Atkins Diet Free Instructions – Best Weight Loss Program

Misconception #1: Low-carb diets don`t work.

If you’re looking for fast weight loss, then the Atkins diet is what you need. However, if you’re looking for long-lasting weight loss, then the Atkins diet offers the same results as most other diets. Studies showed that dieters who followed the Atkins diet gained weight after ending the diet, just like dieters who quit following other diets.

Misconception #2: Research has definitively proved that the Atkins diet works.

Research has actually proved that the Atkins diet works as well as other diets or even better for short-term weight loss. The Atkins diet, like many other diets, is not completely efficient, because it cannot guarantee permanent weight loss.

Misconception #3: Studies showed that the Atkins diet doesn`t increase the level of cholesterol.

Whether the Atkins diet increases the level of cholesterol or not is still being questioned. However, a recent study showed that people who followed the Akins diet had higher levels of HDL cholesterol, also known as the “good” cholesterol. Researchers still don’t have enough data to decide whether diets high in saturated fats are good or not.

Misconception #4: With the Atkins diet, you`ll lose weight forever.

The faster a diet makes you lose weight, the more difficult is to keep that weight off. Weight control can be achieved only with a balanced diet.

Misconception #5: With the Atkins diet, you can eat as much as you want.

This sounds good for those with hypoglycemia, cravings, and those who get hungry again soon after eating. However, it has not been proven that those who successfully follow the Atkins diet do in fact eat as much as they want. Moreover, no diet or food combination can disregard the law of calorie balance, according to which you need to burn more calories than you eat in order to lose weight.

(c) Project Weight Loss 2009. All rights reserved.

How Atkins Diet Works

The Atkins Diet states we can change our metabolism and lose weight easily simply by eating foods high in protein and fat and limiting foods high in carbohydrate. Consuming a high level of carbohydrates causes overproduction of insulin, leading to increased hunger and weight gain. The diet encourages the consumption of foods rich in protein.

The Four Stages of the Atkins Diet

Induction

The Induction phase is the first, and most restrictive, phase of the Atkins Nutritional Approach. It is intended to cause the body to quickly enter a state of ketosis. Carbohydrate intake is limited to 20 net grams per day.

Ongoing Weight Loss

The Ongoing Weight Loss (OWL) phase of Atkins consists of an increase in carbohydrate intake, but remaining at levels where weight loss occurs. The target daily carbohydrate intake increases each week by 5 net grams.

Pre-Maintenance

Carbohydrate intake is increased again this time by 10 net carbs a week from the ladder groupings, and the key goal in this phase is to find the “Critical Carbohydrate Level for Maintenance”, this is the maximum number of carbohydrates you can eat each day without gaining weight.

Lifetime Maintenance

This phase is intended to carry on the habits acquired in the previous phases, and avoid the common end-of-diet mindset that can return people to their previous habits and previous weight. Whole, unprocessed food choices are emphasized, with the option to drop back to an earlier phase if you begin to gain weight.

Each stage becomes progressively less restrictive and gradually increases carbohydrates allowed.

What Food is Allowed in Atkins Diet

The allowed foods include a liberal amount of all meats, fish, shellfish, fowl, and eggs; up to 4 ounces (113 g) of soft or semi-soft cheese; salad vegetables; other low carbohydrate vegetables; and butter and vegetable oils.

Sample Menu Plan from the Atkins Diet

Breakfast:

Italian sausage frittata

Cup of Herbal Tea

Lunch

Tuna salad with mixed leafy greens topped with bacon bits

Dinner:

Bacon cheeseburger with broccoli and cauliflower

Fresh fruit kebobs

Snacks:

High-protein, low-sugar snack bar

What Food is Not Allowed in Atkins Diet

No bread, alcohol, or carbonated beverages, not even diet soda. Beverages are limited to water, and consumption of caffeine is not allowed. It May be difficult to eliminate breads and cereals, especially in families with children who love these types of foods.

Misconceptions about the Atkins Diet

Many people incorrectly believe that the Atkins Diet promotes eating unlimited amounts of fatty meats and cheeses. This is a key point of clarification that Dr. Atkins addressed in the more recent revisions of his book. Although the Atkins Diet does not impose limits on certain foods, or caloric restriction in general, Dr. Atkins points out in his book that this plan is “not a license to gorge.

