In the Lifetime Maintenance, you’ll come to understand why the Atkins Diet is also called the Atkins Nutritional Approach. This is where you’ll commit to remaining at your goal weight from now on. It's also where you continue to celebrate the sensible eating plan you've mastered—and enjoy sustained energy, improved health, a sense of well-being and self confidence—and perhaps best of all—the way you look in the mirror.
The objectives of this phase are simple—but profound. Specifically, you want to:
Take Charge of Your Weight—for a Lifetime
Now that you've done it—lost weight and kept it off for a month in Pre-Maintenance—it's time to prove you can stick with it. Lifetime Maintenance enables you to do just that. Maintain your new healthy habits—both in what you’re eating and physical activity—and your new body and new mindset will be yours, not just for today or tomorrow—but for once and for all.
Comply with Your ACE
You found your Atkins Carbohydrate Equilibrium (ACE) in Pre-Maintenance. In Lifetime Maintenance—meaning the rest of your life—you'll learn to stick to that special number as if it were second nature. Do that and you’ll find it easy to stay within 5 pounds of your new weight.
Make Adjustments as Needed
As your weight-loss diet morphs into your lifestyle, your eating habits will become easier and easier to internalize. But “life happens,” and you may need to adjust your ACE or otherwise tailor your program to accommodate changes in your activity level, work, health or simply the passage of years. You already have all the tools you need to make adjustments so you can stay in control. And even if you have an occasional lapse and fall off the wagon, those same tools will let you get right back on—where you belong.
Take Charge of Your Health
Now that you know how great you feel on the Atkins and how your health has improved, you have another reason to maintain your new lifestyle based on healthful whole foods and physical activity. When you see how various healthy indicators have improved or remain in the healthy range, you’ll feel assured that doing Atkins is as safe as it is effective.