Friday, March 20, 2009

Atkins For Life? How Long Should You Stay On the Atkins Diet?

By Jessica A. Andersen

The Atkins Diet was designed to be lifestyle diet by Dr. Robert Atkins in the 1970s. Dr. Atkins is proponent of Dr. Atkins is a proponent of ketogenic fat burning, which is achieved by eating fewer than 40 grams of carbohydrate each day. He also recommends the use of dietary supplements to help balance nutrition and the bodies systems.

Atkins Diet consists of 4 stages: the Induction Diet, the Ongoing Weight Loss (OWL) Diet, the Pre-Maintenance Diet, and ultimately the Lifetime Maintenance Diet.

The Induction diet is very strict as far as carb elimination (20 grams or less per day), but generous in the allowance of fat and protein. It should be noted that low starch vegetables are the recommended source of carbs. This phase of the diet lasts 14 days and is followed by the Ongoing Weight Loss diet (OWL).

The OWL Diet Phase is more forgiving. At this point, participants can consume 40 grams of carbs per day. This phase lasts until dieters reach their ideal weight. Once this goal is accomplished, dieters move to the pre-maintenance diet phase. Now the participant must establish how many carbs they can consume without gaining weight. This is known as finding their carb tolerance level.

When dieters finally comprehend the total number of grams of carbs they can consume and maintain their ideal weight they've reach Lifetime Maintenance. Here the participants will continually avoid processed foods, sugar, white flour, and hydrogenated oils and fats.

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