Another common misconception arises from confusion between the Induction Phase and rest of the diet. The first two weeks of the Atkins Diet are strict, with only 20g of carbohydrates permitted per day. Atkins states that a dieter can safely stay at the Induction Phase for several months if the person has a lot of weight to lose. Once the weight-loss goal is reached, carbohydrate levels are raised gradually, though still significantly below USDA norms, and still within or slightly above the definition of ketosis.

Known Health Benefits of the Atkins Diet

There are over 50 studies that highlight the positive weight loss results and other health benefits associated with following the Atkins Diet. These benefits include weight loss, improvement in risk factors for heart disease, hypertension and diabetes, inflammation, benefits in treating epilepsy and decreasing obesity in children and adolescents.

Study out of University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center and Washington University School of Medicine randomly assigned participants to a low-carbohydrate, high-protein, high-fat diet or a low-calorie, high-carbohydrate, low-fat diet.  The low-carbohydrate diet produced a greater weight loss and was associated with a greater improvement in some risk factors for coronary heart disease.

Study out of Stanford University Medical School compared four weight-loss diets representing a spectrum of low to high carbohydrate intake for effects on weight loss and related metabolic variables. Participants assigned to follow the Atkins diet, which had the lowest carbohydrate intake, lost more than twice the weight and experienced favorable overall metabolic effects at 12 months than those assigned to follow the Zone, Ornish, or LEARN diets.

Additional Suggested Health Benefits of the Atkins Diet

Many people like being able to eat as much protein and fat as they wish, because these foods are often restricted in more traditional diet plans.

For people who have tried a low-fat, high-carbohydrate weight loss plan without success, increasing protein in their diet often results in decreased food cravings and more rapid weight loss.

The diet is relatively easy to follow; there are no complicated meal plans.

Potential Risks of the Atkins Diet

Eating unlimited amounts of fat, especially saturated fat found in meat products, can lead to increased risk of heart disease. Extensive research on healthy populations tells us to eat more fruits,vegetables and whole grains. Restricting these foods in the name of weight loss may lead to long-term health problems.

Additionally any diet that limits carbohydrate causes the body to rely on fat or muscle for energy. When our body breaks down stored fat to supply energy, a byproduct called ketones is formed. Ketones suppress appetite, but they also cause fatigue, nausea, and a potentially dangerous fluid loss. Anyone with diabetes, heart, or kidney problems should check with their physician before following a low-carb diet.

Unpleasant side effects include constipation (caused by the low-fiber diet) and bad breath.

Impact of the Atkins Diet on Diet Culture

Since the Atkins Diet made headlines n the late ’90s, there has been an explosion of low carbohydrate versions of traditionally high carbohydrate products, such as bread, pasta and even candy. Thiewed as the “grand daddy” and cause of the explosion of low carrb diets popularity in the nineties to early 2000.

What the Experts are Saying about the  Atkins Diet

Atkins Diet supporters claim it offers faster weight loss and a relatively user-friendly eating plan. Sceptics, including dietitians and nutritionists, maintain that Atkins Diet weight loss is both short-term and possibly a health risk, even though the weight loss itself may have the beneficial effect of lowering cholesterol.

Dr. Foster, one of the researchers involved in studying the Atkins Diet, acknowledged the possible health dangers of the Atkins diet and stated a longer five-year study was planned:

“This larger study of 360 participants will help us more fully assess the benefits and risks of low-carbohydrate diets on bone mass, kidney function, arterial function and exercise tolerance,” he said. “I’m very, very concerned that people will get the message from these studies that the Atkins diet is safe and effective, but I don’t believe we know that yet.”

Brigid McKevith, a nutrition scientist at the British Nutrition Foundation (BNF), said:

“We welcome the fact that the Atkins diet is being studied scientifically and that randomised controlled studies have been carried out, because it’s very popular with the public. [however] There are several potential problems with the Atkins diet. These include long term bone health, as with a very high protein intake the excretions of calcium increase, so there could be implications for the health of bones,” she explained.

“There could be difficulties for people who have an underlying problem with their kidneys or liver, because it would be putting more strain on those organs, and problems in terms of heart disease too, as it’s a diet very low in fruits and vegetables. Also, it’s very low in fiber, so in terms of digestive health, it’s not in keeping with our fibre and complex carbohydrate recommendations.”

Belinda Linden, head of medical information at the British Heart Foundation, holds similar views.

“The new studies do not indicate a dramatic weight loss for excessively obese people,” she said. “Previous studies have shown that weight loss from the Atkins Diet may involve muscle loss rather than body fat. Another potential problem is that it is so far unclear from studies whether weight loss is sustained over a longer period than six months. One of the studies shows no significant difference at 12 months.” She added that: “With minimal fruit and vegetables included in the diet, it holds serious implications for coronary heart disease and cancer. Diets need to be varied to protect against these conditions – and this one isn’t. This diet requires further long term and larger studies before its effectiveness can be confirmed.”

Volumetrics author Barbara Rolls, PhD, who holds the Guthrie Chair in Nutrition at Penn State University, offers a very simple explanation as to why people lose weight on Atkins diet:

“They’re cutting calories, even if they don’t realize it. No one has shown, in any studies, that anything magical is going on with Atkins other than calorie restriction. The diet is very prescriptive, very restrictive, and limits half of the foods we normally eat. In the end it’s not fat, it’s not protein, it’s not carbs – it’s calories. You can lose weight on anything that helps you to eat less, but that doesn’t mean it’s good for you.”

Neal Barnard, MD, president of the Physicians Commission for Responsible Medicine, a non-profit research group based in Washington, says:

“Low-carb diets have been linked to increased frequency of colon cancer, formation of kidney stones, kidney disease, and even osteoporosis… The reason for the health worries is in large part due to red meat. People who eat meat every day have three times greater risk of developing colon cancer. And then there is the problem of the kidneys. They aren’t designed to work on an oil slick of fat.”

Susan Barr, registered dietitian in New York City, says:

“There have been reports in the medical literature that say that this low-carb diet may not be as bad as we thought. That makes people interested again in this diet, but until there is more research on what stresses the diet places on the body, there is no way to know what it might be doing besides providing short-term weight loss.”

The Bottom Line

The Atkins Diet is an optimally balanced lifetime eating plan with the flexibility to meet each individual’s unique physical condition addressing factors such as age, gender, level of physical activity, and metabolic rate.

This diet may seem like the tastiest way to lose weight, but don’t be misled by claims of effortless weight loss and unlimited amounts of food. Nothing is that simple!

How Atkins Diet Works

The Atkins Diet states we can change our metabolism and lose weight easily simply by eating foods high in protein and fat and limiting foods high in carbohydrate. Consuming a high level of carbohydrates causes overproduction of insulin, leading to increased hunger and weight gain. The diet encourages the consumption of foods rich in protein.

The Four Stages of the Atkins Diet

Induction

The Induction phase is the first, and most restrictive, phase of the Atkins Nutritional Approach. It is intended to cause the body to quickly enter a state of ketosis. Carbohydrate intake is limited to 20 net grams per day.

Ongoing Weight Loss

The Ongoing Weight Loss (OWL) phase of Atkins consists of an increase in carbohydrate intake, but remaining at levels where weight loss occurs. The target daily carbohydrate intake increases each week by 5 net grams.

Pre-Maintenance

Carbohydrate intake is increased again this time by 10 net carbs a week from the ladder groupings, and the key goal in this phase is to find the “Critical Carbohydrate Level for Maintenance”, this is the maximum number of carbohydrates you can eat each day without gaining weight.

Lifetime Maintenance

This phase is intended to carry on the habits acquired in the previous phases, and avoid the common end-of-diet mindset that can return people to their previous habits and previous weight. Whole, unprocessed food choices are emphasized, with the option to drop back to an earlier phase if you begin to gain weight.

Each stage becomes progressively less restrictive and gradually increases carbohydrates allowed.

What Food is Allowed in Atkins Diet

The allowed foods include a liberal amount of all meats, fish, shellfish, fowl, and eggs; up to 4 ounces (113 g) of soft or semi-soft cheese; salad vegetables; other low carbohydrate vegetables; and butter and vegetable oils.

