If the Atkins diet helps you lose weight, there’s no need to stop it. Contrary to popular belief, there’s no reason to stop the diet once you’ve attained your ideal weight. You can use it for the rest of your life.
How the Diet Works
The idea behind the diet is to control and manage your weight. What it does is change the role of fats. Carbohydrates are the body’s source of energy, with fats as backup. By reducing carbohydrate intake the body will be forced to use the fats, burning weight.
There are many phases in the Atkins diet. In the first phase, the carbohydrate intake is reduced significantly. This will result in weight loss. Over time, healthy carbohydrates will be added slowly. The goal is to have the individual eat a diet of vegetables and food rich in protein.
Moving Through the Phases
The Induction Phase produces the biggest weight loss. This is due to the 20 grams carb daily restriction. But it’s not the end goal. If you’re on the diet, the Induction Phase must be followed by the Weight Loss and Lifetime Maintenance. Most of those who don’t stick to the Atkins diet often gain back their weight.
Exercise Regularly
Those who have used the diet successfully combine it with exercise. The truth is that working out can help you lose weigh on its own. If you don’t do workouts, the weight will come back. Aside from losing pounds, working out improves your body’s immunity and physical strength.
No matter what diet you’re on, exercising is necessary. Whatever your age, it’s crucial you perform it regularly. Just like the diet, exercise can be a lifetime activity. The amount you do depends on your physical conditioning. Even if you don’t go on a diet, exercising will still bring you a lot of benefits.
Consult the Doctor
Before you go on the Atkins diet, you should consult your doctor. This is necessary if you are taking medication or suffering from many ailments. Even if you think you’re healthy, a checkup or evaluation will be needed. Just as some people aren’t used to a low fat approach, so are some uncomfortable with a low carb diet.
For this reason, your medical history needs to be examined. Its efficiency also depends on the metabolism. Some are just able to lose weight more easily than others.
Pregnant women shouldn’t be on this diet or any diet for that matter. Because they are feeding the baby too, more foods are needed. Fats, carbs and protein are all required.
The age also determines how well the diet works because metabolism is affected by it. Medication can also affect the diet’s efficiency. Some researchers report that teenagers respond better to the diet than those in any other age bracket.
Some people have reported success with the Atkins diet. Others say that it doesn’t work. If you’re going to try it out, it’s best to follow the directions. That is the only way to determine if it will actually work.
