Low-carb diets limit the intake of “bad” carbohydrates including starchy vegetables, breads, rice, and grains.  Diets such as the Atkins and Zone diets each limit the intake of these carbs with different restrictions on carbs, fats and proteins. In fact, if you check out some of the Medifast info, you’ll find that even they are basically a reduced carb diet.

The main reason many have turned to these diets is because they are known to assist dieters in losing weight quickly without counting calories.  For those with bread cravings, cutting out or limiting carbs can be one of the most difficult choices.

Limiting carbohydrates has been a successful form of dieting because these carbs are converted into sugar during digestion and is stored in the liver and muscles.  The theory on these diets is that carbs prevent and limit fat breakdown, thus storing fat accumulations throughout the body.  Most dieters that combine low-carb with forms of exercise will see a rapid decrease in weight for the first two weeks.  Like any diet, you will notice a plateau in weight loss once the body has released stored fat.  Most common foods found in low-carb diets are fish, eggs, meat and poultry.  It is important to eat a lot of protein to keep energy and lose weight in a health way.

While there are many weight loss tips available on the Internet, not every method of weight loss will work for every person.  Review several of suggestions and methods and tailor them to your lifestyle in a way that you are comfortable.  Be sure to routinely exercise, and never starve yourself.  Limit portions, calories, carbs or fat, the choice is up to you and your level of discipline.

For more information on weight loss and health and fitness visit MyActiveZone.com.

The Atkins plan is not only a diet that works, it also happens to be one of the best Diet Plans to help with muscle building. There are four parts or phases to the Atkins diet plan. Here’s an overview of how it works.

Induction: this is the first part and the hardest part as you are allowed the least amount of carbohydrates per day. It is also the most important part so following this phase you must be very strict and follow the allowable 20 grams of carbohydrates a day. To put that in perspective a small banana has about 20 grams of carbs. On this Induction phase you will get most of your carbs eating vegetables but you never feel hungry as you can eat as much what is referred to as acceptable foods in the induction. No caffeine or alcohol are allowed in this phase, I switched to decaf so I still had the taste but no caffeine, took a few days to get used to it but after that it was fine. The good news is you only do this induction for 2 weeks, or course you can stay on it longer if you want to still have more weight loss at this rapid pace but a minimum of 2 weeks is required.

Ketosis: while on the induction you body goes into a state called Ketosis and what happens when you are in this state the body uses your fat for energy. This period everyone will respond different and some people cannot handle it as well as others. Listen to your body and read up if you are safe to do this low carb diet plan, most people can do it but better safe than sorry. Ketosis is the basis for the Atkins Diet or Low Carb Diet Plans.

OWL Ongoing Weight Loss: is the second part and where you slowly add carbohydrates to your diet and you loss maybe 1 or 2 pounds a week which is what Atkins recommends and calls this the CCLL phase for Critical Carbohydrate Level for Losing. You do this by adding about 5 grams of carbs a day. You start with adding more vegetables then whole grains.

Pre Maintenance and then Maintenance: is the third and fourth phase and this varies as well like the Induction on how much weight you want to lose. But simple put, the pre-maintenance is where you add a few more good carbs and then the maintenance is what you stay on long term and learn what your body can handle with the amount of carbohydrates so you stay at that weight.

Make sure you get a book on the Atkins Diet or a Low Carb Diet Plan, as it is very important to know what you are doing and there is recommended food information in it that you will need for the carbohydrate counts. Also there is tons of information in books and on the net for recipes and places to buy or get low carb foods. Will this be part of your Awesome Diet Plans? If you answered yes, I think it is a good kick start to weight loss for most people.

What Is the Atkins Diet?

Developed by Dr. Robert Atkins, a noted cardiologist and nutritionist, the Atkins Diet is based on the principle that you can lose weight by eating more proteins, and eating fewer carbohydrates.

Usually, your body burns carbohydrates to provide it with the energy it needs. Eating fewer carbohydrates means there are fewer carbohydrates in your body to burn. So, in order to get the energy it needs, your body is forced to burn fat in place of burning carbs. And, as a result, you lose weight.

Why People Are Attracted to the Atkins Diet?

People are attracted to the Atkins Diet for many reasons.

One of the biggest is that it allows you to eat foods most diets don’t, like butter and red meat. On many diets, both are usually either drastically reduced, or removed from your diet entirely. But, with the Atkins Diet, you can eat as much butter and red meat as you want.

Also, this isn’t a starvation diet. Rather than restricting how much you can eat (for example, only allowing you to eat a certain amount of calories a day) the Atkins Diet controls what you can eat. So, whenever you get hungry, you can eat something, and probably something you really like.

Finally, you can lose weight pretty fast on the Atkins Diet. You can lose from 6 to 10 pounds in the first week, and 1 to 3 pounds each additional week. Losing 6 pounds in a week while eating bacon every morning is certainly appealing.

The Drawbacks of the Atkins Diet

While the Atkins Diet is certainly effective, it can have some drawbacks.

• While burning fat helps you lose weight, it can also result in a condition called ketosis. Side effects of this condition can include dizziness, nausea, fatigue, insomnia, and bad breath.
• A lot of the foods you can’t eat, or can only eat in low quantities, while on the Atkins Diet provide your body with important nutrients. For example, during some stages of the Atkins Diet, you are only allowed very little, if any, milk. But milk is a source of calcium, which is needed to build strong bones. Fortunately, many of those nutrients can be replaced with dietary supplements.
• One of the biggest drawbacks of the Atkins Diet is the lack of variety. Eating bacon every day might sound great, but even bacon can get boring after a while. And, eventually, you’ll start missing high-carb foods like breads, potatoes and pasta. And if you’re anything like me, that will happen sooner rather than later

Lack of variety in food choices might make the Atkins Diet difficult to maintain long term, which is why we recommend DiettoGo instead.