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Like most people who are going on a diet, your first goal is weight loss. The basic answer to that question is “as much as you want.” But there are many things behind that answer that affect the results for each person. Because of this, every person will have somewhat different results.

First of all, there are multiple phases to the Atkins diet and each phase has different rates of weight loss.

During the induction phase, you will lose weight much faster than in the rest of the diet. Because of the severe limit on net carbs, your body will burn stored fat at a much higher rate than normal.

The Atkins diet book says that you can expect to lose between 6 and 15 pounds during this first two weeks of the diet.

After the first two weeks, the rate of weight loss slows down a bit over time. In the ongoing weight loss (OWL) phase you add carbs to your daily diet until your weight loss slows to a more modest 1-2 pounds per week. Some weeks may be a little lower and some weeks a little higher, but if you stick to the plan as published you should see a nice, steady and healthy loss rate.

Once you are within 5 to 10 pounds of your goal weight you switch to the pre-maintenance phase, and your weight loss rate will drop again. During this phase, you are experimenting to find the carb level that will help you maintain your current weight, so there will be a time when you may feel like you are barely losing any weight, but if you follow the plan you should lose around 1 pound a week.

So, to lose significant amounts of weight, over 50 pounds, should you stay on the induction phase longer than the 2 weeks? The answer is no. Staying on that phase too long can be unhealthy, and it is not intended as a long term plan for losing significant amounts of weight.

You can lose all the weight you want on the Atkins diet, it just may take some time to lose a lot. Of course, that is true of any healthy weight loss plan.

Diet alone will sometimes result in slower weight loss, or even a plateau where you lose no weight. To maximize your results, exercise should be combined with diet. This will help increase both the total amount of weight you lose and the rate at which you lose it.

How much total weight you lose depends on how well you follow the plan and how long you stay in each phase. Some people report losses of 100 pounds or more. Those results may be atypical, but there are many people that report losses of 25 to 35 pounds. The Atkins diet has been shown to be an effective way to lose as much weight as desired for people who follow the plan over time.

As with any diet plan, sticking to the Atkins plan can be difficult at times. Here are some essential tips to sticking to the plan, some of which apply to any diet and some which are specific to the Atkins diet.

First off, prepare to be on the diet in advance. Clear the items out of your pantry and refrigerator that don’t fit in to the low-carb diet’s plan. Give your pasta, white flour and other high-carb foods away, or throw them in the trash. If they aren’t in the house, you won’t be tempted to eat them, even in small quantities.

After you get rid of all your “bad” foods, makes sure you go re-stock your home with the foods that are on the plan. Not only will you not be tempted to eat foods that aren’t on the plan, but having all the approved foods available will make it that much easier to plan and prepare meals that will be part of your diet.

The key to sticking to any diet is enjoying the foods you eat, and having all the materials around to prepare tasty foods that are Atkins friendly will be invaluable.

Next, keep snacks handy. If you are going to be away from home during the day, either at work or somewhere else, prepare snacks in advance to take with you. Fresh vegetables, cut and put in plastic bags are good snacks.

Cheese and a few hard-boiled eggs also make good snacks that are not only approved on the diet but are easy to take with. There are also a variety of low-carb snack bars available that fit easily in a pocket, purse or briefcase. Some of those bars are sold under the Atkins brand(Atkins Advantage bars), but there are others that are also acceptable on the plan.

One often overlooked tip is to make sure you use vitamin supplements. Even a mild deficiency of some vitamins can make you feel tired, a feeling some people attribute to the diet as a whole. Those people often quit the diet to avoid feeling tired when taking a single vitamin pill each day would prevent feeling so tired.

Diet with a family member or a friend. Having the support of someone close to you makes any diet easier. If that person is someone living with you (such as a spouse) it becomes even easier to stick to the plan.

If that person doesn’t need to lose weight, they can still help by eating from the maintenance phase while you are in either the induction or the weight-loss phases.

Lastly, if you dine out, make sure you ask to have meals altered so they are Atkins friendly. Ask to have bread and potatoes substituted with vegetables, or at the very least simply left off of your plate. Don’t be embarrassed to ask to have items changed or substituted. Not having the temptation right in front of you will make it that much easier not to eat the foods you are supposed to be avoiding.

Many people have heard of the Atkins diet and know that it can be an effective mechanism to lose weight. As with many diets, sticking to the plan can be quite difficult at times. Here are some ideas for helping you stick to the diet.

