Atkins Diet

The Atkins diet was highly successful and popular. A franchise was formed to provide products to those individuals on the diet was very successful due to the popularity of the diet, and is considered the driving entity of the larger "low-carb craze" during the early millennium. Within a few years after Dr. Atkins death, in 2005, the company faced financial hardships and filed Chapter 11. It re-emerged in 2006.

The Atkins diet has four phases.

· Introduction-weight loss is quick and metabolism is jump started

· Ongoing weight loss-foods are re-introduced and weight loss is steady

· Pre-maintenance-discover perfect balance of foods to maintain weight

· Lifetime maintenance-maintain weight

The Atkins diet takes away the carbohydrates that burned for energy to force the body to burn fat instead. With the Atkins diet, the weight tends to stay off. Health risks like the following are reduced on the Atkins diet:

· Cardiovascular disease

· Hypertension

· Diabetes risks

There is no need to join anything because there is so much material available on the Atkins diet. There is a free newsletter and you can join an online community for free.

Meal preparation is mostly done on your own with the support of recipes and suggestions. It is easy to follow the Atkins diet when going out to eat by eliminating the carbohydrates. There is a simple set of questions to help you decide if the Atkins diet is a match for you. Atkins products can be found in most local grocery stores.

Atkins has a limited line of foods. Pasta and bread lovers will struggle to keep on this diet. Since high protein low carbohydrate foods can be more expensive it can affect the grocery bill. There are no monthly fees though, so it can still be very affordable to most people.