There are more than a dozen low-carbohydrate diets out there, including the Primal Blueprint diet, which is based on how our ancient ancestors supposedly ate. Mark Sisson, a proponent of the Primal Blueprint diet and the man behind the website Mark's Daily Apple, says a person can lose 1 to 2 lb. of body fat per week by staying within a range of 50 to 100 g of carbohydrates a day. To lose 40 pounds, stick to this plan for 20 weeks. Once you reach your ideal weight, you can keep the pounds off by eating in the maintenance range, 100 to 150 g of carbohydrates a day.
Step 1
Eat 0.7 to 1 g of protein per pound of lean body weight. To determine your lean body weight, first weigh yourself on the scale, get out a tape measure and calculate your body fat percentage. Males can do so with the following equation: 100 x ('98.42 + 4.15 x waist ' 0.082 x weight) / weight. Females can find their body fat percentage with the following equation: 100 x ('76.76 + 4.15 x waist ' 0.082 x weight) / weight. You can also have a personal trainer measure your body fat with calipers. Once you know your body fat percentage, find your lean body weight by subtracting your body fat percentage in pounds from your body weight.
Step 2
Consume meat, fish, eggs, nuts, seeds and limited fruits. By eating lots of colorful vegetables, no grains, no sugars and few starchy vegetables such as potatoes, yams, beets and legumes, Sisson says you will stay under the 100 g of carbohydrates and lose weight.
Step 3
Move frequently and at a slow pace for three to five hours every week. During exercise, aim to reach between 55 to 75 percent of your maximum heart rate, which is determined by subtracting your age from 220. Exercising above 75 percent of your max heart rate will burn your glycogen reserves, causing your body to crave more sugar, which won't make your low-carb diet easy.
Step 4
Add sprinting to your workout regimen once a week. If you are extremely overweight or out of shape, ease into this practice. Once a week, increase the intensity of your walks in short bursts. If you are moderately fit, work up to doing six to eight sprints with short breaks in between. Doing so will help you break through any potential plateaus you might hit along your weight loss journey.
Step 5
Count calories toward the end of your diet if you have plateaued. As you approach your goal weight, this might become a necessary step. To find out how many calories you should eat to lose weight, first calculate your basal metabolic rate. The BMR is is how many calories you must eat in a day to maintain your weight. Men will do the following calculation: BMR = 13.75 x weight (kg) + 5.003 x height (cm) ' 6.775 x age + 66.5. Women will do the following calculation: BMR = 9.563 x weight (kg) + 1.850 x height (cm) ' 4.676 x age + 655.1. To lose two pounds a week, you need to create a 7,000-calorie deficit from your BMR. Try cutting 3,500 calories from your diet and burn 3,500 calories with exercise.
Things You'll Need
- Meat
- Eggs
- Nuts
- Seeds
- Fruits
- Measuring tape
- Scale
- Running shoes
References
- Mark's Daily Apple; 17 Reasons You're Not Losing Weight; Mark Sisson
- Mark's Daily Apple; The Primal Blueprint Carbohydrate Curve; Mark Sisson
- The Build Muscle and Gain Weight Fast Guide; Calculating Lean Body Mass; JP Clifford
- Brian Mac; Maximum Heart Rate; Brian Mackenzie
- ACE Fitness; How Many Calories Should I Eat and How Often Should I Exercise For Optimal Weight Loss?
- Fuse: Basal Metabolic Rate
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