Healthy Diet at Home

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...

I’ve received a few questions lately asking me how I managed to make a low carb diet work so well for me. These questions are coming from individuals who have tried The Atkins Diet, as written, but have not found it to work as promised. With all of the various Atkins' diets to choose from – Atkins ‘72, Atkins ‘92, Atkins ’99, Atkins 2002, and the latest version called A New Atkins for a New You – which one did I use? Which version worked best for me? Other questions have asked how to make a low carb diet work, period. What can people do when Atkins stops working or when it doesn’t work to begin with? How can you tweak a low carb diet to achieve success? So this first post is going to be an introduction to that topic, and then future posts will go more into detail of how I actually lost over 100 pounds following a low carb diet. The Atkins Diet as written is an attempt to reach the greatest majority of individuals. It is a general guideline that works for most people, but it does no...

Lately, I’ve had a few readers ask me, “What is Atkins 72?” Since I use that term quite often, I thought maybe more of you might have the same question. Most people think of the book, Dr. Atkins’ New Diet Revolution , whenever they talk about a low-carb diet. But that became quite confusing over the years because every new edition Dr. Atkins put out carried the same name, even though the diet had changed. The basic principles of the Atkins program stayed fairly consistent, but the Rules of Induction, food quantities and types, how you add carbohydrates back into your diet, and even the way you count carbohydrates changed – depending on which edition you were following. That made it difficult to help someone who didn’t understand how to do the Atkins Diet correctly, or to give advice when someone was stumbling or had stalled. To make it easier, the low-carb community began using the year the edition was published attached to Dr. Atkins’ name in order to distinguish one plan from anothe...

I stopped by The Lighter Side of Low Carb’s Facebook fan page the other day, and noticed that Cleo had posted a picture showing what her personal USDA plate looks like. She had 3 strips of bacon, an egg, and 3 peas smiling up from the plate. While most of the comments shared how they would personally alter the foods in the graphic (I would have added another egg and more peas, myself), the one comment that caught my attention said - “Peas are evil.” There seems to be a common tendency within the low carb community to demonize foods not listed on the Atkins 2002 Induction menu chart. But I don’t know how or when that ever got started. I took a quick trip back to 1970 (one of the two Atkins’ books that survived the flea bombs that destroyed almost everything I owned last year), but Dr. Atkins’ advice didn't even insinuate that peas are evil. He said: “…additions are interchangeable and flexible. You can make any of these additions any week that you choose. I could be very arbitrary ...

Atkins Induction is often the first introduction that many people have to a low-carb diet. It jump-starts your weight-loss program, can help if you’re experiencing a weight-loss plateau, or get you back on track if you’ve been stumbling around and eating too many carbs. It’s also useful if you’re in pre-maintenance or maintenance and you’ve slipped and fallen out of the wagon. Induction can give you a leg up, and help you regain control of your appetite, drop those few pounds you’ve regained, and help you get your life back on track. But Atkins Induction can also be abused. Do You Run Back to Induction Every Time You Stray? I hear this all the time. You went to a party, it was a holiday, your birthday, or a family gathering. You planned to stay on program, stick to meat and salad, eat a snack before you left, and had a strawberry cheesecake waiting in the refrigerator for dessert when you got home. But something went wrong. You kept looking at the dessert table. You had to sit and watc...

Are you following a low carb diet plan, yet find yourself hungry, tired and feeling sick? Has your weight loss stalled? Thanks to the prevalence of genetically modified foods in the U.S., your low carb meals might not be as grain free as you think. Most Cheeses Contain GMO Corn and Rennet  Many low-carb followers, especially those who do their own research, understand the effect that various sugars can have on the body when their metabolism no longer functions properly. In fact, most low carb diet plans, such as the Atkins diet or the Protein Power Lifeplan, place insulin resistance and other metabolic issues at the heart of the obesity epidemic. Excessive dietary carbohydrates keep insulin levels too high for too long, which prevents fat mobilization for energy. Lower your carbohydrate intake and your insulin level drops quickly, keeping the doors to your fat stores open, so your body can use its stored body fat as needed. That’s basic low-carb philosophy. Today, however, we have ...

(This is part 5 of a multi-part series on How to Tweak a Low Carb Diet . It discusses my weight loss journey so far. If you didn't read part 1, you can do so by clicking on the how-to link. Part 1 also includes links to the rest of this series.) After leaving the Kimkins’ weight loss diet behind, I began reading through Lyle McDonald’s website and body building forum because of a comment I received to one of my blog posts. This commenter had gotten stuck when she was almost to goal weight and had broken her stall by incorporating Lyle’s technique of using refeeds to reset her Leptin and other hormone levels back to normal. She warned me that the forum participants were not always nice to each other, especially newbies, and that they could be a bit over-the-top, but she believed the information I would find there would help me decide what to do next. That piqued my interest. Not only because I trusted the source of that information, but because I knew there had to be a valid reason ...

Tracy Rose, the Topic Editor at Suite101 for the Weight Loss Section, posted a link on Facebook this morning to her latest diet article. This article deals with the latest trend being marketed to brides: the K-E Diet. Now, we know that low carb diets in general are not new, and we know that when followed correctly, protein-sparing modified fasts are not dangerous. In fact, if you’re relatively free from additional food sensitivities, allergies and health issues, low carb programs are easy to implement and many varieties offer a luxurious living style. The latest fad diet (the K-E method) casts a dark shadow over low carb and PSMF diets. It involves inserting a feeding tube through your nose and into your stomach. This feeding tube delivers a protein solution that totals about 800 calories per day, so in essence, this diet scheme is a low carbohydrate protein sparing modified fast. You don’t eat. You just take in this solution of protein and fat for 10 days and magically shed 20 pounds ...