Sample Menu Plan from the Atkins Diet

Breakfast:

Italian sausage frittata

Cup of Herbal Tea

Lunch

Tuna salad with mixed leafy greens topped with bacon bits

Dinner:

Bacon cheeseburger with broccoli and cauliflower

Fresh fruit kebobs

Snacks:

High-protein, low-sugar snack bar

What Food is Not Allowed in Atkins Diet

No bread, alcohol, or carbonated beverages, not even diet soda. Beverages are limited to water, and consumption of caffeine is not allowed. It May be difficult to eliminate breads and cereals, especially in families with children who love these types of foods.

Misconceptions about the Atkins Diet

Many people incorrectly believe that the Atkins Diet promotes eating unlimited amounts of fatty meats and cheeses. This is a key point of clarification that Dr. Atkins addressed in the more recent revisions of his book. Although the Atkins Diet does not impose limits on certain foods, or caloric restriction in general, Dr. Atkins points out in his book that this plan is “not a license to gorge.

Another common misconception arises from confusion between the Induction Phase and rest of the diet. The first two weeks of the Atkins Diet are strict, with only 20g of carbohydrates permitted per day. Atkins states that a dieter can safely stay at the Induction Phase for several months if the person has a lot of weight to lose. Once the weight-loss goal is reached, carbohydrate levels are raised gradually, though still significantly below USDA norms, and still within or slightly above the definition of ketosis.

Known Health Benefits of the Atkins Diet

There are over 50 studies that highlight the positive weight loss results and other health benefits associated with following the Atkins Diet. These benefits include weight loss, improvement in risk factors for heart disease, hypertension and diabetes, inflammation, benefits in treating epilepsy and decreasing obesity in children and adolescents.

Study out of University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center and Washington University School of Medicine randomly assigned participants to a low-carbohydrate, high-protein, high-fat diet or a low-calorie, high-carbohydrate, low-fat diet.  The low-carbohydrate diet produced a greater weight loss and was associated with a greater improvement in some risk factors for coronary heart disease.

Study out of Stanford University Medical School compared four weight-loss diets representing a spectrum of low to high carbohydrate intake for effects on weight loss and related metabolic variables. Participants assigned to follow the Atkins diet, which had the lowest carbohydrate intake, lost more than twice the weight and experienced favorable overall metabolic effects at 12 months than those assigned to follow the Zone, Ornish, or LEARN diets.

Additional Suggested Health Benefits of the Atkins Diet

Many people like being able to eat as much protein and fat as they wish, because these foods are often restricted in more traditional diet plans.

For people who have tried a low-fat, high-carbohydrate weight loss plan without success, increasing protein in their diet often results in decreased food cravings and more rapid weight loss.

The diet is relatively easy to follow; there are no complicated meal plans.

Potential Risks of the Atkins Diet

Eating unlimited amounts of fat, especially saturated fat found in meat products, can lead to increased risk of heart disease. Extensive research on healthy populations tells us to eat more fruits,vegetables and whole grains. Restricting these foods in the name of weight loss may lead to long-term health problems.

Additionally any diet that limits carbohydrate causes the body to rely on fat or muscle for energy. When our body breaks down stored fat to supply energy, a byproduct called ketones is formed. Ketones suppress appetite, but they also cause fatigue, nausea, and a potentially dangerous fluid loss. Anyone with diabetes, heart, or kidney problems should check with their physician before following a low-carb diet.

Unpleasant side effects include constipation (caused by the low-fiber diet) and bad breath.

Impact of the Atkins Diet on Diet Culture

Since the Atkins Diet made headlines n the late ’90s, there has been an explosion of low carbohydrate versions of traditionally high carbohydrate products, such as bread, pasta and even candy. Thiewed as the “grand daddy” and cause of the explosion of low carrb diets popularity in the nineties to early 2000.

What the Experts are Saying about the  Atkins Diet

Atkins Diet supporters claim it offers faster weight loss and a relatively user-friendly eating plan. Sceptics, including dietitians and nutritionists, maintain that Atkins Diet weight loss is both short-term and possibly a health risk, even though the weight loss itself may have the beneficial effect of lowering cholesterol.

