1. Crack the Myths of a Carbohydrate Diet
When you're considering a diet that limits carb intake, you may think that you're going to only eat meat all day long. Although you reduce the number of carbs you eat each day, the main purpose is to replace bad carbs with good carbs. Bad carb options include white breads, pastas and potatoes. While on a carbohydrate diet, you eat healthier carbs like fruits and non-starchy vegetables. Another carb diet myth is that followers suffer from numerous health conditions, like high blood pressure and heart disease. In actuality, studies have shown that heart disease and high blood pressure risks don't increase with a low-carb diet.
2. Carbohydrate Diets and Sugar Production
The main reason low-carb diets help people lose weight is that they affect a person's blood sugar production level. When you restrict the number of carbs you eat, your body doesn't produce as much sugar as a person who eats a high number of carbs. Since your blood sugar level drops, your body uses fat stores for energy.
3. Not All Carb Diets Are Created Equal
Some of the low carb diets followed today include the Atkins Diet, South Beach Diet and the No White Diet. While the Atkins Diet makes the most drastic changes to your eating habits, the South Beach Diet and No White Diet are slightly less carbohydrate restrictive. With the Atkins Diet, you have to count how many carbs you eat on a daily basis, even if the source is fruits and vegetables. While on the South Beach Diet, you track the carbs you eat, but it does not limit the number of non-starchy vegetables you consume. In the No White Diet, you eliminate sugars, white flour and white potatoes. You are not required to stop eating any other types of food.
4. Yummy Low-Carb Foods
Carb-counting diets appeal to many because you can eat more than just veggies on the diet. For breakfast on a carbohydrate diet, you can eat eggs, bacon, low-carb cereal or yogurt. Lunch and dinner options on a low-carb diet consist of salad wraps, salad greens, soups, chicken with vegetables, steak fajitas, hard-boiled eggs and London broil. Snacks can include celery with peanut butter, berries, no sugar gelatin, nuts, cheese slices and pepperoni slices.
5. Carb Counting: Not for Everyone
Some people who follow a low carb diet report low energy levels. They lose the motivation to workout and may feel tired throughout the day. A lack of energy is the most common complaint of low-carb dieters. Another complaint is that after two weeks of following a carb-counting diet, you stop losing weight. This may be because you lose only water weight while on the diet. If you're unhappy with the results of a carbohydrate diet, look for an alternative that incorporates more carbs into your eating plan.
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