Ever heard of the term Glycemic Index or GI? This is used to describe how fast a certain type of carbs can be reduced to simple carbs (or sugars), absorbed in the blood stream and thus raise the insulin level in our bodies – the healthy body response to high blood sugar level. When this happens, our blood is sugar rich – the excess sugar either needs to be burnt (by exercising) or it is turned into fat. When on a diet to loose weight, we of course do not want this to happen. The high GI food (sugar, white bread, white rice, potatoes, etc.) quickly raises the sugar level in our blood, which our bodies need to expel by turning it into extra fat. The low GI food (barley, bran, oats, wholegrain bread, all fruits and vegetables except potatoes, etc.) on the other hand contain complex carbohydrates, for which our body needs long time (and considerable effort) to digest. The sugar is slowly absorbed in blood, its level is not raised quickly and substantially and as a consequence of this slow process it is not turned into fat. This is why low GI food is called good carbs and high GI food is called bad carbs.

Also, you need to consider the fact carbohydrates are an important food group, so while the goal of a low carbs diet is to reduce intake of carbs, you must not completely exclude carbs from your diet – you must leave room for some carbs – the carbs budget. This is where the Glycemic Index – GI – becomes important: reduce the intake of high GI foods (sugar, potatoes, sweets, white bread), but do consume enough low GI foods (fruits, vegetables, whole grain products, etc.) to fill your carbs intake budget.

Even though eating low carbs can help you lose weight, low carbs diets are not for everyone. Before deciding to cut out the carbs it is worth understanding the pros and cons first.

Eating a low carbs diet, such as Atkins, will encourage quick weight loss without restricting calories. As well as weight loss, low carbs diets, can also provide many health benefits. People on low carb diets have reported lower cholesterol, increased energy, reduced sugar cravings, reduced appetite and better concentration.

Low carbs diets don’t require you to exercise everyday or count calories – you can eat food that makes you feel full and enjoy rich foods such as meats, dairy and oils.

However, people eating low carb foods do find they hit a plateau where their weight loss slows or stops; it takes a lot of effort to get past this stage and continue losing weight. Also, some people find it difficult to go without carbs and feel they are ‘missing out’ on their favorite foods . These people stick to the diet for a while, but are unable to sustain their will power and soon go back to their old ways and the weight is put back on.

If you decide to do a low carbs diet, you need motivation to continue the diet for a reasonable period of time. If you decide to eat carbs again, try to re-introduce them slowly and don’t go back to the same levels as before – this way your weight will stay off.

Overall the positives outweigh the negatives and time and time again we hear of fantastic weight loss stories from people on low carbs diets. Thousands and thousands of people are enjoying the benefits of eating low carb foods!

Remember: reduce carbs intake, but do not completely eliminate them – only eliminate high GI carbs, but do consume some low GI carbs and most importantly: do not reduce fruit and vegetables intake (except potatoes).

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It is important to refer to the Atkins food pyramid when choosing what to eat on your diet. The Atkins diet pyramid is very dissimilar to the USDA Food Guide Pyramid. The bottom of the pyramid is all foods that contain protein, like eggs, fish, beef, chicken, and tofu. The Atkins diet suggests that these be the bulk of your daily intake. The stage above the protein group is the low-carb vegetable group, which includes salad greens, broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, and spinach.

The third stage consists of berries and avocado. Fruits are recommended on the Atkins diet on an infrequent basis, after one has been on the program for a while. Other foods that are used sparingly on the Atkins diet are the seed oils, cheese, dairy, nuts, and legumes groups. Contrary to the FDA pyramid, the Atkins program puts the grain foods at the very top of the pyramid, as opposed to oils and fats. Grains (carbohydrates) are the least eaten food on the Atkins diet, and one on this program should try to avoid them wherever possible.

It is important for the new Atkins dieter to learn about the food groups, and which ones are acceptable to be eaten on each phase (and more importantly, which ones cannot be eaten). The first stage (Induction) places the most limits on food groups, but it only occurs for two weeks.

