The first phase of the Atkins Diet Plan, the Induction Phase, is undoubtedly the hardest for most people to follow. The objective is transforming the body's energy source from burning carbs to burning fat. Simply put, you are allowed 20 grams per day of net carbs. This term stands for the total carbohydrate intake minus the carbs contained in fiber, sugar alcohol, and glycerine. Because those carbs aren't digested they don't count. In other words if your vegetable serving contains 5 grams of carbs but 2 of those grams come from fiber, then only 3 grams actually count.
To meet the Atkins Diet Plan Induction Phase objectives, you will have to remove many foods from your diet. Don't despair, this phase usually lasts only two weeks. If you really want to play by the rules, obtain the acceptable food list. If a given food isn't on the list, it shouldn't be on your plate. Let's examine some of these forbidden foods starting with the vegetables.
If a vegetable is starchy, you'll have to leave it out. The most obvious no-no is potatoes in any form. Popular vegetables to avoid are beets, corn, peas, and perhaps carrots. Other forbidden vegetables include parsnips, plantains, and winter squash. While the induction phase only lasts two weeks, you will have to wait much more than that to return to your potatoes and peas. Starchy vegetables are the last food group reintroduced during the second phase of the Atkins Diet, the Ongoing Weight Loss (OWL) Phase during which you increase your carbohydrate intake by a net 5 grams per week.
What else is forbidden during the induction phase? Grains immediately come to mind. So you can't gnaw on bread sticks. But you also can't eat cake, pies, or pastries. Sugar in any of its forms is forbidden. This means the white stuff in the sugar bowl but it also means fruit juice (except for small amounts of lemon and lime juice), fruit juice concentrates, syrups, and sweetners. Be safe, avoid all processed foods. Nuts are prohibited as are most dairy products with the exception of some cheeses and cream. On the upside, dairy products and nuts are the first foods to be added when the induction phase is over.
While proteins are allowed and even encouraged during this phase you have to watch how your dishes are prepared. Breaded meats such as meat loaf and veal schnitzel are out. Don't even think about those delicious flour-based sauces, and there are lots of them.
There is another set of forbidden pleasures, one that involves no actual food. Alcohol in any form is strictly out. This means not only grain-based beer but wine as well, even low-carb wine. As a wine lover who has never been on the Atkins diet, I truly would miss the prohibited foods more than the wine itself, for two weeks. After that all bets are off.
Levi Reiss has authored or co-authored ten books on computers and the Internet, but to be honest, he would rather just drink fine Italian, French, or other wine, accompanied by the right foods and spend time with his wife and family. He teaches classes in computers at an Ontario French-language community college. Visit his site devoted to the weight-management, nutritional, and health aspects of wine at http://www.wineinyourdiet.com. Check out his global wine website at http://www.theworldwidewine.com with his new weekly column reviewing $10 wines.
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