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If you've been reading the news over the past few weeks, you’ve probably heard Kim Kardashian is well on her way to dropping 60 pounds of baby weight through the Atkin's diet. She gave birth on December 5, and by May, she was already 12 pounds away from her goal. How did she do it, and is the method fit for us mere mortals?
We spoke with Colette Heimowitz, Atkins's Vice President of Nutrition & Education and Kardashian's nutritionist, to get the details. For so much weight loss, it turns out the diet isn’t actually all that strict.
Kardashian followed the Atkins 40, a variation of the Atkins diet that includes 40 grams of carbohydrates per day. (The more restrictive Atkins 20 was too intense for her since she was breastfeeding, they decided.) The good news about this plan? Basically anyone can do it. Kardashian herself is a huge foodie with a sweet tooth, Heimowitz says, and she obviously aced it.
The basic plan involves three food groups:
Protein: People on the Atkins 40 diet eat three to four 6-ouce servings of protein per day. This keeps you full and preserves your lean muscle, Heimowitz says.
Fiber-rich carbohydrates: These include vegetables (especially colorful ones), nuts, and low-glycemic fruits like berries, cherries, and melons. You can also partially fulfill this requirement with whole grains like brown rice. You'll want about six to eight servings of vegetables and three to five servings of other carbohydrates per day.
Healthy fats: The best kind of fats to eat, says Heimowitz, are unsaturated fats, like the kind in nuts and avocados. But some saturated fats are fine, too, since you're burning them for fuel. Just aim to avoid manufactured hydrogenated oils and deep-fried foods. On top of the fat you get from protein, you should aim for three servings of fat per day.
What happens when you eat this way, Heimowitz says, is that your body uses fat as fuel because it doesn't have carbohydrates to turn to, so you end up losing body fat. And since you've got an adequate protein supply, you still maintain your muscle. (Kardashian also works out a lot.)
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For Kardashian, a day on this diet might look like:
Eggs with vegetables and a slice of cheese for breakfast, an Atkins bar for a mid-morning snack, grilled salmon with asparagus and a side salad for lunch, guacamole and vegetables as an afternoon snack, and chicken breast with broccoli and a salad with creamy dressing for dinner. It all adds up to around 1500-1800 calories per day—more than you might expect for such rapid weight loss. But you lose more weight than you typically would with that many calories because you're burning off fat, Heimowitz explains.
There are also health benefits to the diet aside from shedding pounds, like increased energy because your blood sugar isn't spiking and dropping, a better lipid profile and HCL levels, and decreased risk of inflammation.
You don't have to give up all your indulgences to see benefits—Kim K. didn't.
To soothe sugar cravings, Heimowitz recommends desserts with Splenda or another sugar substitute. Kardashian herself is obsessed with Atkins's low-carb peanut butter cups and Harvest Trail Bars. And once you've reached your goal weight, you can go up to a higher-carb plan. Even 100 grams per day is still great, since Americans typically consume 200-300.
That said, none of this means the diet won't test your willpower. Losing 60 pounds isn't smooth-sailing for anyone—not even Kim Kardashian. Her secret? Don't skip meals or go more than four hours without food, says Heimowitz. "Even if you're not hungry, eat a little,” she says. “Eat three meals and two snacks a day, and you're less likely to lose your resolve."
Photo Credit: Karwai Tang / Getty Images
