Rule Six: Empower Yourself

You may recall that in rule one of the Rules of Induction (Atkins), those starting the first phase of the diet are reminded to eat regularly and develop a pattern of eating each day that they're comfortable with, be it three meals a day or four or five. Also within that rule was the caution not to go more than six waking hours without eating something. I bring rule one up again today because it complements rule six, which says:

Rule 6:

• Adjust the quantity you eat to suit your appetite, especially as it decreases. When you're hungry, eat the amount that makes you feel satisfied, but not stuffed. When you're not hungry, eat a small controlled carbohydrate snack to accompany your nutritional supplements.

Where rule one speaks to our need to establish good eating patterns to take with us as we lose weight and then maintain our weight, this rule helps us understand that over time, as our weight declines, our food intake will decline and we still need to be aware that even with a diminished appetite, it's important to nourish our bodies for good health.

So many diets play on our fears - and one of the biggest is our fear that we lack enough willpower to actually stick with a diet long enough to lose the weight; forget about keeping it off!

One of the draws of a low-carb diet is the natural appetite suppression that comes within a few days of carbohydrate restriction. A large number of studies have noted that even when allowed ad libitum access to any and all of the foods allowed on a low-carb diet, those who stick with the allowed foods experience a "spontaneous" reduction on caloric intake while consuming an adequate level of protein and dietary fats to sate appetite and lose weight.

Sometimes the appetite suppression is so good that it's easy to miss a meal or go without eating too long. This rule reminds us that adjusting our food intake as we lose weight is expected, but we do not need to limit our intake to a point where we're potentially doing more harm than good, nor to we have to rely solely on willpower to lose weight or live with hunger pangs as we lose - we need nutrients from food, we need energy from food (even while losing weight) and we need to establish good eating habits.

That means eating for both to nourish the body and to sate appetite; adjust how much you eat to satisfy your appetite, allow yourself - give yourself permission - to eat and feel satisfied. Satisfaction with your meals keeps you motivated as you lose weight.

This rule does have a caution and that is to be aware not to overeat and stuff yourself, not to gorge or binge. For some who are new to low-carb this may be something that could become problematic - eating too little and then binging - so the caution is there to listen to your body, pay attention to your appetite and learn when you're hungry and when you're satisfied. Over time, if you're paying attention to this you'll find your body really does trigger hunger when you're hungry and if you're eating well, establishing an eating pattern happens!

The last part, to include a small carbohydrate controlled snack with your supplements, reminds us that including nutritional supplements is considered a benefit on the diet and eating something small with them can help you with rule one to establish good eating habits!

Over time as you lose weight, your appetite is going to naturally diminish and your energy requirements will adjust too. This is something to be aware of for the long-term - what you eat when you start - whether it's 3000-calories or 2000-calories - is going to slowly decline in time as your body weight is reduced. Someone who weighs 300-pounds needs more calories each day to maintain their weight than someone who weighs 150-pounds. So, in the long term, this rule is establishing this in your mind to remember later, as you reach a lower weight - you won't eat the same as you do at the start of the diet!

Overall this rule fosters a sense of empowerment - the understanding that you can, perhaps for the first time in your life, listen to your body and learn how to eat well over the period of losing weight and then as you maintain your weight!

Rule Four: Starches, Sweets: No Longer Staples

Rule 4:

• Eat absolutely no fruit, bread, pasta, grains, starchy vegetables or dairy products other than cheese, cream or butter. Do not eat nuts or seeds in the first two weeks. Foods that combine protein and carbohydrates, such as chickpeas, kidney beans and other legumes, are not permitted at this time.

For many the thought of not having a piece of bread, a side of pasta or rice, a bowl of cereal, etc. seems way too restrictive. With the low-carb products on the market, like low-carb bread, low-carb pasta, this rule seems silly - one that can be dismissed as long as they maintain rule 3 and keep carbohydrate at or below 20g net each day.

From this rule, we learn by implication - all carbohydrates are not created equal, and thus are not to be treated in a similar manner as you continue along to the long-term and maintain your weight. In baby steps, you'll be given opportunity to re-introduce many, many carbohydrate-rich foods, but for now, you're at square one and starting to learn how to eat well.

It is in this minimum two weeks period you eat those foods which are nutrient powerhouses - meats, poultry, eggs, fish, non-starchy vegetables, non-traditional fruits, good fats/oils and some dairy.

While critics focus on the limitations imposed on low-carbers - no sweets or starches in the first two weeks - often insinuating this is all one is allowed for the long-term, that's not the case.

This is a two-week period to "eat clean" from a limited selection of foods, designed to break you from the habits of old, establish good eating patterns, get back to basics that provide essential nutrients and lay the foundation of what your base diet will be later, when you are allowed to include more carbohydrate from a wide variety of foods.

By excluding bread, pasta, grains, starchy vegetables, most dairy products, nuts, seeds and legumes, this rule takes the focus off what many people consider highlights of their meals - starch; it resets emphasis on those things - protein, fat, nutrient-dense non-starchy vegetables and low-GL fruits - that in the long-term that will now be the foundation of your meal-planning well into maintenance.

Once you have a firm grip on this basic rule, and are eating in a pattern that no longer requires some sort of bread, potatoes, rice, pasta, etc. as a staple of your meals, you're on your way to understanding how these items may be re-introduced later as a complement in your habitual diet if you choose to include one or more of them.

Where before a meal may have been centered around your big bowl of pasta with maybe a small meatball or sausage, a crusty loaf of italian bread and perhaps croutons on your salad, over the long-term, as you mainatin your weight, your meals - if you learn from the rules of induction - are bulit upong your solid foundation of healthful eating - non-starchy vegeteables, quality protein, good fats and, by then, any additional foods you like and can tolerate well as a complement to your meal instead of the focus of the meal.

This rule fosters breaking the mindset that you need carbohydrate-rich foods to provide the majority of calories in each meal and at the end of each day - you don't - and by following this rule and waiting until the time is right to increase carbohydrate, you will be better able to assess what carbs you can and cannot tolerate in your meals as you progress - you'll better appreciate also how to portion your meals with these items "on your plate" in later in maintenance.

These foods, we often believe are staples will no longer be the main attractions in your meals when you're maintaining, but can still be a part of your diet in the long-term.

Trust the good doctor on this one and just don't eat anything that resembles bread, pasta, grains, etc. - no matter how low-carb they're promoted as.

During the first two weeks (minimum) avoid any and all processed products if you can.

Eat clean.

Keep it simple.

Learn.

Appreciate how good real food tastes.

Take your time.

Plan along the way.

Try new foods that are allowed.

Focus on the delicious food that is allowed.

Enjoy your meals!

Enjoy eating!

It's worth it in the long-term!