The first thing to get is a list of approved foods. You can get one in many bookstores that carry diet books, and there are plenty of resources online. The Atkins diet is based on “net carbs” which are not always easy to figure out from the nutritional guides included on food packaging. Having a list of foods with their net carb counts will help you stick to the diet in all it’s phases.

Along with that list, keep a diary of the foods you eat during a day and their net carbs. Many people are surprise how fast they hit their daily carb limit. Having that list of what you have eaten and where you stand each day makes keeping to the plan so much easier.

Be sure to check the labels of things like chewing gum and over-the-counter medications. You would be surprised how many of them contain sugar that will affect your progress on the diet. Search for sugar free alternatives.

Hunger pangs and cravings are the most common reason that people fail to stick to low-carb diets. Beyond following the list of approved, low carb foods the easiest way to follow the plan is to have a couple of small, approved snacks during the day.

In the induction phase, you are allowed to have almost all meats, poultry and seafood while eliminating most fruit and all bread, rice, potatoes and other starches. Low-carb, high fiber green vegetables such as spinach, broccoli and salad greens are also permitted. Having snacks of approved foods like nuts, vegetables and hard-boiled eggs will make it easier to follow this phase and keep hunger cravings down.

Things get a little easier in the ongoing weight loss (OWL) phase. You still have to watch the net carb numbers, but you do get to start adding foods back in to your diet. Again, a couple of small snacks of foods on the approved list is one key way to curb hunger and stay on plan. This time, some fruits (especially many berries) are allowed as are certain snack bars such as those marketed under the Atkins brand name.

Lastly, exercise is a component of the Atkins diet, just as it is any other diet designed to reduce weight and improve health. Even a small amount of exercise will keep your metabolism up, and that will help maintain your weight loss.

For more details on the various phases of the diet and the approved foods for it, consult the Atkins diet plan book or the Atkins website. That information, combined with some of the tips listed above will help keep you on track and successful on the Atkins diet.

1. What is Atkins Diet?

Dr. Atkins diet, first introduced in 1972, is strictly focused on reducing carbohydrate consumption.

That is why it is called a low-carb, high-protein diet or sometimes simply a low-carb diet, together with other diets such as South Beach Diet, Power Protein Diet etc…

2. What are carbohydrates, and where can they be found?

Carbohydrates provide your body with its basic fuel, very much like a car engine and gasoline. Glucose goes directly into the cells, which convert it into the energy they need.

There are two types of carbohydrates:

Simple carbohydrates (also called “sugars” on food package labels): glucose, fructose and galactose are
referred to as monosaccharides. Lactose, sucrose and maltose are called disaccharides (they contain two
monosaccharides).

Complex carbohydrates (”starches”), made up of chains of glucose molecules, which is simply a way plants store glucose.

Starches can be found in great quantities in most grains (wheat, corn, oats, rice) and things like potatoes
and plantains.

Your digestive system breaks a starch back down into its component glucose molecules so that the glucose
can enter your bloodstream.

A complex carbohydrate is digested more slowly than simple carbohydrates because it takes longer to break
down a starch.

Complex carbs can be either high in fiber such as broccoli or low in fiber such as bananas or potatoes.

But carbohydrates are not the only substances the body uses: it also needs proteins and fats.

3. What are proteins and where can they be found?

A protein is any chain of amino acids. Carbohydrates provide cells with energy, proteins provide cells with the building material they need to grow and maintain their structure.

Protein can be found in both animal and vegetable foods. Most animal sources (meat, milk, eggs) provide “complete protein”: they contain all of the essential amino acids.

Vegetable foods usually have few or none of the essential amino acids. Example: rice is low in isoleucine and lysine.

Some vegetable sources contain quite a bit of protein — things like nuts, beans, soybeans, etc. are all high in protein.

4. What are fats and where can they be found?

Fats are also an important part of our diet. Many foods contain fat in different amounts. High-fat foods include dairy products like butter and cream as well as mayonnaise and oils.

There are two kinds of fats: saturated and unsaturated.

Saturated fats are normally solid at room temperature, while unsaturated fats are liquid at room temperature.

Vegetable oils are the best examples of unsaturated fats, while lard and shortening (along with the animal fat you see in raw meat) are saturated fats.

We can further distinguish the unsaturated fats between polyunsaturated and monounsaturated. Unsaturated fats are currently thought to be more healthy than saturated fats, and monounsaturated fats (as found in olive oil and peanut oil) are thought to be healthier than polyunsaturated fats.

Fat is necessary because: the only way to get certain fat-soluble vitamins is to eat fat, your body has no way to make certain essential fats, so you must get them in your food.

