The Atkins Diet's meal plans are different than the meal plans of most other diets because the late Dr. Robert Atkins emphasized that you should dramatically increase your consumption of high-fat and high-protein foods and dramatically decrease your consumption of high-carbohydrate foods. Atkins believed a low-carb diet would result in weight loss because he attributes body fat to carbohydrates that raise your blood sugar levels rather than fatty foods that don't raise your blood sugar levels.
Explanation
The Atkins Diet has four phases. Dieters' meal plans change during each phase because they are allowed virtually no carbohydrates during the first phase, the induction phase, but they are allowed progressively more carbs that don't raise blood sugar that rapidly during the latter three stages---ongoing weight loss, premaintenance and lifetime maintenance. Atkins' theory is that dramatically cutting your carbs in the induction phase trains your body to get its energy by burning fat rather than carbohydrates and, thus, reduces your craving for too many fat-causing carbs.
Phase I Meals
The Atkins Diet's induction phase should last 14 days, although it can be longer if you're very overweight, according to "Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution." Meal plans are very restrictive during the induction phase because fruit, bread, pasta, starchy vegetables and most dairy products are banned. All eggs, fish, fowl, meat and shellfish are acceptable. Atkins' "typical induction menu" include a southwestern omelette with avocado, ham and tomato for breakfast, a caesar salad with grilled chicken for lunch and steak and asparagus for dinner.
Phase II Meals
The Atkins Diet's ongoing weight loss phase ends when you're five to 10 pounds overweight. You can eat only 20g of carbohydrates daily and mostly salad vegetables during the induction phase. During this phase, you can increase daily carb consumption by 5g per week. Carbs that don't raise blood sugar rapidly should be added first, including berries, cantaloupes, honeydew, nuts and previously-banned vegetables such as spinach and tomatoes. Atkins' "typical ongoing weight loss menu" includes eggs over tomatoes for breakfast, a turkey burger for lunch and pork chops with peppers for dinner.
Phase III Meals
The Atkins Diet's premaintenance phase ends when you're at your ideal weight. During this phase, you should lose less than one pound weekly, while you increase daily carb consumption by 10g weekly. Foods that can be added back into the diet include starchy vegetables such as carrots and potatoes, beans, spinach pasta and whole-wheat breads and cereals. Atkins' "typical premaintenance menu" include waffles with strawberries for breakfast, black bean soup and tortillas with ham and cheese for lunch and salmon with a salad for dinner.
Phase IV Meals
Specific carbs aren't banned during the lifetime maintenance phase, but you can't exceed your "critical carbohydrate level for maintenance (CCLM)." Dieters are supposed to figure out how many grams of carbohydrates they can eat weekly without gaining any weight and never eat more than that for the rest of their lives. Atkins' "typical lifetime maintenance menu" includes ricotta cheese omelette for breakfast, vegetable soup and crab salad for lunch and roast chicken, wild rice with mushrooms, watercress salad and chocolate cake for dinner.
References
- "Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution"; Dr. Robert Atkins; 2002
- "Atkins Diabetes Revolution"; Dr. Robert Atkins, Mary Vernon and Jacqueline Eberstein; 2004
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