Atkins is a popular low-carbohydrate diet for weight loss and lifetime maintenance of your goal weight. You start the diet with an induction phase, and you can use certain Atkins products to help you plan your meals and reduce the amount of cooking you need to do. As with any diet, get your doctor's approval before starting Atkins for weight loss.
Induction Phase
As you progress through the phases of Atkins, you gradually increase the amount of carbohydrates that you eat each day. Phase 1, induction, has a daily limit of 20 g net carbs, which are the carbohydrates that Atkins claims will prevent you from losing weight if you eat too many. The purpose of this phase is to severely restrict the amount of carbohydrates that you eat so your body burns stored fat and you start losing weight.
Induction Products
You can have Atkins Advantage bars and shakes while you are in phase 1. The bars come in flavors such as chocolate caramel, chocolate peanut butter and chocolate cookie dough. They have 170 to 270 calories and 3 to 5 g net carbs each. Shakes include chocolate, vanilla and strawberry; they have 160 calories and 2 g net carbs each. Atkins Day Break bars, Atkins Endulge candy bars and Atkins Cuisine penne pasta and baking mix are higher in carbohydrates and not appropriate for your induction menu.
Building Your Menu
A daily menu in induction should have three main meals or four to five smaller meals. An Atkins Advantage bar or shake can count as one of your snacks or small meals. Each of your other meals should include 4 to 6 oz. of protein foods, such as fish, eggs, chicken or beef, as well as some fat, such as visible fat on steak or skin from turkey, oil, butter or mayonnaise. You should get about 12 to 15 g daily net carbs from nonstarchy vegetables, such as asparagus, zucchini or peas. Do not have fruit, grains, beans or nuts.
Sample Menu
Atkins.com provides sample two-week meal plans with full daily menus to help you stay on your induction diet. These menus include Atkins Advantage products and meals that you make using recipes from Atkins.com, and they supply less than 20 g net carbs. You can increase the amount by adding vegetables. A sample day might have cheesy eggs for breakfast, an Atkins Advantage shake for snack, Thai coconut soup for lunch, an Atkins Advantage bar for your second snack and fish with a salad for dinner.
Member Comments