Hi All,

Recently I had to have a few fillings and this meant I was stuck on liquid foods for a couple of days. I have a couple of batches of soup (Mushroom and Roasted Red Pepper with Butternut Squash) from the book and website – Nice but it got boring!

Now normally on BSD I don’t often have breakfast, If at 11ish I get hungry I have one HB Egg… With only eating soup I have been especially hungry in the morning and started seeking a liquid breakfast…

I searched yogurt drinks, meal replacements and protein shakes. I felt all of them were too high in Cals/Carbs.

Eventually in a local Boots store I found an Atkins Shake at 163Cals / 2.9g Carbs for 330mls. This took me to the internet and Amazon where these Atkins products are everywhere!!

Has anyone used the Atkins Products?? I am especially keen to hear from people who have finished the 8 week challenge and continued a low carb lifestyle! The Atkins products appear to help support that in a more convenient way.

It would be nice to say, pick up a pack of crisp breads for lunch in stead of slaving away personally!

Thanks in Advance!!
Libby

Hi Libby — I can’t agree. I have nothing against Atkins as a company but I have a lot against highly refined, soy-heavy “fake” food — there is nothing natural about the nutrition in such products. I would never recommend them. Quick meals are easy to make — yogurt, salads, cheese — lots of good real-food options. Hold out for truly healthy food. These kinds of products cheat us in a thousand different ways.

For the record, much of the original research that the BSD is based on was done using prepared Atkins style meal replacements. It was a way for the researchers to keep a more accurate record of food intake by the participants.

For short term use they would ensure you are getting enough nutrients but they would be very expensive if you were on them permanently. I tried a few of them and I didn’t like the taste at all.

Hi Libby,
I have never tried Atkins products (but have used other meal replacement shakes years ago). I am with Californiagirl – real food is much more satisfying and more beneficial over the long term. Whipping up a quick meal can be the work of just a few minutes.
In agreement with Jande9, too – the cost over the long term would certainly put me off. It’s lbs we want to lose, not £s. 🙂

Hi All,

Thank you for your replies – Although I do agree it is better to make your meals in advance so that you are prepared there are times when this is not possible.

My original jump to Atkins was because I was stuck on liquid foods (I had fillings recently and was unable to chew things) I needed something to replace breakfast/brunch for a short term whilst my teeth healed. The Atkins shakes helped control my hunger and got me through to lunch (2:30ish most days) and I did not gain weight using them so I made the sacrifice of ‘convenience’ for the sake of my chewing inability, ha ha!

That lead to my question about long term BSD and what people used when human mistakes or time got the better of them. I work from 8:30am to 6:30pm MOnday to Saturday and when I am tired I make mistakes, like forgetting my lunch or not taking a batch cook meal out of the freezer in time.

The Atkins products like crispbreads and chocolate bars simply appealed to me for the “Oh Balls I Forgot” moments or the “Oh Lord I cant be bothered!”

I understand that over complicated food with additives and processed things are bad when used for the long term, but I was thinking about the odd addition to continue with BSD Long Term.

I have researched Atkins recently as an option after the 8 week challenge, it looks to be the same lifestyle and food plan just without the calorie counting…

Everything in Moderation,
Libby

Sounds like you work for Atkins but yes, everything in moderation. I hope your choices are helpful to you and that it leads to your continued success!! What other things, besides Atkins, are working well for you?

Just looked at the ingredients of Atkins crispbreads – no thanks.

Given the choice I think that I’d go for a good old-fashioned Ryvita.

The pricing also seems to value the Atkins brand quite highly.

Californiagirl – No, I do not work for Atkins. What a vastly unhelpful and unfriendly comment.

Again I only ventured the Atkins subject due to being unable to chew food for a few days. As I put in the original post I did look in to alternatives before reaching for Atkins Shakes – mainly yogurt drinks, meal replacements and protein shakes. But non of these products were low carb, lots of them worked out at over the 50g Limit that I try to keep too per day.

Cant point out enough that I used the Atkins Shakes because I couldn’t eat solids.

