You’ve undoubtedly heard of the low carb diet, or even tried it at one point in your life. Maybe you had some degrees of success, but found any “fad” diet too hard to maintain, typically, this is what happens with most people who choose fad diets to lose weight.
Well, news flash- low carb is not a “fad,” but rather a lifestyle change. While it can be adopted for a short period of time, you are merely scratching the surface of what can be achieved.
Not sure if you can manage the low carb lifestyle? It can be pretty simple, but that’s not to say it is effortless.
However, you’re in luck; following the low car lifestyle for the rest of your life can be achievable, at least by following our tips outlined below:
- Low Carb Has Been In Use For More Than A Hundred Years
Fad diets come and go, but low carb has been in use for many years and before saturated fat was demonized (erroneously as it turns out); low carb was the way to lose weight.
Dr. Atkins published his infamous low carb diet book in 1972, long before the low fat guidelines came out.
- Studies Support Low Carb Diet Many Times Over
There have been more than 20 randomized controlled trials published since 2002 in respected, peer-reviewed journals that show low carb diets to be effective for weight loss and completely safe without a single adverse effect, this cannot be said about many of the fad diets.
Additionally, many studies show low carb eating to have better results in both weight lost and in support of heart disease prevention than the typical low fat plan.
Low carb leads to more weight loss, especially visceral fat, and also helps to improve HDL cholesterol, insulin levels, blood sugar levels, and blood pressure. (Volek et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2004) (Foster GD, et al; A randomized trial of a low-carbohydrate diet for obesity) (Keogh et al; Effects of weight loss from a very-low-carbohydrate diet on endothelial function and markers of cardiovascular disease risk in subjects with abdominal obesity) (Westman et al, The effect of a low-carbohydrate, ketogenic diet versus a low-glycemic index diet on glycemic control in type 2 diabetes mellitus) (Gardner et al; Comparison of the Atkins, Zone, Ornish, and LEARN diets for change in weight and related risk factors among overweight premenopausal women: the A TO Z Weight Loss Study: a randomized trial).
- No More Hunger!
Most fad diets are notorious for making you feel starved and desperate as you white knuckle your way through them to lose a few pounds. Crashes in energy levels and mood fluctuations are also common with fad diets.
With a low carb plan, you feel satisfied and eat to satisfaction! Most people who go low carb find their appetite is naturally satisfied, because they have eliminated those bad carbs that cause erratic blood sugar spikes that cause out of control cravings and overeating.
There is no white knuckling involved, as you get you get to eat an abundance of real whole food, including steaks, chicken, bacon, eggs, butter, non-starchy vegetables, nuts and seafood.
This makes low carb sustainable for the long term, and since as you reach your weight loss goals you can begin to re-introduce new carb foods as you continue to monitor your weight, this makes low carb a true lifestyle plan and not some useless temporary solution.
- Mistakes Are Ok
On a fad diet, a lapse of one day could ruin your overall goal, placing undue pressure on you. However, when adopting to a lifestyle of low carb, it is understood that lapses happen from time to time, and that is ok.
It will not wreck your metabolism, or cause you to gain weight lost back in the space of 24 hours. In fact, you will likely find that your cravings for carbs decrease significantly over time, making it less likely from the get go that you will have major lapses.
Don’t think of it as a stringent diet, but forging a new relationship with the right foods.
- You Learn To Eat Healthy
Another reason that low carb is a lifestyle and not a fad is that you learn to eat healthy and to make healthy choices in carbs, protein, and fats, and this ability to choose makes this a lifestyle over the often very rigid rules of the typical fad diet.
This means, you have to know the differences between various carbs, and practice planning healthy meals, instead of just following some “one for all” fad diet menu that offers little variation.
- You Can Eat Out
Eating out on low carb is easy once you learn to make the right choices, this allows you to maintain a social life and enjoy dining out without compromising your weight loss, and nothing is more supportive of a lifestyle plan than that.
- Sustained Weight Loss
When you go on fad diets, you typically see some weight loss, and then when you get off the diet and go back to eating as usual the weight returns and then some. With low carb, there is no “end” or “getting of the diet,” it is intended for life, and so you can lose the weight and keep it off by continuing to make healthy choices and monitoring their effects on your weight.
This also means that you will be able to eat more carbs down the road, but you will continue to choose wisely based on your individual weight loss maintenance.
Conclusion
As you can see, low carb is far from a fad diet. For many people, carbs are the main culprit in their obesity and when they reduce them to healthy sources they find they have more energy, lose weight, and are able to keep it off, a lifestyle that is successful, motivational, and sustainable.
