Taking The Atkins Road

080 The Bangalore Monthly Update

Taking The Atkins Road
All the world’s high on Atkins and low on carbs. Contrary to belief, the Atkins Diet is not a high-protein one but one which eliminates carbohydrates from your diet

Dr Atkins created his revolutionary diet on the basis of how our body uses energy. When food is consumed, the body first uses up the carbohydrates for energy. The fats and proteins meanwhile, are stored away in the body in the muscles. It is based on the premise that the elimination of carbohydrates from the diet will result in weight loss, good health, and euphoria.

Revolutionary idea
Atkins restricts processed/ refined carbohydrates (which make up more than 50 per cent of many people’s diet), such as high-sugar foods, breads, pasta, cereal and starchy vegetables.
Core vita-nutrient supplementation includes a full-spectrum multivitamin and an essential oils/ fatty acid formula. Unlike other weight-loss programmes, Atkins allows you to eat satisfying amounts of delicious, nutrient-dense foods – and customize the programme to your individual needs and tastes.
Read on for do’s and don’ts, and an item-by-item guide to what you should be eating while getting to the weight you’ve always wanted.

Atkins Diet Tips and Secrets for Success
- Eat enough calories. Try to get 8-10 calories per ½ kilo of current body weight every day. If you consume too few calories your body will go into ‘starvation mode’ and weight loss will slow or stop.
- The Atkins diet is all about learning how different foods affect you so that you can decide which foods to remove from your diet and which you may enjoy regularly.
- Drink enough water. At least 2000 ml per day. Drinking water aids in lipolysis (break down of fats) and in eliminating ketones. Yes, you do literally urinate your fat away!
- Eat the level of carbs that make you feel your best. You may be able to eat 90 grams per day, but if you feel better at 75 grams, you’re more likely to stick with it.
- And the most important of all; if you fall off the wagon, don’t give up. Forgive yourself and get right back with your Atkins diet plan.

Bookmark
The book Dr Atkins’ New Diet Revolution works because it targets our stored body fat. Fat is out body’s back-up system for fuel to general energy. If we take it out of the back-up position and convert our body to using it as a primary fuel source, the result is an extremely efficient weight loss and weigh maintenance programme.

What food is involved and why?
There are no calorie restrictions in the Atkins diet, so deciding on exactly what amounts of various foods to include in the menus is something of an arbitrary decision. Carbs to eat regularly include: apples, berries, cherries, grapefruit, oranges, peaches, pears, plums, green vegetables, onions, peppers, tomatoes, oatmeal, wheat bran, kidney beans, lentils, most nuts and seeds, milk, tofu and unsweetened soy products.

Carbs to eat in moderation include: apricots, grapes, kiwifruit, mangoes, melon, papaya, pineapple, carrots, peas, black-eyes beans, soy beans, peanuts, rye bread.

Carbs to eat sparingly include: bananas, fruit juice, prunes, raisins, sweet corn, potatoes, sweet potatoes, white bread, white rice, pasta, pizza, cornflakes, ice cream (sweetened).

Benefits of low-carb eating
Dr Atkins’ low carb diet helps us to regulate insulin production and decrease circulating insulin; less insulin soon results in less fat storage and fewer food cravings. The diet is far from torturous though; those who have tried it attest that hunger is not a part of this plan.

Is exercise important on this diet?
Exercise is an essential part of Dr Atkins’ New Diet Revolution, as you are advised to take certain nutritional supplements including calcium and fiber.

How expensive is this diet?
Sugar, fat and grains are our cheapest foods, and those are exactly the food types htat these low-carb diet wants to eliminate or reduce significantly. Protein – in particular fish, chicken and meat – cost more than pasta and rice.

Roadmap
Atkins Nutritional Approach
The popularity of the Atkins diet lies in its four-phase eating regimen in tandem with a vitamin and mineral supplementation and regular exercise. It is based on a personalized eating plan which gives you the freedom to select the right food based on your need to achieve weight loss and maintenance along with enjoying good health and preventing disease.

Phase 1: Induction
Cut down on those carbs to 20 grams each day and get your daily dose from salad and other non-starchy vegetables.

Phase 2: Ongoing Weight Loss (OWL)
Add on the carbohydrates in the form of nutrient-dense and fiber-rich foods by increasing to 25 grams daily the first week, 30 grams daily the next week and so on until weight loss stops. Then subtract 5 grams of carbohydrates from your daily intake so that you keep your promise of sustained, moderate weight loss.

Phase 3: Pre-maintenance
Make the prudent transition from weight loss to weight maintenance by increasing daily carbs intake in 10-gram increments each week so long as very gradual weight loss is maintained.

Phase 4: Lifetime Maintenance
Gorge on a wide variety of foods while controlling carbohydrate intake to ensure weight maintenance.

Counting Carbs
These are some of the foods that contain food with 10% carbohydrates or less.
Meats – bacon, beef, calf liver, chicken, duck, ham, lamb, pork, sausage, steak
Fish – catfish, cod, herring, mackerel, salmon, sardine, snapper, trout, tuna
Shellfish – clams, crab, lobster, mussel, oysters, scallops, shrimp, squid
Daily – butter, cheese, cream, coffee, all egg, mineral water, mayonnaise, tea, water
Salads – alfalfa, sprouts, lettuce, celery, cucumber, mushrooms, olives, parsley, peppers, radish
Vegetables – asparagus, avocado, bamboo shoots, bean sprouts, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, celery root, eggplant, onion, pumpkin, rhubarb, spinach, string or wax beans, tomato, turnips, water chestnuts, zucchini

Does it really work?
Since the inception of his first low-carb diet book in the 1970’s, Atkins’ books have sold over 15 million copies.

TGI Friday for more reasons than one
Atkins has partnered with TGI Friday’s restaurants to create mouth-watering menu items that meet the criteria of the Atkins Nutritional Approach.

Health Risk?
It has been claimed that people have suffered serious consequences under the Atkins diet. For one, extremely high protein diets, like Atkins, can lead to acidic urine. Acidic urine leaches calcium from the body which significantly increases one’s risk for osteoporosis and kidney stones.

Induction Diet
Depending on how much weight you need to lose, the induction phase lasts for a minimum of two weeks and a maximum of one year. You can generally expect to lose 10% of your excess weight during the first 14 days of induction.
For the first few days of induction, you will be withdrawing from sugar and caffeine. It will take 3-7 days for these substances to leave your system. During this time, you may find that withdrawal causes you to have headaches, diarrhea, nausea, “brain fog” (be careful driving), and muscle cramps. This is commonly referred to as “induction flu”. If you suffer from these symptoms take heart – they are very temporary. Soon, you will wake up with more energy than you’ve had in years, your moods will stabilize, and your hunger will disappear.

Books on the Subject
Dr Atkins’ Age-Defying Diet Revolution
Dr Atkins’ New Carbohydrate Gram Counter
Dr Atkins’ Quick & Easy New Diet Cookbook
Dr Atkins’ New Diet Revolution