How The Atkins Diet Can Work For You - written by Alan B. Densky, CH

Despite the popularity of the Atkins Diet, it is often greatly misrepresented! Common, yet slightly exaggerated depictions of the plan portray dieters devouring nothing but vast quantities of meat and fat. Although the diet is not quite this simple, many dieters have used it to lose weight and improve their health.

On this plan, dieters follow a very specific program based on limited carbohydrate intake. Emphasis is placed on the nutritional aspects of the diet over exercise and other factors, although getting physical activity is encouraged. There are four phases in the Atkins plan:

Induction: During this two-week phase at the beginning of the diet program, dieters can only consume up to 20 grams of carbohydrates each day. Dieters can consume high protein foods such as meat and eggs, fats such as oils and butter, and other food with little to no carbs. Many foods containing carbohydrates are not allowed at all, including alcoholic drinks.

This early phase is supposed to help the body switch from burning carbohydrates for energy, as it normally does, into burning stored fat (a process called ketosis). Most dieters begin to see natural weight loss during this phase.

Ongoing Weight Loss: During this phase, dieters gradually increase their carbohydrate consumption by adding 5 grams of carbohydrates into their diet every week. Dieters fine-tune their diet, continuing their weight loss to put themselves within 5-10 pounds of their target weight, before transitioning into the Pre-maintenance stage.

Pre-maintenance: Dieters use the Pre-maintenance stage to find out the maximum amount of carbohydrates they can consume without gaining weight. During this stage, dieters add 10 grams of carbohydrates to their diet each week. Once dieters reach their target weight and can maintain it for a month, they move into the Lifetime Maintenance phase.

Lifetime Maintenance: For lasting results, the Atkins program is supposed to be maintained throughout the dieter's life. Using the strategies that helped the dieter reach their target weight, the dieter keeps up an eating and exercise plan to stay at their goal weight. Individuals can revert to previous stages if their weight begins to rise again.

Dieters who can stay on the Atkins diet are often successful in losing weight; however, many people are unable to keep following the program and end up quitting early on in the induction phase. In general, most diet plans fail because dieters cannot stay committed to the plan.

Many people struggle to stay on diets because they experience strong food cravings, have problems with compulsive overeating, cannot regulate their appetites, or simply are not motivated to lose weight. Getting over these mental obstacles is the hardest part of losing weight.

One reason why many people struggle to manage their eating is because they are emotional eaters. Such people eat in response to their emotions, such as when they are sad or angry. However, this practice programs a "conditioned response" into the unconscious mind. This means that when people experience the same feelings that made them overeat initially, they will feel compelled to overeat again and again.

Hypnotherapy works by helping our unconscious minds disassociate our eating habits from our emotions. To extinguish the conditioned response to overeat, a hypnotherapy weight loss program is used to break the association developed in the unconscious mind between overeating and specific "trigger" behaviors.

For example, if you tend to binge eat when you get bored, hypnosis can disassociate boredom from eating in your unconscious mind. Hypnosis techniques can then be used to replace the overeating response with another activity, such as exercising. This way, the next time you become bored, instead of having an urge to overeat, you will feel motivated to engage in physical activity.

Hypnosis is a powerful tool for stress relief as well, helping us deal with our stressful feelings and relieve tension without eating. As a relaxation tool, it calms the mind, helps you use new strategies to manage stress, and boosts your self-confidence to motivate you to lose weight.

Hypnosis can also be used to eliminate the emotional stressors that keep you from losing weight. Many overweight people hide behind their weight for emotional protection. For example, after ending a relationship, people might find themselves becoming overweight so they can avoid new relationships and avoid having to endure emotional pain again. Through hypnosis, we can turn our negative thoughts into positive ones and focus on having better health instead of becoming overwhelmed by our thoughts.

Not only is hypnotherapy a powerful motivational tool, it relieves tension, eliminates conditioned responses that cause overeating, and can be used to overcome many mental obstacles that prevent weight loss. Hypnotherapy techniques are enormously effective at helping people stay on a diet plan, such as the Atkins plan, and lose weight.