Healthy Diet at Home

Are you sick and tired of weight-loss diets that promise you'll lose 15 pounds in 2 weeks?  Are you ready to buckle down and put in the effort it takes to finally get slim and trim?  If so, the Atkins Diet can help you get there! From the very first day on Atkins Induction, the name that Dr. Atkins gave to the initial phase of this revolutionary diet program, you'll learn how to make honest-to-goodness healthy food choices that will satisfy your appetite and allow you to start whittling away at those needless excess pounds. Atkins Induction is not the whole Atkins Nutritional Approach. S imilar to the ketogenic diet that Dr. Walter Lyons Bloom developed in 1972, Induction is only the first phase. If followed correctly, it will help you kick-start your weight-loss efforts and increase your chances of finally gaining complete control over your weight. Originally, Bloom used his innovative bacon-and-egg diet in a published scientific study that compared fasting to a zero-carb diet...

Struggling to figure out which version of the Atkins Induction Diet is right for you? Today, Atkins offers many different Induction programs to choose from.   There are Different Versions of the Atkins Diet However, when I returned to a low carb diet in 2007, I started with Dr. Atkins’ New Diet Revolution, 2002 version, due to its availability. When I bought the book, I didn’t know the diet had evolved into something different. Mainly because many Atkins followers I had run into on the web thought that particular program was the only “true” Atkins’ plan. Problems with the 2002 Version of Atkins A small group of us had problems with that particular plan. While our issues differed, it didn’t take very long to figure out that if we stuck to the current Atkins’ program, as written, the way most devoted to the cause demanded, we could chuck the goal of reaching target weight good-bye. We stalled, gained weight, or endured serious cravings on that plan. That’s why I’ve always been a stro...

(This is part 2 of a multi-part series on How to Tweak a Low Carb Diet . If you didn’t read part 1, you can do so by clicking on the how-to link.) When I started low carbing in January 2007, the 2002 version of Atkins was considered the bible of low carb dieting. However, even among those who proclaimed you HAD to follow that version by the book, they were using the latest Atkins Nutritionals’ (ANA) recommendations to override the book’s instructions. So if you were not eating a minimum of 20 net carbs per day on Induction and getting the greater majority of those carbs from vegetables (12 to 15 net carbs per day), you were either blasted for not doing Atkins, or you were written off as someone who was playing an I-am-on-a-diet game. You were also counseled to spend the majority of your calories on consuming tremendous amounts of fat. Those calories had to be a minimum of ten times your current weight in order to avoid starvation mode. You had to drink a minimum of eight glasses of pur...

My experience with low carb dieting began in the 70s when I ran into Dr. Atkins’ original diet book at the library. At the time, it made a lot of sense. I could relate to everything he shared – and when I tested it, the plan worked better than anything I’d tried. I was 19, weighed in at a hefty 160 pounds on a 5-foot frame, and with virtually no metabolic resistance, that one golden shot earned me maintenance within only 6 weeks. I realized the other day, that’s exactly where I’m sitting again today. I’m back to where I started from in 1975. A whole lot older, hopefully wiser, but despite finding out how to deal with my health issues, I’m still at the same starting line. Yes, I managed to shed a whopping 80 pounds in 2007; and another 30 pounds last year – but that was above where I first began my low carb journey. I’ve regained a good 10 pounds of that last 30 though. So what gives? WHY is weight loss so hard to maintain? Atkins 72: What was the Original Atkins Diet Like? I can tell y...

(This is part 9 and the final installment of a multi-part series on How to Tweak a Low Carb Diet . It explains the path I have traveled in my weight loss journey. If you arrived here without reading part 1, you can do so by clicking on the how-to link. Part 1 also contains links to the other posts in this series.) When you begin to restrict carbohydrates to less than about 100 carbs per day, the body is forced to draw upon its liver glycogen to keep your blood glucose levels steady. That’s according to Dr. Michael Eades. I can also tell you from experience, that during those first few days, the brain doesn’t get the proper amount of fuel to function correctly. Or at least, I don’t. I know that because I start having severe vertigo attacks. Other people have talked about being tired or having brain fog. Now, the way it’s supposed to work is that the liver converts the protein you don’t need for immediate repair purposes to glucose to feed the brain. The brain can partially run on ketone...

