Atkins Diets

The Atkins Diet–Losing Weight Through Eating Less Carbohydrates

Atkins Diet, or officially the Atkins Nutritional Approach, is one of the most popular, if not the most popular, diet plans out there. It was developed by Dr. Robert Atkins to do something about his own weight problem. He started introducing the Atkins diet plan to the public with the publishing of his book Dr. Atkins Diet Revolution back in 1972.

Since then, it has slowly gained popularity to become the diet plan for most of the Americans. What makes the Atkins diet plan attractive to most people? The easiest answer to this is that it doesn’t prohibit most of the food that most of the people are accustomed to.

Atkins diet is made to be a low-carb diet, not a low-fat diet, which makes the oh-so favorite meat less unwanted. Following the plan decreases the amount of carbohydrates intake. This pushes the body to burn the stored fat when it is running low on carbohydrates in a process called ketosis. Since fat requires more energy to burn than carbohydrates, you will be losing a greater amount of mass when you’re burning fat than carbohydrates. Carbohydrates also promote the production of insulin which contributes to the hunger sensation. Thus, a lot of carbohydrate intake can encourage the person to eat more.

The Atkins Diet Plan, has four phases. The first phase is the Induction; this is the most restrictive part of the Atkins diet plan. This phase is recommended to take two weeks. It is designed to push the body to ketosis so a low carbohydrate diet, from 15-20 net grams, is implemented here. A large amount of this carbohydrate must come from green vegetables.

Liberal amount of fish, meat and poultry can be consumed. Eight glasses a day of water is a requirement at this phase of the Atkins Diet. This is the phase where significant weight loss can be observed, especially when done simultaneously with exercise.

The second phase is called Ongoing Weight Loss. The person can increase carbohydrate intake here but must limit it to the level where weight loss can be felt. The purpose of this phase is to know the critical level of carbohydrate where weight loss can be observed. It can also be used to observe what certain types of food affects your appetite. This phase is recommended to last until the person is within 10 pounds of the target weight.

The third phase of the Atkins diet plan is called the Pre-Maintenance. This phase is to know the critical level of carbohydrate where the ideal weight can be maintained. Consumption of carbohydrates, thus, is increased at this phase. The last phase is the Lifetime Maintenance phase. It is at this phase where you continue the discipline learned in the previous phases and maintain your weight as long as you wish. It is not the end of the diet but simply a lifestyle you have to maintain. A person can simply go back the previous phases if weight gain is observed.

With proper discipline and dedication, the Atkins diet is simple and healthy. You can check Atkins diet books, which can be commonly found in bookstores and online, for Atkins diet recipes that are proven to guide you on what to eat and how to prepare them.

This diet plan is not without controversies like increasing the risk of heart disease and over-eating. But if one would really just follow Dr. Atkins original guidelines, this will prove to be false. As what he said, Atkins diet is not a license to gorge on food.

Over-all, the Atkins diet is not one of those complicated diet plans. Followed diligently and strictly, it can solve weight loss without passing up on the good stuffs.