Aitkins Diet - Next Step

[stevep1968]

Hi All

I have just completed a fairly successful 6 weeks on the Aitkins Diet and gone from 19st 11lb down to 18st 4lb (Im 6'3" 42 years old) In an effort to move it on and lose a further 2 stone I have recently joined a gym and am about to start a mixture of cardio and weights.

My objective is to reduce my overall body weight to about 16 stone and develop muscel tone - and of course improve my overall health.

I need some advice on the type of diet to use to contol my weight as I understand 'low carb' not to be the best idea when you are starting a workout program?

Do I go 'low fat' or 'low cal'? Is GI worth looking into? Shall I consider to go low fat and use Orlistat (Alli).

Should I continue with the vit suppliments I have been taking on the Aitkins diet:

1000mg of Evening Primrose Oil
500mg l-glutamine
200mg GTF Chromium
Multivitamin / Mineral
Psyllium Husks

I'd be very gratefull for any advice and help as I really want to get this weight off and enjoy life a little more.

Steve

 

[Jeanette401]

It kind of depends - you can still low carb and work out, however here's what worked for me when I switched off of Atkins and started working out:

1g to 1.5g of protein per lb of lean body mass. I'm guessing for you that would be between 150 and 200g of protein. To measure this you have to know the nutrition content of your food - 6oz of chicken is not the same as 6oz of protein. I recommend a site like fitday.com or livestrong or sparkpeople to keep track.
At least 25g of fiber a day.
Under 13*body weight in lbs of calories a day - for you this would basically mean under 3300 calories (You can go lower, and this number will change as you lose weight)

Additionally, try to eat more plants, whole grains, vegetables etc. and less sugar, starches, 'white' foods like potatoes & rice, etc.

As long as you meet those, it shouldn't really matter whether you're low fat or low carb or whatever - although if you start craving ice cream & pizza, go have some avocado or something with olive oil or something to give you healthy fats. And I'd also recommend taking fish oil pills. The evening primrose, glutamine & chromium I wouldn't worry about so much. And if your'e getting over 25g of fiber a day you shouldn't need the psyllium husk, although you can always use them to get a little extra fiber if you need it.