Make Low-Carb Lifestyle Changes One at a Time Low carb isn’t a diet – it’s a lifestyle. We hear that all the time. In fact, even the latest Weight Watchers commercials are saying exactly the same thing: this isn’t a diet; it’s a lifestyle. We love the idea of not dieting. We love the idea of being able to eat to satisfaction. Plus, going into carb restriction with the perception that it’s for life helps to eliminate the dieting mindset that so many low-carb dieters fall into. We truly believe we can eat this way for the rest of our lives with no problems. Who couldn’t? You get to eat fatty meats such as pork ribs and bacon, real butter and sour cream, put heavy whipping cream in your coffee or tea, and munch on mixed nuts, assorted cheeses, olives and deviled eggs – all without having to count the calories. There’s cheesecake for dessert, low-carb pancakes and muffins, jalapeno hot poppers and dozens of ways to enjoy chicken wings. But then your birthday or anniversary rolls around or...

Almond Flour Pizza (Photo: Rusty Clark , CC BY 2.0 ) Are you ready to move beyond Atkins Induction to the real honest-to-goodness Atkins Diet?   Good! You've made a great decision. But first, congratulations on achieving and completing the first phase of the Atkins nutritional approach. I know how hard that was. Phase 2 will be much easier. It's the space where you start to create your own personalized low-carb diet. To do that, you need to know the best way to transition from a very low-carb diet to a plan that fits your special tastes, activity level, and carbohydrate tolerance but still allows you to lose body fat at an acceptable pace. What makes the Atkins Diet different from other low-carb programs is the way it builds on the success you experienced during the first 2 to 4 weeks of the diet. By now, you will be deeply into the state of ketosis and your physical appetite will have drastically changed, making it easier to eat at a calorie deficit. You'll also be predomi...

How Much Protein Do I Need? The current rage beginning within the low-carb community is blood ketone meters that measure the amount of ketones in your blood, rather than your urine. The sticks are somewhat expensive, but for those who have purchased and used them, they have received a very eye-opening revelation about their low-carb diet plan. What people are discovering is not new. Both Stargazey and I have been saying this ever since we investigated and tried a no-carb diet several years ago. Stargazey has a Ph.D. in Biochemistry and her blog is LowCarb4U if you’re interested. The series starts with a post on protein intake and blood glucose levels and runs for about half a dozen more posts, or so. Make sure you read all of the comments for each post as well. Today, there are low-carb experts who say the same thing, so low carbers are beginning to sit up and take notice – especially since Ketone Blood Meters are making the problem more real. Regardless of what you want to believe, ...

The masses within the low-carb community tend to stick to about 20 to 35 net carbohydrates per day. The current perspective on Ketosis is that it takes 50 grams or less for most people to maintain that metabolic state. You’d think that asking, “How low is low carb?” would be rather silly. Wouldn’t the obvious answer be less than 50 carbohydrates per day? How Low is Low Carb? Well, maybe…but maybe not. How low is low carb exactly? Like almost anything, it all depends on which low-carb expert you ask, and how much weight you place on their theory and belief. It wasn’t very long ago that the same people who are currently trying to talk us into converting to a low protein, low carb, high-fat lifestyle (for our own good, of course) were preaching something very different. Gluten Exposure Has Resulted in Weight Gain  Understanding where the line is between a low-carb diet and something else is particularly important to me because I’ve recently found myself in the unwelcomed position of...

This morning as I was taking a quick glance at my email, I noticed that I had received a link to a post made by Angela England at her popular website, Untrained Housewife . Angela is a professional writer and author. She used to write for Suite 101 when I was there, but like me, she is currently focusing her writing and editing efforts elsewhere. Untrained Housewife focuses on teaching the lost art of self-sufficiency. Angela does that by showing you how you can start moving in that direction regardless of your current living situation and lifestyle. Her specialty is teaching the lost art of homemaking, gardening, taking care of animals, and cooking with whole foods. But recently, she received an email attacking her for sharing space on her website with other authors, and not being completely self-sufficient and off the grid. They even went so far as to call her a fraud because she wrote a book on homesteading while she was living within her city’s limits. I couldn’t help but think ho...

A low-carb diet is an effective, but highly restrictive, weight-loss plan. It works well when you follow the rules. If you waltz into the room thinking you can do your own thing without having read and studied any of the weight-loss plans, you’ll probably find yourself asking, “Am I doing low carb right?” A dead giveaway that you aren’t. However, if you’ve been carefully following one of the low-carb programs, and weight loss has slowed, or stopped, you might want to check and see if you’ve been making one of these low-carb mistakes.     Where Are Your Carbs Coming From? Most individuals enter the Induction phase on a diet-high. Motivation is strong. The weight loss you experience from losing the glycogen needed to get you into ketosis keeps you pumped. Motivated by the new lack in cravings and sense of well-being, low-carb diet mistakes are few. You stick to the rules, start experimenting with new foods and recipes, and make the decision that this low carb stuff is going to ...