For most people, a low-carb diet helps to control hunger, but that’s only after the body enters the state of Ketosis. Until then, cravings and hunger can cause you to mindlessly grab for the cookies and bread. Generally, that takes about three days. In addition, no matter which low-carb plan you choose, the first three weeks will be rough. It takes about that long for the brain to switch to completely burning ketones for fuel. Since many individuals choose to stay with the Induction Diet for at least the first month, here are some tips to help you make the adjustment.
Getting Into Ketosis
The state of Ketosis occurs when glycogen stores in the liver fall below a particular level. For most people, that’s about half-empty. At that point, the body is designed to stop using the storage form of carbohydrates (glycogen) and break down the triglycerides stored in your fat cells into fatty acids.
One of the by-products produced from breaking down stored body fat is ketones. Since the body often has difficulty creating fatty acids fast enough to fulfill total body needs, these ketones are dumped into the bloodstream along with the fatty acids and used for fuel by almost all body systems, organs and tissues. The brain does need some glucose, which is where the hunger and cravings come into play.
When glucose first runs low, due to glycogen stores being depleted, the body will scream for sugar. So to head it off before hand, it’s a good idea to load up on plenty of protein and fats during the first three days -- without even thinking about calories or portion sizes. The liver can turn protein into glucose to satisfy the brain’s needs, so carbohydrates themselves are not needed; however, if you eat too much protein, the brain might not adapt to using ketones.
Assuming you’re coming to the low-carb table with a liver completely full of glycogen, for the first three or four days, the amount of protein and fat you eat should be high. Never, ever go hungry. At this point, it doesn’t matter where the hunger is coming from – mind or stomach – feed it! After you enter ketosis and your hunger and cravings lessen, there will be time enough to think about what a normal size portion is.
The Goals of Induction
Let’s face it. We have turned to a low-carb diet because we want to lose body fat. We want to reach normal weight and enjoy all of the blessings that go along with that goal. There’s no denying that. But, the Atkins Induction Diet isn’t about that. If you’re new to low carb, that might be a strange idea to you, but the main purpose of Induction is to help your body adapt to the metabolic switch as quickly as possible. Losing weight during that first month is a side effect.
So you need to get adequate protein, about 150 grams per day. You need to have an adequate fat intake, even if that puts your calories a bit too high. And you need to eat the amount of carbohydrates your individual plan allows. The idea is to give your insulin levels time to return to normal, if elevated, your blood sugar levels time to normalize, and your brain time to adapt to using ketones for most of its needs.
Once all of that happens, your other body systems will switch from using ketones to using fatty acids exclusively. So there is a lot happening internally during that first month.
Mentally, it’s going to be difficult – not just because your brain will be screaming for sugar – but also because a low-carb diet brings a dramatic shift in the types of foods you’re used to eating. If you’re overweight or obese, chances are your diet has been predominantly made up of carbohydrates. Thoroughly study the list of allowable foods, eat nothing that isn’t on that list, keep your meals simple, and give your body time to adjust before worrying about weight loss.
Induction is NOT the Atkins Diet
Atkins Induction is an introduction to a low-carb diet. It’s designed to reduce cravings quickly, get you into the state of ketosis and show you the benefits of eating low carb over a typical low-calorie diet. It is NOT the Atkins Diet! The Atkins Diet is a methodical method of discovering your own personal carbohydrate tolerance. Which means – the Induction Diet is not meant to be used in any other way other than as the beginning of the low-carb path or as a temporary corrective measure.
Now, it’s quite possible that you might discover your carbohydrate tolerance to be low, but that isn’t always true. There is nothing magical about 20 grams of net carbohydrates per day. In fact, Atkins’ original diet only allowed about 10 total carbohydrates per day, not net even. His aim was to design a diet that would hit the target of ketosis for almost everyone. Many, many people can easily get into ketosis and maintain ketosis at a carbohydrate level that is much higher than 20 grams of net carbs per day.
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