Ingredients:

3 lbs. chicken wings
6 T. Hot Sauce
1 Stick Butter
2 qts. cooking oil
Lawry’s Seasoned Salt

How to Prepare:

WINGS: Cut whole wings at joints and discard tips. Sprinkle wings liberally with Lawry’s Seasoned Salt. Deep fry until golden brown and crispy. Drain on paper towels.

SAUCE: Combine melted butter and hot sauce in a large bowl, mix well. Add wings and coat evenly. This recipe is for mild wings-add extra hot sauce for more heat. Serve with bleu cheese and celery.

Serves: 2 | CarbsPerServing: 8g | Prep time: 10 min | Effort: Very Easy

Ingredients:
1 can (15 oz) of lentils
1 can (15 oz) of white beans
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
mixed peppers (black, white, green) or black pepper (powdered; optional)
salt

How to Prepare:
Lentils salad, as a very healthy low carbs food, could not be easier to prepare: open the lentils can, wash and dry them. Do the same for white beans and put them in a salad bowl. Add salt, pepper (according to taste) & vinegar. Mix, serve and enjoy! Simple, huh?

Caloric value, carbs and other ingredients:
Extremely easy and quick to prepare; pepper is optional. Lentils is one of the healthiest foods. While it does contain 60% of carbs in total, 31% are fiber and only 2% are sugars – or “bad” carbs. Similarly, white beans also contain only about 2% sugars.

Serves: 2 | CarbsPerServing: – | Prep time: 10 min | Effort: Very Easy

Ingredients:
4-5 fresh tomatos
1 can (15 oz) chickpeas (garbanzo beans, ceci beans)
1 onion (optional)
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
black pepper (powdered; optional)
salt

How to Prepare:
Wash the tomatos thoroughly and slice them. Peel the onion & slice it – optional; if you do not like onion, do not use it Add some salt and pepper. Add vinegar. Add a can of chickpeas to the salad. Mix everything together – finished!

Caloric value, carbs and other ingredients:
This salad is very easy and quick to prepare; onion & black pepper is optional. As mentioned in other recipes, chickpeas do not have a very low carbohydrate content, but they do have the “good” carbs – with low glycemic index – and a lot of cholesterol-lowering fibre as well as vitamins and minerals, natural healthy fats and oils and a blend of enzymes.

Again, as mentioned, chick peas do contain about (mostly “good” ones) 23% carbs.

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).

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!

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.

Ingredients:
4 cups salad greens

Dressing:
2 tablespoons bacon drippings
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon Splenda
1 tablespoon vinegar

How to Prepare:
Mix all dressing ingredients in saucepan and heat to sizzling. Pour over salad greens.
NOTES : Counts for salad greens not included in totals.