The Atkins diet is a low-carbohydrate, high-protein diet developed by Dr. Robert Atkins in the 1960s. It is based on the idea that when the body does not have carbohydrates to metabolize, it begins burning stored fat. The Atkins diet is comprised of four stages that differ in terms of how many carbohydrates you can eat each day. However, they all follow the same basic high-protein principles.
Induction
The first phase of the Atkins diet is induction. This phase lasts for two weeks, and during this time you are limited to eating no more than 20 g of carbs per day (about four to five percent of your daily caloric intake). During this phase, your body adjusts to not having any carbs to burn and store and begins burning fat as fuel.
During induction, you can eat fish, fowl, eggs, shellfish, pork, beef and venison. These are high in protein and very low in carbs. You are also allowed 12 to 15 g of net carbohydrates (total carbohydrates minus fiber) from low-carb vegetables. These include salad vegetables, such as lettuce, mushrooms and cucumbers, which contain very few carbs, as well as cooked veggies, such as artichokes, broccoli, cauliflower and asparagus, which contain slightly more carbs.
During Induction, starchy vegetables are prohibited, such as potatoes, carrots and yams. You also cannot eat breads, pastas, grains, seeds, nuts, sugars, legumes, trans fats, milk, and fruit (except avocados, tomatoes, and olives). These foods cause blood sugar to spike, which cause carbs to be stored as fat.
During induction, you can drink water, club soda, diet drinks without added sugar, coffee and tea with cream but no sugar, and broths. Avoid regular soda and alcohol, because even though some spirits have no carbs, the body still burns alcohol before burning fat.
Ongoing Weight Loss
The second phase of the Atkins diet is ongoing weight loss (OWL). During this phase, you'll add 5 g of net carbs to your diet per week while you monitor your weight loss, according to the Atkins Power of Five rule. For instance, in the first week of this phase, you eat 25 g of carbs, and in the second week, you eat 30 g. Keep adding 5 g until you stop losing weight. When that happens, you have found your Critical Carbohydrate Level for Losing, the magic number that you want to continue consuming each day until you are within 10 lb. of your target weight. You can get the additional carbohydrates by eating new vegetables, berries, nuts, seeds and legumes.
Pre-Maintenance
The third phase of the Atkins diet, pre-maintenance, begins when you are within 10 lb. of your target weight. Here you add 10 g of net carbs to your diet through eating additional vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds and legumes each week, according to the Power of 10 rule. Monitor your weight. When you stop losing weight, you are ready to move on to the maintenance phase.
Maintenance
During the maintenance phase of the Atkins diet, you are no longer losing weight because you are at your target. Here you simply eat the number of grams of net carbs per day that you can tolerate without gaining or losing weight.
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