The Atkins Nutritional Approach or more popularly known as the Atkins Diet believes that the only mistake that overweight people commit is that they add too much carbohydrates to their diet. The Atkins diet suggests that by eating less carbohydrates and eating more fat and protein, the body can lose weight faster.
Dr. Robert Atkins created this diet to solve his own weight problems. His first book about the diet was published in 1972 and a second book was released in 2002 wherein in some parts of the original diet were modified but the concept remained the same.
The Low Carb Revolution
The Atkins diet became extremely popular that it was said to affect sales of carbohydrate-rich foods including pasta and rice. The diet became highly popular in 2003 and 2004 that soda companies even released their own versions of low carb drinks.
The effectiveness of the Atkins Diet varies from one person to another depending on their level of dedication. Extreme weight loss can be experienced in just a few days but without the proper maintenance, weight lost will bounce back immediately.
Stages of the Atkins Diet
Like most diets, the Atkins diet consists of four phases:
- Induction. The first phase of the Atkins diet will cover two weeks and in this stage you will be required to limit your carb intake to nothing more than 20 net grams a day. Aside from lowered carb intake, you are only allowed a maximum of 15 net grams of salad and greens and up to 6 ounces of meat, poultry, eggs, and fish. Significant weight loss is expected during this phase in which losses of up to 10 pounds per week if combined with daily exercise. During this time, the body will undergo a state of ketosis in which it burns its own fat for fuel.
- Ongoing weight loss. This stage of the Atkins diet allows additional intake of carbohydrates of up to 5 net grams only. The ongoing weight loss lasts until weight is within 10 pounds of the target one wishes to attain.
- Pre-maintenance. As one reaches this stage, carbohydrate intake is increased again by 10 grams weekly. In this stage, the goal is to find the “Critical Carbohydrate Level for Maintenance” which is the amount of carbohydrate intake one can have without gaining weight.
- Lifetime maintenance. This stage teaches how to maintain the desired weight and not end up gaining back all the weight lost during the last three stages.
