Atkins Induction Rules

The Induction phase of the Atkins diet is one of the most important stepping-stones to successful weight loss. In addition to the list of acceptable foods, there are a few rules that are important to follow during this period of the diet.

During Induction, you need to eat three regular-sized meals per day or four to five smaller meals. If you find yourself jittery and hungry between meals, try breaking down your meals into smaller portions and eat more frequently. In order to stave off carbohydrate cravings, you?ll need to constantly keep your body running on the proteins and vegetables on the plan. Never skip meals and never go more than six waking hours without eating.

You can eat freely from the list of acceptable foods. Do not restrict your fats and proteins. Eat as much of them as you like. Remember, the Atkins diet is not a calorie-restricted diet. The only thing you need to worry about is your level of carbohydrate grams. Make sure to count your carbohydrate grams when you eat vegetables, cheese and beverages with Splenda. At least 12-15 grams of your allowed carbohydrates should be from your vegetable list. While it may be tempting to eat them all in cheese, vegetables are important to your digestive system (especially while on this diet).

Avoid all fruit, bread, pasta, grains and starchy vegetables (like cauliflower or squash) during this initial period. These foods will be slowly introduced throughout the course of the pre-maintenance phase. Although beans are high in protein, they also include carbohydrates and should be avoided during this phase. If you feel that you must have some grain products, you should limit yourself to high fiber low-carbohydrate products. However, this may slow down your weight loss process.

Anything that isn?t on the acceptable food list is forbidden during the Induction phase. Don?t be tempted to just have ?one bite.? Your one bite may turn into two, and then before you know it you?ll end up ruining your diet.

Remember to adjust the quantity of acceptable foods to suit your appetite. At the beginning of the Induction phase, you may find yourself eating much, much more than you will toward the end of the phase. As your body breaks its addiction to sugar and carbohydrates, you will be less hungry throughout the day. When this starts to happen, make sure to eat only what you need. Eat until you are satisfied and not overly stuffed.

Always read the labels of packaged products, even if they claim they are ?carb free.? You may find that some products have hidden carbohydrates. The law allows manufacturers to round off to zero if a product has fewer than .5 grams of carbohydrates. Look at the list of ingredients for manufactured products to determine if there are hidden carbs. You?ll also need to watch out for hidden carbohydrates when you eat out. There are small carbohydrate amounts in gravies, sauces and salad dressings. The best bet is to eat your meat without sauce and eat your salad with olive oil and vinegar dressing.

Remember to drink 8 eight-ounce glasses of water, in addition to anything else you might drink. This will keep your body hydrated and help you avoid constipation. You?ll also be able to flush out the by-products created by fat burning.

Keep all of these guidelines in mind when you start the induction phase and you?ll be setting yourself up for long-term success with the Atkins diet.

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Carbohydrate Cravings and the Atkins diet

Carbohydrate cravings are difficult to deal with, especially when you are trying to maintain a low carbohydrate way of life. However, carbohydrate cravings are not just a matter of will power. As Dr. Atkins points out in his book, carbohydrates produce a flood of insulin and a rise in blood sugar. There is indeed a physical trigger for carbohydrate cravings, and it is one of the reasons that it is so easy to develop a high-carbohydrate, low protein way of eating.

There are many signs of physical carbohydrate cravings. You will experience a compelling hunger for carbohydrate rich foods. Overtime, you will develop a growing need for starches, snack foods and sweets. Additionally, you may experience cravings and weight gain after using some of the carbohydrate act-a-likes such as sugar substitutes and alcohol.

High carbohydrate foods are everywhere, which makes the cravings even harder to overcome. Eating the high-sugar, refined starch foods will feed your cravings and create more, much like a drug habit. In fact, high levels of carbohydrates produce high levels of the brain chemical seratonin, which is the chemical found in Prozac and other anti-depressants. So eating high levels of carbohydrates is self-medicating. People with low levels of seratonin are prone to using carbohydrates like a drug.

Tension and stress can also lead to overeating carbohydrate-laden foods. When we are tense, the adrenal gland creates more cortisol. Cortisol is a hormone that stimulates production of a brain chemical that causes carbohydrate cravings. It also stimulates insulin, which leads to blood sugar dips and more fat storage.

