A proper diet is essential for a healthy lifestyle. By following a good diet, we can keep our weight within normal range and live a longer and healthier life. Atkins diet is a very popular diet that Robert Atkins invented in the 1970s. His book became very famous all over the world, and many more versions of this book were written. The Atkins diet described the food we should eat and avoid for losing weight effectively.
What is the Atkins diet?
This diet tells us to avoid carbohydrates while having as much fat and proteins as we want. Atkins suggests that by not eating carbohydrates, we can lose weight quickly, and also, due to a high intake of protein and fat, we won’t get weak or sick.
There are four phases of the Atkins diet:
Phase 1: Phase 1 is rigorous and tells us to have a meager amount of carbohydrates. In this phase, we are allowed to have only 20 grams of carbohydrate per day, but with a high amount of fat and protein. We can fulfill our appetite by having cheese, meat, and eggs, which will provide us the energy to continue our work by being on a diet. We can have green vegetables which contain a low amount of carbohydrates. We have to follow the phase 1 diet for a minimum of two weeks. This is the most influential phase of the Atkins diet, and the most significant weight loss occurs in this stage.
Phase 2: As we have already become habituated to having fewer carbohydrates, phase 2 is now much more accessible. In phase two, we can now add some more carbohydrates to our diet but not too much. We can now have more green vegetables, nuts, and fruits. In phase 2, our carbohydrate consumption can be from 20-25 grams per day, but it should be healthy carbohydrates like berries. The berries have a high content of vitamins and minerals and can protect us from many diseases.
Phase 3: When we are close to our targeted weight, we can move to phase 3. In phase 3, we can increase our carbohydrate intake a bit more. As we discovered our carbohydrate tolerance level, adding a bit more carbohydrate will neither increase nor decrease our weight. So now we can have food like rice, lentils, the bread which have more carbohydrates than green vegetables. But we should not have unhealthy added sugar food which might destroy our weight loss scheme.
Phase 4: This phase is the final phase that has to be followed for a lifetime. After reaching our desired weight, we can now have as much carbohydrate as we want as long as our body does not gain weight. So now we are allowed to have a healthy and adequate amount of carbohydrates which won’t affect our body.
The ultimate goal of the Atkins diet: The ultimate goal of this diet is to keep our targeted weight and then constantly to be in that weight. We’ll have to work hard for some months in the Atkins diet by giving up some of our favorite dishes. But then, once we reach our goal, we can be accessible to ourselves and have our favorite dishes again as long as we don’t gain weight. So in this way, our body becomes adapted and will stay at a constant weight.