If you need a strict regimen to get started on adhering to the Atkins Nutritional Approach™, try this step-by-step approach to Induction for two weeks.
Certain people succeed much better if given a strict regimen to follow. It's likely that if you eat exactly what's presented to you in a One-Week Induction Menu that spells out precisely what to eat, you will achieve weight loss. A reminder: Two weeks on Induction won't get the job done—only a lifetime of health-oriented behavior will. Once you see how easy it is to do Atkins and how impressive your results are, you'll surely want to learn more about making Atkins a permanent way of living. People who are already familiar with the Atkins approach may find this article a helpful review of Induction.
First of all, Dr. Atkins doesn't advise losing more than one pound a day. (People with a lot of excess weight may lose more than a pound a day in the beginning. And you may very well lose water weight this fast in the beginning, and that is also OK.) That's about as fast as a normal human body can dump pounds safely and comfortably. Go faster, and your metabolism won't have had time to adjust. You'll be losing an excessive amount of water and minerals and you may feel fairly awful. Back off and listen to your body.
An important health warning: None of the weight-loss phases of Atkins is appropriate for pregnant women or nursing mothers, and people with severe kidney disease should not do Atkins at all.
Before you begin, you should understand the Atkins Nutritional Principles for weight loss:
During the Induction phase of Atkins your body switches from primarily burning carbohydrates to burning fat as its main energy source1-5. Controlling carbohydrate intake stabilizes blood-sugar levels, producing diverse and favorable physical effects. You will achieve these benefits by switching to the slower-burning fuel found in proteins and fats. Typical results of these changes are a decrease in appetite, reduced sugar cravings and dramatic increases in energy.
To jump-start your weight loss, your carbohydrate intake during Induction should be no more than 20 grams a day in the form of vegetables and other acceptable food choices. In this phase you will be eating no breads, sugars, grains, potatoes, rice, pastas or fruits. Once your carbohydrate intake goes below a certain threshold, you will primarily burn your body fat for fuel. Since your body stores enough carbohydrate reserve to fuel it for approximately 48 hours, it will take that long for the process to start. You may feel hungry and out of sorts for the first two to three days. Be patient and persist.
You will follow these basic rules:
Eat three meals a day. Stabilizing the blood sugar is the basic tool of controlled carbohydrate weight loss, and to achieve this you should not go longer than six waking hours without eating acceptable food. You can, however, eat four or five smaller meals a day, as long as you don't exceed 20 grams of carbohydrates. You are permitted to eat liberal amounts of eggs, meat and fish, including beef, pork, chicken, turkey, duck, wild game, shellfish, veal and lamb. Eat until you feel pleasantly full, but do not gorge.
Liberal amounts of fats and oils are permitted. This includes butter, olive oil, mayonnaise and any oil that is liquid at room temperature. (Consume no hydrogenated oils or other trans fats—-including margarine.) Herbs and spices are permitted as long as they do not contain sugar. Cheese (aged, full-fat, firm, soft, semi soft) is limited to three to four ounces daily. Fresh cheese, such as cottage cheese and farmer's cheese, is too high in carbohydrates for Induction.
You may have up to three cups of loosely packed (measured raw) salad vegetables each day. This includes all leafy green vegetables, mushrooms, celery, radishes, green peppers and cucumbers. Click here for other permissible salad vegetables. Other vegetables low in carbohydrates (see Acceptable Foods) are limited to one cup daily. (If you have a cup of these veggies, consume only two cups of salad vegetables.)
Atkins 101, Part 2
There are a number of dos and don'ts you must adhere to for successful weight loss.
You must: Drink at least eight 8-ounce glasses of pure water daily. This can be filtered, mineral or spring water (not seltzer). You may also have unlimited amounts of herbal tea (without sugar), but these do not count toward your total of eight glasses. Drink only decaffeinated coffee and tea and use only acceptable sweeteners (see below).
Treat aspartame (NutraSweet® or Equal®) with caution. Avoid whenever possible. This includes products sweetened with these ingredients, such as diet sodas and diet Jell-O. Instead use sucralose, (Splenda®) or saccharin (Sweet'n Low™). Check labels on other products that purport to be low- or controlled carb.
When eating out, be careful you're not consuming "hidden" carbohydrates in sauces or breaded products. Tell your waiter that you would like your food prepared free of sugar, flour and cornstarch.
At a minimum, take a good daily multivitamin with minerals, including potassium, magnesium and calcium, but without iron.
Unless you are physically unable to do so, exercise every day, even if it's just a walk around the block. This is an important part of the program in all phases and will certainly increase the rate at which you lose weight. That's because exercise not only causes you to burn calories, it also accelerates your metabolism.
You can:
Have a snack of a permissible food an hour or two after a meal if you wish.
You must not:
Overeat. You may have heard that you can eat as much as you desire of the acceptable foods. No so. Stuff yourself with steaks and cheeseburgers, and some of that protein will convert to glucose in your body. Instead, simply eat the amount that allows you to feel satisfied.
Drink alcohol in any form.
Use more than three packets of sucralose (Splenda) daily. (More and more products are being made with Splenda so if you use any, don't forget to include those grams in your tally.)
Cheat. It takes two to three days for the body to switch from burning carbohydrates (in the form of glucose) to fat burning. One cheat and you're back to a glucose-burning metabolism, and you can lose the effects of two or three days of fat burning.
You must not eat any of the following:
Sugar (in any form, including corn syrup, honey and maple syrup) Milk or yogurt (cream is allowed in limited amounts) Fruit and fruit juice Flour products (breads, pasta, crackers, etc.) Grains or cereals Beans and legumes Starchy or high-sugar vegetables (potatoes, yams, corn, peas, parsnips, beets, carrots) Sweet condiments (such as most ketchups, barbeque sauce and balsamic vinegar) French dressing, Thousand Island dressing (check labels for carb count) Cottage cheese, farmer's cheese and other fresh cheeses Nuts and seeds
-------------------- Malitol is evil..Just say no to LC treats 279.5/227.25/175.0 Posts: 122 | Registered: Aug 2004
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Question, Why do you not recomend taking iron????
-------------------- Starting Date : July 1, 2004 Starting Weight: 248.5 Current Weight: 231.5 Weight Lost: 17 "Nothing tastes as good as thin feels!!!" Posts: 12 | From: Okotoks, Alberta Canada | Registered: Aug 2004
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Another reason to avoid iron supplementation unless it's really necessary is that it is very constipating...which can already be a bit of a problem for those on Induction who are getting very little vegetable/whole grain fiber.
Posts: 2 | Registered: Aug 2004
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Thanks so much for clarifying the iron for me, I have been taking it, because my Dr. says I'm anemic???? But I have been having a real problem with constipation...possibly the iron is a part of it....Thanks
-------------------- Starting Date : July 1, 2004 Starting Weight: 248.5 Current Weight: 231.5 Weight Lost: 17 "Nothing tastes as good as thin feels!!!" Posts: 12 | From: Okotoks, Alberta Canada | Registered: Aug 2004
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