The New Atkins Made Easy (5 page)

N
ow that you know that Atkins is an easy and great-tasting way to lose weight, as well as the basics of how it works, let's get going! Once you finish this chapter, you'll be able to start the New Atkins Diet and begin the exciting process of changing your metabolism, taking control of your appetite, improving your appearance, and boosting your self-image! Let's deal with a few practical matters first, so that you get off on the right foot from the start.

Clearly, having the right food in the fridge, freezer, and pantry is essential, so this chapter includes a list of the kinds of foods you can eat in Phase 1. You'll be amazed and delighted at how many tasty and satisfying choices there are. I'll also introduce you to some exciting new digital tools that will make it easier than ever to slim down on Atkins, and remind you about some of the time-honored aids to help you set your goal weight, track your progress, and achieve your goal.

Everyone loves to look at before and after photos, particularly when they reveal an almost unbelievable transformation. You're probably
already envisioning the sleeker, sexier, and more energized new you. Hold that image—it's key to making your dream a reality. But let's deal with the current you first. Ask a friend to capture a full-length shot of you, or set it up yourself by using the delayed shutter action feature on your camera. Paste the photo into your journal (or append it to your online journal or save it on your phone; we'll get to that in a moment), noting the date. Or place it where you'll see it several times a day, such as on the refrigerator door or medicine cabinet mirror.

Why is this photo so important? Initially it serves as an ongoing reminder of what you want to change about yourself. As time goes by, it becomes proof positive of your progress. And when you find yourself tempted by a high-carb treat, that “before” photo can help you resolve not to let a moment on your lips become a lifetime on your hips. Believe me, the day will come when you'll find it hard to believe that you were the person in that photo—and what a kick that will be!

Just as a “before” photo serves as a baseline, weighing yourself before you begin Atkins allows you to track your progress. Although this is hardly your favorite activity at the moment, I promise you that as the weeks go by, you'll find it an increasingly pleasurable one. You can be nude, in your underwear, or clothed, but do take off your shoes. Ideally, weigh in after you've emptied your bladder and before breakfast. Also measure your chest, waist, hips, and thighs. Enter those baseline numbers in your journal to gauge your progress going forward.

Thereafter, weigh yourself once a week at the same time, using the same scale, if possible, and measure yourself. Why just once a week? It's natural for your weight to fluctuate from day to day and even within a day, depending on your body's natural processes. A weekly weigh-in is a better indicator of how much weight you've lost. Also, checking daily could discourage you when progress is slow or you appear to have regained a pound or two. It's perfectly natural not to lose
weight every day no matter how diligently you follow the Atkins program. You may lose nothing for four days, then appear to suddenly lose 2 pounds. Weighing weekly minimizes such natural variations. If you feel compelled to get on the scale every day, weight averaging is another option (see
page 46
).

Don't obsess about a particular number if you don't already have one in mind. Just set a reasonable and realistic goal to aim for. You can always adjust your goal weight as you move through the program. The real objective is to make your goal tangible so that you can visualize the new you waiting to emerge. Once you come up with a number you're comfortable with, enter it in your journal.

If you have a significant amount of weight to lose, you may choose to establish some incremental goals and peg them to specific dates. You'll still keep your ultimate goal front of mind, of course, but every time you shed another 10 or 15 pounds, you'll have reason to celebrate rather than feel overwhelmed by the longer road ahead. This is exactly what Natalie (
page 191
) did. Her objective of losing 260 pounds was so daunting that she set incremental goals. “That way, every time I lost 5 pounds,” she says, “I felt good about myself, and that kept me going.”

The more quantifiable a goal, the more likely you are to achieve it. No matter how optimistic you are, “I just want to slim down fast” or “I want to lose oodles of pounds” won't fly. Naming your goal weight and adding other specific details, such as why you want to achieve that weight and the time frame in which to do so, makes the goal more tangible and reminds you of why you're going to stay the course. For example:

• “I want to get to 140 pounds so that I can feel comfortable in a bathing suit by the time the pool opens.”

• “My goal is to lose 20 pounds by our wedding anniversary so that I can wear that fabulous dress I got on our honeymoon.”

• “My daughter is getting married a year from now, and I'm going to be 70 pounds slimmer so I can fit into my old tux when I give her away at the altar.”

Come up with your own reasons and enter them in your journal.

When setting your goal weight, make it achievable. Don't set yourself up for disappointment, or worse, by being overly ambitious. Say you've gained 50 pounds and had two children since you graduated from high school twenty-five years ago. You've just agreed to go to your reunion in three months' time. It's unlikely that you can meet a goal of losing that 50 pounds in that time frame. Even with a realistic timeline, understand that you may not be able to achieve the same weight at age forty-three that you were at eighteen. Your metabolism is almost certain to change over the years. A better approach would be to set a more reasonable goal, such as 10 pounds heavier than your high school graduation weight. When you reach that weight, celebrate your success, and consider resetting your goal.

