Proponents of low-carb diets believe that eating fewer carbohydrates will reduce your insulin levels, making weight loss easier. Critics, such as those at the Mayo Clinic, argue that the true reason for weight loss on a low-carb diet is that you’re eating fewer calories. If you’ve decided to cut carbs to lose weight, you need to buckle in for the long haul. A low-carb diet can help you to lose weight, but you need to keep up the lifestyle if you want to keep the weight off.
Step 1
Decide which type of low-carb diet plan you want to follow. The initial phase of most low-carb diet plans severely restricts the amount of carbohydrates that you can eat in an effort to break yourself of the habit. Some are more restrictive than others–the Atkins diet, for example, limits your daily carb intake to 20 g. If you’re going to follow a plan like this, you need to know how many carbs you are “allowed.” However, you can also simply reduce your carbohydrate intake without the structure of a diet.
Step 2
Eat eggs for breakfast. Avoid traditional breakfast foods such as pancakes, cereals and oatmeal, all of which are high in carbohydrates. You can pair your eggs with some meat, though, such as bacon or sausage.
Step 3
Have a salad for lunch. Add chicken or fish for some protein to keep you full longer. Look at the carb content of the dressing that you choose. Many commercial dressings have added sugar.
Step 4
Hold the potatoes at dinner. Chose low-carb vegetables such as asparagus or green beans to pair with your meat.
Step 5
Snack on high-protein foods that have healthy fats. Nuts are a great healthy treat.
Step 6
Purchase low-carb versions of bread and pasta to help deal with your cravings.
Step 7
Choose “good” carbs over “bad” carbs when you do eat carbohydrates. Though foods such as oatmeal and candy are both considered high in carbohydrates, there is a difference between them. A candy bar will cause a spike in your insulin, which can cause you to overeat later. “Good” carbs, such as those found in fruits and whole grains, will not have this same effect. You should always choose the whole-grain versions of the foods that you do eat.
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