Atkins Diet Overview

One of the more popular diets that people have been trying is the Atkins diet. It is one of the few diets that lets you eat most of the food you would think to avoid. Some of the foods that it requires you to eat are bacon, cheese, coffee, and fried steaks. But with this great food comes sacrifice. The Atkins diet forbids you to eat any bread, pasta, chocolate, milk, juice, and even vegetables.

The goal of the diet is to force your body to burn all of the fat that it has stored away. To do this you have to cut out all carbs and eat only foods that are high in protein. There are four stages to the diet.

1. Induction

In this first phase you can eat only 20g of carbs each day. We usually eat around 250g of carbohydrates a day. As with most diets you will have to grow accustomed to the new eating habits. During the first phase you help your body to begin the fat burning process.

2. Ongoing

The second phase - the ongoing weight loss - requires you to increase the amount of carbs you eat. You want to only increase it enough for your body to start losing the weight. When done right you will lose 1-3 lbs a week.

3. Pre-Maintenance

The third stage begins when you are on the last 5-10 lbs of how much weight you have to lose. This is when you increase how many carbs you eat. This will help to slow how much weight your body will lose. You don't want to lose more than your desired goal. This stage will help to prepare you for the fourth stage.

4. Lifetime Maintenance

In this last phase you will learn how to keep the weight off. You will be able to eat more carbs (because your diet is over) but it will help you to maintain the weight and not to slip back into your old habits.

Whether or not this diet will work with everyone is yet to be proven. I think that it is safe to say that there is no perfect diet out there that will work for everyone. The only way you know if it will work for you is to give it a try.