Get Fit Lab - For Your Health and Fitness

Diet Plan Type: Low Carb, Carb Controlled, Carbohydrate-Controlled
Best for: Short-term Weight Loss.

How does the Atkins diet plan work?

The diet plan is organized into four phases:

1. Atkins Diet Induction
2. Atkins Diet Ongoing weight loss
3. Atkins Diet Pre-maintenance
4. Atkins Diet Lifetime maintenance

By going through a 14-day induction phase, where you limit the amount of carbohydrates such as bread and pasta, fruits and some vegetables and include some high fat food, you place your body into ketosis and start using ketones for energy. Some carbohydrates are reintroduced in the maintenance stage.

What you can eat

The plan varies depending on which stage you are in but overall your carbohydrates will be reduced by half or greater. For instance, a typical “ balanced” diet would include more than 300g/100oz or 16 serving of carbohydrates per day, on the Atkins diet this is reduced to 20g per day during the induction phase, 30g during the ongoing weight loss phase and 120g in the pre-maintenance and maintenance phases.

You’ll eat more of the “right” foods, such as, lean proteins, natural fats, leafy greens, vegetables and Atkins approved snacks. Nuts, seeds and berries are added in the on-going weight loss phase. During the maintenance phase, you’ll enjoy lean protein, a variety of vegetable proteins, good fats, a variety of good carbs, high fiber vegetables and fruit, nuts, legumes and whole grains. All the while, staying away from bad fats and processed foods made with white flour and sugar with little or no fiber.

Is it a Healthy Diet?

Cutting carbohydrates is a good slimming principle, but the Atkins diet is seen by some in the medical community as taking this to an extreme. The long term effects of this diet are not known.

Top Marks

• When followed, most people lose weight during the induction phase provided your calorie intake is less than your calorie expenditure.
• Ketosis tends to reduce appetite but more significantly, eliminating a food group may change your eating patterns enough to lose weight. For instance, sandwiches, pizzas and convenience/snack foods are excluded and replaced with structured meals and low-fat snacks. Resulting in a lower total calorie intake than normal.

Potential Problems

• Weight loss during the induction phrase may be due to water loss associated with using up stored glycogen; although one cannot over-compensate for the physiological effects of immediate weight-loss.
• Stored glycogen is needed for optimum athletic performance. And reducing or eliminating these stored levels, can reduce the effectiveness of exercise in a long-term weight loss program.
• Some people may experience a variety of issues such as carbohydrate cravings which do not disappear with time, blood pressure problems leading to dizziness, constipation due to the lack of fibre, and bad breath.
• Vitamin deficiencies may develop due to the restriction on dairy products, fruit and vegetables. To counteract this, Dr Atkins recommends specific supplements from his website.
• When ketones are excreted, water, sodium minerals and potassium minerals are also released from the body, and so to avoid dehydration people on this diet should consume plenty of water, diet cola, tea or coffee (but not fruit juices).

Will I lose weight?

If you follow the plan then you have every opportunity for success but many experts agree that it should not be a long-term diet.

Our Rating:

How to Get Started

Begin following the Atkins Diet with these resources:

Or, consider an ebook Atkins Ebook Collection.

Disclaimer: The “typical” visitor will not change their behavior as a result of reading or purchasing any products. Resulting in no weight loss. A few may read the material and not act on it. And a small minority will read and follow the program. This small minority actually has a chance of losing weight. Be different. Take action.