Atkins Nutritional Approach at eDiets.com Site
Overview
Dr. Robert C. Atkins (1930-2003) created the Atkins Nutritional Approach and attended the University of Michigan and graduated in 1951. He attended Cornell University Medical School and graduated in 1955 with a specialty in cardiology. In the early 1970’s he created the Atkins diet. This diet is a low carbohydrate, high protein, and high fat approach to weight loss.
Although Atkins official website gives you a wealth of information about the diet program, Atkins does not offer it. To enroll in the Atkins Nutritional Approach, sign up at eDiets.com!
The Atkins Nutritional Approach is a Low Glycemic diet that is a Low Carbohydrate, High in Protein, Fat and Oils, Vegetables, Vitamins & Minerals, and No Trans Fats.
What does the term “Glycemic” mean? The definition of “Glycemic” is the presence of glucose (sugar) in blood. When you see the term “Low Glycemic”, it means the food will have a stabilized affect on your blood sugar level. When you see the term “High Glycemic”, it means the food will have an unstable affect on your blood sugar level.
What does that mean? It means that Low Glycemic foods will keep you full longer after a meal and High Glycemic foods will make you hungry right away causing you to snack or overeat.
That is why Atkins Nutritional Approach follows the Low Glycemic Approach so your blood sugar levels will be stabilized instead of having rapid effects of sugar highs and lows. When your blood sugar levels go into a high rapid state, it will also return back down rapidly. This process will soon leave you hungry causing you to snack constantly which will lead to overeating.
The diet is based on the theory that individual’s are overweight because they eat too much carbohydrates. Our body burns both fat and carbohydrates for energy but carbohydrates are burned first. By reducing carbohydrate intake and eating more fat and protein, the individual will lose weight by burning stored body fat.
There are 4 phases to the Atkin’s Nutritional Approach – Induction, On Going Weight Loss (OWL), Pre-Maintenance, and Lifetime Maintenance. You may start the diet with any one of the four phases but starting from Phase 1 will help you cut back on carbohydrate consumption and helps start your weight loss. You can choose any phase to start with but the 1st phase is recommended so that you can start your weight loss with eating less carbohydrates.
After the 1st phase (14 days), you will gradually consume more carbohydrates in the following phases. The amount you consume will depend on your individual metabolism.
The Atkins Nutritional Approach is based on 5 core principles – Protein, Fiber, Vitamins & Minerals, Low Sugar, and No Trans Fat.
It is claimed by The Center for Complementary Medicine in New York founded by Dr. Atkins that most individuals follow the Atkins diet for weight maintenance, disease prevention, and good health.
To enroll in the Atkins Nutritional Approach, sign up at eDiets.com!
Atkins Nutritional Approach: 4 Phases
There are 4 phases to this diet – Induction, Ongoing Weight Loss, Pre-Maintenance, and Lifetime Maintenance.
Take a daily multi-vitamin with minerals including potassium, calcium, and magnesium but without iron.
Phase 1: Induction (lasts for 14 days)
The Induction phase is the first and most restrictive phase that limits your intake of carbohydrates and the elimination of sugar. Both fat and protein can be eaten liberally while you limit the consumption of 20 net grams of carbohydrates daily.
The Induction phase starts you off with burning mostly fat in your body. Carbohydrates are usually burned first, then body fat but as you consume less carbohydrates during the Induction phase, your body will start to burn fat for energy.
During the first 14 days of the Induction phase, your body enters ketosis as you run out of carbohydrates for your body to burn. Ketosis is in your body when you experience bad breath or a metallic taste in the mouth.
The Induction phase is where most people will see weight loss results. Some have reported to losing up to 5-10 pounds per week and it is highly possible especially if there is daily exercise involved.
What Will Happen:
You will eliminate sugar and other food addictions and consume leafy greens and other non-starchy vegetables that will be your source of carbohydrates in the Induction phase. Once you lower your carbohydrate intake, you body will start to burn fat as an energy source. This will take about 48 hours to happen. You may feel hungry or out of it for the first few days from the lack of carbohydrates until the fat energy kicks in.
What You Will Eat:
The Induction phase limits you to 20 grams of net carbs per day (grams of carbohydrates-fiber=net carbs that will come from salad and non-starchy vegetables. Acceptable foods during Induction phase is below.
Unacceptable foods during Induction:
For the first 14 days, you cannot consume fruits, milk, grains, cereals, breads or "High Glycemic Index" vegetables such as potatoes, peas, corn and carrots. Alcohol is forbidden during the 1st phase but allowed in the later phases.
