In the introduction to "Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution," Dr. Robert C. Atkins M.D. discusses treating overweight people for over 25 years. He states that his main goal was improving health, and that weight loss occurred as he treated people for serious conditions. The Atkins diet premise involves limiting carbohydrate intake to promote fat burning. Counting carbs on the Atkins diet requires learning the carb content of the foods you eat and learning to calculate net carbs. The diet encourages selecting complex carbohydrates and foods that contain fiber over simple carbohydrates such as foods containing sugar and white flour.
Step 1
Learn to identify portion sizes by sight. For example, a 4 oz. piece of chicken or steak is about the size of your palm, minus the fingers.
Step 2
Read the product labels or use a carbohydrate counter to determine the carbohydrates and fiber for each food you eat. For example, 1/2 cup fresh strawberries have 5.1 grams of carbohydrates and 1.7 grams of fiber. Subtract the fiber from the carbohydrate count to determine the net carbs for the portion. The net carbs for the strawberry serving is 3.4. That's the number of carbs you count toward your total number of carbs for the day. Net carbs are what count on the Atkins diet.
Step 3
Write a list of foods and beverages you eat often and list their net carbs on an index card.
Step 4
Calculate net carbs for your favorite meals and write them on index cards to carry along in your purse or wallet for quick reference. As long as you keep portion sizes consistent, once you calculate the carbs for your breakfasts, lunches, dinners and snacks, you'll be able to count your day's carbs by going through your list.
Step 5
Try Atkins recipes available on the Atkins website and Atkins books. The recipes list the carb count per serving.
Tips and Warnings
- Carry a carb counter guide with you. The "Dr. Atkins' New Carbohydrate Gram Counter" includes net carbs in addition to carbs, fiber, protein and fat per serving for a wide variety of foods. The booklet is organized by category and alphabetically for quick reference. (See References 2) Books listing nutritional values of foods usually include carbohydrates and fiber per serving---it's fine to use one of these if you don't have the Atkins Carbohydrate Gram Counter. A life-long maintenance program allows you to determine your optimum carbohydrate level and make your food choices accordingly. If a portion size for a food is 1/2 cup and you eat 1 cup of the food, double the carb and fiber numbers to arrive at the correct net carbs for the serving you ate. The Atkins diet doesn't restrict portion sizes, though it recommends limits for some foods, such as 2 tbs. of cream per day. Keep track of your carb counts for each meal, snack and beverage---even when it's just a taste of something while you're cooking, as uncounted carbs can add up and sabotage your weight loss efforts on Atkins.
Things You'll Need
- Carbohydrate counter booklet or online carb counter (see Resources)
- Index cards
- Calculator (optional)
References
- "Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution"; Robert C. Atkins, M.D.; 1998
- "Dr. Atkins' New Carbohydrate Gram Counter"; Robert C. Atkins, M.D.; 2002
- Atkins: Recipes
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