You need just four items to track your weight, measurements, and carb intake, Having these on hand from the start will allow you to track and record your progress.

1. 
A scale.
No need for any fancy bells and whistles. If necessary, weigh in at your office, health club, or a pharmacy.

2. 
A cloth measuring tape.
Inches are as important as pounds in tracking your progress and may show changes before weight loss registers.

3. 
Atkins Carb Counter and Acceptable Foods List.
Download this handy, pocket-size list (referred to as the Atkins Carb Counter from here on) of acceptable foods for each phase of Atkins, along with the Net Carb counts for hundreds of whole foods, Atkins products, and meals and beverages at popular restaurant chains. You'll find it at
atkins.com
. This information is also available for your smartphone.

4. 
A journal or notebook.
You'll be entering your weight and measurements weekly, but recording your food intake and Net Carb count daily. Research consistently shows that people who journal lose more weight than those who don't.
The New Atkins for a New You Workbook
is specially designed to comply with the Atkins program, but a simple notebook can do the trick as well. Or use the Atkins online tools. Remember, these numbers are for your eyes only. Pretty soon you'll see the weight and measurements numbers going down, down, down. Also, feel free to record your thoughts and feelings about your weight-loss journey.

In addition to the items in your basic tool kit, go to
atkins.com
to access these resources:

• A carb counter that lists hundreds of foods and tracks your daily carb intake

• Additional meal planners, including a customizable program that incorporates your food preferences

• Online trackers for your weight and measurements, as well as one for exercise

• A BMI calculator

• The Atkins database of more than sixteen hundred recipes, with customized shopping lists for each recipe

If you have a smartphone, download the free Atkins app. These features make it easier than ever to follow the program, especially when you're on the move:

• 
Food Search.
Nutritional information on hundreds of items in the supermarket, restaurant meals, more than sixteen hundred Atkins recipes, and Atkins products. Simply enter a keyword or scan in the UPC label.

• 
Progress Tracker.
Helps you to monitor your progress by tallying your daily Net Carb intake and weight, and calculating how close you are to your goal weight.

• 
Phase Overview.
A listing of the acceptable foods for each of the four Atkins phases.

• 
Daily Food Plan.
Both recommended and customizable plans (based on your carb intake and food preferences) for each phase

• 
Recipe Database.
Search hundreds of recipes by phase or key ingredients.

• 
Dining Out Guide.
Locates places with meals in your carb intake range. Search based on meal type, restaurant name, and location.

Unless you have superior self-control, it's best to remove temptation in the form of high-carb foods, at least for the first few weeks on Atkins. Once you've switched over to burning primarily fat for energy, your desire for chips, crackers, cookies, doughnuts, candy bars, and so forth will be suppressed. Hard to believe, but true! There are also plenty of tasty low-carb substitutes for most of them. But for now, removing problematic foods (or setting them apart from other foods) is the best strategy, perhaps by giving them to a friend, a neighbor, or even a food pantry. That means breakfast cereal, bread, pasta, sweets, and anything else made with refined grains and/or sugar. But out with the old unacceptable foods is only half the strategy; the other half is having the right foods in the house.

The last thing you want is to find that there's nothing in the house you can eat on your first day on Atkins. The components of a low-carb meal aren't unusual or exotic. With the very occasional exception, everything you need is available at your supermarket. Specialty items such as starch-free thickener for making low-carb gravy can be easily ordered online. To make things super easy for you, we've come up with meal plans for your first two weeks on Atkins (see pages
62
–65 and
88
–91), along with shopping lists (pages
66
and
92
), so that you'll have everything you need to hit the ground running. No later than the day before you start Atkins, photocopy the first shopping list and get yourself to the store.

Being able to understand the data on a food label will help you steer clear of high-carb or otherwise problematic ingredients. Food manufacturers don't make it easy for you, so listen up. There are two parts to a label, both of which contain vital information:

• 
The Nutrition Facts panel
lists the serving size, number of calories in a serving—a 12-ounce bottle of soda or another beverage may actually be two or more servings—and the amounts of macronutrients, including carbs, fat, and protein, both in grams and as a percentage of the recommended Daily Value. Ditto for certain micronutrients, including fiber and some vitamins. Remember to subtract grams of fiber (and sugar alcohols, in the case of low-carb foods) from total grams of carbs to get the Net Carbs. Our example, for a major brand of creamy peanut butter, lists 0 trans fats per serving and 3 grams of sugar.

• 
The ingredient list
includes everything in the product, in order of volume. Here's where you might find one of the umpteen aliases for sugar (see
page 70
)—in this case, both sugar and molasses appear—or other unacceptable ingredients. Although the Nutrition Facts panel lists 0 grams of trans fats per serving—a loophole allows this as long as there is less than 0.5 grams per serving—the ingredient list includes another unacceptable ingredient, hydrogenated vegetable oil, aka trans fats.