The popular low carb diet plan Atkins Diet is a program that consists of four phases: induction, ongoing weight loss (OWL), pre-maintenance and maintenance. The first phase, induction, is the most difficult, but it requires that the body begin to function the way it needs to for the Atkins diet to be successful.
The induction phase lasts two weeks, although if you’re responding well to this and don’t find it difficult, you can continue for longer – particularly if you have a lot of weight to lose. – Because weight loss in this phase is usually more dramatic than in the OWL phase that follows.
During induction, you can only have 20 grams of carbohydrates per day, and all of it should come from green vegetables. This means that you cannot eat any other carbohydrates at all. The list of foods allowed during induction (besides these limited portions of green vegetables to get your 20 grams of carbs) is all protein and fat. You can eat most types of meat, fish, shellfish and eggs, and you can use butter and most types of oil in cooking. You can also eat cottage cheese, although it contains a small amount of carbohydrate, so you need to count it towards your 20 grams a day.
For beverages, you will need to avoid alcohol during induction (even alcohol without carbs like vodka), as alcohol is another source of energy the body will use before it can use fat, and most people will need to avoid caffeine. , although some can abstain from drinking coffee, tea or Diet Coke without affecting the diet. Water is the preferred beverage, although you can also have decaffeinated coffee and sugar-free diet soda, and you can use Splenda if you want to sweeten any of your drinks; Real sugar is completely banned.
The induction phase works by starving your body of carbohydrates so it goes into a state called “benign ketosis.” This is where your body switches from using carbohydrates as its primary source of fuel to using fat — both the fat you eat and the fat stored in your body.
The human body is designed to be able to run on carbohydrates or fat (or alcohol, which is why you can’t have either during induction), and can manage healthily on either of these. . Benign ketosis is the state where your body is using fat as its fuel source instead of carbs, and as it does this, a byproduct called ketones is released on your breath and in your urine. This is why some people who follow the plan notice “Atkins breath,” which smells sweet, like pear drops. To check that the diet is working, you can use Ketostix, a product commonly used by diabetics, available from all pharmacies, to test your urine. The darker the pink or purple color the ketosticks are, the deeper you are in ketosis.
Source by Cassie Getty
