The Atkins Diet is a low-carbohydrate diet for weight loss and maintenance. As you progress through the stages of the diet, you must stay within your limits for net carbs. Be sure to consult your doctor before starting any diet or weight-loss program to be sure it is the healthiest decision for you.
Net Carbs
On Atkins, you do not count your calories, fat or total carbohydrates. Instead, each phase of the diet has a limit for your consumption of net carbs. According to the Atkins Diet, the net carbs are the carbohydrates in a food that cause your blood sugar levels to rise. To calculate the net carbs in a serving of food, find the total number of carbohydrates and subtract the number of grams of dietary fiber.
Induction
Induction is Phase One of the diet, and you limit your net carbs enough to make your body start getting its energy from stored fat instead of carbohydrates from food, allowing you to lose weight. During this phase, your net carb limit is 20 grams net carbs per day, with 12 to 15 g net carbs coming from nonstarchy vegetables such as salad greens or cooked broccoli or cauliflower. The other net carbs may come from sour cream, cheese or other low-carbohydrate foods.
Phases Two And Three
After Induction, you move into the Ongoing Weight Loss Phase. In this phase, your net carb limit increases to about 40 to 60 g, and your weight loss should remain steady until you are within 5 to 10 lbs. of your goal weight. Then, you go into Phase Three, Pre-Maintenance, and intentionally slow down your weight loss by increasing your net carbs by about 10 g net carbs per week. If you stop losing weight, you must lower your net carbs.
Lifetime Maintenance
The final phase of Atkins is Lifetime Maintenance, which is when you should maintain your goal weight for life. During this phase, your net carb limit is your Atkins Carbohydrate Equilibrium, and for most people, it is between 45 and 100 g net carbs per day, with bigger individuals closer to the higher end and smaller individuals closer to the low end. If you exercise at least an hour a day, your Atkins Carbohydrate Equilibrium may be over 100 g net carbs.
Increasing Net Carbs
As you increase your net carbs, you focus on adding healthy carbohydrates back into your diet. These are carbohydrates from foods that provide dietary fiber and are high in other nutrients, and examples include nuts, berries and more vegetables. Even if your net carb limit becomes high enough, you can never have sugary sweets, cold cuts with nitrates or processed snack foods with trans fats from partially hydrogenated oils.
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