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Did you know that brain imaging studies have shown that pictures of delicious food can stimulate the urge to eat? I’m sure you’ve been there. Think of a menu at a chain restaurant; how can you resist the smothered potato skins or sizzling burger and fries, not to mention the double-decker sundae, when the Technicolor pictures beckon to you so enticingly? While one part of your brain is urging you to eat, typically this response is countered by simultaneous signals coming from other parts of your brain that say “Don’t eat!” Or, at least “Don’t eat that! Try a salad with some grilled chicken instead!” The challenge? In obese people, the ability to suppress those initial signals to eat is often impaired. Why?

Our brains were wired for a time when food was scarce and starvation was common. That initial response to eat was truly a survival instinct, because you never knew when (or where) you would find your next meal. We face a much different problem than our ancestors. We live in a nation where food is abundant, often cheap and high in calories. We live in a time where the reward for cleaning your plate is dessert. Add to it that many obese people deal with excessive insulin output and insulin resistance, making it even more challenging to understand when you are hungry or not hungry. The more you teach your brain to override those “Don’t eat!” signals, the less you hear them. In fact, studies show that certain types of sugar affect these responses. Blood flow and activity in brain areas controlling appetite, emotion and reward decreased after consuming a drink with glucose, and participants reported greater feelings of fullness. After drinking fructose, those brain appetite and reward areas continued to stay active, and participants did not report feeling full. Glucose and fructose are typically found together in food and beverages, and more research needs to be done to understand how they affect the brain and body weight over time. But what this shows is that our brains do influence what we eat, and this could be a key to controlling the obesity problem.

The good news? Atkins trains your body to burn its own fat for energy. Once you start burning primarily fat, this leads to natural appetite control, which should make your cravings for the sugary, starchy foods decrease—and it should make it easier for you to override your brain’s signals, or at least help you make healthier choices when it is time to eat.

If you’re reading this, it’s quite likely you have lost weight on all sorts of diets. Only to regain those stubborn pounds as soon as you resume your previous eating habits.

What will make Atkins the diet that allows you to actually lose the weight, and keep it off… for good? It’s simple. Stop thinking of Atkins as a “diet” and start thinking of it as a new way of eating.

At this point, I would typically delve into the fascinating science behind Atkins—there are over 80 studies that highlight the positive weight loss results and other health benefits associated with following Atkins. And I have written plenty of previous blogs that cover this topic. Today I want to get down to the basic bare-bone facts:

1) Too many carbs; particularly sugar, refined grains like white flour and other processed foods; keep your body from burning fat for energy.
2) Don’t feed your body this way and you’ll find it easier to moderate your appetite and therefore lose weight.

Why? This new way of eating forces your body to burn its own fat for energy. And it doesn’t stop there. Once you’re burning primarily fat, other wonderful things happen, including natural appetite control. As you discover your tolerance for carbs—your personal carb balance--most people find that their cravings for sugary, starchy foods vanish—or at least moderate.

Ready to turn your body into a fat-burning machine? Here are some simple tips to get started:

--Start by consuming 20 grams of net carbs a day (net carbs are total carbs minus fiber).

--Make sure 12 to 15 grams of these net carbs come from Foundation Vegetables.

--Don’t worry about the percentage of fat, protein or carbs or number of calories you are eating. 

--Read food labels—watch for hidden carbs.

--Write down everything you eat.

--Track your progress—Not just your weight, but your measurements, energy level and mood.

--Join the Atkins Community—It’s your free, built-in support system!

--Take this journey day by day and pound by pound. You are in this for the long haul, not just for the few weeks before swimsuit season or that class reunion.

--Expect fluctuations and plateaus (I’ve written plenty on these topics to help you make it through these situations).

--You may lose a lot at first; the key is to stick with the program. When you have reached your goal weight (and achieved your personal carb balance)—here’s the big key—continue to follow the Atkins lifestyle.

Of course, there are so many other details I could write about that show you how Atkins works (you can start by reading any of my past blogs), but today I wanted to show you how simple Atkins really is, and how easy it is to get started. It’s a helpful reminder, even for those of you who may have been following Atkins for some time.

When you think of dieting, what words come to mind? “Hunger” and “deprivation”? Maybe even “frustration”? In the past, did your experience with dieting include eliminating foods; drastically cutting calories and choking down the same bland meals; day in and day out? The good news? You probably lost some weight. The bad news? As soon as your willpower waned as you tried to stick to an unrealistic diet, the pounds came creeping back.

What if dieting meant you got to eat until you were pleasantly satisfied and full? That you weren’t plagued by hunger every day and that you were able to enjoy rich and flavorful foods? That you didn’t have to count calories on a daily basis, but still experienced steady weight loss, even if you had failed on other diets.

