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The Atkins Diet was first published in 1972 by the late Dr. Robert Atkins.  What can you say about the late doctor, except that he was a true pioneer, some would say a renegade or even quack and yet others still would say he was genius and savior all rolled into one.  To be frank, the man was a genius and a savior!  Let's face it the Atkins Diet has been around for a long time, it is estimated that over 20 Million people have tried the Atkins Diet.  Why has the diet lasted so long?  Plain and simple - IT WORKS!  

The Atkins Diet is tailored around the fact that your body burns carbs first as fuel for energy.  So if you cut down the carbs your body changes from burning carbs as fuel to burning fat.  Which is exactly what you want and which Dr. Atkins refers to as being in "Ketosis" or lipolysis.  The Atkins Diet is split into four phases - 1. Induction, 2. Ongoing Weight Loss or OWL, 3. Pre-Maintenance and 4. Maintenance.  The first thing you must do and I can not say this enough is to- READ THE BOOK! READ THE BOOK! READ THE BOOK!

Stairway to "Low Carb" Heaven: 4 Steps to a New You

Phase 1: Induction - Get Your Motor Runnin'

The first phase - Induction is probably the most important part of the diet.  It is also the strictest part of the plan.  It's that period of time that you clean house so to speak and get your fat burning engine revving.  The purpose of Induction is to jump-start your body into ketosis or lipolysis - causing you to switch from a carbohydrate burning metabolism to a fat burning metabolism.  The Induction period is suggested for the first two weeks of the plan.

During Induction you should keep your carbs to a maximum of 20 grams of Net Carbs.  These 20 grams of carbs are limited to mostly allowable salad vegetables and a group of other allowable low carb veggies.  FYI - 20 grams of salad vegetables usually amounts to about 3 cups of salad a day.  The rest of your diet should consist of protein and fat. There is no calorie counting or measuring other than keeping track of our carbs - known in the low carb world as your carb count.  Dr. Atkins suggests eating enough to feel satisfied - not gorging but not limiting your calorie intake either. It is important that you feel satisfied on the this way of life.  You do not have to feel deprived to lose weight.  More on Net Carbs below.

Basically you can eat all meats including beef, poultry, pork, veal, fish, shellfish, most cheeses and salad vegetables.  You can eat bacon, full fat salad dressings, butter, cream cheese and cream- things you never thought you could eat and still lose weight!  Fat is where it is at! And it is a necessary part of the plan.  

Induction - Allowable Foods

Free Foods:

All Meats - including: Beef, Pork, Lamb, Bacon, Veal, Ham, Sausage - all meats.
All Poultry & Fowl - including: Chicken, Turkey, Duck, Goose, Quail, Pheasant - all poultry.
All Fish - including: Tuna, Salmon, Sole, Trout, Flounder, Sardines, Herring - all fish.
All Shellfish - including: Shrimp, Crab, Lobster, Oysters, Mussels, Clams - all shellfish.
Eggs - including: scrambled, fried, poached, boiled, deviled, omelets - all eggs.
Cheese - cheddar, swiss, mozzarella, cottage cheese, cream cheese, american (has some carb content) - most cheeses have a negligible amount of carbs - so limit to no more than 4 ounces of cheese during Induction.

Other Induction Foods:

Salad Vegetables - lettuce, romaine, escarole, arugula, endive, radicchio, chicory, sorrel, mache, bok choy, chives, parsley, cucumber, radishes, fennel, peppers, celery, jicama, posse pied??, alfafa sprouts, mushrooms, morels, olives, daikon.

Salad Herbs - dill, basil, rosemary, thyme, cilantro, oregano, pepper, sage, cayenne, tarragon, ginger, garlic.

Other Allowable Vegetables (these have 10% carbs or less) - asparagus, string/wax beans, cabbage, beet greens, cauliflower, chard, eggplant, kale, scallions, leeks, spinach, summer squash, zucchini, okra, pumpkin, turnips, snow pea pods, sauerkraut, collard greens, dandelion greens, broccoli, broccoli rabe, spaghetti squash, avocado, tomato, onion, rhubarb, bamboo shoots, bean sprouts, water chestnuts, celery root, brussel sprouts artichoke hearts, hearts of palm.

Salad Garnishes - crumbled bacon, grated cheese, sour cream, egg slices.

All Spices - without sugar.

Beverages - water, spring/mineral water, club soda, flavored waters (no calories), decaffeinated coffee or tea, clear broth/bouillion, cram, diet soda (no calories - no sugar)

Fats and Oils - all vegetable oils, butter, mayonnaise.

Artificial Sweeteners - sucralose (Splenda0, saccharine.

Salad Dressing - full fat salad dressings -they will contain some carbs just take the carb count and add it to your totals for the day.

IMPORTANT!!!  Eat fat to keep the cravings away.   You gotta eat fat to - burn it.  It is recommended to eat a diet that has a fat/protein/carb ratio of 60-70% Fat/20-30% Protein/10-20% Carbs for Induction.  Good sources of food to boost your fat intake during Induction are: cream cheese, cheese, butter, cream, mayonnaise, bacon and of course pork rinds.

Keep Track!

Keeping track of your carbs may seem hard but it is important.  The easiest way to keep track until you get the hang of it is to use and keep a food diary.  Don't fret it is not as intimidating as it sounds.  I suggest using Fitday.com.  It keeps track of everything - carb count, calorie count, fat/carb/protein ratio, calories expended during activities, weight goals and it is completely free.  I also suggest buying Dr. Atkins Carbohydrate Counter.  It is a small, handy little book to carry around - in case you need to know what the carb count is of something in a pinch.

Not All Carbs Count - Net Carbs

On the Atkins plan you only count Net Carbs, which means the total carb count minus the fiber content (along with sugar alcohols found in low carb and sugar free foods).  The number of Net Carbs signifies the grams of carbohydrates that significantly affect blood sugar levels and are the only carbs you need to count.

The amount of fiber and sugar alcohols  in the foods you eat should be deducted from your total carb count to determine your Net Carb Count.  Carbs such as fiber and sugar alcohols are either not digested or do not affect blood sugar levels more than negligibly.  Fiber can be automatically deducted from your carb count, but sugar alcohols should be eaten with caution.  Most people seem to be able to eat sugar alcohols and subtract it from their total carb count without it affecting ketosis, but some find it stalls them or that they must count them as part of their total carb count (in other words some people are sensitive to sugar alcohols and must not subtract them from their total carb count).  With sugar alcohols it just depends on how your body reacts to them - so be cautious with them - try it out and see how your body reacts.

Learn to read food labels and be able to determine the Net Carb Count of the foods you buy.  It's not as complicated as it sounds!  For a few examples, please see below.

Net Carb Count - Example #1

1/4 cup of almonds has a Total of 6 grams of carbs but 3 of those 6 carb grams are Fiber so they should be deducted resulting in a Net Total of 3 Carbs. 

Smoked Almonds 

Total Carb. 6 g - Fiber 3 g = 3 Net Carbs

Looking for more on the Atkins Diet - see the official Atkins site at the following link: http://www.atkins.com
(By the way the they can be very helpful and will even answer your questions
about the diet via email.)