Have you gained that extra pounds and are you looking for some weight loss tips?
When you Google for weight loss tips, you might have found the word “Atkins diet” used very often.
In this article, we will cover what exactly is the Atkins diet and how exactly you should go about losing weight.
So, let’s dive in…
What is the Atkins Diet?
The Atkins diet is a low-carb diet, developed at Johns Hopkins Hospital as an attempt to offer a less restrictive dietary treatment. Fortunately, dietitians have used it as an important element for weight loss plans.
The Atkins diet is a less restrictive diet where you can eat as much protein and fat as you like by cutting carbohydrates. Unlike other diet plans, it is less about eating less and more about eating the right food. The majority of the people who follow this diet are successful in achieving their weight loss goals.
And believe me, the Atkins diet not only helps in achieving the weight loss goal but also helps in maintaining it. Yes, some people struggle to keep their weight consistent after weight loss but this diet helps them maintain their weight for a longer duration of time.
Before bringing this diet to your daily routine you should be well aware of its pros and cons.
Pros and Cons of the Atkins Diet
Pros of the Atkins diet – The biggest pro of this diet is that you do not need to exercise like crazy or count how many calories you should eat. Again, it is less about starving yourself to lose weight, but more about choosing the right food to eat. Therefore, this diet is easy to follow and you can achieve better results in the long run.
Cons of the Atkins diet – The con of this diet is that you might end up imbalanced with certain essential nutrients like potassium that are normally found in carbohydrates. To avoid this condition, you can take supplements rich in potassium and other important minerals for your daily body needs.
The other con is that you can feel monotonous with the same diet routine which limits your carb choice. It does get better as you go along.
You should always consult your doctor before bringing the Atkins diet to your daily routine. Your doctor can explain the possible health risk associated with the Atkins diet.
How to cope up with problems associated with the Atkins diet?
The Atkins diet plan can be hard to follow but if you stick to your daily routine the results can be impressive.
What is the mechanism behind the Atkins diet?
The Atkins diet tries to trick your body into burning fat for energy rather than carbohydrates. However, the reactions can sometimes get so severe that you have to seek treatment. Try checking some healthy tips on the internet to cope up with such problems.
Next, you might get dizzy, have cramps, and suffer from other types of physical and mental conditions because of the changes in your diet. However, it is possible to ease the dizziness and cramps.
There are several measures that can be taken to ease out the discomfort caused due to leg cramps and other symptoms. Remember that minerals like Potassium, are flushed out of your system quickly. Lack of minerals like these can cause such problems.
Tip -Take a 90-milligram supplement instead of a banana to replace potassium. Relief from symptoms should be felt in about an hour. While you are on the Atkins diet, you should follow these suggestions for staying healthy.
Further, if your weight loss slows down before you are close to achieving your target, check your calorie intake. Water is an essential element for your kidneys to function properly.
Not drinking enough water can buildup ketones which can cause serious health problems. Therefore, you should drink plenty of water.
What if I am not losing weight?
Weighing yourself more than once a week will only frustrate you. If you don’t see a drop in inches and pounds, check the intake of hidden carbs and sugars. You will feel your best when you eat the right amount of carbs. Sugar is not allowed at all in the Atkins diet. Also, regular exercise improves your general health.
Exercise keeps you Fit
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Beware of promises that you will lose huge amounts of weight without exercise.
Exercise helps you convert food into energy faster. Strive to maintain a healthy balance. If you aren’t getting tired after a session, you probably aren’t doing enough, and if you are too tired to move you probably did too much.
A good tip is to put on an exercise accessory such as a waist trainer when you do your exercise. The right outfit for exercise will motivate you to do exercise and promote weight loss.
It is a good sign if you sweat during exercise, as sweating means that the body releases waste and at the same time your body is burning calories.
Putting on the waist trimmer or a sweat vest will certainly help you sweat more and burn more calories. The waist trimmer or the sweat vest will help you generate more sweat and thus burn extra calories.
The doctor can tell if your post-exercise aches and pains are normal or not. To gain maximum benefit from your exercise and dieting, slowly build your routine.
Don’t take more than the recommended doses of any supplement without your doctor’s consent. If you are tempted to cheat, checking your journal will remind you what happened the last time you did that.
Some people overeat and some eat barely anything when under stress. Recording what you eat will explain weight loss or gain. If you go off the program, don’t beat yourself up, just get back on track as soon as possible. Anything significant should be entered because good stuff affects you too.
Knowing you have to list everything is important especially for diabetics so they can see how foods affect them whether it’s negative or positive. Recording your blood sugar levels in the journal is an obvious fact. Doing this will teach you to recognize patterns such as when your levels are highest or lowest.
You and your doctor can use the journal to recognize what you have been doing right and to build on it. Try to choose the food made from whole grain flour. If your weight loss stalls or slows significantly, try eliminating all caffeine. Having short term goals will keep you motivated.
The amount you lose in a week or a month is not as important as a steady weight loss. Losing more weight than that is potentially dangerous.
Yo-yo dieting, losing weight, and gaining it back to get out of starvation mode, then losing, etc. may be as dangerous as being overweight.
Bottomline
With the Atkins diet, you have the maintenance phase to use for the rest of your life, so you don’t have to return to the old fashioned methods.
Only use diets that suggest a slow to moderate weight loss and possibly some nutrient supplements. So, the element of a safe workable diet is balanced meals, exercise, and supplements.
Not all supplements can do what they claim, so do your homework before you buy. All-natural ingredients have advantages over supplements. Supplements and medications often don’t mix well. If your diet is balanced, you won’t need supplements.
About The Author:
Cindy Widjaja is a health and fitness enthusiast who loves to promote fitness for women. She also runs a famous amazon store which is popular by the name of “Ultracomfy Sports”.
