The New Atkins Made Easy (8 page)

Follow these guidelines to get off on the right foot from day one:

1. 
Have three meals and two snacks a day.
Never starve yourself or go more than three or four waking hours without eating. If you prefer, have five or even six small meals. You never want to allow yourself to become ravenously hungry. That can open the door to eating whatever's at hand. Not a good idea!

2. 
Consume 20 grams of Net Carbs a day.
Of these, 12–15 grams should be in the form of foundation vegetables (see
page 38
). It's fine to average 20 grams a day over several days, but don't go below 18 grams or above 22 on a single day. Dropping below 18 probably won't make you lose weight any faster and is unlikely to satisfy your vegetable requirement. Going above 22 could
interfere with triggering weight loss. Select carb foods from the list of Phase 1 acceptable foods in the previous chapter.

3. 
Eat sufficient protein at every meal.
As you now know, protein plays a key role in weight loss and protects lean muscle mass, so you lose only fat.

4. 
Don't restrict fats.
Consuming fat is essential to slimming down on Atkins. Fat also heightens the flavor of foods and enables your body to absorb certain vitamins. Always accompany a carb snack with either fat or protein. For example, have cucumber slices with a piece of cheese.

5. 
Drink at least eight 8-ounce glasses of water daily.
Two of these can be replaced with coffee or tea. Another 2 cups can be replaced with beef, chicken, or vegetable broth (not the low-sodium kind).

6. 
Avoid dehydration or electrolyte imbalance.
The perfectly normal initial loss of water weight can lead to light-headedness and other symptoms and rob you of energy. These symptoms disappear once you're burning primarily fat, but in the meantime, be sure to consume sufficient salt in the form of salty broth, salt, tamari, or soy sauce. For more, see “Stop Certain Symptoms Before They Start” on page 68.

7. 
Watch out for hidden carbs.
Read food labels carefully, particularly on condiments. In restaurants, ask for oil and vinegar to dress your salad, request sauces on the side, and feel free to ask the server what's in a dish.

8. 
Use sugar substitutes—in moderation.
(See “Noncaloric Sweeteners” on page 43.) That means no more than three packets a day.

9. 
Use only Atkins low-carb products
. Most of these have been tested to ensure that their impact on your blood sugar level is minimal. The majority of them are coded for Phase 1.

10. 
Eat nothing that isn't on the list of Phase 1 acceptable foods.

From the start, you can eat a wide range of foods, including almost all forms of animal protein, as well as several vegetarian ones. Pick your favorites, select budget-conscious cuts, or have “meatless Mondays,” if you wish. Most animal sources contain no carbs, with a few exceptions noted in the Phase 1 acceptable foods list.

Since fat is
not
a no-no on Atkins, you can stir-fry meats, poultry, fish, and vegetables in oil, serve protein dishes with cream sauces, top veggies with a pat of butter, and use oil-based dressings on your salad—all without guilt. However, you don't want to go overboard on protein or fat either, as we'll explain. Most of your initial carbs will come from foundation vegetables, but there are also many condiments and beverages you can enjoy. You'll be counting grams of Net Carbs—remember, that's grams of fiber (and sugar alcohols in the case of some low-carb foods) subtracted from total carb grams.

Your objective is to consume a broad variety of natural fats with the most health benefits. So which should you be eating—or not?

• Dress salads and veggies with extra-virgin olive oil; virgin olive oil is fine for cooking.

• Cook with canola and most nut oils. Like olives and avocados, they reduce levels of “bad” (LDL) cholesterol and triglycerides. High-oleic safflower oil handles high heat well.

• You can also cook with butter or coconut oil, and top veggies and other foods with butter.

• Have two to three weekly servings of fish and/or shellfish.

• Snack on olives and avocados, and include them in salads. Nuts and seeds also make great snacks and garnishes once you've been on Atkins for two weeks.

• There's no need to cut the fat off meat or remove the skin from poultry, but you can do so if you prefer.

Avoid:

• Any oil that has been subjected to nutrient-destroying high heat during processing. Instead, look for cold-pressed or expeller-pressed oils and store them away from heat sources and direct light.

• Trans fats, which are vegetable oils that have been blasted with hydrogen gas to make them shelf stable, have been linked to an increased risk of heart disease and other health problems. The words
hydrogenated
or
partially hydrogenated
on the list of ingredients mean that a product contains trans fats. In addition to most shortenings and some margarines, many commercial baked goods contain trans fats.

