Atkins Diet

Dr Robert C Atkins first published his diet plan in 1972. His books have sold over 10 million copies around the world and spent years on the New York Times best seller list. The latest edition of his book, ‘Dr Atkins’ New Diet Revolution’, explains the Atkins nutritional approach in great detail, and includes a number of recipes and eating plans to help dieters on their way to reaching their weight loss goals.

The plan is divided into four phases: induction, ongoing weight loss, pre-maintenance and lifetime maintenance. Each phase is geared toward helping dieters alter their eating habits and lifestyle to achieve their individual weight loss goal, and provide a permanent solution to any weight loss problems the dieter has had in the past. As dieters achieve their weight loss goals, they progress up through the levels, gradually adding more carbohydrates back into their meals and snacks up to a self-determined limit that enables them to maintain their weight loss and enjoy the odd treat. The official Atkins literature explains that you can start the Atkins plan at any phase, depending on your goals. Most people begin the Atkins Nutritional Approach with the Induction phase.

The first phase, Induction, is designed to kick-start the weight loss process. During induction, your carb intake is limited to just 20 grams a day – in Atkins, carbohydrates are typically referred to as ‘net carbs’ which is the total carb count less the grams of fiber in the food. The bulk of your 20 gram daily intake of carbs comes from non-starchy vegetables. Rules for induction are clear: eat no more than 20 rams of carbohydrate pe day; eat no fruit, bread, pasta, grains, starchy vegetables or dairy products (apart from cheese, cream and butter); eat liberally from the acceptable foods list until you’re satisfied but not stuffed; avoid excessive caffeine; drink at least eight 8oz glasses of water each day; and, take a good multivitamin with minerals. After two weeks, many people move on to phase two.

Ongoing Weight Loss (OWL) is the second phase of the Atkins Nutritional Approach. When you decide that you’re ready to move on to the next phase, the restrictive limits of Induction fall away. The goal of OWL is to determine your critical carbohydrate level for losing (CCLL). The rules for OWL are: keep protein and fat as the key components of your diet; increase your daily carb intake by just five grams each week; add new foods in the order Atkins lists them in their ‘carbohydrate ladder’; add just one new food group at a time; stop new foods immediately if you gain weight; continue doing OWL until you have between five and 10 pounds left to lose.

Pre-Maintenance is the third phase of the Atkins programme. The third phase enables you to keep increasing your carb level without stopping your weight loss progress; again, you do this by upping your daily intake 10 grams per week. You continue doing this until you’ve hit your target weight and maintained it for a month – the ultimate goal is attaining what Atkins calls ACE (Atkins Carbohydrate Equilibrium), a level of carb intake at which you neither gain nor lose weight. Pre-maintenance allows for a lot more experimentation with menus and flexibility in counting your carbs – offering you the opportunity to consume less carbs one day in exchange for going over your limit the next.

The final phase of the Atkins Nutritional Approach is Lifetime Maintenance. This phase applies your ACE to the rest of your life, claiming that if you abide by the rules you’ve learned and the changes you’ve made to your lifestyle during the programme thusfar, you’ll always stay within five pounds of your goal weight. Rules for the final Atkins phase are: stick to your ACE; eat natural, unprocessed, nutrient-dense carbs; exercise regularly; take supplements to meet your needs; develop a strategy to combat temptation; experiment with new recipes; and, never allow yourself to gain more than five pounds.