In order to lose as much weight in as little time possible, it is imperative that the dieter remains loyal the acceptable foods list. An easy and painless way to do this is to follow an Atkins recipe book, like the ones in the New Diet Revolution book. There are a plethora of other Atkins cookbooks and alternative low carb dieting cookbooks that can really help to not use food groups that are not suggested on the Atkins diet.

Another good idea is to keep a list of acceptable Atkins foods on your person at all times. That way when you go out to eat, you do not have to worry about if the last thing you ate was not on the acceptable foods list. This is especially important if you do not have a good memory. Another important thing is to not depend on “low carb” signs to tell you whether or not something is acceptable on the Atkins diet. Often, these signs can be very misleading. This is because low carb diets are now gaining popularity, and food companies are losing money on their high carb products. To counter this, they produce foods that really aren’t low carb, but they still call them that. With your trusty acceptable foods list on you, you won’t have to worry about eating things that have been well marketed towards the low carb dieter, but don’t have your health in mind.

The Atkins foods online diet program is another helpful foundation for your dieting needs. While some of these are free, others require a monthly fee. When you sign up for one of these programs, they will set you up with a personalized weekly food list designed just for your body size and weight. You can also customize the list by setting your desired carbohydrate gram level. You can print these off, and take them to the grocery store so that you only buy exactly the ingredients that you need to make the food. By doing this, you don’t buy more than you need, so you won’t end up over eating.

Diet food for the Atkins diet is readily available if you know the right places to look. The resources for the Atkins diet like books, online resources, and diet pyramid can help you lose weight faster and easier. Often what you have always been looking for is right under your low carb nose!

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In order to be a successful dieter, you must have patience. Weight loss takes time, and this can be a potential downfall to those dieters who expect to lose a massive amount of weight in a short period of time. This belief can be attributed to all of those scam diet plans, which guarantee “x” amount of weight loss in a very short period of time.

If you lose a larger amount of weight your first week of dieting, and then slow down on your per week amount of weight loss, this is precisely normal. Many people call this your “water-weight”, attributing it to the fact that you may not have as much water in you because you may have been exercising more suddenly. The first week, called the Induction phase, is designed to break you of your carbohydrate addiction and cleanse your body of sugar. The amount of carbs in this first stage is not meant to sustain you throughout the rest of your diet. You need more! Reintroducing more carbs each week will slow weight loss, but it is necessary to the Atkins diet plan.

Additionally, all people do not have the same reaction to the Atkins diet. We are all built differently, and naturally, do not experience the same sort of results exactly the same. Some people lose weight in streaks and short amounts of time, while some lose weight over a steady basis. Some people have said to have experienced a “pleateau” – a time when they don’t lose any weight for several weeks, and then in a matter of days, they’ve lost five pounds!

Things to avoid while dieting include caffeine and aspartame (an artificial sweetener). These two can have negative impacts on your blood sugar levels. These two are found in coffee, as well as diet and regular sodas. Aspartame is also found in sugar-free gelatin. Both of these chemicals can cause temptations for sugar and will take your body out of the “fat-burning” mode that the Atkins plan automatically puts your body into.

Another thing to watch for is your daily intake of cheese. While cheese is an essential part to the Atkins diet, it does contain some carbohydrates. In order for you to make sure cheese is not your problem, only eat about 4 oz a day. Sure, it’s fine to have more on special occasions, but it should definitely not be used as your main source of protein. Other sources of protein that do not have carbohydrates include meat, eggs, and tofu.

Vegetables have to be continually stressed while you remain on the Atkins plan. Preferably, all of your carbs should be coming from the Atkins approved vegetables. Vegetables are great because they help you feel less hungry without ruining the stability of your blood sugar. Additionally, they give you fiber and nutrients that are great for losing weight and your general health. After the first stage, you should still be having 3-4 cups of salad per day, as well as 1 cup of cooked vegetables. Again, make sure the vegetables you ingest are on the acceptable foods list. If you’ve not been eating vegetables and your weight loss has stopped, this is probably it. Not eating vegetables can shut down your metabolism, and the side effects of that are less energy and stalled weight loss.

