How to Start Atkins

My reaching the 50 lb milestone generated some questions about how I did it.   That prompted this blog about some of the basics of low carbing to get people stating today.

Let me start this by saying that this blog will be the highlights.

I can not stress enough how important it is to read the Atkins books for yourself.   

I personally prefer his original book published in 1972. From other reading, apparently his estate is who was behind the new edition that came out in 1992 or 2002 and they were more concerned with profits from the product line they launched than in actual weight loss.  

I have both books and have read both of them if for no other reason than the recipes, but I stick closer to the 1972 version for the program.

Here is a photo of what the books look like to help you locate them in a store:

These are easy to find used at many book stores or on Amazon.

The basics:
The original Atkins was around levels.
first level was induction followed by 2nd - 5th which are to add in carbs a little at a time.

Revised Atkins is a four phase approach:
Induction
OWL (ongoing weight loss)
Pre-maintenance
Maintenance

The most important step with anything is getting started so let me take a minute and talk about induction.

This is a phase where you get your body to enter Ketosis.  This is for 2 weeks.

Side note: I highly recommend you get some ketosis testing strips.  I bought mine at Walmart for about $6.  You will need these all along your journey to tell if you are in and still in ketosis. 

During this time you eat NO MORE than 20 carbs per day and only and I mean ONLY foods on the acceptable food list.   No Exceptions.   The original acceptable food list was pretty short. The new book's list can be found here.    The 1972 list can be found here.  

I don't care if something is carb free, if it isn't on the list, don't eat it.   Or else you will find yourself not getting into ketosis and not loosing. 

Trust me! I have learned this the hard way. 

It isn't about just eating 20 carbs, it is about eating the right 20 carbs to get your fat burning furnace ignited.

It is also very important to look at the list of forbidden food.   Just one bite is the kiss of death to this program and forbidden means forbidden.   This list is in the first book and it contains things like potatoes, corn, honey, ketchup, cashews, milk and more.


If lists don't work for you, just remember that all unprocessed meat, poultry, and fish are allowed (not shellfish). You can also have 4 oz of hard cheese. Fats like butter, olive oil, mayo. And salad greens, celery, radishes and cucumbers. No more than 2 cups of loosely packed veggies per day though.  That is the basics of induction.   You can see why it was called the steak and salad diet. 


Again, I can't stress the importance of buying the books for yourself and reading them all, not just the recipes.


I mentioned in one of my first posts that there is a right way and a wrong way to do low carb. 

Lesson learned: Buying a ton of low carb products and not really paying attention to what it takes to get your body into ketosis (acceptable food list) and then eating say 40+ carbs of low carb products a day and wondering why the scale isn't moving.   This is not the right way.   Actually reading and following the program to the letter is.

When you read Dr. Atkins' books you will find out he learned through experiment that people can increase their carb count gradually and not fall out of ketosis. 

For both the old and the new program, the next step includes adding in some more carbs and more foods.

Does this mean you will soon be eating deep dish thick crust pizza again? Sorry,  probably not.

But it does mean you can add in soft cheeses, nuts, more veggies and eventually fruit and still loose weight.

These increasing carb content phases work on the philosophy of adding in carbs and little at a time (5-8 per week) until your body stops loosing and then backing off to the level where you were losing and that is your maximum amount allowed. For some people this may be 25 carbs total, some may be 150 carbs. We are all different and you will need to experiment to find out what works for you.

To summarize this in a picture for my visual friends out there:

One area I deviate from the books is I still try to stick to around 20 carbs per day.  I know I could increase this amount until I find the point where my furnace turns off, but I am used to the 20 carbs rule and find my diet really satisfying so why change.   It is working for me so far.  Of course as I blogged about before, I allow myself to cheat one day per month too and so I have to go back on induction after this anyway, so it is easier to just stay there.

Hopefully this will be enough to get you going.   Please don't hesitate to contact me with questions. I am no expert but I would be happy to tell you what I have found or what the books say.