Everyone wants to look good and fit in their best pair of jeans. But if you are overweight, it takes a lot of effort to shed those extra pounds. Along with a good workout session, you also need to eat healthy to lose weight effectively. When we talk about eating healthy, many people get confused about what to eat and what to avoid. A good diet plan called the Atkins Diet chalked out by a cardiologist, Dr. Robert C. Atkins helps to achieve our weight loss mission quickly.
Overview of Atkins diet
This diet has gained popularity over the years to work wonders for people who are finding it difficult to lose weight. This is one of the first diet plans that entered the market as the weight loss diet plan. This diet has low carbohydrates meal plan that makes you lose weight fast.
Limiting your intake of carbohydrates changes the metabolism of the body. This process is called ketosis where the body stops metabolizing the glucose as energy and instead, starts converting the stored fat into energy. The main purpose of this diet plan is to change your eating habits, thereby helping you lose weight while improving your health conditions.
The Atkins diet plan works in three phases.
Phase 1
This phase is very strict. In this step, you eliminate almost all the carbohydrates from your diet. You will just eat 20 grams of carbohydrates in a day, that too in the form of vegetables. You are allowed to eat only 10% of foundation vegetables like broccoli, asparagus, celery, green beans, cucumber, and peppers. Your diet includes good portions of protein from fish, poultry, cheese, eggs, and meat. Your intake of sugar, fruits, grains, bread, alcohol, pasta, baked goods, and nuts is restricted. This phase is followed for 2 weeks before moving to the next phase.
Phase 2
In this phase, you still continue to restrict your carbohydrates intake from foundation vegetables to minimum. Nutrient-rich fruits like berries, nuts, seeds, and vegetables are slowly added to the diet. You continue to eat like this until you are 10 pounds away from your target weight.
Phase 3
When you enter the 3rd phase, you gradually start to eat a little of other foods like starchy vegetables, fruits, and whole grains. You are allowed to add 10 grams of carbohydrates every week. But if you see that you are gaining weight when you reintroduce carbohydrates to your diet, you need to stop eating them at once. You follow this diet until you reach your goal.
Once you reach your target weight, you need to maintain that weight by continuing to eat light. If you stop eating healthy and switch back to your normal eating habits, you will start putting on those pounds again in no time.