It is imperative that you eat regularly while on the Atkins plan. If you are going more than five hours without eating at least a snack of protein and fats, then you are not going to be helping yourself lose weight. Doing this causes two things – first, your blood sugar will drop, which will cause cravings for sugars and carbs. Secondly, not eating slows your metabolism drastically. If your metabolism is low, you won’t lose weight because your body believes you are actually starving and tries to conserve as much energy (fat) as possible for as long as possible.

Lastly, water intake is crucial to the Atkins dieter. Water is essential to every human, not just the ones that are on diets. Water can be used to curb cravings, and can make you feel more full. Dehydration can often be disguised as hunger, so drinking enough water will help keep you from experiencing cravings. Additionally, water is vital to avoiding constipation, which can happen to many on the Atkins diet. It is suggested to drink (8) eight ounce glasses of water per day.

Many people get frustrated with Atkins when they do not realize what they are doing wrong. By avoiding these common mistakes, you can definitely get back on track to dieting success with Atkins.

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Don’t worry; it’s really not that difficult.

As a matter of fact, large amounts of people new to the low carb lifestyle actually start getting excited within the first few days, because they’re probably eating foods that they haven’t eaten in a really long time. Big juicy steaks (my favorite), hot sizzling pork chops dripping with grease, or an omelet with so much cheese you can’t even tell it’s an omelet.

I mean seriously, that’s good stuff, right?

Now, of course, it takes time to adjust to a new way of eating, no matter what diet you choose. This is especially true with a low carb diet because we’ve been brainwashed over the last 50 years with diets that are high in complex carbohydrates.

No wonder over half of America is obese….DUH!

Open your mind. This is not your Momma’s low calorie diet. Low carbing will change your life, sure, but it’s all for the better. When you’re able to dig out clothes from three years before when you were twenty pounds lighter, and they actually fit, you’ll thank yourself for making the big change.

The point of this post is to help you get the most out of your low carb experience. There are plenty of low carb substitutes for common foods that you’re used to which will help you transition a lot easier.

For instance, one of the more popular items is sugar substitutes. These are an absolute god send when baking up a lowcarbs dessert (which, trust me, you will), and although artificial sweeteners affect people differently, speaking in general, you’ll want to keep plenty on hand.

Perhaps the #1 challenge that new low carb dieters have to overcome is bread. Bread is such a basic and household staple; it can be a hard habit to break. Now, there are low carb bread recipes, but they should really only be used in latter phases of the diet. A lot of so called “low carb breads” contain hidden carbs and can throw your whole game off, so when the time comes that you want to try it out, find a recipe online and make it yourself so that you know you won’t be setting back all your progress. Trust me, down the line, Almond flour and flax flour will be your best friend!

The next obstacle? Pasta. A lot of people LOVE pasta (me included). But think about it…sure, noodles are good; however the best part of a lot of pastas is the cheese, the meat, the veggies, and the sauce. Instead of noodles, find something else to put all those toppings over (of course, with a low carb sauce). Squash makes a surprisingly fantastic substitute for pasta noodles. Zucchini, spaghetti squash, eggplant, there are tons of possibilities. Pile on the toppings, and again, go easy on any lowcarbs sauce. My personal favorite is the cheese…think about a lasagna made with eggplant and 5 different cheeses…mmm.

Potatoes? No problem. Ever heard of a handy little vegetable called Cauliflower? You can puree boiled or steamed cauliflower with lots of butter and make the creamiest fake mashed potatoes you’ve ever had. Even a huge number of non low carb dieters prefer mashed cauliflower to potatoes any day of the week. Add cheese, bacon and sour cream for an out of this world delicious meal.

I hope I’ve given you some inspiration on different substitutes for low carb dieting. There are many more, but the above are some of the most common. Do your research and most importantly, have fun with it! Since living a low carb lifestyle, I’ve never been more creative in the kitchen!

