ATKINS | curvilyyours

LCHF - Low Carb high fat

The Atkins diet is a low-carbohydrate diet.

Proponents of this diet claim that you can lose weight eating as much protein and fat as you want, as long as you avoid foods high in carbs.

In the past 12 years, over 20 studies have shown that low-carb diets are effective for weight loss (without calorie counting), and can lead to various health improvements.

The Atkins diet was originally promoted by a physician named Dr. Robert C. Atkins, who wrote a best-selling book about the diet in 1972.

The diet was originally considered unhealthy and demonized by the mainstream health authorities, mostly due to the high saturated fat content. However, new studies have shown that saturated fat is harmless (1, 2)

The basics

The Atkins diet is split into 4 different phases:

Phase 1 (Induction): Under 20 grams of carbs per day for 2 weeks. Eat high-fat, high-protein, with low-carb vegetables like leafy greens. This kick-starts the weight loss.
Phase 2 (Balancing): Slowly add more nuts, low-carb vegetables and small amounts of fruit back to your diet.
Phase 3 (Fine-Tuning): When you are very close to your goal weight, add more carbs to your diet until weight loss slows down.
Phase 4 (Maintenance): Here you can eat as many healthy carbs as your body can tolerate without regaining weight.
However, these phases are a bit complicated and may not be necessary. You should be able to lose weight and keep it off as long as you stick to the meal plan below.
Some people choose to skip the induction phase altogether and include plenty of vegetables and fruit from the start. This approach can be very effective as well.
Others prefer to just stay in the induction phase indefinitely. This is also known as avery low-carb ketogenic diet (keto).

What to eat?

Meats: Beef, pork, lamb, chicken, bacon and others.
Fatty Fish and Seafood: Salmon, trout, sardines, etc.
Eggs: The healthiest eggs are Omega-3 enriched or pastured.
Low-Carb Vegetables: Kale, spinach, broccoli, asparagus and others.
Full-Fat Dairy: Butter, cheese, cream, full-fat yoghurt.
Nuts and Seeds: Almonds, macadamia nuts, walnuts, sunflower seeds, etc.
Healthy Fats: Extra virgin olive oil, coconut oil, avocados and avocado oil.
Water: As always, water should be your go-to beverage.
Coffee: Despite what you may have heard, coffee is high in antioxidants and actually quite healthy.
Green Tea: A very healthy beverage.

What to avoid ?

Sugar: Soft drinks, fruit juices, cakes, candy, ice cream, etc.
Grains: Wheat, spelt, rye, barley, rice.
Vegetable Oils: Soybean oil, corn oil, cottonseed oil, canola oil and a few others.
Trans Fats: Usually found in processed foods with the word “hydrogenated” on the ingredients list.
“Diet” and “Low-Fat” Foods: These are usually very high in sugar.
High-Carb Vegetables: Carrots, turnips, etc (induction only).
High-Carb Fruits: Bananas, apples, oranges, pears, grapes (induction only).
Starches: Potatoes, sweet potatoes (induction only).
Legumes: Lentils, beans, chickpeas, etc (induction only).
As long as you base your meals around a fatty protein source with vegetables or nuts and some healthy fats, then you will lose weight. It’s that simple.

How does LCHF work?

We have only eaten these starchy foods for 5 – 10 000 years, since the development of agriculture. We’ve hardly had time to genetically adapt to these processed foods.

In the 80s, the fear of fat gripped the western world. Low-fat products popped up everywhere. But if you eat less fat you need to eat more carbohydrates to feel satiated. And it’s at this time in history that our disastrous epidemics of obesity and diabetes started.

So the idea is to eat less sugar and more natural fat, much more. It is important to stop fearing eating fat, as it is not fat that makes us fat, but sugar.

It is really important to actually eat enough fat> Up to 70% of your intakes should come from fat, this way your body get to enter the ketogenic mode inwhich it will use the fat and not sugar to make energy.

My personal opinion

I have tried this diet before.the only difference is that I had a proteine powder meal for brakfast and afternoon snack.

I lost 30 kilos iin like 3 months.

I felt amazing, and I was very happy with my meals. I could eat a big peace of steack, with some salad and cooked veggies like ratatouille as an example.

I did not follow any phases I just cut off all carbs (inccluding fruits) for 3 months and then slowly (not really) started eating carbs again.

I kept that weight off for almost 7 years. I then went through a hard time and gained everything back. Can we say that it's the diet that failed ? I don't think so. For me a diet that fails is a diet you do for a week and gain everything back the week after. When it's 7 years later, the weight gain doesn't have much to do with that diet anymore.

I believe though, that when you are overweight,for psychological and medical reasons, you should be prepared that one day you'll probably gain the weight back. And later lose it again yes. But we are kind of stuck in this yo-yo process and not because of a lack of willpower.