Bacon, cheese, butter, how cool does this diet sound! The Atkins diet is based on very sound principles of attaining a state of ketosis in which the liver will convert fat into energy since there is an extreme absence of carbohydrates. As wonderful as this concept may sound, let the buyer beware!  This diet is a great idea if you want to lose fat and simply do not care about the negative health effects that can occur when eating in such a restrictive environment.   Ketones and ketogenic diets can have a panicogenic effect and  have a strong association with stroke and heart failure so before you go traipsing off and eating bacon and cheese all day, ask yourself if the risk is worth it.  If you plan on living for more than another year or so then eventually you must discontinue the atkins diet.  Most people fail on this diet anyway and regain all of the lost weight plus 10 percent or so once they discontinue eating on the plan since they have learned nothing of eating efficiently and they have been restricted for so long that pure human biology alone takes charge and the cravings for carbohydrate and junk food are nothing short of frustrating and annoying .  I avoid it because the way it is presented leaves a tremendous amount of room for failure. You certainly do not want to fail on a diet that is having you eat large quantities of saturated artery clogging death fats. If you like this concept, go and check out the Body Opus diet. The Body Opus diet adjusts many of the possible flaws and failure points of the Atkins diet and it is designed for short term use which is the ONLY way a ketogenic diet should be followed unless prescribed for medical reasons that this type of dieting was originally intended for. I love the idea of being in ketosis and losing all that fat in a very short time while maintaining your muscle mass but many people only increase their fat percentage on this plan due to the lack of science applied here.  The other large concern I have about this diet is the tremendous amount of saturated fat in many of the foods you can eat on this diet.  There is no sense losing weight if we are killing our bodies with the food we eat while we do it.  
 

The following meats and cheeses have no carbohydrates. Using the atkins diet plan you may eat as much of the following items as you wish.

Not Bad Vegetables:

A serving of these salad vegetables has 10% or less of your daily carbohydrate limit. Therefor you can eat up to three cups of these without worry.

• Lettuce

• Escarole

• Arugula

• Endive

• Radicchio

• Chicory

• Sorrel

• Mache

• Bock Choy

• Chives

• Parsley

• Cucumber

• Radishes

• Fennel

• Peppers

• Celery

• Jicama

• Alfalfa Sprouts

• Mushrooms

• Olives

Other Vegetables:

These vegetables have more carbohydrates than the ones above. You'll want to limit your intake of these to about 1 cup per day.

• Asparagus

• String beans, wax beans, etc.

• Cabbage

• Beet Greens

• Cauliflower

• Chard

• Eggplant

• Kale

• Kohlrabi

• Tomato

• Onion

• Rhubard

• Scallions

• Leeks

• Spinach

• Summer Squash

• Zucchini

• Okra

• Pumpkin

• Turnips

• Avocado

• Bamboo Shoots

• Bean Sprouts

• Water Chestnuts

• Snow Pea Pods

• Sauerkraut

• Collard Greens

• Dandelion Greens

• Broccoli

• Spaghetti Squash

• Celery Root

• Brussel Sprouts

• Artichoke Hearts

• Hearts of Palm

These foods are high in carbohydrates and should be avoided:

• Breads

• Cereals

• Grains

• Sugars

• Candy

• Pasta

• Rice

• Anything with Flour

• Non-diet soda

• Juice

• Fruit

• Potato (potatoe if your name is Dan Quayle)

• Chips

• Alcohol

• Beer

Basic Philosophy: It is wholly inappropriate to think of the Atkins Programme in terms of just one diet. The essence of the Atkins' system is to provide a series of dietary phases through which the majority will pass sequentially, as they successfully lose their excess weight. Additional diets are provided for people who cannot follow the majority route, such as those with a high metabolic resistance and those with food intolerances.

The stated aims of Atkins are to provide people with a lifetime nutritional philosophy which will (a) restrict their intake of processed and refined carbohydrates, such as sugar-rich food, bread, pasta, cereal, and starchy vegetables, (b) encourage consumption of nutrient-rich unprocessed foods such as animal flesh (meat, fish and poultry) and (c) promote the use of "vita-nutrient" supplements.

