Wicky,
First of all:
I’m not going to waste time with you arguing about Dr. Atkins. My opinion is shared by the majority of nutritionalists and other health professionals. If you love his diet, that’s your decision. Good luck! I have read a lot of warnings that it is dangerous. I have never read that balanced and sensible diets, that include fruits, vegetables, complex carbohydrates, and reasonable quantities of lean protien sources such as fish, poultry, or legumes are dangerous.
My brother has always been on a high fat, high protien, high meat diet. No, it probably has not always been the exact Atkins diet. But he has gone on the Atkin’s diet more than once to lose weight. Years ago my brothers blood tests showed he was heading down the road to heart problems and diabetes. The doctors warned him to change his diet. He didn’t. He paid the consequences.
Ketosis is hard on your kidneys. Regardless of what kind of ketosis it is. Ask your doctor.
Maybe I’ll have a stroke when I’m in my early fifties too, but I’m certainly going to do my best to follow a balanced diet to improve the odds that I don’t.
My mother who is 76, just took up weight lifting a few years ago, which is pretty cool. She is careful about her diet and exercise. Much more so than many of her friends, who are consequently not in as good of shape as she is, or as “young” as she is. She’s ended up having to make much younger friends, because she likes to walk, and to play tennis (she can’t ride because of a fused spine from an old accident). I hope she beats the genetic odds, too. Regardless, she is a terrific inspiration to a lot of younger people, including, me. And her quality of life, is far, far better, right now.
There are also numerous other case studies that show that people who have changed to a balanced diet that is lower in fat and higher in complex carbohydrates have lower cholesteral, lower insulin intake, and fewer bybass surgeries. The majority of doctors and nutritionalists in America agree on this.
The topic of this thread is Body image and riding. Unfortunately most people want a quick fix for their body image, which means a quick fix sort of diet. Which may work for the short term, but doesn’t for the long term. A lot of people who have contributed posts on this thread have talked about being depressed, and having concerns about maintaining a healthy weight. Others have talked about anerexia. You can’t separate body image from the weight loss/weight gain issue, or from issues of self esteem. That leads to the need to educate both the young and old alike reagarding diet as it relates to nutrition, as well as exercise, as it relates to health and well being. Riding is an athletic sport, and therefore is related to all of the above dicussions in this thread. I have no interest in arguing about one diet over another. I just hope that people reading these posts will try to take good care of themselves and not do anything “quick fix” or dangerous. I really, really, hate to see people suffer!! I’d really just like to see fewer people struggle and more people be happy and healthy. 
[This message has been edited by Scoutie (edited 03-22-2000).]
