How to Maximize Results with Atkins

Whether it's to lose weight or to change your eating habits for the better, dieting can be a difficult and stressful task, especially when starting for the first time. The Atkins diet, which promotes a low-carbohydrate intake and high-protein intake, can help many shed those last few pounds. Lower your stress and have a more positive experience while changing your eating habits on the Atkins diet.

Instructions

• 1

  Educate yourself about how to read and interpret the nutritional labels and ingredient lists found on food packages. All food products bear an FDA-approved label containing the amount of calories, fat, protein and other nutrients the product contains. Choose products low in carbohydrates according to the stage of the Atkins diet you're currently on. Learning how to decipher nutritional labels can also help you choose alternatives lower in carbohydrates. Note the serving size as some products may only display the nutritional values for a portion of the food rather than the whole product.

• 2

  Create a diet plan with weekly or monthly goals such as reducing your carbohydrate intake slowly, replacing high-sugar foods with alternatives or starting a new workout regime. This can help keep you from feeling overwhelmed by all the sudden changes. Breaking up a larger goal by establishing small good habits over time can help keep you on track.

• 3

  Ensure you are eating enough calories per day. Use a caloric intake calculator to find a suitable goal for daily calorie limits, and update them whenever your level of activity changes. These calculate the amount of calories required to maintain a healthy weight while exercising and can be found for free online. Eat regular meals and supplement your plan with vitamin and mineral tablets such as vitamin D pills to prevent malnutrition and deficiencies. While Atkins only restricts carbohydrates, undereating can cause serious health problems or delay weight loss.

• 4

  Enjoy the food you're eating. One sure way to stray from the Atkins diet is to restrict or completely eliminate junk foods. Allowing sweets and snacks in moderation or in set portion sizes can help satiate cravings while keeping daily intakes of carbohydrates low. Purchase snack foods in smaller amounts or alternatives that contain lower carbohydrates.

• 5

  Introducing a physical activity suited to the Atkins diet into your schedule can help increase weight loss and have additional health benefits such as lowering risk of heart disease. High-intensity programs such as weightlifting depend on high intakes of protein and should be considered as a first choice. Endurance sports such as running should be be avoided as they promote increased appetite and require diets with large amounts of carbohydrates.