Dr. Atkins claimed that his diet should be aknowledgeable followed for life, as a lifestyle philosophy.
Lifetime maintenance is equivalent to undertaking few distinguished rules once and for all.
The Rules
- Bewaring of bad carbs; sugar is out forever. Instead, natural, nutrient-dense foods are highly recommended.
- Being aware of food choices and favoring acceptable carbs, altogether with proteins, fibers, fats.
- Individualizing the eating plan; thus, all nutrients a human being needs are delivered and boredom is avoided as well.
- Taking proper vitamin and mineral supplements.
- Staying away of caffeine and alcohol as often as possible.
- Forgetting all addictive foods.
- Never giving up regular exercise.
- Weighing at least once a week.
Atkins also suggested that gaining more than three to five pounds is not allowed. Some seesaw weight variations are natural, depending on unbiased factors, especially hormonal ones. Returning to old and unhealthy eating habits may easily compromise Dr. Atkins diet results so constant vigilance is a must in order to preserve the weight goal.
All dieters are supposed to learn their own Atkins Carbohydrate Level until Lifetime Maintenance phase and watch it permanently. Personal ACE is reached when:
- weight is the same for several months
- cravings after sweets and high carbohydrate foods are constantly missing.
Lifetime Maintenance phase brings forward what Dr. Atkins called Carbohydrate Carb Levels and Metabolic Resistance for Maintaining Metabolic Resistance
. In order to synthetise the correlation between this limit and carbohydrate intake, dieters are suggested to watch over these boundaries and place themselves where they belong:
| ACE Range | Carbs Quantity |
|---|---|
| High | 25 to 40 grams of carbs per day |
| Average | 40 to 60 grams of carbs per day |
| Low | 60 to 90 grams of carbs per day |
| For those practising regular exercise | 90 and over grams of carbs daily |