Using a Low Carb Diet
To Create Permanent Fat Loss

In this low carb diet article you will find out exactly why this advanced nutrition strategy should "never" be used in the beginning of your weight loss program.

In other words by simply eating more natural, unprocessed foods, consuming the optimum amount of daily calories, using an effective meal frequency/timing approach, and by doing cardio and weight training on a regular basis.

The second reason is this: A low carb diet is probably the "hardest" diet to use over an extended period of time. It produces massive cravings for processed carbohydrates, and there are very few people that have the actual willpower to use it to reach their ideal weight.

A low carbohydrate diet is not a magic formula for permanent fat loss. It can be used temporarily to reach peak conditions for special events like bodybuilding competitions, fitness competitions and photo shoots.

It can also be used by people who have extreme endomorph dominant body types that are carbohydrate sensitive and have a difficult time losing body fat using a proper nutrition and exercise approach.

And of course it can be used temporarily to break a weight loss plateau that everyone reaches at some point in their weight loss journey!

THE MOST IMPORTANT ADVANTAGE OF THE LOW CARB DIET:

A low carbohydrate diet is highly thermic! This means that by consuming meals that have more protein and less carbohydrates you will increase your metabolism and burn more calories.

Protein has the highest thermic effect of any food, with 30% of the calories that come from this nutrient, being burned off during the digestion and utilization process.

Natural complex fibrous carbohydrates (vegetables) have the second highest thermic effect, with 15% of the calories that come from this nutrient, being burned off during the digestion and utilization process.

When the majority of the calories in your meals come from these two nutrients, your body simply has to work harder to digest them and the net caloric value is much lower than the actual calories that are contained in your meals.

This is why conventional low carb diets recommend to consume large amounts of protein and vegetables!

By consuming these foods there is less calories for your body to burn once it is finished digesting these two nutrients and because of this a calorie deficit is created.

Of course, this can happen only if you consume the right amount of calories, and this is why the statement that you can eat as much protein and vegetables as you want and not gain weight is completely not true!

If you consume more calories than your body burns during the day, the surplus will be mostly stored as body fat!

OTHER ADVANTAGES OF THE LOW CARB DIET:

A low carbohydrate intake controls insulin, because insulin is mostly released by your body in response to the consumption of carbohydrates.

Since insulin is the hormone that actually drives the excess glycogen into your fat cells for storage, obviously the less insulin that is released into your blood stream, the less fat your body will store.

A low carbohydrate intake also depletes your glycogen stores, and you are less likely to store carbohydrates (glycogen) as body fat when you are in a depleted or a semi-depleted state.

When there is a deficit of glycogen your body sends the glycogen that is available to your glycogen-starved muscles before sending it to fat storage.

This forces your body to use more fat as a fuel source, and helps you to burn more body fat!

THE MOST IMPORTANT DISADVANTAGES OF THE LOW CARB DIET

A low carbohydrate diet is very difficult to follow for most people. Since it is very restrictive, it always sets you up for massive cravings and bingeing.

When all you can eat is meat, poultry, eggs, fat, with limited amounts of vegetables and tiny portions of natural starchy carbohydrates, your willpower will be out to a test within a very short time after using this approach.

This brings us to the next disadvantage, which is re-gaining all the weight that you lost, once you start consuming or over-consuming carbohydrates once you go off this diet.

Since your body does not burn carbohydrates as efficiently as it did before you started using a low carbohydrate approach, the weight gain from the re-introduction of carbohydrates into your meals can be quite shocking!

This is especially true if you use your willpower and stuck with this approach in the long term! I have seen people gain 20 pounds in a matter of days after a few months of following a very-low carbohydrate diet.

OTHER DISADVANTAGES OF THE LOW CARB DIET:

Low carbohydrate diets are unhealthy, unbalanced and can lead to serious health problems. This is especially true if you heart, liver or kidney problems.

Always consult with your physician before making drastic changes to your diet, and especially if you are considering using a conventional low carbohydrate approach.

Your body needs a moderate intake of natural carbohydrates, proteins and dietary fats to function properly. Removing entire food groups from your meals for long periods of time is unhealthy and unnecessary!

Low carbohydrate diets will cause your energy levels to crash and can seriously affect your mood. Since carbohydrates are your body's most preferred energy source and your brain and nervous system run mostly on glucose, this can lead to a feeling of weakness, and put you in a really bad mood.

Most of the weight loss on a low carb diet comes from your muscle and water. When you restrict your carbohydrate intake your body starts to burn your muscle as an energy source.

Muscle loss slows down your metabolism, and you will burn less calories during the day. As a consequence when the carbohydrates are re-introduced, this will lead to weight gain!

This will happen because what was once your daily maintenance daily calorie intake, will become a calorie surplus. When you take into account that your body will not be burning carbohydrates as efficiently after a low carb diet, this combination is what leads to massive weight gain!

My recommendation is to stay away from conventional low carb dieting, and use the advanced strategies, that are much healthier and create long term results.

That section in my site includes not only an effective way to use carbohydrate restrictions, but also calorie restrictions to create amazing fat burning results, without the negative consequences that you will experience when following conventional low carb and/or low calorie diets.

RELATED INFORMATION ON LOW CARB DIETING:

The information written below is mostly for information purposes, since I get a lot of questions that have to do with conventional low carbohydrate diets.

In this article I explain how to use a conventional low carbohydrate diet and how to adjust your nutrient ratios when creating meals during this approach.

As I mentioned low carb approaches have many negative consequences, and because of this it is to your advantage to avoid them completely. The majority of people do not need to use this approach to reach their ideal weight!

By focusing on consuming low carbohydrate foods you will not be able to provide all of the nutrients that your body needs to function properly. In the long run your organism will start to experience difficulties, and will trigger its defense mechanisms.

The first thing it will do is start to increase your appetite and your desire to consume normal amounts of carbohydrates will grow on a daily basis, until there is such an uncontrollable craving that you will have no other choice but to give up this approach.

WHAT IS KETOSIS?

Conventional low carbohydrate diets try to achieve fat loss through ketosis, which is a process where your body starts to burn body fat for energy. This of course happens when you consume very low amounts of carbohydrates.

This number is different for different people, but in general it is about 30-100 grams per day.

If long term weight loss is your major goal, and your health is important to you, then my suggestion is to stay clear of trying to lose weight through ketosis.

The Atkins Diet is probably the most popular low carbohydrate diet. Their site has an excellent list of low carbohydrate foods.

But simply eating low carb foods will not produce long term weight loss results. Losing unwanted body fat is never that easy.

The foods that are high in protein and low in carbs can produce good results, but they must be eaten in moderation, and together with other healthy food that your body needs to function properly.

To be considered the best, a low carb approach must explain how to lower carbohydrate moderately and also use advanced low carb strategies.

USING ADVANCED NUTRITION STRATEGIES IS HEALTHIER AND PRODUCES LONG TERM WEIGHT LOSS RESULTS

The advanced strategies for low carb dieting include carbohydrate tapering and zig zagging.

These strategies are healthy and do not produce the negative consequences associated with conventional low carb diets.

The main thing to remember with all low carb approaches is that they should be used temporarily, and never eat low carbs for more than three consecutive days.

Some people want to use low carb flour and here you can read all about the different choices that you have.

The USDA a long time ago released the low carb food pyramid, and even though it is outdated, many people still want to find out what is included in that list.

When making low carb meal plans it is very important to use the right nutrient ratio for your goals and body type.

This article has a link to a site with some good low carb recipes, and an explanation why low carb diets are not a magical formula for weight loss.

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