Dr. Foster, one of the researchers involved in studying the Atkins Diet, acknowledged the possible health dangers of the Atkins diet and stated a longer five-year study was planned:

“This larger study of 360 participants will help us more fully assess the benefits and risks of low-carbohydrate diets on bone mass, kidney function, arterial function and exercise tolerance,” he said. “I’m very, very concerned that people will get the message from these studies that the Atkins diet is safe and effective, but I don’t believe we know that yet.”

Brigid McKevith, a nutrition scientist at the British Nutrition Foundation (BNF), said:

“We welcome the fact that the Atkins diet is being studied scientifically and that randomised controlled studies have been carried out, because it’s very popular with the public. [however] There are several potential problems with the Atkins diet. These include long term bone health, as with a very high protein intake the excretions of calcium increase, so there could be implications for the health of bones,” she explained.

“There could be difficulties for people who have an underlying problem with their kidneys or liver, because it would be putting more strain on those organs, and problems in terms of heart disease too, as it’s a diet very low in fruits and vegetables. Also, it’s very low in fiber, so in terms of digestive health, it’s not in keeping with our fibre and complex carbohydrate recommendations.”

Belinda Linden, head of medical information at the British Heart Foundation, holds similar views.

“The new studies do not indicate a dramatic weight loss for excessively obese people,” she said. “Previous studies have shown that weight loss from the Atkins Diet may involve muscle loss rather than body fat. Another potential problem is that it is so far unclear from studies whether weight loss is sustained over a longer period than six months. One of the studies shows no significant difference at 12 months.” She added that: “With minimal fruit and vegetables included in the diet, it holds serious implications for coronary heart disease and cancer. Diets need to be varied to protect against these conditions – and this one isn’t. This diet requires further long term and larger studies before its effectiveness can be confirmed.”

Volumetrics author Barbara Rolls, PhD, who holds the Guthrie Chair in Nutrition at Penn State University, offers a very simple explanation as to why people lose weight on Atkins diet:

“They’re cutting calories, even if they don’t realize it. No one has shown, in any studies, that anything magical is going on with Atkins other than calorie restriction. The diet is very prescriptive, very restrictive, and limits half of the foods we normally eat. In the end it’s not fat, it’s not protein, it’s not carbs – it’s calories. You can lose weight on anything that helps you to eat less, but that doesn’t mean it’s good for you.”

Neal Barnard, MD, president of the Physicians Commission for Responsible Medicine, a non-profit research group based in Washington, says:

“Low-carb diets have been linked to increased frequency of colon cancer, formation of kidney stones, kidney disease, and even osteoporosis… The reason for the health worries is in large part due to red meat. People who eat meat every day have three times greater risk of developing colon cancer. And then there is the problem of the kidneys. They aren’t designed to work on an oil slick of fat.”

Susan Barr, registered dietitian in New York City, says:

“There have been reports in the medical literature that say that this low-carb diet may not be as bad as we thought. That makes people interested again in this diet, but until there is more research on what stresses the diet places on the body, there is no way to know what it might be doing besides providing short-term weight loss.”

The Bottom Line

The Atkins Diet is an optimally balanced lifetime eating plan with the flexibility to meet each individual’s unique physical condition addressing factors such as age, gender, level of physical activity, and metabolic rate.

This diet may seem like the tastiest way to lose weight, but don’t be misled by claims of effortless weight loss and unlimited amounts of food. Nothing is that simple!

During the first phase or the induction phase, dieters are not allowed to have more than 20 grams of carbohydrates and they also can not have any alcoholic or caffeinated drinks. They must also refrain from consuming starchy foods, bread or even fruits. There are no imposed restrictions on meats and other sources of protein and yet weight-loss is fastest during this period. Later on, more carbohydrates will be allowed in the diet but dieters will be asked to watch their intake of refined grains and sugar. By the time a dieter reaches the Maintenance phase, he would already have been used to making smart food choices and would already know the amount of carbohydrates he can consume that will keep him in top shape.

Proponents of the Atkins Diet claim that the program teaches your body to burn calories more efficiently and as a result is said to lessen fatigue, depression, and muscle pains.

