By Glenn Mueller
eDiets Senior Writer
Once you have been able to maintain your goal weight on Pre-Maintenance for at least four weeks, you are ready to begin the final stage of the Atkins Nutritional Approach. As the name implies, Lifetime Maintenance is designed to help you stay at your ideal weight for the rest of your life.
By the time you get to this stage, you have already reached your weight loss goal. Now, your biggest challenge will be to keep those extra pounds off. Since you have been through the first three phases of the Atkins Nutritional Approach, you have worked too hard to lose your focus. If you return to your old eating habits, you will regain most or all of your hard-lost weight. During Pre-Maintenance, you learned about your Akins Carbohydrate Equilibrium (ACE), which is the number of grams of Net Carbs you can eat and still maintain your weight. In order to achieve permanent weight loss, you must continue to stay within your ACE during Lifetime Maintenance.
