Low carbohydrate diets can be an effective way to lose weight but the dieter must commit to limiting his daily carb intake to a very small amount. Popularized by the Atkins Diet, the South Beach Diet and The Zone, these low carb diets may also provide additional health benefits, such as lowering blood cholesterol. Carefully planning your low carb diet may increase your chances of success.
Step 1
Pick a date on which you will start your low carb diet and remove all high carb foods from your home prior to that date. The close proximity of foods, such as potato chips, cake and cookies, may undermine your diet if you have carb cravings. Even sandwich bread has too many carbs for a low carb diet.
Step 2
Make a list of the foods you like with the least number of carbs. A number of diet books list the amount of carbs in specific foods or you can use an online carb calculator. After a couple of weeks, you may be able to gradually increase your carb intake as long as you are still losing weight.
Step 3
Plan to strictly limit your carbs during the early part of your diet. The Atkins Diet restricts a new dieter's carb consumption to no more than 20 carbs per day and most of those must come from high fiber vegetables, such as fresh lettuce, spinach or celery. By eating only a small number of carbs, your body will enter a state of ketosis, whereby it will begin to burn fat stores, resulting in potential weight loss.
Step 4
Eat protein as your main food source. Red meat, fish, shellfish and poultry are all high in protein but very low in carbs. Eggs are another valuable source of protein. Aged cheeses are permissible in limited quantity. You may grill or fry meat and poultry but not with breading or a batter coating, both of which are high in carbohydrates.
Step 5
Keep substitutes handy. If you suffer from intense cravings for sweets, a common occurrence during the early days of a low carb diet, eat low carb snacks, such as sugar-free flavored gelatin or sugar-free gummy-type snacks that contain no carbohydrates.
Tips and Warnings
- Consider having a blood lipid profile performed at your doctor's office prior to starting a low carb diet in order to compare your cholesterol count before your diet and after a few weeks on the diet. Purchase ketone-testing strips. These small paper strips measure the presence of ketones in your body through a simple urine stream test. Consider a reduced-carb diet if a low-carb diet is too strict for your lifestyle. You may lose weight just by eliminating breads, pastries and sweets.
- Don't start a low carb diet around the holidays when you'll be tempted with high carb foods. Once your tastes adapt to your new diet, you may find it easier to turn down high carb foods.
Things You'll Need
- Low carb counter
- Protein sources
- Carb-free snack substitutes
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