All about Atkins

I want to touch on what Atkins is about today, but first, my personal daily stats:

Weight: 146.8
Calories eaten yesterday: 1833
Calories burned: 2145
Calorie deficit/overage: -312
Carbs: 61g
Fat: 84g
Calories burned in exercise: 294

The magnesium does seem to work against PMS. I had no idea it was "that time of the month." Not that I get PMS very bad - I don't - but I often get cravings or something. This month - nothing. So magnesium works. Too bad it doesn't help the cramps at all.

Ok, now onto Atkins. I received the following comment on the Vegan Insanity post:

I've been reading a few blogs on the Atkins diet because I am thinking about getting on it, is the basis of the diet meat and vegetables,or just meat, someone told me vegetables are also an important part of the diet, is this true? If so how much vegetables does Atkins say to eat each day? Thanks.

First, let me say that if you are thinking of doing Atkins, get the book. Amazon even has cheap used copies. It's about $7 at any bookstore and is necessary for doing the program right.

Atkins is not just about meat and cheese. Vegetables have been and always will be the cornerstone of the program. A typical lunch for me is meat and some sort of hot vegetable. Dinner always includes a huge salad.

The first two weeks are called "Induction" and meant to break your cravings for sugar and starches. It really is like detoxing from drugs (grains are a drug - activating the pleasure center in our brains). During this time you should be getting 20g of net carbs per day (total carbs minus fiber), with 10-15 of those carbohydrate grams coming from vegetables and low-sugar fruits such as avocado, cucumber, and tomato (all three of these are fruits). The book says to eat three cups of vegetables a day, but the newest guidelines are 10-15g of carbs a day from veggies, which is usually way more than three cups.

After the first two weeks you increase your daily carb allotment by 5 carbs per week until you stop losing weight, then drop back to the previous level to continue to lose. There is also a specific protocol for the order in which foods are added. Most people don't count calories, but some of us (including me) find we have to.

The Atkins Web site is a wealth of information on how to do the program. They have information on each specific phase.

Phase 1 - Induction
Phase 2 - Ongoing Weight Loss
Phase 3 - Pre-Maintenance
Phase 4 - Lifetime Maintenance

And of course, don't forget the Induction food list.

These links will give you a pretty good overview of the plan, but you still need the book if you want to do the plan.

For some online videos on doing Atkins check out this link on You Tube. This guy has several videos on Atkins. Just look on the right hand side.

I eat a LOT more vegetables now than I ever did before, and am "regular" for the first time in my life.

How many vegetables do I eat? Currently around a pound and a half to two pounds most days. I simply love them, and most are low in calories and carbs. Here's a (slightly blurry) picture I took with my cell phone camera of my groceries today. Click to enlarge and see the notes on what each item is and what else was in my cart that didn't fit in the picture.


Viva la Atkins!

And don't forget exercise. It's non-negotiable on Atkins. I go to the gym every chance I get and look forward to my gym days. I do strength training and cardio and it seems to be working. (Click to enlarge the picture.)


Walked over 13,000 steps yesterday. Yahoo! That's 5.75 miles.


Click to enlarge.
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