The trick is to consume enough fat to keep your fat-burning engine humming along, but not so much as to create a calorie bomb, which may interfere with weight loss. As with protein, the correct intake depends in part on your gender and size. Small women may need less and big guys may need more, but follow these guidelines and you should be fine. You can replace one with another—another ounce of cream, for example, in lieu of an egg. In addition to the fat in your daily servings of fish, shellfish, poultry, and meat, here's a typical day's fat intake:

• 2 or 3 eggs

• 2 tablespoons olive or another oil for dressing salads and cooking

• 1 tablespoon butter

• 1 ounce cream

• 2 ounces cheese

• 10 olives and/or
¹
/
₂
Hass avocado

• 2 ounces seeds or nuts (after first two weeks on Induction)

There's no need to eat only lean cuts of meat and white-meat poultry. Nor must you remove the skin from chicken or turkey or cut off fat on a steak or pork chop. If you prefer to, fine, but if so, replace the fat with other natural fats.

Overestimating serving sizes is a common mistake people make on any weight-loss program. Eat too large a serving of any carb food and you'll likely exceed the initial recommended daily 20 grams of Net Carbs. Overly large portions of protein foods can also stall weight loss. If you don't have a food scale or don't want to bother with measuring spoons or cups to track your carb and protein intake, take another approach. Use the familiar visuals listed below to estimate a 4- or 6-ounce portion of meat or fish, or a
¹
/
₂
-cup portion of steamed spinach or sautéed zucchini. (Foods marked with an asterisk will be introduced in later phases.)

If you came to Atkins thinking it was all about beef and bacon, you may be surprised to find yourself eating more veggies than you ever did before. Initially you'll be eating primarily what we call foundation vegetables, those with a lower carb content and often a higher fiber count than starchy vegetables higher up the Carb Ladder. Powerhouses of vitamins, minerals, and disease-combatting antioxidants, vegetables are also full of fiber that helps:

• Fill you up, blunting your appetite for higher-carb foods

• Lower cholesterol

• Prevent constipation and maintain GI health

The water content of vegetables, particularly foundation vegetables, also helps keep you well hydrated and replaces electrolytes dissolved in the fluids being washed from your body as you shed the first water pounds. Steaming is a quick and simple way to cook veggies, especially if you microwave them right in the special plastic bag in which some frozen products are sold. Or steam fresh or frozen veggies in a steamer basket. You can also sauté or grill veggies, but never boil them (unless you're making soup), which destroys nutrients.

MAKE IT EASY

Now that you know what you can eat in the first few weeks on Atkins, let's look at which foods to avoid:

• Fruit (other than rhubarb, which is really a vegetable). Avocados, olives, and tomatoes—all of which are actually fruit—are fine.

• Fruit juice (other than 2 tablespoons lemon and/or lime juice a day).

• Caloric sodas.

• Bread, pasta, muffins, tortillas, chips, and any other food made with flour or other grain products, with the exception of low-carb products with 3 grams of Net Carbs or less.

• Any food made with added sugar of any sort, including but not limited to pastries, cookies, cakes, and candy. (See “The Scoop on Sugar: Fat Took the Hit for Sugar,” on page 10.)

• Alcohol in any form.

• Nuts and seeds, nut and seed butters, and nut flours or meals, with the exception of flax meal and coconut flour. (Nuts and seeds are okay after two weeks in Phase 1.)

• Grains, even whole grains.

• Kidney beans, chickpeas, lentils, and other legumes.

• Starchy vegetables such as carrots, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and winter squash. Check the Atkins Carb Counter if you're unsure.

• Dairy products other than cream, sour cream, half-and-half, and aged cheeses. No cow or goat milk, yogurt, cottage cheese, or ricotta for now.

• “Low-fat” foods, which are usually higher in carbs.

• “Diet” products, unless they specifically state “low carbohydrate” and have no more than 3 grams of Net Carbs per serving.

• “Junk food” in any form.

• Products such as chewing gum, breath mints, cough syrups and drops, or liquid vitamins, unless they're sweetened with sorbitol
or xylitol. You can have up to three a day of those. Count 1 gram per piece.

You may want to photocopy this list and place it on your refrigerator door.

To make things as easy as possible, I've prepared two simple meal plans to follow in your first week, along with shopping lists of everything you'll need. The meal plan on page 62 includes Atkins products; the one on page 64 does not. You'll be eating protein, foundation vegetables, and acceptable Phase 1 (Kick-Start) dairy products, as illustrated on the first rung of the Carb Ladder (
page 16
).

Of course, you can modify either meal plan to suit your preferences as long as you stay within the Phase 1 acceptable foods guidelines. For example:

• If you don't eat red meat, simply substitute fish, shellfish, poultry, or tofu for pork, beef, etc.

• If you prefer other foundation veggies, sub them in for those listed.

• You can swap one or more items with a recipe from the recipe section (
page 245
) or the online recipe database.