Atkins Diet: How Many Calories Do You Need Per Day?

Nov 14, 2010 | By Karen Frazier

The Atkins diet is a low-carbohydrate diet that uses carbohydrate restriction to cause weight loss. Dr. Atkins recommends eating fewer than 20 g of carbohydrates per day in the initial two weeks of the diet, and then gradually increasing carbohydrate intake as you move forward.

How Atkins Works

When you reduce carbohydrate intake on the Atkins diet, you control your body's insulin levels. Once your insulin is under control, you will feel less hungry and burn your stored body fat as fuel. Atkins refers to this state as ketosis.

Atkins and Calorie Restriction

The Atkins diet suggests that caloric restriction is unnecessary for weight loss. Dr. Michael Eades, who wrote "Protein Power Lifeplan," suggests, though, that calories may become an issue as you progress through a low-carb diet. He recommends reducing caloric intake when you reach a weight loss plateau.

Calculating Caloric Needs

It takes a 3500 calories deficit to lose one pound. If you eat 500 fewer calories per day than you burn, then you will lose one pound per week. You can calculate your body's daily caloric needs using a basal metabolic rate calculator and applying the Harris-Benedict equation, which factors in your activity level. This will tell you how many calories you need to eat to continue to lose weight if you hit a diet plateau on Atkins.