During the Atkins diet induction phase, you should be eating three normal-sized meals per day or four to five smaller meals. If you find that you’re getting hungry between meals, you should break your meals down into smaller portions and eat more frequently.

To stave off carb cravings, you’ll need to keep your body running on the proteins and vegetables in the plan. Don’t skip meals or go more than six waking hours without food!

Remember that the Atkins diet is not a calorie-restricted diet. So you can eat freely from the list of acceptable foods. Don’t restrict your fats and proteins.

The only thing you should be concerned about is your carbohydrate intake. Make sure you count the grams when eating veggies, cheese and beverages with Splenda. About 12-15 grams of your allowed 20 grams of carbs should be from the vegetable list. Veggies are important to your digestive system.

You must avoid fruit, bread, pasta, grains and starchy vegetables such as cauliflower or squash during this initial period. These will slowly be introduced throughout the course of the pre-maintenance phase.

If you really feel that you should have some grain products in your diet, make sure it’s limited to high fiber low-carbohydrate. This may slow down your weight loss though.

Here is an example of an Atkins Induction menu:

Breakfast

Breakfast menus for the induction phase should not total more than six grams of carbohydrates. Eggs, bacon, ham, and cheeses will work quite well.

Sample menu: 2-egg omelet with chèvre and chives, bacon and decaf coffee.

Lunch

A small salad with a burger or meat salad would make for a good lunch.

Sample menu: Chicken salad, mesclun mix salad (1 cup) with sugar-free dressing, sugar-free gelatin, water or tea.

Dinner

Meals are fairly simple at this stage, as your 20g daily carb limit dictates that dinner should be no more than 7g of carbs. Still, with a little creativity, dinner can be very fulfilling.

Sample menu: smoked salmon appetizer, Caesar salad (no croutons), steak au poivre, steamed broccoli, sugar-free gelatin.

Snacks

Beef jerky, vienna sausages, cheese (remember each ounce of cheese counts as one gram of carb), hard-boiled eggs, pork rinds.

During the Induction phase, anything that isn’t on the acceptable food list is forbidden. Don’t be tempted to try anything else. You’ll end up ruining your diet.

You should adjust the quantity of acceptable Atkins diet foods to eat to suit your appetite. At the start of the Atkins diet Induction phase, you may find yourself eating more than at the end of the phase. As your body breaks its addiction to sugar and carbs, you’ll be less hungry throughout the day. When this starts to happen, you should only eat what you need. Don’t be stuffing yourself.

Always read the labels of packaged products. Even though some may say they’re “carb free”, if a product has fewer than .5 grams of carbohydrates, the law will allow the manufacturer to round it off to zero.

Remember to drink at least 8 glasses of water a day. This will keep your body well-hydrated. You’ll also be able to flush out the by-products created by fat burning.

By keeping these guidlines in mind and eating the foods on the Atkins diet Induction menu, you will be paving the way for long-term weight loss success.

When making food choices, you’ll need to keep the Atkins food pyramid in mind. The Atkins pyramid looks much different than the USDA Food Guide Pyramid, which recommends a diet rich in carbohydrate consumption.

To lose weight, you should eat lean protein products from the base of the Atkins Food Guide Pyramid. This includes poultry, fish, beef, pork and soy products. Your diet should consist of these foods on a daily basis.

The second tier includes vegetables such as salad greens, broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus and spinach.

The third level is made up of fruits like blueberries, raspberries, avocados and pears. Fruits should be used on an occasional basis after the initial stages of the Atkins diet.

Moving up the pyramid is Vegetable and seed oils, cheese, dairy, nuts and legumes. These are used sparingly and in appropriate portions.

While the FDA pyramid has oils and fats at the top peak, the Atkins pyramid places whole grain foods in this spot. Whole grain foods should be used sparingly as they don’t make up the mainstay of the Atkins diet.

When you start the Atkins plan, you’ll need to make sure you understand which foods are acceptable for your stage of the program. The Induction phase is the most restrictive, but it only lasts two weeks.

If you want to reach your weight loss goals, then you owe it to yourself to follow the diet and stay within the acceptable foods list. One of the best ways to do this is to follow the Atkins menu plans that are in the New Diet Revolution book by Dr. Robert C. Atkins. You can also follow the Atkins cookbooks that are geared toward other low carb diets that are helpful in formulating meal plans.

It’s probably a good idea to keep a cheat sheet of acceptable Atkins foods wherever you go. It could be tough to remember what foods you can and can’t eat when you’re out and about and hungry. Having a list with you will make finding a suitable meal a lot easier.

You can’t always rely on “low carb” labels to tell you whether or not something is diet friendly. Relying on foods from your own personal list is the best way to stay within the plan.

Another good resource for keeping track of the appropriate Atkins foods is an online diet program. There are several available. Some are free and some have a small monthly fee. These programs require you to register and then they provide you with personal weekly menu plans based on your needs. There are normally printable weekly shopping lists that make picking up your Atkins diet foods from the grocery store quick and easy.

Finding Atkins diet foods to eat is easy once you know what you’re looking for. The books, food pyramid and online resources that are available will assist you in making the smart food choices. If it’s healthy weight loss you want, the Atkins diet will help you get there.