Atkins Diet
 

Need your advice, please.

I'm on an Atkins Diet - low carbohydrates. Advice given in the book is that a low carbo meal is likely not available on aircraft, so the next best thing is the Kosher meal. Has anyone got experiences/advice to share about this issue? Sure would appreciate your insights - I leave on a RTW in a couple days.

Thanks in advance.

I am also on Atkins. I survive by ordering the seafood meal. This tends to be a salad and fish. Kosher tends to be very high in carbs with breads and pastry. If you are travelling in business or first class, there tends to be no problem with the regular meals. The appetizer tends to be protein based, the salad with creamy dressing is fine, skip the bread and the starch with the main course and have the cheese course as your dessert.

I suggest you bring your own Atkins bars and cold cuts...and enjoy the nuts and have a salad.

You could probably order a low fat meal which tends to be tasteless chicken.

I find most of the seafood dishes to be disappointing (crummy shimp & tasteless fish).

You'd think they'd wake up to this "trend" and offer a low carb meal as one of the gazillion special meal options? http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/confused.gif

If you go to a health food store or some place like GNC, you will find bars that are 100 times better than the Atkins bars IMO.

I have not found any "good" low carb bar. I find that they are all dry and don't taste good. I tried 3 flavors the other day of some other 2.5 carb bar, and found them to be no better.

I have, however, discovered the Atkins ready made shakes, and to my surprise I like them, and find that they almost cure my craving for ice cream.

Finally! A chance to make a contribution http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

If you guys haven't found this site, make sure to visit it. And if you haven't tried the "Pure De-lite" belgian chocolate, order one! Unbelievable.. only 3 carbs per bar and it's really good !
http://www.lowcarbnexus.com/

I've done this diet for several years now - I don't think of it as a diet anymore - more of a food style..

Although I haven't tried it, I have heard others report that some of the caterers do, in fact, offer a low-carb special meal. I don't order special meals because I'm afraid it'll screw up my upgrades http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

I like the apple-cinnamon Protein Revolution bars - but there is a section just for bars....

[This message has been edited by svpii (edited 04-17-2001).]

As gabbysz stated, you shouldn't have a problem in C or F. Plenty of options to keep you sated.

If I know I'm going Y, I try to bring a few individually wrapped portions of string cheese, nuts, beef jerky and maybe a hard boiled egg or two. If it's a long flight I'll pack a big salad in one of those Glad throw-away containers (package of four is like $3 or so).

Just for the record, not only your mom says the Atkins diet is a little funny. Consider this:

1.) Your taste buds recognize the distinct "pleasure" of eating sugar; and the "fullness" from eating starch. Why would your body have developed these mechanisms if carbohydrates are such a no-no???

and

2.) Your teeth have both kinds of chewing surfaces: piercing canines for tearing meat AND flat molars for grinding vegetable matter. Again: the biological argument.

Without question this is a free country and you can eat anything you want, but I urge you for your future health to reconsider this extreme "fad" diet.

You can call it a fad diet, and I am not sure of its healthiness on a long term basis, although for those on a maintenance plan at 50-60 carbs/day, there's room for veggies and even a desert here and there.

But for dropping 10-20 pounds relatively quickly, you either have the option of starving on a conventional low-cal diet, or giving up sweets and eating lots of protein (beef, chicken, cheese, eggs, etc.) on the Atkins, or some variation thereof. I prefer the latter. This diet also allow you to drink alchohol, although it probably impairs/slows weight loss, at least for me it still works.

What I have done relatively well for a maintenece "lifestyle" diet is adopt a strategy of "on" days and "off" days during the week. No one writes about or recommends this in any of the books, but it works for me. 4 "off" days and 3 "on" days will keep me at the same weight. This approach worked for me for more than a year until I encountered a ton of stress and let myself go. So now I am back in the middle of a 6 week plan to drop the 20 pounds I put on over the past 6 months...and when you're doing that, beleive me, you want whatever hints/help you can get.

So, thanks, I can't wait to check out the belgian chocolate, and I do recommend the Atkins shakes (ready made, not the mix), which I expected to be disgusting, but which I think are great!

For those into a little adventure...take a chocolate shake on a transcon or int'l flight, and when the sundae's come around, ask the FA to heat up your shake and serve it in a big bowl with some whipped cream. You won't be sorry. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/cool.gif

http://www.lowcarbluxury.com/airlinefood.html

It lists most of the meals that are offered by a paticular carrier, including low carbohydrate. Its also a good source for all the other kinds of meals. It is heavily weighted towards the american carriers.

Interesting, it lists AA as having a low carb option, but I specifically inquired last month on my flight to MIA, only to be told that there was no such option?

Heck, humans react with pleasure to crack too, but it doesn't mean that we have some biological need for it.

I'm all for letting my body's feedback tell me what is good for me and what isn't, but there's a limit to this.

For what it's worth, the Atkins diet insists that you put those molars to use and eat your vegetables.

Oh well, to each their own.

Though I don't do Atkins (too much fat), I do restrict carbs to fruits and vegetables. I, too, tried to order a low-carb meal from AA on the basis of that website earlier this year and had no luck. (Ordered a low-calorie meal instead and got some complex carb-laden meal I couldn't eat.) If I'm in coach for a flight of some length, I generally bring some protein and a small salad to be safe.

I look forward to trying those belgian chocs.