The best, healthiest weight loss is slow and steady, at a rate of about 1 to 2 lbs. per week. But morale plays a part in any diet, and you may want to see faster progress than that to reward you for your efforts. On the Atkins Diet, carbohydrates are most severely restricted in the first phase, Induction, and you may see rapid results.
Induction Phase
The Induction phase of the Atkins Diet limits you to 20 g of carbohydrates per day. This phase lasts for two weeks, and if you honestly keep to that limit, Atkins says you can lose 15 lbs. in that time. The diet also says this phase poses no risk to your health if you want to keep this pace up longer, but 20 g of carbohydrates a day is significantly less than dietary recommendations. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Dietary Reference Intakes indicate that you should get between 45 and 65 percent of your calories from carbohydrates each day. On a 1,500-calorie-a-day diet, this works out to almost 169 g of carbs per day. At 20 g a day, you're meeting only about 11 percent of this dietary requirement.
Ongoing Weight Loss Phase
You can expect to continue losing weight as you enter the second Atkins phase, the Ongoing Weight Loss Phase. During this part of the plan, you begin adding carbs back into your diet, adding 5 g more to your daily limit each week. The phase is designed to help you find your "CLL" or "Carbohydrate Level for Losing," the number of carbs your body can deal with each day and still allow you to lose weight. Atkins indicates that during this phase, your weight loss will slow down to 1 to 2 lbs. per week. If you find that you stop losing when you reach this stage, Atkins indicates you may have added too many carbs back into your diet too quickly. Cut back by 5 g to restart weight loss.
Pre-Maintenance Phase
The third Atkins Diet phase, Pre-Maintenance, takes you to your "ACE" or "Atkins Carbohydrate Equilibrium." Atkins says that this how many carbs you can safely consume each day without gaining weight. You should enter this phase when you're within 10 lbs. of your target weight, and you'll reach it sooner if you didn't have a lot to lose to begin with. If you start gaining weight when you reach this point, cut back by 10 g carbs a day to resume your weight loss if you still have 10 lbs. to lose.
Tips
Dieters sometimes set a target weight for themselves that is unrealistic. It's not that you can't reach this goal, but it may be less than your body's natural weight. If your weight loss stalls on Atkins at some point, and you've been following all the rules, the problem may be that you shouldn't lose any more weight.
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