Atkins Diet Review

Devised by the late Dr Robert Atkins, the Atkins diet is a high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet. Dr Atkins' theory is simple: when you cut out carbs, your body is forced to burn its fat stores to provide it with energy.  Since you burn more calories when your body burns fat than when it burns carbohydrate, you'll lose weight more quickly.  When you cut carbs out of your diet, your blood sugar levels will remain more stable throughout the day, which will prevent overeating.

There are four phases of the Atkins diet. The first phase is called Induction. You stay in the Induction phase for at least two weeks. During Induction, you must severely limit your intake of carbohydrates.  On the upside, you can eat unlimited amounts of red meat, chicken, fish, cheese, eggs, mayo, cream and butter. During the Induction phase, your body switches from burning carbohydrates to burning fat and blood sugar levels stabilize.

The second phase, Ongoing Weight Loss, allows you to slightly increase your carb intake until you find your Critical Carbohydrate Level for Losing Weight. This is the maximum amount of carbohydrate you can eat each day to lose between 1 and 3lb a week.

Once you have only 5-10 lbs left to lose, you enter the Pre-maintenance phase. During this phase, you increase you carb intake by 10g each day for a week at a time. This slows down your weight loss to no more than 1lb per week in an effort to prepare your body for the final phase, lifetime maintenance.

The fourth and final phase, Lifetime Maintenance, aims to help you maintain your weight. While you can have a slightly more varied carbohydrate intake, most people need to limit carbs to less than 90g a day, which is still only about one-third of what most people eat in a day. To ensure success with the Atkins Diet, you will need to follow a low-carb routine for life.