It’s true, you can eat eggs and bacon every morning and jump start the Atkins diet, a filling and hunger-satisfying way to get as fit and healthy as you were in your younger days.
Eating delicious food is just part of the plan. The Atkins diet plan is not only a quick way to jump start your weight loss, you’ll find that the diet gives you more energy, and the desire to exercise – because improved fitness makes you feel good, and feel good about yourself.
You can jump start the Atkins diet by closely following the 4-step approach. The first phase, Induction, will last two to three weeks. This is where you will see a significant drop in pounds, 5 to 15 pounds is common, and quick results can motivate you to follow the plan until you reach your goal weight.
Phase 1. The Atkins diet starts with the Induction phase which will have you severely limit your intake of carbohydrates. You will be limited to 20 grams of carbs per day but will enjoy red meat, eggs, bacon, fish, burgers, butter, olive oil, and more. Despite what looks like a high fat diet, your body will go into ketosis from the lack of carbs, and in this ketosis state your body burns calories from fat at an accelerated rate. During Phase 1, you should not be hungry and your cravings for sugar and carbs will diminish.
Phase 2. In the Ongoing Weight Loss or OWL phase, you can gradually re-introduce some carbs back in, in limited quantities. Each week, you will increase your daily carb intake by 5 grams until you stop losing weight. This plateau is normal and expected as your body adjusts to your new diet, which has balanced your blood sugar and put your appetite under control. To overcome the plateau, reduce your intake of daily carbs until weight loss resumes.
Phase 3. Once you successfully jump start the Atkins diet by completing the first two phases, you are in the Pre-Maintenance phase, or stage 3. This is a continuation of Phase 2, as you slowly add more carbs into your daily diet. By this time, your eating habits should be successfully altered so that you eat a variety of meat, dairy, veggies, fruits, and all of the Allowed Foods on the Atkins Diet food list.
Phase 4. The Lifetime Maintenance phase will continue for as long as you live. Be sure to read Dr. Atkins’ book, “Atkins for Life,” which is dedicated to this phase. You won’t return to your former way of eating as sugar and starchy foods are still limited. If at any time you need to lose excess pounds that have crept back on, follow Phase 1 or Phase 2, whichever you need, until the new weight is off.
The best way to jump start the Atkins Diet is with the Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution, a revised edition published in 2002 to the original Atkins Diet book. The New Diet Revolution goes over the four phases in detail, as well as explains the effects a high carb diet has on your body, and how excess insulin production causes you to store fat and have cravings. It is very straightforward about the “Acceptable Foods” you can eat and those that you must absolutely avoid. Don’t be leery of all the fat in the diet. Tens of thousands of other dieters wondered the same thing at one time, but they tried it and lost the weight. You can jump start the Atkins diet and lose weight, but only if you carefully follow the plan that Dr. Atkins has tested and laid out for you. If you are ready to be healthy again, eggs and bacon are on the menu!
Guide to Starting the Atkins Diet – What to Expect During the Induction Phase
Why Some Doctors are Against the Atkins Diet
The Complete Atkins Induction Diet Food List
Share Your Atkins Success Story