Taco Salad:

• 4 chicken breast – boil, then shred with fork
• Olive Oil Cumin
• Chili Powder
• 1 Can Rotel tomatoes with green chilies
• 1 Large yellow onion – diced
• 1 Head Iceberg lettuce
• 1 Can black olives
• Shredded cheddar cheese
• Sour Cream Guacamole (optional)

Homemade Salsa:

• 1 large can peeled tomatoes
• 1 small bunch cilantro
• 1 medium/large onion garlic salt

How to Prepare:
In a large skillet, pour about 2 Tblsp olive oil and turn up to
med/high heat. Sautee about ¼ of the onions. Add the shredded
chicken, cumin and chili powder and Rotel. Simmer for approximately
20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Meanwhile, shred lettuce and place in bowls. When Chicken mixture is
done, place a heaping on top of the lettuce and cover with cheese,
olives, sour cream, the remaining onions.

Combine salsa ingredients in blender. Add to salad.. this will be
used as your dressing. Enjoy!

What’s Wrong With Carbohydrates?
If you mean what’s wrong with a spear of broccoli or a bunch of spinach, the answer is nothing, they’re magnificent foods. When I speak negatively of carbohydrates, I’m referring to the unhealthy ones-those lurking in the sugar bowl and the bin of white flour, along with milk, white rice and processed and refined foods of all kinds. I also must include concentrates, such as fruit juices.

During the weight loss phase of Atkins, even your intake of potentially healthy carbohydrates such as fruits and whole grains must be controlled. Once you’ve bid adieu to your extra pounds, you can return to fruits and some starches to the degree that they won’t upset your metabolism and reactivate the cravings that result in weight gain. But the refined and processed foods I’ve just mentioned simply aren’t good for you-ever.

Am I advocating a high-fat diet? Not in the long run. As you increase the percentage of carbohydrates, while advancing through the different phases of Atkins, the percentage and actual amount of fat you consume will diminish. However, as long as you are at the lower end of carbohydrate consumption, higher-fat consumption poses no threat to your health.”

Have you bought into the idea that to lose weight and feel good you have to adopt a low-fat diet? If so, the principles and approach I’m about to outline for you might just seem counter-intuitive. They certainly do to those who criticize them. But in the ten years since this book was first published, new scientific research has been conducted and published that shows that a controlled carbohydrate nutritional approach is better for you-and for your body-than a lowfat, high-carbohydrate nutritional approach. But let’s cut to the chase. Here are three questions you should be asking yourself right about now:

1. Is this safe?
2. Is this nutritionally sound?
3. Will I keep the weight off once I lose it?

I take these questions, and the misinformation that surrounds the answers, so seriously that I’ve devoted an entire chapter (Chapter 9) to the myths and misconceptions that have been spread about controlled carbohydrate nutrition. But allow me to tip my hand:

• Safe? Yes, and there is plenty of hard science to back that up. In fact, a number of studies conducted in the past two years (which we will refer to in future chap ters) show that a controlled carbohydrate nutritional approach helps improve the clinical parameters affecting heart disease and other illnesses while not causing harm to your liver, kidneys or bone structure.
• Nutritionally sound? Yes, a person following the typical menu and eating foods containing just 20 grams of carbohydrates meets or exceeds the daily recommended allowance of most vitamins and minerals. As you move through the phases of Atkins, you get even more. And that’s not according to me, but to analysis using the leading nutritional software program, the one used by most of the practicing nutritionists in this country.
• Keep off all the lost weight? Nothing could be more true. Once you’ve seen the results and committed yourself to good health you’ll realize that it’s much easier than you ever thought possible. Because of the types of foods that are part of Atkins, it’s actually possible to happily make a change in the way you eat-and look and feel-for good.

by Robert C. Atkins, M.D.

Don’t Excess Calories Cause Weight Gain?
It is true that gaining weight results from taking in more calories than you expend. But excess calories certainly cause you to pile on the pounds-and this is a gigantic “but”-only when you are eating a lot of carbohydrate along with fat.

So it’s time to abandon the assumption that the only way to lose weight is to strictly control your intake of calories. Many people think that only one thing matters: how many calories you take in and use up. It’s not that simple.

When you follow a controlled carbohydrate approach, you get what I call a “metabolic advantage. When you control carbohydrate consumption sufficiently, your body will switch from burning glucose derived from carbohydrate to burning primarily fat for energy. This means you could eat, say, 2,000 calories and still begin losing pounds and inches.

