Rocco DiSpirito: weight loss on Atkins!

As many of you know, much of the initial weight loss on Atkins is water loss because as you go into ketosis you deplete glycogen stores which hold on to water. After that, Atkins does result in “real” weight loss. Personally I believe Atkins is easier to follow than most diets, because in our overly processed world it’s easy to “throw out the bun and eat the burger.” Or in Rocco’s case throw out the pasta. Finding veggie and fruit options at fast food restaurants for instance, is a lot harder proposition. By cutting out the carbs (refined carbs) you are essentially cutting out some of the most calorie dense foods (cakes, breads, cookies etc) in the American diet. So what a lot of people don’t realize is that on an Atkins diet you are essentially cutting back on calories. The problem with Atkins is that although it may be easier to follow, it’s too high in animal protein which causes cancer, heart disease, and osteoporosis. Interestingly, although many people report some initial success with the diet, only 1% of people who have on average lost 70 lbs and kept it off for 6 years report using an Atkins style diet.