This, my friend, is the Atkins Promise. With Atkins, you learn a way of eating that will help keep any lost weight from coming back. The plan takes you through four Phases, which allow you to find your personal carb balance—the number of net carbs your body can tolerate without gaining back the weight you have already lost. By the time you achieve this personal carb balance, most likely you have eliminated addictive food patterns, you have increased self-confidence and improved health problems that accompanied your excess weight, and you’ve also minimized risk factors for certain diseases.

In a nutshell, this is what Atkins can do for you:

• The power of the Atkins Diet rests on the fact that it promotes more efficient fat burning. Stored body fat actually is our body's backup fuel system for energy. The most efficient weight loss and weight maintenance program would have to be one that converts body fat from backup to primary fuel. This switch occurs when carbohydrates are low enough to force the body to access this alternative fuel source. On Atkins you will burn the fat on your body as well as the fat you consume for energy. That is why fat will not pose a health risk on Atkins. Because you are burning fat for energy.

But contrary to past popular belief, the Atkins Diet is not about living solely on butter and bacon. Instead, you learn to incorporate a multitude of healthy fats, protein, vegetables, and eventually nuts and fruits and other wholesome carbs into your lifestyle while losing weight, gaining energy and feeling better than ever.
 
• Finding the point that your body burns fat is a unique process, and the Atkins Diet provides individualized guidance through its four Phases to help you achieve this.

• The Atkins Diet has evolved based on findings from a multitude of new studies that have validated previous work and made new discoveries, all to help enhance your experience with Atkins and help you succeed with your weight loss goals.

• And, finally, Atkins provides a long-term, well-balanced diet plan that teaches you how to achieve your perfect carb balance.

If you believe in the Atkins Promise, you can succeed! And if you have friends and family asking you how you’ve lost weight so far, show this to them, too, so they can understand how the Atkins Diet works and start believing in the Atkins Promise.

The wonderful thing about Atkins is that you have options; the program is truly customized to you and what works best for your body. One example of doing Atkins your way is the decision of losing most of your weight in Induction or losing most of your weight in OWL. Read on and let me know what works (or worked) best for you.

Different Phases, Different Objectives
Think of Atkins as a marathon, rather than a sprint and you’ll understand why I think it is probably best to lose the bulk of your weight in OWL (On Going Weight Loss).
Induction trains your body to burn fat, which will kick-start weight loss. OWL is where you’ll get into the steady rhythm that will carry you until you’re almost at the finish line: 15 pounds from your goal. By then, you’ll have honed your understanding of how your body reacts to certain foods and to gradual increases in carb intake. Learning a way to eat that you can live with for the rest of your life is the real objective of Atkins.

Phase 1 Is Just the Launching Pad
I used to be of the mindset that you could stay in Induction as long as you wanted as long as you didn’t get bored with the food choices. After all, there’s no health risk associated with staying in Induction indefinitely. However, after more than 20 years of helping people lose weight on Atkins—and keep it off—I’ve come to the conclusion that Phase 2 is the best place to lose the bulk of your weight. No wonder Dr. Atkins dubbed it Ongoing Weight Loss (OWL). You may stay at a relatively low level, perhaps 25 to 35 grams of Net Carbs a day, which is not all that different from Induction, but it does allow you a bit more flexibility to eat such delicious, nutritious food as nuts and seeds, berries, melon, cherries, Greek yogurt, and or cottage cheese. Or you may find you can go considerably higher, say 50 or 60 grams of Net Carbs or even more which will allow you to include a starchy vegetable, or legumes and whole grains. I’ve also come to believe that moving up the Carb Ladder every couple of weeks or even longer is also a better approach for some than doing so each week.

You can certainly hang out in Induction longer than two weeks if you have a lot of weight to lose, but don’t get stuck there. Of course, weight loss typically slows after the initial dramatic weight loss that occurs when you first switch from burning primarily glucose (from carbohydrates) to burning fat for energy. But that’s actually a good thing, as we’ll discuss below. In addition to reducing the possibility of boredom, there’s another reason why I believe you should bid adieu to Induction and move on to OWL.

Staying in Induction

If you are someone who is more motivated by quick weight loss and thrives on structure and fewer choices, despite my obvious preference to encourage you to move to OWL, you may choose to stay in Induction past the initial two weeks, and up to the point that you are just 15 pounds from your goal weight. But there are a few things you can do to make this process a bit easier, as well as set the stage for you to move on to OWL when the time is right. While in Induction, you’ll remain at 20 grams of Net Carbs a day, but try adding nuts and seeds to your list of acceptable foods. A couple of tablespoons of walnuts, almonds, pecans, pumpkin seeds or other seeds or nuts make a great snack. Or sprinkle them on a salad or cooked vegetables, or use in a recipe. As you get closer to your goal weight, you can start slowly introducing different foods on the carb ladder so that you can find out which carbs allow you to keep losing and which ones don’t.