Considering all of these factors, it may seem impossible to live on a low-carbohydrate diet. However, following the Atkins plan is one of the best ways to break the cycle of carbohydrate addiction and take back your life and your health. The Atkins plan helps you take control of your cravings and rid yourself of years of damage caused by eating too many carbohydrates.

While on the Atkins diet, you may experience some carbohydrate cravings from time to time, especially during the initial phases of the diet. However, these will lessen as your body becomes more used to eating a protein-centered diet. In order to keep your cravings in check, eat small meals or snacks that contain protein every few hours. This will keep your blood sugars stable and avoid the ?crash? you feel when you go hungry. Skipping meals will cause drops in blood sugar and leave you craving sweets.

Protein and fat, which are the focus of the Atkins plan, will give your body extended energy. Make sure you are getting enough levels of the essential fats. Sometimes an Omega 3 fish oil supplement will help stave off carbohydrate cravings.

Cravings for foods can sometimes be caused by dehydration. It?s a good rule of thumb to drink a glass of water before reaching for any type of snack. Sometimes thirst can mask itself as hunger. When your body is properly hydrated, it will run more efficiently and you will see a decrease in cravings.
Recognize that there is a physical addiction to carbohydrates that will need to be broken. Don?t worry if you feel overwhelmed with cravings for carbs after the first few days on the plan. This is normal. Your body is used to running on a diet full of sugar and carbohydrates. It will take some time to adjust to this new way of eating. Normally, these feelings don?t last more than the two-week induction period. Stay committed to this new way of eating and you will see the benefits quickly.

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It is very difficult to deal with the cravings for carbohydrate foods, because we are so used to them. There is a deeper reason to carbohydrate cravings than simply willpower. Dr. Atkins’ book mentions that carbohydrates can produce a surge of insulin the body, which can increase the blood sugar level. This causes people to crave more for carbohydrates. That is also one of the reasons why the high-protein, low-carbohydrate Atkins diet becomes difficult for some people.

Carbohydrate cravings can make their presence felt in a number of ways. The most common way is to feel a very strong desire to put some carbohydrate foods in the mouth. When you do that, you will feel like eating more and more of the carbohydrate foods, especially the snacks that contain carbohydrates. This might cause a weight gain, and the Atkins program would become ineffective.

One more reason why it is difficult to overcome the carbohydrate cravings is that they are present everywhere around us. When you eat one of these high sugar or starchy foods, the cravings will only increase for more of them. The addiction to carbohydrates is much like an addiction to drugs. When high levels of carbohydrates are introduced into the body, high levels of serotonin are produced in the brain, which is the same chemical found in most antidepressants. That is the reason people might find themselves addicted to carbohydrates.

Most people consume carbohydrates as an answer to their tension and stress pangs. When in mental stress, people tend to eat more carbohydrates, because the adrenal gland creates more of the hormone cortisol when the brain is overtaxed. Cortisol can create cravings for carbohydrates.

All these factors do make it seem impossible that a person can live on a low-carbohydrate diet. The Atkins diet is one of the best ways to break this carbohydrate addiction, and live in a healthier way.

Even people on the Atkins diet will find themselves subject to several carbohydrate cravings, and this is more severe during the initial phases of the diet. Having small snacks containing protein several times throughout the day can definitely help to come over these pangs. But it is not good to skip meals, because that can increase a craving for carbohydrate containing foods.

The mainstays of the Atkins diet are proteins and fats. They provide the necessary energy in the body. Fats must be consumed in proper amounts. Some fats, like those present in omega 3 fish oil supplements are good for mitigating the desire for carbohydrate foods.

Some food cravings can cause dehydration. That is why it is important to keep consuming water intermittently. Most times, when you have water, you will find the craving gone.

It is important to break the addiction to carbohydrates if you want the Atkins diet to succeed. The cravings will happen, and they are only too normal, because our body is much too used to consuming carbohydrates. But the cravings should not last for more than a couple of weeks. It is necessary to overcome these urges and stay on the plan to see the results.

Darren Williger is a guitar playing, tea drinking, meditating, low carbohydrate eating, wine making sales maker who writes for MyLowCarbPages.com, and MindSatori.com.