In contrast, if you were consuming 2,000 calories on a low-fat diet, you might not lose weight, and you might actually gain weight. The metabolic advantage is that burning fat takes more energy so you expend more calories. And if you eat fewer calories-as many Atkins people do because their appetite is usually diminished-you’ll likely lose weight even faster. So it’s not that calories don’t count, it’s just that you will burn more of them, with less hunger, when your body is operating on a fat-based metabolism.

Eating the Atkins Way Must Have Special Advantages
You bet it does. Here are six reasons why doing Atkins works:

1. As I’ve just said, it mobilizes more fat for use as energy than any diet you have ever encountered. In a clinical setting and countless testimonials, Atkins has repeatedly been proven to take off more fat than other programs when an equal number of calories is consumed. This incredible advantage has been researched and validated.

2. The controlled carbohydrate nutritional approach is not one of deprivation. Sheer hunger is the main reason for the failure of most weight loss efforts. A lifetime eating plan needs to be palatable, pleasant and filling. You will have to abandon sugar and other refined carbohydrates such as white flour. But most people find that once they shake off the sugar addiction, they feel no strong desire to go back to it. For them, a nutritional approach that allows them to eat a vast variety of meat and fish and salads and vegetables prepared in the most appetizing manner-i.e., with butter and cream and spices and herbs-is anything but austere. Eating Atkins-style is a food lover’s dream come true-luxurious, healthy and varied.

3. Atkins is the easiest way to maintain weight loss. The trouble with losing weight on a low-calorie/low-fat diet or on a liquid-protein diet is that the maintenance program is so very different from the weight loss program. So when you go back to your former way of eating, the pounds return with astonishing speed because you are unprepared for maintenance.

There are sound physiological reasons for this. When you restrict the number of calories you eat, your metabolism shifts into a survival mode, meaning it slows down to conserve energy. When you go back to a higher-calorie diet-as you inevitably must-your body is still in its mode of burning calories slowly. So it becomes extremely hard to continue or maintain weight loss.

Success at maintaining weight loss is the great plus while doing Atkins. What most people know about it is that you can usually lose a lot of weight rapidly. And you probably can. But the key point is that the weight doesn’t return. One of the reasons is that it doesn’t create a big difference in the number of calories you eat during the weight loss and weight maintenance phases.

The Atkins Nutritional Approach is actually a continuum of four phases that transition seamlessly from one to the next. Phase 1, known as Induction, crashes you through most weight loss barriers and will generally introduce even the most metabolically resistant person to weight reduction. Phase 2, Ongoing Weight Loss (OWL), will carry you smoothly toward your goal. Phase 3, Pre-Maintenance, eases you toward adopting permanently a new, healthier way of eating that, with a modest degree of diligence on your part, will allow you to stay slim forever. Phase 4, Lifetime Maintenance, is the game plan that will keep those banished pounds at bay for the rest of your days.
Let me state one crucial fact that you should always keep in mind: For people who comply with all four phases of Atkins, failure to maintain weight loss is very rare.

4. Not only does Atkins not deprive you of the pleasure of eating, it energizes you and makes you feel just plain good. And those two things are definitely factors in keeping the weight off, because few people are willing to go back to feeling lousy once they’ve experienced the joys of feeling good. As a matter of fact, for about half the patients I see, the most compelling reason they continue to do Atkins is that they feel noticeably worse if they stop the program.
Plus, when you are full of energy, you are more inclined to exercise, enhancing weight loss and replacing fat tissue with muscle, which will also help you cut inches from your measurements. People will see the change in you, enhancing your sense of accomplishment and self-respect.

5. The plan is healthy. Research has repeatedly demonstrated that controlling carbohydrate intake results in improved blood cholesterol and triglyceride levels, moderation of blood-sugar levels and reduction of blood pressure. All these indicators result in reduced risk for cardiovascular disease. And, incidentally, in my forty years of practice, I’ve yet to see a single study that has shown that a high-protein diet causes kidney problems.
In addition, Atkins can effectively and quickly make a positive impact on many of the most common annoyances that patients reveal in the privacy of their doctor’s office. In all my years of practice, I’ve heard and seen it all: fatigue, irritability, depression, trouble concentrating, headaches, insomnia, dizziness, joint and muscle aches, heartburn, colitis, premenstrual syndrome, water retention and bloating. For the lion’s share of patients, Atkins is a specific prescription against such ills.