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The first thing you need to do is be more innovative with your meal preparation. All the diet books that you will buy are written in order to attract readers to try their new recipes. However, the recipes in the book are all made with the most expensive ingredients. This is not cost effective, and you do not need to cook like an expert cook in order to receive the effects of the Atkins diet. Go for the less complex recipes because they can be more easily made for a family on a tight budget. Also, do not feel restricted to exactly what the diet book calls for – be sure to add your own personal flair and creativity to the recipe.

One of the most cost effective things you can do to save money on food is to buy in bulk (especially meat). By buying all of your ground beef, chicken, and fish in bigger quantities you can really reduce your protein costs. To save time when you want to cook the food, just separate the larger packages of meat into small freezer bags when you first buy it. You can store two to four chicken breasts in a single bag and cook them up easily and quickly whenever you want. Ground beef can be cooked in a variety of ways, so try some new recipes and freeze the cooked portions. Good ideas for doing that would be using different kinds of spices. Some examples of fun spices are taco spices, hamburger spices, and Italian spices. By doing this, you’ll be able to still have variety in your diet, while still eating a lot of hamburger meat.

Additionally, buying less tender cuts of meat is much less expensive. Fillet mignon, while delicious, usually can not fit into your budget. Use a slow cooker or crock-pot to tenderize the less tender cuts of beef and pork for a tasty meal.

Alternative sources of protein like eggs and tofu are also excellent for getting your daily protein. They both have a lot of protein, but do not cost nearly as much as other meats. Surprisingly, nuts also contain a good deal of protein. However, when trying to cut costs, use less expensive nuts like walnuts, peanuts, and almonds instead of macadamia nuts and cashews – this will help save a lot of money in the long run.

On Atkins, vegetable salads are a major part of your diet. To save money, do not buy the pre chopped bagged salad at the grocery store. Those cost $2 to $3 a bag, and you can buy three heads of lettuce for exactly the same amount and end up making six bags of pre chopped salad. A helpful tool for this would be a salad spinner, which makes homemade salads crunchy and fulfilling.

Always use produce and meats that are on sale. Since the sale items change from week to week, this will add variety to what you eat. It can be interesting to use substitutes to what a recipe calls for, and sometimes, it can even end up tasting better than the original recipe. It is helpful to bring an acceptable food list to the grocery store with you so you can tell if foods that are on sale are tolerable for the Atkins program.

Packaged foods are expensive. To cut costs, avoid buying low-carb packaged foods. Often, these foods can even contain harmful chemicals and hidden carbs that can put a stop to your weight loss. You definitely do not need to buy these products in order to follow the Atkins diet plan. It is advised to leave out these produces altogether.

Lastly, it is very important to go to the grocery store with a plan of what you’re going to buy. You have to be prepared in order to make the best decision, or you’ll end up being there for more than a few hours, or worse, you’ll come out with a dent in your budget or diet. Plan your meals ahead of time and then buy only what you need to make those meals so that you do not over eat.

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At the moment, we have lots of people who have sworn their allegiance to the Atkins Miracle, and have been all sorts of ballyhoo. But what really are the fundamental principles of the Atkins diet?

The Atkins diet explains why we become fat. Dr Atkins has it that when we consume carbohydrates in excessive proportions, it brings about weight increases. What is most important is the way our body treats the carbohydrates we take in, and not really the amounts of the fats or calories. Dr Atkins explains in his book how some people develop ‘insulin resistance’, and how that in obese individuals, some cells do not function properly.

Insulin resistant individuals do not effectively metabolize excess carbohydrate. What happens here is that when the body cells are exposed to excessive amounts of insulin, they become somewhat resistance. If this exposure to excessive insulin is prolonged, the cells become even more resistant. This is because the cells attempt to protect themselves from the lethal effects of such high insulin concentrations.