Life after the eight-week challenge can be many things. For lots of people here, it is carrying on with the Fast 800, others move over to 5-2, and others still move over to a low-carb Mediterranean diet. And of course there is the option of trying some other type of dieting system. Captainlynne is a great example of someone who kept going on the Fast 800 for a year to reach her goal. There are many others like her. Other people do eight weeks or whatever suits them, take a break and then come back.

Libbyohno, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t ask questions or see what other people do, and I’m sure your motives were genuine rather than commercial. But to be fair to Californiagirl, if you go back and read your first post in particular, you will see that it does come across as supporting Atkins and pointing people to outlets for their products. Your second post could be read as plugging them too.

The other issue, Libbyohno, is what kind of meals were you eating before the BSD? I personally don’t follow any of the recipes in the book or the follow-up recipe book but have pretty well stuck to what I was eating before, just much smaller portions of everything except veg, less frequent servings of carb-rich veg like carrots, almost no fruit and no starchy carbs. I log everything on Fat Secret to monitor my intake. You may find you could do the same.

I would personally opt for homemade soups and smoothies, rather than manufactured refined products. My feeling is that one of the aims of the BSD, is to get us eating healthy real food, rather than things out of a packet. Yes, there are times when for convenience a packet is preferable – or even the only option – but for me, Atkins type products would not be top of my list. Having said this, we all have to find our own path and adapt as necessary to suit our bodies and our lifestyles.

I apologize for making you feel bad Libby. I didn’t intend for it to sound (or be) mean. I am sure that not being able to eat solids was very painful and, no doubt, frustrating. I wish you good luck moving forward.
Julia

I mean, lord alive. Commercial motives, pointing out where to get the products, really? If I had been talking about what salad and vegetables had been on offer in a particular supermarket that week would we have reacted the same…

It so obvious by both posts that over a few days of hunger from being stuck on liquids (even mentioning trying to rely on the homemade soups alone) I discovered something new and tried it. I then came here, a forum that has been so supportive and helpful so far, to ask if anyone else had tried it. I wasn’t asking for a slap on the wrist for not cooking my own meals, or taking the time to make a smoothie, or not recognising that fake foods are bad foods.

Original question has obviously been answered. Thank you.

Thank you Julie, It was frustrating, and it is fair to say I am feeling sensitive. I appreciated you saying that and believe you were not meaning it as it came across. Emails are like that I suppose for all who can’t see a persons face behind the keyboard.

Apologies all

Hi Libby

I used to do the Atkins diet and it was very successful for me (I’m not going to advocate the diet as I put most of the weight back on when I went back to normal eating – sound familiar?). I used the bars mostly but occasionally used the shakes too. For convenience, really, it can’t be beaten. When I was on Atkins (probably about 10 years ago) it was nigh on impossible to find anything carb free, anywhere. I travel alot and sometimes spend up to 36 hours travelling in one go. Unless you are in Business Class, the quality and quantity of food is a low carb nightmare, and I travel with an Atkins bar in my bag at all times, even now that I am maintaining. I got caught on a four hour delay, and the only food available were pastries, baguettes and doughnuts – I was very pleased to have that bar!! It’s for emergencies and I wouldn’t advocate it for every day but it’s definitely a life saver. There is nothing else out there that can beat it when you don’t have a fridge, cooker and scales in front of you.

I went to the US in October and stocked up. They are a great idea, in moderation, as you say. Yes, they are full of chemicals, no they don’t taste amazing but they are good enough and certainly better than the alternative sometimes. So that’s my opinion. Hope it helps.

Hope your teeth are better – I can sympathise – hate the dentist and have to go tomorrow!!!!!

Hi Topcac,

Thank you for this. I don’t often get stuck because I spend my Sunday batch cooking for the freezer and luckily LBSD is so good for having lots of options (which is why It feels more like a lifestyle than a diet to me) – I can buy cooked chicken in every shop now and bagged salads etc. if I forget my lunch.

On very rare occasions if I forget my lunch but I am unable to leave the office to buy something that is when I was thinking about having a small stock of bars or shakes in the cupboard for times of absolutely no options.

I live by the LBSD cookbook and love this new way of living and eating! I tell all my friends about it and have even managed to convert some to join me on the 8 week journey 😉

Thank you again for your help, and congratulations on being in maintain! I hope to reach my goal soon too and look forward to maintaining a healthy happy weight 🙂

Libby x