1. Skinny New You
Start your journey to complete phase 3 of Atkins when you have 5 to 10 lbs. left to lose. Increase your carbohydrates until you are losing less than a pound a week. After you have lost all your goal weight, maintain for 1 month. The objective in Atkins phase 3 is to find the "Atkins Carbohydrate Equilibrium," or "ACE." In phase 2, you increased your carbohydrates 5 gm a week gradually. In phase 3, the low carb dieter increases the carbohydrates 10 gm per week. You should continue to lose weight. If the weight loss stops completely, reduce the carbohydrates by 10 gm until you reach your goal weight. This is the process of finding your "Critical Carbohydrate Level For Losing," or the "CCLL."
2. Patience is a Virtue
You may have lost weight at a fairly fast pace on phase 1 and 2. Waiting to lose the last few pounds while you complete phase 3 of the Atkins diet seems to take forever. Unfortunately, since finding your carbohydrate equilibrium number is an exercise of trial and error you may gain a few pounds. Remember, just reduce by ten grams of carbohydrate and try again. It could take 3 months or more to lose the last 5 lbs. during Atkins diet phase 3. Be cautious not just to start eating like you did before induction. You will not have the appetite suppression you experienced in the beginning because you will no longer be in deep fat burning mode, or lipolysis.
3. Play With the Numbers
Another method is to figure out your carbohydrate intake for the week and plan for higher carbohydrate meals. This is especially effective for holidays or celebrations where you want to eat some starchier vegetables or other foods. If your critical carbohydrate level is 80 gm a day, you could eat 60 gm one day and push up to 100 gm the next day. You should expect to have some carbohydrate cravings when you do this. Ideally, you will spread your carbohydrates evenly throughout a given day most of the time.
4. The Power of 10
Some examples of servings that equal 10 gm of carbohydrate are 1/4 cup of white potatoes, 1/3 cup of navy beans, 1 peach, 1/2 small banana, 1 cup of watermelon, 1/4 cup of brown rice, 1/2 cup of old-fashioned oatmeal and 1/3 cup of whole-wheat cereal. During phase 3 of the Atkins diet, make sure to eat protein and fat with each new carbohydrate to avoid carbohydrate cravings and slow down the effect.
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