Hi everyone,
I have been on Ideal Protien for 21 weeks and I am almost at the 50 lbs. mark. I can NOT stay on this diet for much longer and I am reading dr. Atkins book now and think I may switch. So my question Is do I do the introduction phase? Also would love to hear if anyone else has done IP then went to Atkins. Thanks

Gosh.. I cannot answer your question... but I say Welcome! I think Induction would be okay to start with and then if you are losing alot.. then you can probably switch over to the OWL (ongoing weight loss).. I just want to make sure you are reading the older version of the Atkins's way of life books... Anything after 2002, I think, is alittle more leanient with the prepared foods and the loss is alot slower with the newer version!.

But I know that this way of life has similar foods with IP and you can use your own food, which is a big savings!

I hope that JerseyGirl checks in.. She can answer any and almost All questions!. I have lost 70 lbs since January and I have had some off weeks... but got right back on as I feel better in my head living this way

As a person who uses a variety of carb-smart plans for convenience and personal preference, I would sat this is a judgement call that you are going to have to make, depending on how you best interpret and use rules, as there are no existing rules or guidelines within the Atkins plan (old or new) for transitioning from other specific plans.

You'll have to decide whether you a person who feels the need to be flexible and bend rules as the situation demands or do you have a do-or-die, all-or-nothing personality or are you a person who needs to understand the reasoning behind each one and only apply those that seem practical and logical to you.

Rule-focused, "by the book" folks are going to say of course, you need to follow the plan exactly as written with no deviation EVER (just like the rule-focused IPers do).

Some of the reason-focused folks might argue that 21 weeks of IP is equivalent to induction and serves the same purpose, since both put you into ketosis.

Some of us laid-back types will say "do whatever you think you're likely to find the most successful in the long run (or even just for now).


Induction is only required for two weeks, but can be used through most of your weight loss. You add carbs in 5g implements by the week (meaning each week, you're only getting 35 more gramd of carbohydrate than the week before).

Even if you do consider IP to be equivalent to induction, you would have two Atkins-friendly choices - start and stay on induction or progress to rung one on the carb latter.

From a practical standpoint, it's not likey to make much difference. You're only talking a difference of 105g of cars over the course of the two week induction period. That's only 140 calories or less than .04 lb (acounting for about 2/3 of an ounce less weight loss than if you started on induction).

Hi There, I don't know the answer but like the OP I am switching from IP to Atkins today.. I was only on IP for 6 weeks and was having a difficult time.. there are a lot of similarities and am looking forward to adding some fats into my diet ..I will follow induction for the first few weeks..

It depends why you want to switch. Low carb can have negative health effects when done over a period of time in some people. If you then replace it with an ever lower carb induction phase, it would likely enhance those problems. You are already in ketosis in IP, I do not think you need to do the induction phase. Your body is already adapted. Atkins is higher fat. You may need to adapt to that, but you will know when you get there.

Welcome former IP-ers!

I switched to Atkins as well, after 6 weeks of IP.
Well, I did 6 week of IP, 2 weeks of eat-whatever-but-try-to-keep-it-low-carb. No weight loss, but no gain, did last week on Atkins induction, feeling good, lost 2#. Totally blew it this weekend, which isn't bad for dieting for 2 months now.

This week I am doing 100% IP because I have so many packets left, then take things week to week. My goal is to 2 weeks of IP then switch to Atkins for the rest of my weight loss.

I also switched from IP to Atkins. The biggest thing for me was I ate the 4 cups of vegetables and unlimited lettuce, so, I was not in ketosis. I did start on induction to get into ketosis. Remember, Atkins allows a lot less vegetables than IP. Three packages of IP can easily have 21 grams of carbs.