Indeed, there is a heavy emphasis on nutritional supplements, as there is on exercise and regular testing to monitor levels of Cholesterol, Insulin, Blood Pressure and Triglycerides. Uniquely, Atkins also involves his patients in the testing procedures, through their own use of lipolysis/ketosis detectors ("Ketostix", or LTS strips). The whole regime is also evaluated with regard to the Heart, Cancer, Hypoglycaemia and Diabetes, as well as other health issues. There is considerable practical detail, in the form of instructions, anecdotes, menus and a carbohydrate calculator. This is all underpinned by a very considerable quantity of theoretical and medical information. Unlike his critics, Atkins bases his pronouncements on sound evidence, observations, and a vast amount of personal experience.

By the numbers: : Carbohydrates are restricted to around 20 grams per day in the first 2 weeks. A weekly 5 gramincrement is followed until you establish your Critical Carbohydrate level for Maintenance (i.e. the highest number of grams of carbohydrate per day which you can consume without starting to gain the weight back

Method: 

Phase 1 Induction: 14 days

Purpose: To induce "Benign Dietary Ketosis", a condition whose presence can be detected by Ketostix, which is present when the body is producing Fat Mobilization Substance", a condition whose presence cannot be so detected. Once Fat Mobilizing Substance is being produced, the body is forced to disgorge and burn up deposited body fat. When this happens, you are quickly losing weight.

All fruit and most vegetables are excluded. Carbohydrates are restricted to around 20 grams per day. Unnecessary medications are to be abandoned, and medical assessment tests should be taken for the "before" picture.

Phase 2 Ongoing Weight Loss: To be followed until target weight has been achieved

Purpose: Once production of Fat Mobilizing Substance and weight loss have been triggered by the Induction phase, this phase is designed to allow continuing weight loss, while at the same time making the diet less restrictive and more palatable. This is done by increasing permitted vegetables, and raising carbohydrate levels to around 40g per day (exact figures vary, according to degree of metabolic resistance). This is when you set your own weight goal, and towards the end of this phase you establish your Critical Carbohydrate level for Maintenance (i.e. the highest number of grams of carbohydrate per day which you can consume without starting to gain the weight back).

Phase 3: Pre-Maintenance Diet: Commencing 5-10 pounds away from reaching target weight.

Purpose: To prepare for the last phase.

At this point, the diet is changed, using the Critical Carbohydrate Level for Maintenance information gained in Phase 2, so that the final few pounds are lost more slowly than before. "The slower you lose the last 5 pounds, the better". This is achieved by increasing the carbohydrate intake till less than 1 pound of weight per week is being lost. Weight loss is "cruising to a halt".

Phase 4 Maintenance Diet.

Purpose: To maintain Target Weight for life.

You are no longer protected by Fat Mobilizing Substance, and this phase exists to protect the newly-successful slimmer from thinking he or she can now eat anything, now that Target weight has been reached. It guards against inadvertent folly and recidivism (re-offending). This is achieved by setting a fairly strict diet that will forever keep off the lost weight. The person is urged to stick to the carbohydrate level they feel happiest on without gaining weight. Most choose not to eat the maximum possible, but choose themselves a fairly strict level of carbohydrate intake.

Typical menu: 

	Induction	Ongoing weight loss	Maintenance
Breakfast	Sugarless sausage or Bacon or Ham & eggs Tea or coffee	Induction items, Tea or Coffee tomato juice, Omelette, Crispbread,	Omelette, fruit, Tea or Coffee, Crispbread, and all previous 2 columns
Lunch	Bacon cheeseburger w/o bun, salad Seltzer water	Ham & cheese salad Mayonnaise,Herbal Tea + Induction items	Roast chicken & salad, vegetables, dressings, + all previous lists, soda
Dinner	Shrimp cocktail & mayonnaise. Steak, roast, chops, fish or poultry & salad Jelly & whipped cream	Seafood salad, salmon, vegetables from permitted list Strawberries & cream + Induction items	Soup. Salad, chops, vegetables, potato, fruit. Wine or wine spritzers, + all previous foods from earlier lists

Fat, Protein and Exercise all encouraged. Sugar heartily discouraged, along with other refined and processed carbohydrates.