First in the Ring Atkins Induction

Today the diet-trials began. I woke up this morning in my usual state : cold, grumpy and more than a bit hungry. Normally, Id drown my morning woes in whole grain cereal with milk and a giant cup of coffee. Any conversation Id engage in would consist largely of grunts. But not this morning. Atkins Induction allows neither cereal nor milk, and only a limited amount of coffee. (jury is still out about the grunting) To make matters worse, this means I have to cook breakfast.

Ten minutes later, Ive fried up a three-egg, spinach and feta scramble which proceeds to get cold as I wash my fry-pan. It looked pitifully small on my plate. (pictured above) Humph. So far, this diet thing is turning out to be just as irritating as Id imagined.

After eating, Im less grumpy, although the food feels awfully leaden in my stomach. I sit down to count out how many carbohydrates Ive consumed thus far. According to Atkins and my food labels, Ive consumed a 1.75 grams of carbohydrate and no fiber. My normal cereal and milk would have me at approximately 35 grams of carbohydrate and 3.5 grams of dietary fiber.

Most traditional diets recommend the individual obtain approximately 45% to 60% of their calories from the carbohydrates in their diet. The majority of these carbohydrates are broken down in the body into glucose, which travels through the bloodstream to provide fuel for almost all of the important functions in the body. For a person who consumes 1,800 Calories (kcal) each day, this breaks down to approximately 225 grams of carbohydrates each day. Atkins Induction pushes an ultra-low carbohydrate approach which demands the individual consume less than 20 grams of carbohydrate in a day.

This ultra-low carbohydrate consumption pushes the body into a state known as ketosis, in which the liver converts the fat in the diet into fatty acids and ketone bodies. The ketone bodies serve to replace glucose as the main fuel source in the body. This, in turn, reduces the insulin production, as insulins main function is to carry glucose to various locations in the body.

Theoretically, the ketogenic nature of Atkins Induction reduces body mass by reducing blood glucose and insulin production, which they purport to be the main cause of obesity. The body has to work harder to make the fats and proteins pushed by Atkins into fuel, and thus, despite consuming higher numbers of calories, the individual loses weight.*

In order to continue to obtain all of the necessary vitamins and minerals to be healthy, most all of the carbohydrates allowed in Atkins induction are non-fibrous vegetables. Due to their low calorie and high micronutrient profiles, these vegetables make the ideal low-carb, high-nutrient source of carbohydrates. It is recommended that of the 20 grams of carbs allowed, 12-15 of them come from such vegetables.

As for the rest of what Im allowed to eat on Atkins Induction, it is pretty simple. The list consists mostly of meats, fish, seafood, hard cheeses, oils and fats, spices, broths, the foundation vegetables, and lots of water. Im not allowed any fruit, grains, milk or desserts (except sugar free gelatin) and I have to track the carbohydrates of any food I consume. Its going to be a strange few weeks, but well see how it goes. I doubt I will ever stop being grumpy at breakfast, but maybe ketosis can change me.

* Once again, Id like to state that it is not my goal to lose weight on these diets. I will certainly record it if I do, but I am more interested in what it is like to live on these diets, and how doing so changes my view of how I eat.


For a complete list of allowed foods, click here.

For guidelines about Atkins Induction, click here.


Sources :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atkins_diet
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ketogenic_diet

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One Down Three to Go Atkins Wrap Up

Fall has finally arrived here in earnest, leaves are blooming colors, air is crisper, days are growing shorter, and I have reached my last day of Atkins. Its amazing how quickly the last three weeks have flown by. Despite many of my issues on Atkins, I am stunned at how quickly it has become habit. I know the carbohydrate counts of almost all of my favored foods and its easy to keep track and make the right choices in terms of my hunger, nutritional needs and cravings.

While I may have complained a bit about Atkins and its restrictive limitations, its not the demon I have, in fits of anger, made it out to be. But neither is it all sunshine and rainbows; like many things, there are both upsides and downsides to Atkins.

Here are, in my experience, the benefits and drawbacks :

Benefits :                                                                     Drawbacks :

- Rapid weight loss                                                       - Restrictive 

- Easy to follow                                                            - Not athlete friendly 

- Filling                                                                         - Requires carbohydrate counting 

If Im being honest, Atkins was much easier than I thought it would be. While I knew there were plenty of foods I had to say no to, including freshly baked chocolate chip cookies in my chemistry class, the fact that I could go home and eat plenty of allowed foods made it much easier to resist. I didnt feel like I had to hungry all the time, a rarity on many diets. The rules of allowed and forbidden foods are simple, and require no guesswork. 

