Atkins Diet

Background

The Atkins diet is one of the oldest and the most effective of the many diet plans that have come after it.  If you haven’t already been on it yourself, you probably know someone who has.  Most people are attracted to this diet plan because of the fact you can and should eat foods like cheese, bacon, eggs, steak and almost everything that low-calorie diet plans do not offer you.  With the high fat foods you are still able to lose weight because of the fact you are mixing it with a lot of protein and giving up almost all of your carbohydrates.

What the Atkins Diet Really Is

The Atkins Diet was devised by Dr. Robert Atkins himself.  This is a high protein, low carb diet that shows you that when you cut out all of the carbs in your diet such as bread, potatoes, and other starches your body forces itself to burn the fat that your body has stored up until now.  The fat is turned into energy which allows you to burn more calories because your blood sugar is more stabilized and it prevents the constant cravings that you get by eating high carbohydrate foods.

There are four phases to the diet.  There is the Induction phase which means that for two weeks you limit your intake of carbs to a mere 20 grams per day.  You have to avoid anything like biscuits, chocolate, sodas, pastry, bread, pasta, rice, fruit, milk and most veggies.  You can eat only protein such as red meat, fish, eggs, cheese, chicken and other proteins.  It is during this time that your body starts burning fat rather than carbs.  The second phase is called Ongoing Weight Loss which allows you to increase your carb intake by as much as 5 grams per week until you reach the maximum allowed.  At this point you should be losing 1 to 3 pounds per week.  Some foods such as bread, rice, pasta and potatoes are still going to be off limits.

Phase three will then start.  This is called pre-maintenance and it is when you can increase your carb intake by 10 grams each day for a week in order to slow down your weight loss providing you have reached a healthier weight.  You will be allowed tiny amounts of pasta, bread and potatoes finally.  Finally, you reach lifetime maintenance which helps you to maintain the new weight you are at.  While you can indulge in a few more carbs, you still need to limit it to less than 90 grams per day and therefore you are now living a low carb lifestyle.

Cost of the Program

To join online, the cost is free.  You will receive a newsletter filled with strategies, recipes, previews of new products, success stories and more.  You will also have access to a community forum in which you can get support, encouragement and motivation.

You will need some of the Atkins Products in order to succeed.  This includes the book that highlights the diet plan as well as perhaps a recipe book.  There are even Atkins food bars for keeping on track as well as breakfast meal replacement bars.

The books you need to get started range from $5.99 to $29.95

Recipes and Foods Available

There are hundreds of recipes available for free on the Atkins Diet website.  A typical menu might look something like this:

Breakfast – Fried egg and bacon, a cup of coffee with cream
Lunch – Chicken with melted mozzarella and a side salad topped with olive oil
Dinner – London Broil with a side of spinach and sour cream
Snack – Two pieces of baked ham

Cons of the Atkins Diet

At first when you give up your carbs you may have intense irritability, as well as a state of ketosis.  This can result in fatigue, weakness, insomnia, nausea, bad breath and dizziness as well as constipation from eating high fiber foods.

Part of the debate of the Atkins Diet is that some health professionals say that it may have long term effects on the heart with the high intake of fatty foods.  It may increase the risk of heart disease and can lead to deficiency in some nutrients because you are lacking fruits and vegetables for a short period of time.  It is recommended that you take a multi-vitamin while on the Atkins Diet.

Conclusion

Although it may be hard to change your habits, it will only take a few weeks to get used to the new food.  It may take longer mentally to get over not being able to eat your favorite foods, but again, in time you will be able to deal with it better.  The Atkins Diet is also not vegetarian friendly since you are giving up many of the vegetables, beans, seeds, and nuts.  That being said, people can and have lost considerable amounts of weight which is extremely motivating.  It works extremely well for men and can help women get rid of their belly fat which is always popular with women.  It does take a while to get used to but once you see the weight literally falling off you will be very happy you tried it.

Have You Tried The Atkins Diet?

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