How to survive a low carb diet

Low carb diets are great for shedding a few pounds, but often, the weight is quickly gained back after the diet is completed. Learn how to effectively use a low carb diet to finally reach your fitness goals.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. Moderate Your Carb Intake
   
   Not all carbs are bad! Diets like Atkins and South Beach have demonized carbs as being bad for weight loss, but moderate intake of this macronutrient can even help shed pounds. The problem often occurs in the quality and amount of carbs that are consumed. As humans, most of the foods we consume are carbohydrate-laden, so its easy to mess up and overdo it here.
   
   To moderate your carb intake, determine which kind of carbs are making their way into your diet. The carbs that you ARE getting should be whole grain/whole wheat carbs. As carbohydrates undergo refinement, they lose nutritional value and thus become the kind of carbs that Dr. Atkins warned you about.

2. When Not to Eat Carbs
   
   Everyone has heard the maxim "Don't eat a lot before bed". This holds even more truth when it comes to carbohydrates. Because carbohydrates are easier than proteins for the body to use as energy, consuming massive amount of carbohydrates towards the end of the day can have two negative effects. First, the energy the body produces from the carbs could possibly disturb your sleep patterns. Second, the glucose the body derives from the carbohydrates probably isn't used for energy, and is thus metabolized into body fat.

3. When to Consume Carbs
   
   We now know what kind of carbs we should be getting and why we shouldn't consume them late in the day. So when should carbs be consumed? The way I structure my diet, I consume most of my carbs in the morning and afternoon and slowly taper them off from there. The most important meal of the day is breakfast, because it helps fuel your daily activities. So start each day off with a meal high in quality, complex carbohydrates, like oatmeal, bran cereal or granola. As the day progresses begin to lessen the amount of carbs you consume, up to the point where you consume no carbs after around 7 PM.

4. Why We Should Consume Carbs
   
   Carbohydrates are one of the main ways the body produces energy! Without energy, you probably won't have the desire or stamina to exercise, and everyone knows that exercise is essential for weight loss. A low carb diet is great for removing quick weight, but these diets can also lead to irritability, lethargy and other negative feelings. If you can learn to manage your carb intake to the point where the carbs you are consuming are helping you, you can avoid the common pitfalls of the low carb diet craze.

Tips & Warnings

• Only consume sugary carbs before and after exercise

[static404]

on 5/3/2009 I appreciate your advice. Thank you.