Weight Loss Fantasy

Is The Atkins Diet Right For You?

The Atkins diet, without a doubt, has been the most controversial diet of all time. Seldom does a week go by that the news media does not mention the Atkins diet.

The Atkins diet, first introduced in 1972 by cardiologist Dr. Robert Atkins, is considered the most extreme of the low carb diets. Hundreds of research studies by universities and research teams throughout North America, Europe, and Asia have been conducted on the Atkins diet.

Basically, the eating plan revolves around protein and water. You need a lot of water on this plan as is the case in any weight loss plan out there. Water is crucial on the Atkins Diet because your body loses so much weight so quickly that your kidneys have difficulty flushing everything out of your system if you are dehydrated.

The protein is important in the plan because your body will actually burn calories digesting a large quantity of protein. You lose weight through eating certain foods. Your body uses its stored fat to process the protein. However, your body will burn carbohydrates first.

When you completely (or almost completely) eliminate carbohydrates from your diet, your body has no other resource for energy besides its storage of extra fat to burn. The Atkins Diet is a high-protein, low-carbohydrate eating plan that works wonders at first. You can lose a lot of weight in relatively little time on this program.

I can’t remember exactly how much my friend lost when he was on the Atkins Diet years ago, but I do remember that it was an awful lot. I remember him getting a lot of compliments on his success, but I don’t remember him suffering on the plan at all. He did eat a lot of cheese, eggs and meat on the plan. Eventually, he told me he craved bread and pasta.

Herein lays the biggest problem with the Atkins Diet. The plan is not realistic. People will go back to eating carbohydrates eventually. Unfortunately, it takes only a small amount of carbohydrates to throw your efforts out the window. These carbohydrates include fruit on the Atkins Diet.

My friend gained weight faster than he lost it once he quit the program. The Atkins Diet is a great way to lose a lot of weight in a little bit of time, but it is not a life-long eating plan that most people can follow. If you are looking to lose 20 to 30 pounds in one month, the Atkins Diet is a good choice. If you are making a life change, opt for another program.

The Atkins diet can be adjusted to a less aggressive program if you have a lot of weight to lose and wisely choose to lose the pounds more slowly over a longer period of time. This would be less stressful, much healthier and give the stretched skin a chance to shrink. Skipping the induction phase is one way. You may find this more sustainable over the long haul using the Atkins diet.

One important key to health and success with any low carb diet is to make every carb count by choosing nutrient dense live carbs. These include fresh vegetables such as broccoli, cabbage, spinach, and green beans. This is critical where total carbs are very limited - such as with the first two stages of the Atkins diet.

The Atkins diet, as with any diet program, has its good and bad points - but, whatever side you are on, one thing is for sure. Dr. Atkins, and the Atkins diet, has done for the diet and nutrition industry what Mohammad Ali did for the boxing industry. Dr. Atkins created new awareness and introduced new concepts that will forever affect how we look at diets for weight loss as well as diets for health. Although the low carb diet was first written about in the late 1800’s, low carb dieting truly came to life with the birth of the Atkins diet.

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