Eat fat and lose weight.

What would you say if I told you that there was a diet plan out there that said you can eat fried chicken, bacon, eggs, butter and Mozerella cheese and still lose weight? You would probably think I am pulling your leg right? But jokes aside, there really is such a diet out there. It’s called the Atkins Diet and it was created by Dr. Robert Atkins in 1972. This diet basically spawned the sudden craze of High Protein, Low Carb craze which all of us hear about on a daily basis.

The Atkins Diet is a system that enables our body to lose weight in a natural way by motivating a change in our eating habits and metabolism. Dr. Atkins theory was that most people are fat today because of refined carbohydrates and he wanted a diet plan that was palatable yet effective. So instead of trying to lose weight by swallowing food that tastes like cardboard soaked in water, people could lose weight by eating high amounts of protein and fat, but limiting the intake of carbohydrates, sugars and fruits and vegetables. It is recommended that you limit your carbohydrates / sugars to 20 grams a day, and 15 grams of that should be made up of vegetables and other high fiber food products.

An example of what an Atkins Dieters menu for the day might look like is:-

Breakfast: 3 eggs omelets with ham, mozzarella cheese and tomato, decaffeinated coffee with cream.
Lunch: Beef round steak (8 oz), spinach and mixed leaf salad with mushroom, onion
Dinner: Bacon sandwich on wholemeal bread with butter and cheese, lettuce, onions, tomatoes etc

As with any diet plan, there is a host of Pro’s and Cons. Here are some of the Pro’s of this diet?

Atkins Diet allows the people to eat variety of meat, fish and vegetables

Hunger is the major reason for the failure of most weight loss plans and programs because of the limitation of foods, but with the Atkins Diet, you will have a huge variety of foods and never have to go hungry. Not to mention, its much more tasty than most other diet plans out there.

Atkins Diet mobilizes more fat to use as energy

This diet mobilizes more fat to use as energy than any diet you have ever come across. Therefore, you have not to count calories every time whenever and whatever you eat.

Atkins Diet encourages the lipolysis process

Carbohydrate, in the form of glucose, is used to burn as the first fuel to provide energy to the body. Atkins suggests that by reducing our intake of carbohydrates drastically, our body will use fat as its first fuel because it lacks carbohydrates which can be turned into sugar. This process is known as lipolysis. The supposed result: weight loss.

The Con’s

It’s Expensive
Sticking to a diet high in protein is expensive especially when you eat out. Not to mention, Malaysian’s love Carbohydrates and everything that is nice has carbohydrates in them. From Roti Canai to Maggi Goreng to Nasi Briyani…. Carbohyrates are cheaper and trying to eat equal amounts of protein will burn a hole in your pocket.

Health risks
Many medical profeesionals say that the Atkins diet can lead to loads of health problems such as kidney failure, bone and liver abnormalities and hasten the onset of Type II diabetes.

No Sustainability
Critics say that the Atkins diet gives remarkable results in the beginning but does not show any results with continued results for those who stay on it for long periods. Hence you only see some difference in the beginning

So what’s Fitness Malaysia’s take on this? To do or not to do. I recommend for those who want to try this diet to read and learn more about this diet first. What I have posted is just a tip of the iceberg in terms of information about this diet plan. I also recommend that it is OK for you to do this diet, but I recommend that you do it in 2 week phases and no more than that. This means 2 weeks of the Atkins Diet, and maybe 1 month of your normal diet and then back again to the 2 weeks. Of course, it goes without saying that in order for you to see more results, exercise and doing this diet will increase the efficiency of your weight loss.

So check it out and as usual, I look forward to hearing your comments.