When this happens, excess carbohydrates are stored as fat instead of glycogen which can be easily converted into energy. As a result, this insulin resistant individuals start to add extra weight. Other adverse effects which may experienced include fatigue, low blood sugar (hypoglycemia), brain ‘fog’ (loss of creativity, poor memory etc.), sleepiness, intestinal bloating, depression and increased blood sugar. Several complications usually follow an insulin resistant condition.

The approach to treating people with ‘insulin-resistant’ as to place them to a diet limited in carbohydrates. The core of the Atkins diet is a drastic reduction in the amount of all kinds of carbohydrate consumed.

In the Atkins plan, simple sugars (like cookies, sweets and sodas) and complete carbohydrates (like rice, grains and bread) are restricted. Oatmeal, whole wheat bread, brown rice and some other carbohydrates that we considered compatible with healthy living are also limited to the barest minimum.

The diet curbs daily carbohydrate intake to less than 40grams, which causes the body to go into a state of ketosis. In the ketosis state, the body burns the stored fat for fuel, and in line with Dr Atkins research, the ketosis state affects impacts insulin production and stops fat from being formed. Once the body starts to utilize the fat by burning it as fuel, you will start to lose weight.

An additional benefit derived from Atkins plan is that your strong desire for carbohydrate-based foods will be reduced. The carbohydrate restriction and ketosis state induced by the Atkins diet brings this about, and there are several testimonials from people who have been on the Atkins diet to confirm this!

At the initial stages of adopting the Atkins diet, you will find it rather hard to keep to the schedule, but after some time you learn to strike a balance in your diet. If adhered to religiously, you will be able to incorporate appropriate amounts of carbohydrate into your diet little by little, and after sometime, get the right mix.

The core principles of the Atkins diet have been incorporated into a lot of other low-carb diet programs. However, when seeking for the very best of low- carbohydrate solutions for insulin- resistant individuals, the Atkins popularity remains strong.

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What meals you eat, snacks you take etc. are some of the things you will need to plan when you star the Atkins plan. You cannot afford to leave uncharted, any thing that as to do with what you consume if you are to succeed. The reason why you are in the mess you are in the first place, is because your eating habit was without any form of check.

Just as you have it with other types of diet plans, the Atkins plan also requires some allowance for adjustment. Normal American diets are carbohydrate-based, including foods like spaghetti, meat and potatoes, pasta casserole, meatballs etc. – food that majority of people grew up eating. You can very well imagine that dissociating oneself from such diets won’t happen over night. It is going to require a lot of determination, persistence, and willpower.

There are two different methodologies you can adopt to assist in changing your diet. First, you can replace your preferred foods with ‘phoney’ carbohydrates e.g consuming spaghetti squash noodles instead of spaghetti noodles, or replacing pasta with lasagna made with eggplant etc. low carb replacements for bread and other sugar products are also available.

Another method is to go and learn how to make new recipes that are meat-based, and other low-carb foods. Several types of meat can be incorporated into the Atkins plan, and instead of just eating beef or chicken all the time, you can include lamb, ham, all sorts of game foods e.g pheasants, quail etc. into your diet. Fishes of different varieties can also be experimented with e,g trout, salmon, shellfish (e.g. mussels, clams, shrimps) etc. Do not forget, variety, as they say is the spice of life.

Because you may need to take snacks and in-between meals, it is important that you have some ‘easily prepared’ foods within reach. Good examples of stuffs you can take in-between meals include: thin sliced cucumbers, radishes and celery mixed with lemon mayonnaise. Garlic served on arugula with feta cheese, mushrooms and fried peppers is another acceptable option.

Carry out research to discover other low-carb recipes you can prepare. You need to have a lot of acceptable recipes within your cook book, so you never run out low-carb meals to cook, because in all honesty, at times, the diet can get boring which may lead to burnout. As mentioned earlier, planning is the most crucial step you can take when attempting to lose weight.

When you have numerous and delicious recipe options to choose from, chances are better that you will not easily be enticed to deviate from the plan. Even at the initial stages, when it is usually difficult to adapt to the changes, the extra food options you have would help keep you on track.

With some planning and a little creative thinking, you can always get something nice to eat everyday.

