Robert C. Atkins (1) (1930–2003)

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 show more 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. show less

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 show more 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. show less

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 show more 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? show less

I can't recommend anyone follow this diet. Yes you'll lose weight, but... I believe this diet led to me developing kidney stones and atrial fibrillation. See instead WFPBD. Basically the exact opposite, but sustainable and healthy.