Dr. Robert Atkins created his diet plan in the 1970s. He designed it as a lifestyle meant to be followed throughout a person’s life rather than as a fad merely to lose weight. Dr. Atkins was a proponent of ketogenic fat burning. This process occurs when participants consume fewer than 40 grams of carbohydrate daily. The Dr. also recommended using dietary supplements and vitamins to improve health and maintain proper nutrition.
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 strictly limits carb intake. Only 20 grams of carbs are allowed daily, but to offset this there is a generous allowance of fat & protein. The suggested source of carbs during this stage is low starch vegetables. This stage lasts 14 days and is followed by the OWL diet.
The OWL Stage is less severe and more carbs are introduced, but intake is limited to 40 grams per day. Participants stay on the OWL diet until they reach their ideal weight. Once this goal is attained, dieters transition to the pre-maintenance diet phase. Here they experiment with the addition of carbs until their individual carb tolerance level is established (the total grams of carbs they can eat without gaining weight).
At this point, where dieters know how carbs affect them individually they have reached Lifetime Maintenance. They will now continually (read forever) avoid sugar, hydrogenated oils and fats, processed foods, and worst of all white flour!
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