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It is clearly stated in Dr Atkins book, that carbohydrates prompt the release of insulin in the body, and then a rise in blood sugar. The ease with which one can develop a liking for high- carbohydrate, low protein diet can be traced to the physical activation that usually occurs.

There are several symptoms that depict a physically induced hunger or desire for carbohydrates. This is usually a desire for rich carbohydrate foods, followed by increased assumption of carbohydrate byproduct like alcohol, and other sugar replacements.

Foods with high carbohydrates content are so rampant, that to quench ones lust for them becomes very difficult. As you take more and more of this refined starch based foods, it becomes more difficult to free oneself from the addiction that ensues.

It’s been found that high level of carbohydrate is self-prophylactic. This is so, because, high amount of carbohydrates have been found to stimulate the production of high level of serotonin which is a brain chemical also found in Prozac and other anti-depressants. Often times, people with low levels of serotonin are found to use carbohydrates addictively.

Stress is one of the factors that are predisposing to carbohydrate over-consumption. When stressed, the adrenal gland produces more cortisol which is a hormone that further leads to the production of another, causing increased hunger for carbs. Insulin is also stimulated, increasing blood sugar and fat storage.

When all these factors are put together, it appears somewhat that subsistence on a low- carbohydrate diet is impossible. However, this is not true. When you incorporate Dr Atkins plan into your lifestyle and stick to it, you will be able to liberate yourself from the bondage of carbohydrate dependency and live a healthier life.

When working with the Atkins diet, the intense hunger for carbohydrates will still come once in a while, more so at onset. However, the desire will subside as you adapt to eating a protein-based diet. Methodologies to keep the carbohydrate consumption desire at bay include taking meals (containing protein) in bits every few hours. This way your blood sugar remains stabilized and you do not have to ‘sabotage’ all your efforts at once if you go hungry. Do not skip meals. It causes a reduction in your blood sugar, and makes you hungry for sweets.

Proteins and fats are an essential aspect of the Atkins plan. They supply the body large amounts of energy, and also supplement the body’s need for essential acids, Omega 3 fish oil supplement helps to reduce your hunger for carbs.

Another method that helps to you to keep to the Atkins plan is the act of taking in water regularly. Before taking any snack, drink a cup of water. This will help to quench thirst that may appear as hunger, and reduce your consumption of carbohydrate. Drinking adequate amounts of water also keeps your body hydrated.

You need to know that your love for carbohydrate diets will disappear overnight. Even if during your initial days of trying out the Atkins plan, you feel you will not be able to cope. It is because your body as become accustomed to living on sugars and carbohydrates. Do not panic! The desires should not last more than the two-week adjustment period.

Stick to the Atkins plan, and in no time, you will begin to reap the benefits.

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Then the weight comes back, as usual.

Be honest, unless this is your first rodeo, you know that as soon as you give up on the diet, it’s only a matter of weeks or months before you pack the weight back on. It sucks. But that’s why having a community of support really helps maintain your weight loss motivation.

Why?

Well, alone, we’re just ourselves. Just one person. But together, we’re a gangly mass of smart minds who can think collectively and encourage each other to continue on. Isn’t it a great feeling when your pants are looser, or your shirt doesn’t fit as snug? Why give that up? Is junk food really that important? Honestly, sometimes it is! Depending on your lifestyle, you very well may choose sugar over a healthier life. Sad, right?

It doesn’t have to be that way though. You absolutely need encouragement, because without it, your chances of making it through is rather slim. It can be done on a solo mission, but it’s tough. The more times you start hearing “Wow, are you losing weight?”, the more motivated you should become. When people actually notice it, it means you’re doing everything right, so just keep riding the wave! It’s not that hard to maintain your diet motivation!

Anyway, these were just some random thoughts I had before I hit the sack tonight. I’ve had some pretty strong cravings the past few days, and I could probably use a bit of motivation myself. I would nearly kill for jelly doughnut, but I know that I have to continue on my path to normal weight-hood.

All the best, and please share your thoughts below

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