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Atkins
Pre Maintenance Phase
After
experiencing the Induction and OWL phases of the Atkins diet, your next
step is to enter the pre-maintenance phase. This phase will set you up
for a lifetime of healthy and balanced eating and living. You should
begin this phase as you come within 5 to 10 pounds of your target
weight goal. Your weight loss will be slowed down even further but it
is for a purpose. You want to learn the practices and habits that will
determine your long-term success.
In the OWL phase, you will be adding carbohydrate grams to your daily
count in the increment of 5 grams per week. During pre-maintenance you
will increase that to 10 grams per week. As long as you are continuing
to shed weight (no matter how slowly it is coming off) you will
continue to add grams. Ideally, toward the end of the pre-maintenance
phase you will be losing less than one pound per week.
According to the Atkins book, you should continue this phase until you
get to your goal weight and can maintain it for a month. This process
may take anywhere from 1 to 3 months. Your goal is to reach a state
called “carbohydrate equilibrium.” This is your ideal carbohydrate
intake and it will cause you to maintain your weight perfectly.
During pre-maintenance you’ll get to try a wider variety of foods. Make
sure to introduce new foods slowly and increase your carbohydrate
intake at a measured pace. Don’t add 20 or 30 carb grams a week.
Measuring out the increases in increments of 10 will give you a better
idea of your personal carbohydrate count. Knowing this number will help
set you up for long term weight management.
The final phase of the Atkins diet plan is lifetime maintenance. This
is the time to continue your new eating plan at a maintenance level and
keep yourself at your goal weight. The habits you have created will now
become a permanent way of life. During the third phase,
pre-maintenance, you learned exactly how many carbohydrate grams your
body can tolerate and still maintain your ideal weight. In this phase,
you’ll put this approach into practice and learn to live with your
ideal carb count on a daily basis.
To prepare yourself for lifetime maintenance, make a promise to
yourself never to go back to your previous weight. Make the commitment
by donating all of your “fat” clothes. This way, if you do start to
gain more than five pounds, you’ll know that you have to buckle down
and eat better. Also, write down in a journal or in a list format all
of the benefits of being at your new, thinner size. Write about how
much better you feel and how healthy you are. This will cement your new
way of life into your mind and your heart.
If you aren’t able to add carbohydrates without stalling your weight
loss, you may have a high metabolic resistance. You will benefit from
increasing your exercise regimen to get your metabolism burning at a
higher level. For you, the pre-maintenance phase will resemble OWL more
closely.
Some people do a variation on pre-maintenance that allows them to have
a treat once a week. Instead of adding 10 grams per day, they allow
themselves a 20 to 30-carbohydrate gram treat a few times a week.
Examples of the treat could be a piece of a fruit or a serving of sweet
potatoes. A glass of white wine or beer also qualifies for this treat.
This is a fun way to reward yourself and still be on the plan.
Yet another way to do pre-maintenance is to average out your
carbohydrate intake for the week. Since life is sometimes
unpredictable, it can be helpful to have a bit of flexibility in your
eating plan. For example, if your current carbohydrate level is at 70
grams, you can limit yourself to 50 grams one day. Then the next day,
you can splurge a bit on a meal and have 90 grams for that day.
However, only follow this method if it doesn’t create carbohydrate
cravings. Sometimes excess carb grams on one day can make you crave
them even more the next day.
The pre-maintenance phase will give you the tools for long-term
success. By learning to slowly increase your carbohydrate grams, you’ll
have a better hold on the amount of carbohydrates that is right for
you. Make a commitment to weigh yourself at least once a week. This
once-a-week weigh in will give you a good idea of how you are doing on
your maintenance program. Use that weekly weight as a guideline for
your approach in eating for the following week.
In addition to these guidelines, make sure to continue an exercise
program. Your metabolism depends entirely upon the amount of exercise
that you are getting. Making the commitment to exercise goes hand in
hand with the commitment to keep eating correctly. By following these
guidelines, you can make lifetime maintenance simple and easy.
This
information is
not presented by a medical practitioner and is for educational and
informational purposes only
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