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  • Clear the decks!

    If at all posible, clear the decks of all those carbs. Clear out your refrigerator. Clear out your cabinets. Clear out your pantry. Clear out your hiding places. The strict part is only for two weeks, you can do 2 weeks! If you can't clear the decks, because other people are not joining you, at least rearrange things so you can get to the things you need to eat.

    Don't try to just do it! Decide you're going to do low carb and then plan for it. You want to read the book first, so that you know what good and what's bad; and, if at all possible, make sure the high carb foods are all cleared out.

    You know what the wrong foods are, because you read about them in your book. Right? Go read that chapter again and write them down or photocopy the pages and use that list for clearing the decks. First, the obvious: white sugar, white flour, potatoes, rice, pasta, bread, etc. Gone! Next is a list of high starch, high sugar foods that need to be cleared out, plus a few things known to cause cravings or raise cholesterol.

    Most all of the low-carb diets begin with a severe diet the first 2 weeks. Forbidden in those first 14 days, however, are fruit, bread, rice, potatoes, pasta, or baked goods.

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  • Stock the fridge!

    Sounds like an awful lot of NOs! But, just look at all of the YESes! Eat meat, fish, poultry, eggs, cheese, and plenty of non-starchy, fiber-rich vegetables. Use healthy fats like butter, olive or canola oil, cream for cooking and in sauces and you will do just fine. So, start stocking up on what you can eat and make sure the right foods are readily available. A quick list of things to stock up on -- what you can eat:

    Then make sure you can eat them when you get hungry. Boil some eggs. You can snack on a hard-boiled egg. Make egg salad. Have cheeses to slice and dice and snack on. Bake a chicken or a roast so you can eat meat when you get hungry. Have celery ready to munch and you can add cheese if you prefer. If you crave crunchy snacks get Fried Pork Rinds and eat with cheese, meat, sour cream, etc. Have things ready to eat for when you feel like eating, munching, snacking, etc.

    And don't forget to drink all of your water!

  • Get the Facts!

    Now that you've got the book facts, get your body facts!

    These are all great ways of keeping track of what you are doing and how it impacts your body and your health. It will allow you to track your progress in various ways since different ones progress differently. i.e. your weight may not change much, but your measurements will -- this is especially true if you are exercising heavily, since muscle weighs more than fat. For the complete instruction for the first 14 day see The Atkins Rules of Induction, click here. Some wine, berries, whole-grain/soy breads, nuts, etc. may be added back to the diet in subsequent phases as specified by "the book".

    Understand, our bodies use three main sources as fuel: alcohol, carbohydrates, and fat. Alcohol is used first as the easiest to burn. If you use alcohol your body will burn off the alcohol first and then switch to burning carbohydrates which is the second easiest for it to burn. Fat is the hardest fuel for your body to use as energy and that's the fuel we want to switch to. By not using alcohol and cutting back on carbs, we force the body to switch to burning fat as fuel. The more fat we burn, the more weight we lose. We are not talking about eating huge amounts of fat and not all fats are created equal. You should stick to good fats found in olive oil, butter, avocados, and nuts primarily. Avoid all hydrogenated fats (margarine and shortening). These have been shown to clog arteries and are unhealthy. Many fats that have been processed have been damaged by heat. These are also not very healthy. Stick to natural sources as much as possible. Fat is not a problem unless it is eaten with an excess of carbs.

    Sugars are carbohydrates. Dietary carbohydrates also include the complex carbohydrates starch and fiber. During digestion all carbohydrates break down into sugars, except fiber & for most people sugar alcohols. If you find that you are not falling into "benign dietary ketosis", aka "BDK", and you are eating lots of sugar alcohols; then you are one of the few people who DO absorb sugar alcohols.

    Caffeine is limited because it is a stimulant. All stimulants can cause insulin resistance, thereby accelerating the metabolic aging process. All stimulants become depressants because they will end up depleting serotonin.

    Coffee and tea contain tannic acid, a substance that can decrease the iron that your body absorbs from certain foods. Scientific research studies indicate that a cup of tea with a meal may decrease iron absorption by 64% and a cup of coffee within one hour of a meal may decrease iron absorption by 39%. Consuming coffee one hour before the meal does not decrease iron absorption. You have to drink plenty of water! A minimum of 8 cups of water. A good formula is to drink half your pounds in ounces of water daily. If you weigh 200 pounds, for example, drink 100 ounces of water. As your body burns fat, toxins are released into the bloodstream as byproducts and need to be flushed out. It is also very important for the health of your kidneys to keep them well hydrated. You can drink too much water but you would have to drink much more than this to overdo it.