Foods that are Acceptable
During Induction you may consume liberally: fish (tuna, trout, flounder, salmon, and more), fowl (chicken, duck turkey, goose, and more), shellfish (duck, oysters, mussels, clams, shrimp, and more), meat (beef, pork, lamb, bacon, and more), and eggs (scrambles, fried, hard or soft-boiled, omelets, and more).
Cheese
You can eat 3-4 ounces daily of cheeses including cheddar, cream cheese, mozzarella, and Swiss.
Fats and Oils
Fats and oils are essential to your nutrition especially olive oil. All other vegetable oils such as walnut, soybean, grapeseed, canola, sesame, and sunflower are also allowed.
Vegetables
You should consume 12-15 net carbohydrates a day of salad vegetables. They are high in fiber and nutrients. Some vegetables include peppers, celery, radishes, lettuce, cucumber, mushrooms, arugula, and more.
Vegetables higher in carbohydrate content include broccoli, eggplant, tomato, cabbage, asparagus, celery root, snow peas, and more.
Beverages
Drink a minimum of eight 8 ounce glasses of water daily including mineral, filtered, spring, and tap water.
In addition to water, you may also have club soda, decaffeinated or regular coffee or tea, herbal tea, clear broth, and more.
Artificial Sweeteners
The Atkins Nutritional Approach prefers to use sucralose from Splenda as an artificial sweetener. Surcalose is safe to use because it does not contain calories and it does not raise blood sugar.
Phase 2: Ongoing Weight Loss (OWL)
During this phase, you will gradually consume rich-nutrient carbohydrates. This phase is for anyone who wants to lose a few pounds or a healthy lifestyle.
In phase 1 you consume 20 net grams carbohydrates, now in the 2nd phase you will intake 25 net grams carbohydrates and an increase in 5 grams of carbohydrate a week until you’ve reached the weight of 5-10 pounds within your goal weight. You will stay with this 2nd phase until your weight is within 5-10 lbs of the goal weight.
What Will Happen
Your body will have the ability to burn fat in a more regular state than before since your body is now used to the process. You will make better choices in choosing carbohydrates, understand your body and learn to recognize the amount of carbohydrates you can eat while still losing weight at the same time, and prepare yourself to maintain permanent weight loss.
What You Will Eat (adding the extra 5 grams of net carbohydrates):
You can choose from a variety of foods: Vegetables (asparagus, cooked spinach, cauliflower, and avocado), Dairy (cottage cheese, ricotta cheese, heavy cream, and farmer’s cheese), Nuts and Seeds (cashews, macadamia, almonds, pecans, and walnuts), Alcohol, Fruits (blueberries, strawberries, cantaloupe, honeydew, and raspberries), Starchy vegetables, and Grains.
Phase 3: Pre-Maintenance
A few 5-10 more pounds to go!
Phase 3 is the practice for long term weight management to help you manage your healthy eating habits from the Atkins Nutritional Approach. This phase will help you gradually transition towards a long term commitment on healthy habits and weight maintenance.
You will increase your carbohydrate intake of 5 grams each week. Each week during this phase, you can increase your carbohydrate intake of up to 10 grams of net carbohydrates as long as you still continue to lose those last few 5-10 pounds. You will increase the intake of carbohydrates until you’re losing less than 1 pound a week.
You should continue this phase until you’ve reached your goal weight and maintain it for 1 month. Your ultimate goal is to maintain the weight you have lost. This is called the Atkins Carbohydrate Equilibrium (ACE) which is the state of balance. This is the state where you don’t gain or lose weight.
What You Will Eat in Pre-Maintenance (adding the extra 5-10 grams of net carbohydrates):
You can choose from a variety of foods to add the 5-10 grams of net carbohydrate to your diet. Starchy vegetables (carrots, beets, white potatoes, yams, and more), Legumes (pinto beans, lima beans, chickpeas, black beans, and more), Fruits (apple, peach, kiwi, watermelon, plum, cherries, and more), and Grains (long-grain brown, kernels, whole-wheat cereal, plain oatmeal, and more).
Phase 4: Lifetime Maintenance
You can select from a wide variety of foods and stay at your individual level of the Atkins Carbohydrate Equilibrium (ACE). The way to a healthy and permanent lifestyle is to focus on the ACE and stay within 5lbs from your goal weight.
Atkins Five Core Principles
Protein provides energy for your body as well as building and repairing your muscles and boosting your metabolism.
Fiber controls your appetite, regulates blood sugar levels, and helps your digestive system.
Vitamins and Minerals provides energy and protects your body from free radicals in the environment.
Low Sugar helps you avoid sugar highs and lows. Low Glycemic Impact foods will help stabilize blood sugar levels so you won’t have constant cravings that can lead to overeating.
No Trans Fats Trans Fats are risk factors to a number of diseases including heart disease.
Mono and Poly Unsaturated fats are good fats as well as Omega-3 Fatty acids.
How It Works
- Go to eDiets.com and Enroll
- Start Your Free Profile to answer some basic questions on your goals and body type.
- Get Your Profile Results
- Start your Plan
All eDiets Membership includes…
Each customized plan includes:
- Personalized Weekly Menus with “print and go” shopping lists.
- Free Expert Support with live instant help and telephone support.
- Recipe Database includes over 6,000 online access recipes.
- Fitness Plans personalized to meet your goals and needs.
eDiets Recipe Club: Included for FREE
- Online access to over 6,000 recipes
- Interactive tools to make planning easier
- Recipes of the Day, Top 10 Recipes, Recipe Index, A to Z Search
- “Print and go” Recipe Shopping List
eDiets Personal Fitness Trainer Plan: Included for FREE
- Personalized workouts to meet your goals
- Gives you advice on how to control emotional eating
- Fast results for easy workouts at home
- 3-D virtual animations for workout examples
Recommendation
It is recommended for members to have access to a computer however telephone support is also available.
Cost
$4.49 per week; you will be charged $17.96 for your first 28-day membership when you register. Your credit card will be billed every 28 days until you cancel your membership.
Payment
Accepts all major credit cards
Cancellation
You may cancel anytime by calling 1 (800) 265-6170
Contact
You can contact support through e-mail directly from Atkins official website, or visit the area of this website http://learningcenter.atkins.com/, or call them at 1(800)-6-Atkins.
24 hours a day and 7 days a week you can access online support from peers to professionals. Support groups, Chat Rooms, Mentor Program, Circles of Winners, and Panel of Experts are available to you when you need information.
Nutrition Support Representative: 1-800-265-6170 Monday- Saturday 8:00am to 8:00pm EST and Sunday 9:30am-6:00pm EST.
Member Service Representatives: 1-800-265-6170 Monday-Saturday 8:00am-6:00pm EST.
Email: nutrition@ediets.com
Summary
Atkins Nutritional Approach is a Low Glycemic diet. “Low Glycemic” means “Low Sugar” in the foods that you consume. Low sugar food keeps your blood sugar level stabilized so that the foods you eat will keep you full and satisfied than as if you ate “High Glycemic” foods.
The Atkins Diet follows 4 phases – Induction, On Going Weight Loss, Pre-Maintenance, and Lifetime Maintenance. You can start the diet from any one of the four phases but starting by Phase 1 will help you lose from 5-10lbs each week from lowering the consumption of carbohydrates. By following the phases in order, your weight loss will be more efficient. After the 1st phase, you will begin to gradually increase your carbohydrate intake depending on your individual metabolism.
The Atkins Nutritional Approach is unique in that consumption of carbohydrates will vary depending on an individual’s metabolism. It will be efficient in weight management because it is based on how a person’s body responds or reacts to the sugar in their blood.
There are products such as bars, shakes, and candy that you can purchase and it is high in protein, vitamins & minerals, fiber, low sugar, with no fat or added sugar. These snacks will help you maintain a stable blood sugar level so you feel satisfied longer as well as eating healthy.
Atkins Nutritional Approach is based on five core principles – Protein, Fiber, Vitamins & Minerals, Low Sugar, and No Trans Fats. These 5 principles are what the foods contain and it has high nutritional value.
Atkins Nutritional Approach is for those who want a low carbohydrate diet. Atkins Nutritional Approach means eating more protein and fat as well as vegetables, nuts and seeds, and fruits. Foods you will not eat are processed foods, white flour, and foods that contain high sugar content. Foods you can eat are whole unprocessed food such as grains, berries, meat, fowl, nuts and seeds, foods that contain low sugar content, eggs, cheese, fats and oils, shellfish, and fish. Regular exercise is also recommended.
Click here to visit the Atkins Nutritional Approach at eDiets.com now!
| 
