The Atkins weight loss (and weight maintenance) diet plan program

The Atkins Diet Plan gained popularity in 1972 with the publication of the book, Dr. Atkins Diet Revolution. Dr. Atkins, the founder and former Executive Medical Director of The Atkins Center for Complementary Medicine, was one of the first vocal proponents of a low-carbohydrate diet. Long a voice for nutritional medicine, that first book has spawned newly revised versions as well as diet variations such as the South Beach Diet.

The Atkins weight loss (and weight maintenance) program is based on the theory that your body needs more protein and less carbs. The Atkins Diet (also known as the Atkins Diet Revolution) gives you the tools to change your eating habits, adopting a permanent lifestyle change that helps you lose and maintain your weight without having to count calories (although you will have to learn to gauge carb counts). Dr. Atkins believed that you would feel better, look better, and be re-energized by following the basic tenets of the diet.

While the program is somewhat restrictive in the initial stages, this allows your body to slowly ramp up and adjust to a new way of eating. The food you eat allows your body to target fat stores to be used for energy, rather than carbohydrates. Carbs turn to glucose to fuel your body. If you restrict your intake of carbs, the body will look elsewhere for that fuel, which means that energy will instead come from the fat stores in your body.

While you don’t count calories on Atkins, you also don’t eat unlimited amounts of calories either. There still needs to be some control, as the whole idea of taking in as many calories as you expend still holds true. You are just going to get those calories from different sources. The primary makeup of the Atkins diet menu is protein (meat, poultry, fish, dairy) and veggies, with some fruit thrown in.

Breakfast might be bacon and eggs, Greek yogurt with berries, a piece of quiche, or pancakes made with the Atkins baking mix. Lunch and dinner typically consist of a protein, veggies and salad. How about a Cobb salad or grilled salmon with herb butter? For snack, some nuts, cheese wedges, or 72% dark chocolate.

This is not a diet where you will starve yourself, by any means. You can have butter, cheese, sour cream, mayo. You will have to restrict the carbs like pasta, potatoes, dried legumes, and the sweets, but not totally. As you ramp up into the different phases (Induction, Ongoing Weight Loss, Pre-Maintenance, and Lifetime Maintenance), you will be able to add more items to your diet, increasing your carb load. Once you have reached your goal weight, you will maintain it with some restriction on carbs. You will never go back to the old days of bread, pasta, cake and ice cream every day, but you will be able to indulge on a more regular basis.

As with any diet program, do your research first. Go to the library, search the internet, and above all, consult your doctor about any diet regimen that you are contemplating.