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The Atkins Diet: The rest of your life

Your dream body is possible ... with the Atkins diet
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THIS week we have been bringing you everything you need to know about the slimming revolution of the decade – The Atkins Diet.

We showed how to introduce yourself to the weight loss plan that allows you to eat fat but cuts out starchy carbohydrates such as pasta, bread and spuds.

We then explained how to move on from the two-week Phase 1 to Phase 2, where you manage menus while still losing weight.

Then we told you about Phase 3 and slowing the process down as you reach your target weight.

Today SINEAD DESMOND and JANE BARNES give you the final part of the jigsaw – how to maintain your ideal weight for the rest of your life.

Below, two doctors give their opinions of the diet.

How you keep the weight off


FOLLOW these tips and the Atkins Diet could work for you ALL your life.

Keep an eye on what you are eating – remember that fresh meat, fish, poultry, vegetables, nuts, seeds and occasional fruits and starches are the foods nature intended you to eat.

The refined carbohydrate stuff you buy in the supermarket puts money in somebody else’s pocket and unwanted pounds on your body.

Watch out for sugar and white flour. Look at the labels of any packaged food you are considering buying and steer clear of those that contain sugar, syrup and honey.

Read labels for the carbohydrate content of foods.

Try new foods and fill your diet with the things you want to eat. That way you can avoid going back to foods you have enjoyed in the past but which are not good for you.

Develop a menu that is appealing, tasty and satisfying. Once you are happy with eating healthy foods, your future is almost bound to be more healthy.

Drink caffeine and alcohol in moderation only.

Remember that addictions to sweets, carbohydrates and junk food can be managed only through giving them up.

Stop your weight from creeping up again quickly by returning to the Induction and Ongoing Weight Loss phases for as long as it takes to get back to your goal weight.

Swear that you will never allow yourself to be more than 5lb and two weeks’ worth of Induction away from your goal weight.

Click here for Phase Four

Click here for Phase Three

Click here for Phase Two

Click here for Phase One


FOR Atkins Diet recipes and a carb counter log visit www.atkins.com


Don't do it

Says Sun GP Dr Carol Cooper
THE idea of cutting out carbohydrates has been around for ages, even before Atkins’ first book.

Years ago I read another diet based on the same principle.

I lost weight, mainly because I couldn’t stop laughing long enough to eat.

It is not a healthy diet.

Dr Atkins’ regime is loaded with saturated fat (as in meat, eggs and cheese) so can increase the risk of heart attacks and gallstones.

It is very short on fibre, too — no wonder followers get constipated.

And it can lead to dehydration, a vital point in hot weather.

Even in the short term, eating a lot of fat without carbohydrates leads to a potentially serious condition, ketosis — the body produces excess chemicals called ketones.

This makes your breath reek of nail varnish remover and can make you nauseated, dizzy and weak.

Atkins thought this was a good idea because nausea and vomiting might make you less hungry, but I doubt many other medics would agree with him.

Ketosis also occurs in starvation, so in this sense his diet is just a fancy way to starve yourself thin.

The emphasis on protein has got to be good, hasn’t it?

Well, actually, no.

Eating large amounts of protein raises levels of uric acid, a chemical that can trigger gout and cause kidney stones.

You would lose weight with Atkins, because overall your calorie intake drops.

But the method is far from ideal.

Perhaps my comments are unfair.

After all, Dr Atkins is no longer around for a head-to-head debate.

He had a heart attack in 2002 and died this year after a fall.

I aim to stay healthier than he did — so I’m off to enjoy my favourite pasta.

Do it

Says nutrition expert Dr John Briffa

THE belief many doctors hold that the diet is bad is not necessarily true.

Lower-carb diets can suit many people.

I broadly support them.

Many patients I see have been told to eat low-fat diets to help their ailments but their problems do not shift.

Here, low carb diets can be very effective.

I believe we should eat the diet we have evolved to eat — not what doctors tell us.

Too many carbohydrates in our diet can cause a range of problems, including insulin resistance syndrome.

Some types of carbohydrate release sugar into the bloodstream too quickly for the body to cope, including bread, pasta and potatoes.

The increase in blood sugar raises insulin which is produced to store fat in the body.

Sugar is then used to fuel the body instead of fat reserves.

So low-carb diets can be very effective for weight loss.

The idea that all fat is bad for you is not necessarily true.

Quality, not quantity, is important.

A low-carb lifestyle can be very effective, especially for men.

For women, losing weight can be more complex as there may be problems with hormones or the thyroid.

Even so, basing a diet on carbohydrates can cause problems.

We have only eaten large amounts of carbs for the past 10,000 years — a blink of an eye in evolutionary terms.

The Atkins diet can be too extreme, especially in the induction phase.

I wouldn’t advocate restricting vegetables.

Also, I would not suggest shop-bought sausages but would recommend organic meat and eggs.

A modified version of the Atkins diet may suit many and could help control their weight.