The only danger of staying in Induction too long is that you have no place to go if and when—and it’s almost inevitable—you experience a weight-loss plateau. This isn’t a health risk, of course, but it can be extremely frustrating and de-motivating. Just to be clear, a plateau is defined as an inexplicable pause in weight loss that’s not the result of dietary misdemeanors or lifestyle changes. It can happen at any time after you shed the first “easy” pounds but is more likely as you get closer to your goal weight. Fortunately, plateaus usually yield to certain strategies, including temporarily reducing your daily carb intake. However, if you’re still at the Induction level of 20 daily grams of Net Carbs, where are you going to go to break a plateau? It’s not healthful to sacrifice vegetables to go under 20 grams of Net Carbs, which some people are tempted to do when they are not losing in Induction. Moreover, restricting choices in Induction can make the program too difficult for the long haul. 
On the other hand, if you’re at, say, 35 grams of Net Carbs a day and hit a plateau, you can cut back by 10 grams and likely the excess pounds will begin to budge again. Or perhaps you’ll need to go down another 5 grams to 20 grams, which will almost certainly reboot weight loss. Once you’re losing again, you can gradually start to increase the carbs.

Be sure to track not just your weight but also your measurements. Why? Assuming that you’re exercising, you may be gaining lean body mass and losing fat. Because muscle is denser than fat, the scale can be deceiving. How your clothes fit is another useful measuring tool. Even if your weight remains stable for a week or so, if your jeans zip up more easily, you’re losing fat.

Pros: Faster rate of weight loss, more structure, fewer choices (and less temptation)

Cons: Boredom, fewer options for moving past a plateau without reducing Net Carbs below the recommended level

Moving Through the Phases

If you are comfortable with a slower and steadier rate of weight loss, stick with Induction for two weeks or one month, and then move on Phase 2, Ongoing Weight Loss (OWL). The gradual increase in Net Carb intake and equally slow reintroduction of new foods allows you to move up the carb ladder and find your overall intake tolerance for carbs. You’ll also gradually come to understand if there are any carbohydrate foods that trigger cravings for more of the same. This process is not always easy, but it’s essential to understand your unique metabolism. Whether its 30 grams of Net Carbs or 60 or more, you need to find what works for you. In effect, understanding your tolerance level is the bridge from a weight-loss diet to a diet for life. After all, wouldn’t you rather lose a little more slowly and keep the weight off for good than lose fast for a month or two by staying in Induction the whole time, reach your goal weight and then regain those lost pounds before you know it because you never learned how to eat for the long run?

Pros: More variety, more options for moving past a plateau, you can always return to Induction

Cons: Slightly Slower rate of weight loss, having more food choices may be too tempting or confusing

Which Works best for You? 

Both these strategies will allow you to lose weight in the way that works best for you. It’s your choice, and in the long run, the option you choose should be one that will allow you to lose the weight (and keep it off) while enjoying a new and satisfying way of eating for the long haul.

Last year I wrote about a large clinical study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) that showed that dieters who had successfully lost weight and were trying to maintain their weight loss burned significantly more calories eating a low-carb diet modeled after Atkins than they did eating a low-fat diet. In fact, participants following the Atkins-style diet burned 300 more calories a day (that’s equivalent to an hour of exercise!) than they did on a low-fat diet. In addition, participants following the Atkins-style diet experienced a variety of health benefits, including increased HDL (“good” cholesterol), lowered triglycerides, reduced inflammation from baseline and improved insulin sensitivity.

During this same study, a smaller study was conducted on the participants that examined the effects of the three diets in the study (low fat, low glycemic index and very low carb) on post-meal energy expenditure (how many calories are burned for energy after a meal, i.e. resting metabolism) and the risk for weight regain during weight maintenance. The authors concluded that dieters had the slowest metabolism after eating a meal while following the low-fat diet than the very low carb diet or the low-glycemic diet. The low-fat dieters were also at risk for the most weight regain during weight loss maintenance. While both the very low carb and low-glycemic diets had favorable affects on metabolism and weight loss maintenance, the Atkins-style very low carb diet is still a winner when it comes to the other health benefits that participants experienced while following the diet.

The reason many dieters on a very low carb diet like Atkins have an easier time maintaining their weight loss over dieters on a low-fat diet is that they feel less hungry and more satisfied due to the higher percentage of fat they are consuming. Along with protein, fat makes you feel full, and because fat carries flavor, it makes food more satisfying. It takes twice as many calories from refined carbs than from fats to provide the same level of fullness, which makes fat a better choice if you want lose weight. Dietary fat also slows the entry of glucose into the bloodstream. This keeps your blood sugar in check, which means you’re less likely to be as ravenously hungry after eating fat than you’d be after eating refined carbs. Bottom line: eat fat in place of carbs, and you’re less likely to overeat.

Reference:  Walsh CO, Ebbeling CB, Swain JF, Markowitz RL, Feldman HA, et al. (2013) Effects of Diet Composition on Postprandial Energy Availability during Weight Loss Maintenance. PLoS ONE 8(3): e58172. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0058172

To read the full study:  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3590159/