An Atkins Diet for Vegetarians?

One of the benefits of the Atkins diet for vegetarians is that it can help you break your lifelong cravings for carbs and sweets, as well as educate you about healthy eating.

While carbohydrates are a necessary component of a balanced diet, we eat too many and most are of the wrong kind. Dr. Robert C. Atkins found that eating good carbs (but always in moderation!) and eliminating processed carbs was the key to rapid weight loss as well as proper weight management.

Are There Fat Vegetarians?

Absolutely. You can’t blame meaty cheeseburgers for being overweight when bagels pack on the pounds just as easily. A lifestyle that involves little to no exercise, and indulging in sweets, sodas, breads, cakes, cookies, chips, potatoes, mac & cheese, and even extra dressing on the garden salad — will cause you to gain weight.

The main difficulty with the Atkins diet for vegetarians will likely be overcoming the condition known as carb withdrawal if you start at the induction phase to force ketosis to occur in your body. Since carbs have been a large part of your diet for years, you can expect your body to react with fatigue and other symptoms when it no longer is getting an excess supply of high carb foods.

Making Adjustments to Your Diet

You will lose weight on the Atkins Diet by eating fewer carbs but you will have to plan your daily menus carefully. For example, you may find that cutting back or eliminating wheat from your vegetarian diet will give you dramatic weight loss results. You will also have to restrict some foods such as beans, corn, and potatoes since they are high in carbohydrates.

Even though the Atkins Diet for Vegetarians does not include animal fats and proteins, you’ll get an adequate supply of plant proteins as well as protein from sources such as butter, eggs, dairy, and cheese.

The great thing for vegetarians about the Atkins diet plan is that there is no guesswork. His books provide extensive lists (including carb counts) of recommended low glycemic fruits, non-starchy vegetables, oils, nuts, legumes, and whole grains that vegetarians can enjoy.

Educate Yourself About Healthy Carbs

There are many followers of the plan who never attempt to do the restrictive ketogenic phase. The Atkins Diet for vegetarians can be started anywhere during stages 2 through 4, completely skipping the induction stage. Though this isn’t the way Dr. Atkins designed it, it can be done. As you learn about which foods to choose and which to avoid, you will personalize a plan that may include up to 120 carbs per day depending on your weight and activity level. Once you’ve reviewed the vast amounts of low carb, nutrient-dense foods the plan includes, you’ll use the Atkins diet menu plan as a weight management blueprint for the rest of your life.