6. Atkins works because, as an increasing body of scientific evidence shows, it corrects the basic factor that controls obesity and influences risk factors for certain illnesses. That factor is excessive levels of insulin. An essential hormone, insulin governs the basic mechanism by which the body lays on fat. When found in excessively high levels-we medical folk call that state hyperinsulinism-insulin vigorously promotes the development of diabetes, atherosclerosis and hypertension. More recently, it has also been linked to increased risk of breast cancer and polycystic ovarian syndrome.

And so the Atkins approach finds itself at the center of health planning for a long and vigorous life.

The net result was that sugar intake, which had averaged 12 pounds a year per person in 1828, was nearly ten times that in 1928. Remember, too, that if you don’t take your sugar straight, you’ll find it already sprinkled into a thousand different foods and beverages before they come to your table.

There are marked similarities in the diet eaten in all the world’s developed countries, so, for now, I’ll just mention some statistics for the United States. Once you understand what healthy eating can be like, you’ll find them as bizarre and shocking as I do.

The latest Department of Agriculture statistics show that the average American consumed 124 pounds of caloric sweeteners (principally refined sugar and high fructose corn syrup) in 1975. By 1999 it had risen to 158 pounds. This translates into an average of nearly 750 calories from sugar a day, which means by conservative reckoning, over one-third of all the calories an adult puts into his or her body each day comes from nutritionally empty and metabolically harmful caloric sweeteners. Those figures represent 190 grams of sugar (and corn syrup) a day. Compare that with the 300 grams of carbohydrate the government expects us to consume each day, and we see that sugar now comprises over sixty percent of the carbohydrate total.

Sugar has no nutritional value and is directly harmful to your health. Despite vociferous attempts to defend it, there are studies that clearly show how harmful (and even deadly in the case of diabetics) its effects can be. I won’t go into hyperinsulinism now; it will be covered fully in Chapter 5. For now, simply remember this: Diets high in sugar and other refined carbohydrates radically increase the body’s production of insulin, and insulin is the best single index of adiposity. That final word is medical jargon for fat.

Sugar, you see, activates certain metabolic processes that are both harmful to your health and folly for your waistline. Sugar is a metabolic poison. You could, of course, ignore this fact and attempt to control your weight by calorie counting and deprivation. That is, you could direct yourself to the quantity instead of the quality of your diet. That’s pretty much what conventional diets advise. However, the likelihood that you’ll permanently lose weight by controlling your caloric intake is almost nil.

The whole problem of sugar was compounded by the low fat messages we were wrongly bombarded with during the 1980s and 1990s. To make a low-fat product taste good, manufacturers add lots of sugar. Now, in the United States, the aisles in the supermarket are crammed with low-fat or diet cookies and crackers, ice cream, frozen cakes and pies, soft drinks and white bread filled with sugar. The United States has “low-fatted” and “dieted” itself to a raging epidemic of obesity and diabetes.

This is not real food; it’s invented, fake food. It’s filled with sugar and highly refined carbohydrates and with chemically altered trans fats (they are listed as hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oil on food labels), not to mention plenty of other chemical additives. For thousands of years, human beings were in luck-none of this food existed. Now we’re stuck with it. Because it’s incredibly profitable, it’s also widely distributed. But there isn’t a person on this planet who should be eating it.

A look at another Western culture is instructive. Only a few decades ago, the Frenchman with his butter-, cheese- and goose-liver-pate-laden diet had a heart disease rate sixty percent lower than his American peers. (The Frenchwoman did even better-she had the lowest heart disease rate in the western world.) The French also have far lower rates of obesity than Americans do, despite the fact that their diet is higher in fat. They eat comparable amounts of meat and fish, four times the butter and twice as much cheese as Americans. What does it all mean? Could it by any chance have anything to do with the fact that the per capita consumption of sugar in the United States was five times that of France?

By the way, the reason it’s more helpful to compare American and French diets of a few decades ago is that the French have now discovered fast food. As their diets become closer to American ones, they are losing some of their health advantage.