed out and more emphasis on exercise than book one. The update to 2002 was necessary because there have been major changes in policy with the AMA and others towards low carb diets. Once an anaethma with every doctor and official voice claiming Atkins was bad for your health and with the backing of big sugar and the guide put out by the government and the media on the bandwagon...Dr. Atkins 1972 was demonized except by those of us who had actually lost weight with his help. To have seen him vindicated in the 90's almost felt like vindication for those of us who believed in him way back when. This book adds the information on all the new carb free foods available now.

I love this book. It is a life changer. I first picked it up in 2004 after a lifetime of trying every diet under the sun, none of which worked for long and all of which left me hungry. When I turned 50 I decided I would not diet any more and over the next ten years gained a substantial amount of weight. I found this 1972 Atkins books second hand and decided to give it a try...one more time. I was astonished and delighted at how easy it was, how it actually worked, the speed at which I lost weight and the fact that I was never hungry and never craved. I lost quite a bit and then my world crashed and I turned to alcohol which led to sweets, which led to carb loading and just as Dr. Atkins warned would happen, I regained all the weight I lost very rapidly and more. Discouraged and struggling with life I lived a modified, home made type of Atkins but I treated it like a diet not a lifestyle and fell into the calorie counting trap and cheated and lost ground. Then one day I came across the book and decided once more into the breech. I didn't want the 1993 version...I wanted the original 1972 version. I followed it religiously and I lost 70 pounds. Another life crisis and I fell into the same old behaviour but the key is always, do not feel ashamed, pick yourself up, refresh your memory, go back to the basics and start again. So I reread the book that started it all and what is fascinating is remembering all the nay sayers and critics who for 30 years continued to treat Dr. Atkins diet as dangerous and now everyone is on the bandwagon and taking credit for reinventing the wheel. He never lived to see himself so thoroughly vindicated. They even used his death to try to discredit his diet by saying he died fat or that his diet caused his death...both of which were untrue statements but like the Trump misinformation campaign so rampant in the USA today...many people took it as gospel and believed the lie.

A convenient pocket sized reference book that helps track nutrition information. If you are tracking what you eat, a book like this is invaluable. Looking up common foods is simple and quick.

Useful for recipes for special meals but many too elaborate for the 'what's for dinner tonight?' routine.

Radical vegetarians have spread the rumor that Dr. Atkins died fat and afflicted with heart disease. He did have a heart condition,but it was probably of viral origin unrelated to his diet. He was 195 lbs when admitted to the hospital. At 6' that is hardly fat. He died of traumatic brain injury from slipping on ice and striking his head. No amount of vegetables would have saved him unless corn stalks were spread to give traction on the ice. The diet is hard to maintain--but it does not call for only eating meat, or eating as much fat as you want or most of the other things said about it. This is a revision of the original Atkins Diet and reflects changes in scientific research about the value of various kinds of fats. Remember when polyunsaturated was good?

A must read for preventing or dealing with Type 2 diabetes.This has been very helpful and beneficial!

I tried, I ate a lot of meat, I failed and I went back to my couscous and chickpeas and veggies.
The diet was developed in the 40s for uncontrolled diabetics who bodies could not handle any but a minimal amount of carbohydrate. Since carb molecules take on 4 times as much water as protein ones, water weight was lost very fast and then, since proteins are filling because they are digested very slowly, people snack less and true fat is lost, but a huge amount of cholesterol is consumed. It was realised that if you actually stuck to the diet rigidly you would put yourself at risk of heart disease, but when the diet was still current for diabetics, it was realised that without the diet they weren't going to live long enough to get clogged arteries from all that red meat's cholesterol.

The book does not make any of that clear. It is a dangerous book that puts weight loss for vanity (surely not health) above a long and healthy life. It should be noted that when Dr. Atkins died, he was obese and had heart disease himself.

This is about controlled carbohydrate nourishment. And getting more exercise is non-negotiable.

Eat protein. Dramatic reduction of carbohydrates, sugar, and white flours.
He does suggest "boycotting junk foods". [355]

mptpro and keylawk are right.

The rest of the reviewers are wrong.

Case closed.

I remember trying this diet many years ago. I had heard that people were having success with it so I gave it a try.

I remember eating a lot of meat and eggs and desperately craving things like apples. I did lose weight with the diet but, not surprisingly, gained it all back when I returned to a normal diet.

I have never known anybody that tried this diet and was able to maintain the diet for any length of time. Personally, I think it is unhealthy and an unnatural way to eat.

It's small, so it's easy to take with you.
But there are a lot of foodstuffs missing - mackerel, mussels. Not being American I find the measurements (mostly cups) difficult to work with, and of course I have not much use for many of the brand name foods.
Probably really useful if you're American, somewhat usable if you're not.½

Instead of a book, this item is a box with recipe cards and a small booklet outlining the main stages of the famous Atkins low carb diet. There is also a CD allowing the reader to plan and print out menus and keep tabs on carb intake.

This book came out during the low-carb diet boom. Most recipes can be modified to fit a low-fat regimen as well. It just takes a little planning and a lot of substitutions.

I felt great when I first went on this diet. I was amaized by the results. However, like any other diiet my body eventually started craving the things I had eliminated. I just eat a balanced diet now. No more fads for me.

I felt great when I first went on this diet. I was amaized by the results. However, like any other diiet my body eventually started craving the things I had eliminated. I just eat a balanced diet now. No more fads for me.

Controversial for some but a master in his own time for others.

I got this book for 2.35$ at a garage sale and this one is the original copy writen in 1972. I do believe in Dr Atkins and I have followed his theory for many years.

Very good book but not as good as the original done in 1972. This one is aiming more on the marketing side of his line of low-carb products used in his recipe. Of course, this book was done at the end of his career when more people got involved in his money machine...

This is the book that started it all. I have no idea now why this worked so well but it did. Now that I am older, wiser and slimmer I wouldn't go back to it. Don't make me! lol. What's so wise in this book? Well it breaks dieting down into steps. I think it's great failing is that there is no minimum protein requirement. And the admonition to limit calories is buried in small print somewhere inconspicuous.

Atkins was one of the pioneers in the now popular low-carb diets. While the diet seems effective in the short term, I seriously doubt its extended efficacy. Moreover, I fear it may cause actual harm when followed for prolonged periods.

Atkins was one of the pioneers in the now popular low-carb diets. While the diet seems effective in the short term, I seriously doubt its extended efficacy. Moreover, I fear it may cause actual harm when followed for prolonged periods.

This is a great pocket reference tool.

It IS effective. If you study the human body, and our nutritional development, then it totally makes sense WHY it works.

But, YOU have to work.

I am 6'3". I was 275, 28% body fat. I went down to 216, 13% body fat. (I am now 245 lbs, with 13% BF due to weight training). All because of this book. I am forever grateful to Dr. Atkins. Others have done the research, but it is those individuals who bring it to the masses that make it count! He was a pioneer, like Ayn Rand and Art Williams.

Here's what worked for me:

1) no-carbs (not "low carbs" - NO carbs).
2) aerobic exercise 3 times per week, with INTENSITY. No talking, no reading, no tv, just sweating, huffin' & puffin'. PUSH yourself. If you can talk on your damn cell phone while working-out, guess what you're not doing....
3) Weight-training with INTENSITY. Lift heavy weights. Build muscle, which will strengthen you and cause your body to use up more energy, even while resting.
4) Supplements. CLA, DHEA, a thermogenic.

Although I might have liked the idea, I didn't want to invest in what it took to make the change. So I skimmed and did not read this book, that I can remember.