On a whim from a suggestion of a friend I decided to try a new weight loss program. My friend had recently loss 50 pounds on Atkins, and I wanted to give it a try. I wanted to give it a try especially after hearing that I could eat things like eggs, bacon, beef and pork. What is exactly is Atkins? Atkins Advantage is a weight loss program that believes that your body will lose weight if you stop feeding it simple carbohydrates and replace it with high protein alternatives. There are four phases of the Atkins Advantage weight loss program: induction, on-going weight loss, pre-maintenance and maintenance. Induction is a 14 day period where you monitory your carbohydrates and make sure that you limit them to 20 grams per day. You are then to replace the carbohydrates with large amounts of protein and fat. The body is to go into this mild ketosis state that causes it to use fat instead of carbohydrates for fuel. After your 14 day period, whole grain carbohydrates are worked back into your diet. What are the benefits of Atkins? The first benefit is that there is actual weight loss on the Atkins Advantage program. I have personally known people who have lost a nice amount of weight following the program. I personally have lost thirty pounds on the Atkins Advantage. I have a friend who lost seventy-five pounds on the program. The Atkins Advantage teaches you what good complex carbohydrates actually are. When your use the program, you slowly learn what foods are complex carbohydrates and you get use to eating these foods. The Atkins Advantage weight loss program will give you a list of foods that have the carbohydrate count on them. They also give you a formula to calculate net carbohydrates on new foods on the market. The price is great! It’s free to join the Atkins Advantage website. If you don’t want to join the website, you can purchase the main book at any local book store. This can be purchased for under $30. The food choices are great. There are no special meals to buy. Atkins Advantage weight loss program does have products to purchase. They consist of bars, shakes and low carbohydrate candy. Atkins Advantage use to have a whole other selection of foods like muffin mixes, bread mixes and the like. I guess they decided those items aren’t working well. What’s the problem with Atkins? If a person is not careful they can cause serious damage to their body while on the Atkins Advantage weight loss program. There are three key elements that are causing problems. I have experienced one personally. It was not fun. Let’s start out with the food. Sure you do not have to buy any of their specialty products but sometimes a girl or guy just wants something sweet to eat. Atkins offers three candy products under their Adkins Edulge label. I’m a fan of caramel, so I thought I would try their Caramel Nut Chew. Boy was that an awful choice. The caramel did not taste like caramel at all. Plus there was this alcohol chemical aftertaste. If you do not watch your fat intake, Atkins Advantage is very high in fat. When a person is on the Atkins Advantage program, 99% of the calories are coming from low carbohydrate protein choices. So you are eating things like beef, pork, eggs, cheese, chicken, duck, and fish. Not only does your fat intake increase but your kidneys have to work harder on this weight loss program. The more protein that you eat, the harder your kidneys have to work to process the food. Completely stopping Atkins Advantage weight loss program and going back to carbohydrates can kill the intestinal track. This is the reason why I spent thirty days in the hospital because of diverticulitus. The doctor explained it to me this way “Fiber from the carbohydrates that we eat clean the colon system. When you don’t get enough fiber then the walls get infected.” Let me tell you that know weight loss program is worth hospital bills, tubes in your body, having blood tests every day, and having a mainline put in your chest. So the choice is up to you. I’ve given you the pro’s and con’s of the Atkins Advantage weight loss program. As with every weight loss program, consult your doctor and do your research. I personally would have sued Atkins if I had enough information to win the case.