Another reason is that fat is a good source of energy, in fact it contains twice as many calories per gram as
do carbohydrates or proteins. Your body can burn fat as fuel when necessary.

5. How can I loose weight by reducing carb consumption?

Atkins diet and other low-carb diets are based on the theory that certain carbohydrates have a greater impact on blood sugar levels than others.

So you count these carbs. They are the ones that matter. To figure out the net carb count of a food item, you need to identify the carbs that don’t have a high impact — those from fiber and sugar alcohol, and subtract that total from the overall carb count

Just regulate your blood sugar levels (from carbohydrates) and you’ll be able to better regulate your appetite… and your weight.

Therefore, say Atkins diet proponents, the culprits are carbohydrates and there is nothing wrong with eating as much meat as you want!

What you should do is restrict carbohydrate consumption, specially starchy foods such as bread, rice, corn etc…, except for what they consider as “good carbohydrates” such as high fiber vegetables (broccoli etc…)

According to them, the energy we need should be taken from proteins, and sometimes fat, but as few carbohydrates as possible, hence the name: low carbohydrate diet..

6 . What else does the human body need?

Mainly vitamins and minerals. These can be found in various foods, fruits, etc..It seems the “Standard Western Diet” is deficient in vitamins and mierals. This has led to the creation of vitamin and mineral supplements.

7. Is the Atkins diet efficient?

Anybody can note the simple fact that cutting back on carbohydrates works, at least for a quick drop in body fat and body water. That is why the Induction phase is very important.

However, for most dieters the problem is the long-term effects on the body due to such a drastic reduction in carbohydrates.

Whatever Atkins diet proponents have said, this remains a real problem and people like those at South Beach Diet have tried to solve it by introducing carbohyfrates after the 14 days initial phase.

8. What about the “fat makes you fat” theory?

According to Anthony Colpo, one of the most articulate of the Atkins diet defenders:

“Some folks have been so inculcated with the simplistic
“fat makes you fat” theory that they just cannot believe
a diet high in fat can lead to a loss of bodyfat.

The fact is, high fat diets can result in spectacular fat loss - as long as carbohydrate intake is kept low. Eat a diet that is high in both fat and carbohydrate and your bodyfat percentages will head north real quick! ”

9. Does Atkins diet cause coronary heart disease (CHD)?

On May 26, 2004 A Florida businessman filed suit against the makers of Atkins diet.

The man claimed as a consequence of following the low-carb diet, he suffers from severe heart disease, necessitating angioplasty and a stent.

One of the fiercest opponents of Atkins diet, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) President Neal Barnard, M.D, said that the diet proponents “push dieters to avoid healthy foods, like rice, beans, and pasta, while ignoring the risks of high-cholesterol, high-fat meat and cheese. The idea that cholesterol and saturated fat don’t matter is a dangerous myth.”

But what does the other side say? As expected, we hear a totally different story.

Here is Anthony Colpo’s take on the CHD issue:

“A low carb diet based on paleolithic food choices, that is,
a diet based on free-range animal products and low
carbohydrate, low-glycemic plant foods, fits the bill quite
nicely. So go ahead, eat your steak and salad!”

10. Are there any other health risks?

In additon to CHD - coronary heart disease - Atkins diet has also been blamed for a number of other “atrocities”, such as: colon cancer, impaired kidney function, osteoporosis, complications of diabetes, and to cap it all: constipation, headache, bad breath, muscle cramps, diarrhea, general weakness.

A few quick answers to some of these accusations from Anthony Colpo:

Kidney disease: “Bodybuilders and strength athletes have been consuming high-protein diets for decades. Given the widespread global participation in these activities, if the claims of kidney damage were true, by now there would be an enormous number of case studies of ex-bodybuilders and strength athletes afflicted with kidney disease,” which is obviously not the case.

Osteoporosis: “a low-carbohydrate, high fat, high protein diet is a far better choice for building strong bones than a low-fat, high-carbohydrate diet.”

Phase 1 of the Atkins diet alows the following salad dressings:

*  Blue cheese,

* Caesar,

* Italian,

* Lemon juice,

* Oil and Vinegar,

*and last but not least Ranch.

Allowable oils and fats are, butter, mayonnaise, olive oil, and vegetable oils. Please be aware that the Atkins Diet wants you to cut down on carbohydrates and concentrate on fiber and protein. If you follow that stricly you will lose weight. And also it is strongly recommended to eat three full meals and two snacks a day.

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