What am i doing?
- Thread starter lisahhump
- Start date
Scrumbles
Dancing Queen
So you want the headlines, so to speak?
Atkins is a HIGH fat - MODERATE protein - LOW carbohydrate diet. The object of it is to get you into a state known as ketosis whereby your body stops burning sugar (glucose) as its main source of fuel and starts burning fat instead. Restriction of carbohydrates is what will put you into that state, so you will be counting carbohydrate grams rather than calories.
The first phase is Induction which will last two weeks but can be extended if necessary. The purpose of Induction is to put you deep in ketosis and kill off your sweet cravings (I think of it as "cold turkey" for sugar addicts!).
On pages 98-111 you will find lists of foods you can eat and those you can't. Broadly speaking what you aim for is:
- 20g net carbohydrates per day (as near as possible) with 12-15g coming from the approved vegetable list
- 110-180g of good protein at each meal (you eat 3 meals per day)
- no more than 3 servings of artificial sweeteners per day
- drink LOTS of water - no less than 2 litres per day
- no alcohol, because your body will stop burning fat and burn that instead thereby slowing or even stalling weight loss
The bulk of your calories every day - 60-70% - should come from good, natural fats, so you can cook with butter, lard, dripping, olive oil, coconut oil; you can put mayonnaise and oil-based dressings on your salads (if they're not home-made, check for carbs on the nutrition label); you can eat fatty meats and put cream in your coffee, etc
Last "headline" is - don't starve yourself. If you're hungry, eat. We don't specifically count calories on Atkins, but if you do a spot-check and find you're eating a lot less than 1500 per day, be a bit more generous with the butter
If you're not used to counting carbs it'll be a bit of a pain at first, but there's a lot of info available online and on nutrition panels on products. I'd recommend getting a set of digital kitchen scales if you don't already own one so that you can be sure you're getting the right portion sizes - I know I'm terrible at guessing, so I couldn't be without them.
Hope that helps you get started. I won't go into the next phases or I'll be here all day
There's lots of info in the sticky's at the top of the forum too, so have a read. Good luck! 
