The Atkins Diet
Introduction
The history of The Atkins Diet goes back to the Dr. Atkins’ theory that over-consumption of and hypersensitivity to carbohydrates is the root of our problem with being overweight.The principle he based his plan on says that it is the way your body processes the carbohydrates you eat — not how much fat you eat — that causes you to gain weight. While most diet experts say that not everyone who has a weight problem is insulin resistant, Atkins says it is more likely than not.
It’s working
By reducing one’s intake of carbohydrates to less than 50 grams a day, one will enter a metabolic process called ketosis, which is nothing but a state in which one’s body will start burning the fat to provide energy. Atkins also says that ketosis will affect insulin production which will prevent more fat from being formed.
The Phases
The Atkins Diet comprises of the 4 stages: induction, ongoing weight loss, pre-maintenance and maintenance.
Induction is executed in the first fortnight of the plan, during which according to Atkins you can lose up to 15 pounds. This rapid weight loss is due to ceasing the intake of carbs to just 20 grams a day. You are limited to three cups per day. Forget about fruit and starchy vegetables like potatoes. If you consume alcoholic beverages or coffee, you better bid “sayonara” to those as well.
During ongoing weight loss, you can increase your carb intake by 5 grams. You will eventually reach a high and the again have to curb off the carb again.
In pre-maintenance, weight loss will happen gradually and you will be able to test certain foods to see if they could be added in your diet without resulting in weight gain.
Then the maintenance stage is there, when you may introduce some more carbs into your diet? of course not by adding the bad ones, as they will be resulting in the bringing back the weight again.
Facts
The Atkins Diet recommends exercise. Any diet that doesn’t include exercise in its recommendations will probably not be as effective and does not encourage health lifestyle change.
Person suffering from gout, kidney conditions, type I diabetes or pregnant women should not follow Atkins. According to some health experts, ketosis results in too-rapid, and unusual levels of weight loss and that the loss consists of lean body mass and water. Regardless of whichever diet you persist on, be it be Atkins or Weight Watchers, diet experts agree that it is calorie reduction that results in weight loss. After you lose weight, you can’t just revert back to your original ways of eating crabs.
Theme
Remember, one should never start a diet without prior consultation to the doctor. This is pretty much essential with a diet like Atkins because it is so inflexible and is most likely a noteworthy change from your normal eating habits. Additionally, some researches have indicated that this type of diet may endanger the kidneys, result in sunstroke, or lead to other health problems.
Before giving ATKINs a try, ask yourself: Are you committed to limiting your carbs for good? If not, then this plan probably isn’t for you, because even as Atkins himself states, returning to your previous eating habits will bring the weight back.
If you find that Atkins is not for you, you may be averse to the type of foods you are eating. That’s fine — some people simply can’t tolerate eating a certain type of foods, and others feel deprived if their favorites are eliminated. If you don’t feel happy and satisfied with a particular plan, it’s time to find an alternative.
Chris Read, editor of Hateweight.com, is a contributing author to the Hateweight.com for distinct article sites/journals. For any weight loss related issue please feel free to visit the website hateweight.com for more information. Or write to him at [email protected]
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4 Tips for Fast Fat Loss Part I
Fat Loss Tip #1) Train With Weights
Working out with weights when trying to lose body fat has numerous important benefits. First, an intense weight training session burns calories during the actual workout.
Second, an extremely important benefit is that intense weight training elevates your metabolism for up to 39 hours after your actual workout. In other words, because of the intense weight workout, your metabolism has been stimulated where you are now burning more calories while you are doing nothing.
Carbohydrates power intense weight training sessions. The more intense the session, the more you deplete your arbohydrate stores and the more fat is burned during the recovery phase, i.e. after the workout.
In other words, as the intensity of the training increases there is a proportionate increase in fat burning after the workout.
One study showed that 15 exercise sessions per month (50 minute sessions at 50 percent of oxygen uptake) could lead to an extra 2 plus pounds per month of fat loss, strictly from the elevated metabolism and extra calories burned – while doing nothing! That’s an extra 26 pounds plus, of fat burned per year.
Another extremely important aspect of fat loss that occurs from training with weights is adding leas muscle to your body. Lean muscle is metabolically active, i.e., muscle burns calories even while doing nothing. So, the more lean muscle you have, the higher your resting metabolism and the more calories you burn each day while doing nothing.
Studies have estimated that for each pound of muscle that you add to your body, you burn another 25 to 50 calories per day while doing nothing. So, an extra 10 pounds of muscle may burn approximately 250 to 500 calories a day, or an extra pound of fat every 7 to 14 days, without making any other changes.
This is essential to taking off the fat and keeping it off. You see, when you add muscle to your body, you greatly increase the number of calories your burn each day. So, once you achieve your fat loss goals you can start eating more food without putting the fat back on, as long as you have built muscle (and keep it by continuing to train with weights)!
On the flip side, if you don’t train with weights while dieting and losing weight, two very bad things will occur. First, at least half of the weight you lose will be muscle. And this causes number two, which is that your metabolism gets slower, causing progress to eventually grind to a halt, leading to gaining all the weight back and more.
But now you are even worse off before because your body composition is worse than when you were previously at this weight. You replaced muscle with fat, so now your metabolism is even slower, making it easier to gain even more fat, and harder to take it off.
As you can see, training with weights is an extremely powerful and necessary component of any successful weight loss program.Look for Part II coming soon!
Gregg Gillies is the founder of .buildleanmuscle.com and the author of Get Fit Fast. He articleshave appeared in Ironman Magazine and he is a regular contributor to Body Talk magazine. Check outhis site on building muscle and losing fat
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