How to Create an Atkins Diet Menu Plan
Atkins is a reduced carbohydrate diet that can help with reducing and successfully maintaining a healthy weight. It's a lifestyle change, so menu planning is essential to help you create meals within the range of allowable carbohydrates. It's important to your success to create a menu plan specific to your stage in the Atkins plan.
Things You'll Need
- Atkins diet book
- Atkins-friendly recipes and food lists
Tips For You
- Determine your total carbohydrate range. Atkins has different phases of the diet so if you are unsure of your allowable carbohydrate amount, consult your Atkins book or the Atkins website for help.
- Research lower and good carbohydrate foods and recipes. You want a range of food so you don't tire of your food options and to ensure you're getting a healthy balance of protein, carbohydrates, fiber and fats.
- Compile a list of foods and recipes that fits your preferences and calculate the total carbohydrates per servings using the Atkins calculation which is typically carbohydrate grams minus fiber grams. Refer to your Atkins book if you need further assistance in calculating total carbohydrate amounts.
- Write your total carbohydrate amount on the top of a sheet of paper. Below that number, begin to write in the different foods you plan eat at each meal with the total carbohydrate amount. Conversely you can use sites such as Recipezaar.com to help compile recipes and create menu plans that calculate daily nutrition values for you.
- Calculate the carbohydrate amount per day and ensure you are sticking to your plan. If you are over, determine how you can reduce your carbohydrates. You might be able to reduce portion sizes, swap ingredients in a recipe for more Atkins-friendly alternatives or even reduce beverages that have carbohydrates and replace it by drinking water.
- Ensure you are getting enough to eat everyday by planning three meals and two snacks per day. Remember to also include low carbohydrate vegetables in your plan and take a multi-vitamin.
