The Atkins Diet was designed by Dr. Robert Atkins in the 1970s. He designed the diet to followed forever. That is, the diet is more of a lifestyle than a fad diet. The Dr. was a proponent of ketogenic fat burning. This is accomplished by consuming few than 40 grams of carbohydrate daily. He also suggested using dietary supplements to maintain nutrition within the body’s systems.

The Atkins Diet is divided into four stages: the Induction diet, the Ongoing Weight Loss diet, the Pre-Maintenance diet, and finally the Lifetime Maintenance diet.

The Induction diet is very strict as far as carb elimination (20 grams or less per day), but generous in the allowance of fat and protein. It should be noted that low starch vegetables are the recommended source of carbs. This phase of the diet lasts 14 days and is followed by the Ongoing Weight Loss diet (OWL).

The OWL phase allows for the reintroduction of certain good carbs but the levels are kept below 40 grams a day. Dieters stay on OWL until they reach their ideal weight. Once the ideal weight is reached dieters transition into the Pre-Maintenance diet, where they experiment with reintroducing certain good carbs until they discover their carb tolerance level (the total carb grams they can consume in a day and not gain weight).

When dieters understand how much carb they can consume and they maintain their ideal weight, they will enter Lifetime Maintenance. Here they will continue to avoid sugar, processed foods, white flour and hydrogenated fat/oils.

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