If you need to lose weight and you want to try Atkins, you might be wondering how to get started on the famous low-carbohydrate diet. The goal of Induction, the first phase, is to jump start your weight loss, so you need a good meal plan to make sure you do this stage properly. A low-carbohydrate diet can have health risks, so consult your doctor before you start.
How Atkins Works
The idea of the meal plan on Atkins is to limit your dietary carbohydrates so that your body cannot use them for energy, but instead, will use stored fat for fuel, and you will lose weight. When you follow the Atkins Diet, you actually count grams of net carbs. To calculate net carbs, subtract the amount of dietary fiber in your food from the total amount of carbohydrates in grams. You need to stay under your daily net carb limit, which depends on the phase of diet. The lowest limit is in phase 1, or Induction, and the limit increases in phase 2, or Ongoing Weight Loss, phase 3, or Pre-Maintenance and in phase 4, or Lifetime Maintenance.
Phase 1 Foods
You can only have 20 g daily net carbs during Induction, and 12 to 15 g should come from nonstarchy vegetables. Examples include lettuce, spinach, broccoli, cauliflower, radishes, cucumbers and jicama. Some of your carbohydrates can come from low-carbohydrate foods such as full-fat cheese and sour cream. You can eat plenty of meat, poultry, fish, shellfish and eggs, since most of these are carbohydrate-free. A few proteins, such as oysters and bacon, have small amounts of carbohydrates, so remember to count these in your total. You can have butter, oil and mayonnaise.
Developing a Meal Plan
Have 4 to 6 oz. of protein foods at each meal or snack, along with some fat and vegetables, or you can use an Atkins Advantage bar or shake instead of a small meal or snack as often as twice a day. Plan to eat at least once every 6 hours during the day and be sure to have at least eight 8-oz. glasses of carbohydrate-free beverages such as water, club soda, tea or coffee.
Considerations
The 2-week meal planner at Atkins.com can help you come up with menus and recipe ideas for Induction. A sample day could include cheese baked eggs for breakfast, a strawberry Atkins Advantage shake for your first snack, Thai coconut soup for lunch, a peanut butter fudge granola Atkins Advantage bar for your second snack and pork with broccoli for dinner. You can make your own substitutions as long as you use foods that are acceptable on phase 1 and the net carbs are the same.
Member Comments