On the other hand, I very much dislike the weakness I feel when it comes to working out. I feel fine on a normal, walking around basis, but most activities that substantially raise my heart rate seem much more difficult. Ketosis is not athlete friendly. (Not that Im a full blown athlete, but Im extrapolating here) I also have found Ive gotten kind of bored with the foods I am allowed to eat. While I have pushed myself to eat more of the items on the Atkins list that I would normally avoid, there are only so many items on that list. 

Atkins certainly has a place in the modern lifestyle diet field, as its weight loss, during induction, may well be unparalleled. For a person with a lot of weight to loose, Atkins might be a good way to kickstart that loss. Especially in a culture that places so much emphasis on processed sugar, it would certainly be educational to be forced to avoid almost all forms of refined carbohydrate, replacing the carbs with more nutritionally sound food. 

However, from a nutritional standpoint, I shudder to think of how many saturated fats and processed foods I have consumed on Atkins. Though I understand most people (myself included) would go stir-crazy without some form of sugar in their lives, I simply cannot endorse sugar substitutes as being in any way healthy. Likewise, Atkins allows foods like diet sodas, mayonnaise, gelatin desserts and cream, many of which, in my opinion, shouldnt really be a part of a truly healthy diet. 

Perhaps this is why, during my research I have come to admire some of the theory behind Paleo, which I begin tomorrow. Paleo emphasizes natural, unprocessed foods. Type of macromolecule aside, (carbohydrate, fat or protein) it is apparent to me that the best foods are the most natural ones. Well see how Paleo fares under my very intense scrutiny. Until tomorrow!

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Bippity boppity BOO! An Atkins diet for you

First, let me say this : Atkins Induction is hard. I would say, "Atkins Induction is a b--ch," but I dont want to offend anyones delicate sensibilities. Ive spent the last four days obsessively counting my carbohydrate intake, because well, 20 net grams per day is not much, not much at all, especially for someone so used to obtaining a large portion of her calories from carbs. For comparison, a single slice of whole wheat bread has approximately 15 grams of net carbohydrate alone. Even most vegetables, contain net carbohydrates between one and four grams. Only meats and some cheeses are carbohydrate free.

But, I digress. Atkins has forced me to be far more creative with my meal planning and far more dedicated about my cooking than I ever imagined I would be. Now, Im not saying Im kind kind of girl to pull a Carrie Bradshaw and store sweaters in my oven, but I probably could, given that I use it less than once a week. However, on Atkins, that is just not the reality. Most every meal I eat needs to be cooked, if only for the fact that it must contain a 4-6 ounce serving of protein, and most proteins require cooking to be entirely palatable.

On the plus side, this means Im expanding my horizons in terms of the meals and items I have decided to eat. Last night, I faced a dish I hated from childhood (sorry, mum) Spaghetti Squash. While the rosemary and thyme heavy recipe was perhaps not my favorite way of preparing the dish, (below, from Martha Stewart Food) I was happy to find something different to eat, something outside my comfort zone.

Unfortunately, not all of my meals have been such a success. My biggest struggle so far has been breakfast. Atkins highly recommends eating eggs for breakfast (a perfectly normal thing, I must admit) but, after three morning attempts at eggs done various ways, I was forced to give it up. My body does not like eggs in the morning. Suffice to say, my reaction involved a lot of time spent hugging the toilet.* I guess after twenty-some-odd years of cereal and oatmeal breakfasts, the change was just too much for my tummy to bear. So, I switched to cheese. Yep, just plain old cheese, for breakfast. This has worked just fine for the last two days, though I feel a little bizarre swallowing my vitamins with slices of pecorino romano.

All in the name of science, right? Right. Another benefit of Atkins Induction is that while carbohydrates are severely restricted, fats and protein are not. This means I am rarely hungry, though I am frequently craving nuts and fruit, both forbidden for their carbohydrate counts. If you are the type of person who can live with eating as much as you want from only a very select list of foods, Atkins may indeed be the diet for you.

As for the weight loss aspect, I will admit I have already dropped 2-3 lbs, in four days, which concerns me slightly. While this would be fine and dandy if I were an overweight individual on Atkins; I am not. I do not have much weight, if any, to loose. Not trying to be Cinderella-sized for the princes ball! Hopefully, as I continue on Induction, the weight loss will slow, but if not, I might have to move into the second stage of Atkins a bit early, for the sake of my well-being.

However, for those of you looking to loose weight, I can attest that so far, Induction works like a charm. Now where is my pumpkin carriage? Oh right, it has too many carbs....


*As a side note, I have had a cold, or similar, for the past few days, so my egg-cellent reaction may have been related in some manner to that, rather than the eggs themselves. All I know is that Im not eager to repeat the experience.

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