    Unlike low fat diets, there is no reason to be hungry. If you are hungry eat something low carb until you are no longer hungry. If you keep your water up and eat enough you will lose weight. If you starve yourself, you can actually STOP losing weight. This is the easiest WOE there is because you never need to be hungry!

    Vegetables are important for several reasons, including their superior source of antioxidants (which we need in large supplies) and their fiber content, which contributes to helping reduce the glycemic index of a meal and to keeping your intestines healthy.

    Eggs are great! Cholesterol from foods reacts very differently in the body than the cholesterol created in your body does. It is the cholesterol that is created from excessive carbohydrate intake and unused energy sources that is damaging to your body and can increase your risk of heart disease. In addition, eggs are a good source of essential fatty acids, are a complete source of protein and contain almost every vitamin and mineral.

    Fat cannot be stored as fat without insulin being present. If you overeat carbohydrates along with fats, the rise in insulin will turn the carbohydrates into fats and store them both in the cells. At this point you can use the fats for energy or store them in your fat cells. This does not mean you should eat fats alone. It is important to balance food from the four food groups: healthy proteins, healthy fats, non-starchy vegetables and real carbohydrates.

    If you want to lose weight as quickly as possible avoid caffeine, alcohol, nitrates, sugar, processed flour, (grains of any type during Atkins induction phase) and excess salt. All of these things can cause you to stall and may even cause you to gain! Some people have no problems with caffeine and others find it stalls them. The only way to tell is to try it and see. If you drink coffee daily and aren't losing, try cutting it out or switching to decaf and see if that helps. Nitrates are pretty hard to avoid completely but read labels and try to find things that have as little as possible. Switch from Deli meats (most contain nitrates) to real meat you prepare yourself.

    Stress, including skipping meals, raises adrenaline and cortisol levels; and eating too much at one time raises insulin levels. So, eat smaller amounts of balanced meals more frequently. Stress causes a higher utilization and eventual depletion of serotonin. Low serotonin levels cause carbohydrate cravings.

    If the whole family is not eating low carb, it really isn't necessary to prepare two completely different meals. You want them to eat healthy food even if they are not eating low carb. So, make some type of meat, fish, poultry, vegetables and a salad. This is what you will eat. Next, make a side dish that the family can eat, such as a baked or mashed potato, whole grain bread, brown rice, or just more veggies. Try to give them nutritious whole grains and "real" food rather than pre-packaged things that are full of additives. Most of the recipes that are for maintenance will work fine for the whole family. Many of the low carb recipes are fine for everyone. Things like the deep-dish pizza quiche and the Italian beef and cheese roll-ups can be enjoyed by the whole family.

    Calculating Carbs

    1. Simple
      Meat has zero carbs. Processed meats may have carbs added, so read the label. This is the simplest and the best -- natural meats.
    2. Counts
      Fresh produce has carbs so look them up in a carb count book or website. Some carb counts are listed below, click here. And don't forget to use the formula (# grams of carbs - # grams of fiber = # net carbs) This is the other simple and the best -- natural vegetables.
    3. Complex
      Prepared foods have carbs of more diverse types. Check the labels and see what the total carbohydrates are. Next look for the total grams of fiber and the total grams of sugar alcohol (usually end in -nol). Subtract the fiber and sugar alcohol from the carbs and you have "net" carbs. (# grams of carbs - # grams of fiber - # grams of sugar alcohol = # net carbs) This is the figure you want to count.
      Again, if you find that you are not falling into "benign dietary ketosis", i.e. not losing weight, and you are eating lots of sugar alcohols; then you are one of the few people who DO absorb sugar alcohols, so you will have to include them in your net carbs, not subtract them.
      Another thing to check for is hidden/missing carbs in those processed foods. So, assume that all hidden/missing calories are carbs & use the formula [ (Fat X 9) + (Carb X 4) + (Protein X 4) = Calories ] Note that this formula is not perfectly exact, but a good approximation.

    Here's a more expanded list of No-No's: