Dr. Robert Atkins was a cardiologist that was looking for a diet plan to help his heart patients. These patients were having trouble with health and weight. Atkins knew that low fat and low calorie diet plans were not the answer for most of his patients. His scientific studies showed that with limited refined carbs, he could make the body become a fat-burning machine. This not only helped with weight loss, it helped improve most of his patients’ health.
Atkins Basics
On the Atkins Diet, you will progress through four phases as you go through your weight loss journey. In the Induction Phase, you will limit your carbohydrate intake to 20 grams of net carbs a day. Net carbs are total carbs minus fiber and/or sugar alcohol. In the Ongoing Weight Loss phase, you will discover how many carbs your body can handle and still lose weight. The Pre-maintenance phase will still let you lose those last few pounds, but it will also give you your allowable daily carb intake amount for lifetime maintenance. Lifetime Maintenance is where you will stick to your tolerant daily carb count to maintain that weight.
Pros
- The Atkins plan is not just for quick weight loss but also for the stabilization of blood sugar and the improvement of a person’s metabolism.
- Turns body into a fat-burning machine.
- Increases energy.
- Often helps to lower cholesterol.
Cons
- The first few days is often known as the Atkins Flu. These few days can leave a person with headaches, feeling listless, and sometimes feeling slightly ill. This does pass leaving people refreshed, energized, and feeling healthier than ever before.
- People with any medical problems should seek medical advice before going on a plan that limits food groups. You may need to start in an advanced phase.
- Can sometimes cause constipation.
Meal Plan
Induction Phase – Each meal should have at least 4-6 oz of approved protein (http://www.atkins.com/Program/Phase1/WhatYouCanEatinthisPhase.aspx) and approved veggies. Veggies have carbs so they need to be counted toward your daily allowance of carbs. Most proteins don’t have carbs, so you are free to eat as much as you need to feel satisfied. Sugar free jello is an acceptable snack. This phase will kick start your weight loss and revamp your blood sugar to good working order. It will also turn your body into the fat-burning machine that is desired for maximum weight loss.
Ongoing Weight Loss (OWL) – This is a discovery phase. This phase will help you figure out how many carbs you can safely eat per day and still lose weight. During this phase, you will increase your carb intake by 5 grams a week using the list of approved
foods (http://www.atkins.com/Program/Phase2/WhatYouCanEatinthisPhase.aspx). For instance, the first week of this phase, you will have a net carb intake of 25 grams per day. The next week, you will increase it to 30 grams per day. You will continue to add this way until you find that your weight loss has slowed or stopped. Once you see that, you will decrease your intake by 5 – 10 grams so you see weight loss again. This is your personal tolerance level. This is what you will follow until you are near your weight loss goal.
Pre-Maintenance Phase – During this phase, you will continue to lose those last few pounds. You will also test your carb tolerance slightly, pushing an increase of 10 grams per week. As long as you are losing, even slowly, the increase is okay. Some people are okay with an increase; some people are not. If you find that your weight loss stops or that you have cravings and increased hunger, back off your carb intake by 10 grams per day. You are also allowed to add in some foods that were off limits from the approved phase 3 food list (http://www.atkins.com/Program/Phase3/WhatYouCanEatinthisPhase.aspx). You will find out what foods and how much will still allow you to lose weight, feel good, and keep hunger and cravings at bay. By the end of this phase, you should be at your weight loss goal, and should pretty much know what your carb count will be for maintaining your weight for a lifetime.
Lifetime Maintenance – You will stick to the number of carbs that doesn’t cause you to gain or lose weight. Learn to adjust the plan as necessary. If you gain a few pounds, back off that number of carbs until you are back at your goal weight. If you suddenly lose a few pounds that you didn’t mean to, then add 10 grams of carbs a day in and see how that works. You now know what foods are okay, which ones are not, and how many carbs your body can handle. As we get older, more active, or things change, so should change your ultimate daily carb count as necessary.
Attack Meal Plan Sample
Breakfast: Southwestern Omelet
Snack: Celery with cream cheese
Lunch: Chicken salad on lettuce
Snack: Grilled veggies sprinkled with shredded cheese
Dinner: Steak, cottage cheese, salad
Dessert: Sugar free jello
Recommendations
- One multi-vitamin and one fish oil tablet should be taken daily.
- Don’t let yourself think that as long as you are under the desired amount of carbs without regard to food type that this plan will work. It will not. To turn your body into a fat-burning machine, you need to eat foods only on the acceptable food list.
- Make sure that most of your carbs per day come from high nutrition foods from the food list.
- The Induction Phase is ONLY meant to be on for 2 weeks. Atkins is a plan that is meant to let you add in nutrient-based carbs. Each week you will add them in, 5 grams at a time, until your weight loss slows or stops, then you will be required to eliminate 5 grams of carbs per day. This will give you your personal tolerance level toward carbs. This will let you know the right amount of carbs you can have to either still lose weight or maintain.
- When adding carbs back into your diet, make sure they are high in nutrition. These foods help keep you satisfied, and give your body the vitamins and minerals it needs for maximum health and efficiency.
- It is recommended that you add back in berries first. Be careful adding in any kind of nuts and seeds, it is easy to get addicted to them and lose sight of portion size. This will stop your weight loss.
- Change up the variety of foods that you take in. Variety is the key to long-lasting Atkins success.
- Read any of the Atkins Diet Revolution books to be sure you understand the plan fully. Also, Dr. Atkin’s website (www.atkins.com) has all the information you need to get started, plus menu plans, and recipes.
Reference:
The New Atkins Diet, The Dukan Diet Review, http://www.atkins.com
Low Carb Friends, http://www.lowcarbfriends.com/ , For support and recipes
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