Atkins Diet
The Atkins Diet philosophy involves a four-phase eating plan in conjunction with vitamin and mineral supplementation and regular exercise. Further, it is based upon four principles/phases: Induction, Ongoing Weight Loss, Pre-Maintenance and Lifetime Maintenance.
This is the most popular low-carb diet. You can easily find lot of information on Atkins Diet plan on the web and in different printed magazines. There is also easy to find a free copy of Atkins Diet. But before starting it, you should consider the following:
Have you ever heard of induction and ketosis? The terms are often mentioned in regard to Atkins, but if you're new to the plan, you may not know what it's all about.
Induction is the first, introductory phase of the Atkins Diet program. When talking about it, Dr. Atkins usually refers to it as a way to "get the weight loss ball rolling". Its purpose is to induce a change in your body chemistry that leads to lipolysis (burning fat for energy) and a secondary process known as ketosis.
During ketosis, the body switches from using glucose for energy (sufficient dietary carbs are not available) to using fat; fatty acids are then released into the bloodstream and converted into ketones. The ketones themselves are produced by the metabolism of fat. Ketosis refers to the process of the conversion. The ketones are used by your muscles, your brain, and other organs as an energy source. Excess ketones are then eliminated during urination.
Some of the greatest results of the induction include stabilization of your blood sugar, curbing your cravings and breaking food addictions. You will be building your meals around an "allowed" list that includes a variety of foods. Examples of Atkins-friendly breakfasts are bacon and eggs or an omelet. Many Atkins dieters I know enjoy a chef's salad for lunch; another quick Atkins lunch is a scoop of tuna atop salad vegetables. It's also quite easy to create a variety of appealing dinners from the allowed food list, such as poached salmon with a cup of salad and a cup of spinach.
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You'll learn more as you go along; using the list, you'll be able to build meal plans around your own personal preferences. Foods that can be consumed liberally during the induction phase are: fish, fowl, shellfish, meat, and eggs. You can also have a certain amount of some cheeses. Additionally, you can 20 grams of carbohydrate a day. You can eat two to three cups of salad a day comprised of the particular vegetables Dr. Atkins specifies, which include (but are not limited to): escarole, fennel, radicchio, cucumber, lettuce, and mushrooms. You may garnish your salads with certain toppings such as bacon bits, grated cheese, and hard-boiled egg.
If you choose to consume two cups of salad (rather than three), you can add another cup of vegetables from a different list. Those include artichokes, snow peas, spinach, broccoli, cauliflower, and many others.
What can you eat on the Atkins Diet?
It's definitely a misconception that Atkins Diet lacks variety considering all the different vegetables available on this list. The key is to keep your portion in check (1 cup) and to remember to cut your salad back to two cups so you can have them.
The reason these vegetables are more limited is because they are slightly higher in carbohydrate content than the salad vegetables. Dr. Atkins also advises you to follow the rule of thumb of consuming eight 8-oz. glasses of water per day, which can be consumed in the form of tap water, spring water, mineral water, and filtered water. You can also choose other specific beverages from a list that includes herbal tea and decaffeinated coffee.
If you don't like following rules, this diet's going to be a little tough for you to adjust to. The rules that will probably be the most difficult for many former high-carb dieters are induction rules number 4 and 5. Number 4 tells you to eliminate fruit, bread, pasta, grains, starchy vegetables, nuts, seeds, legumes, and dairy products (except cheese, cream, and butter). Number 5 warns you to not eat anything that is not on the acceptable foods list. That means none, not even one of your kids' French fries! Why? Dr. Atkins says a "just one taste" mentality could ultimately lead to failure.
Many Atkins dieters have complained about constipation problems. The induction diet does quite often result in constipation due to the changes in the types of food eaten.
The long-term purpose of this diet is for you to maintain your weight loss. This is where the Atkins Nutritional Approach leaves most other weight-control programs in the dust. Almost every experienced dieter has embarked on a weight-loss program, worked hard at it, lost a lot of pounds and gained them all back in a few months or perhaps a year. This is usually due to the expected consequence of low-fat, low-calorie diets: hunger. Although many people can tolerate hunger for a while, very few can tolerate it for a lifetime. Deprivation is no fun. Once the biological gap between hunger and fulfillment grows too large, the rebound can be rapid, as well as heartbreaking and humiliating. But that’s the problem with diets that restrict quantities. The Atkins Diet program refuses to accept hunger as a way of life. People who do Atkins gradually find their effective individual level of carbohydrate intake, the tool that allows them to maintain a healthy weight for a lifetime.
Another Atkins Diet goal is for you to achieve good health. The change is amazing. With Atkins, you meet your nutritional needs by eating healthy, wholesome foods and omitting junk food. As a result, fatigue drops from your shoulders like a heavy winter coat you mistakenly wore in summer. This occurs not merely because the pounds drop off, but because the physical consequences of a truly dysfunctional blood sugar and insulin metabolism are reversed. People who do Atkins start feeling good long before they reach their goal weight. Once they abandon the catastrophic American diet of refined carbohydrates for whole, unrefined food, they start to live again.
The diet can change your life. By following an individualized controlled carbohydrate nutritional approach that results in lower insulin production, the diet intends to help people at high risk for chronic illnesses such as cardiovascular disease, hypertension and diabetes. These people usually will see a marked improvement in their clinical parameters after strictly following the diet steps.
And, even if it sounds like a broken record, don’t forget to consult your doctor before you begin the Atkins Diet. It is very important that you receive medical approval before beginning this or any diet.
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