Why Low
Carb Is Not A Fad Diet But A Lifestyle
You’ve undoubtedly heard of the low carb diet, or even
tried it at one point in your life. Maybe you had some degrees of success, but
found any “fad” diet too hard to maintain, typically, this is what happens with
most people who choose fad diets to lose weight.
Well, news
flash- low carb is not a “fad,” but rather a lifestyle change. While it can be
adopted for a short period of time, you are merely scratching the surface of
what can be achieved.
Not sure if you can manage the low carb lifestyle? It
can be pretty simple, but that’s not to say it is effortless.
However, you’re in luck; following the low car
lifestyle for the rest of your life can be achievable, at least by following
our tips outlined below:
1. Low Carb Has Been In Use For More
Than A Hundred Years
Fad diets come and go, but low carb has been in use
for many years and before saturated fat was demonized (erroneously as it turns out);
low carb was the way to lose weight.
Dr. Atkins published his infamous low carb diet book
in 1972, long before the low fat guidelines came out.
2. Studies Support Low Carb Diet Many
Times Over
There have been more than 20 randomized controlled
trials published since 2002 in respected, peer-reviewed journals that show low
carb diets to be effective for weight loss and completely safe without a single
adverse effect, this cannot be said about many of the fad diets.
Additionally, many studies show low carb eating to
have better results in both weight lost and in support of heart disease
prevention than the typical low fat plan.
Low carb leads to more weight loss, especially
visceral fat, and also helps to improve HDL cholesterol, insulin levels, blood
sugar levels, and blood pressure. (Volek et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.
2004) (Foster GD, et al; A randomized trial of a low-carbohydrate diet for
obesity) (Keogh et al; Effects of weight loss from a very-low-carbohydrate diet
on endothelial function and markers of cardiovascular disease risk in subjects
with abdominal obesity) (Westman et al, The effect of a low-carbohydrate,
ketogenic diet versus a low-glycemic index diet on glycemic control in type 2
diabetes mellitus) (Gardner et al; Comparison of the Atkins, Zone, Ornish, and
LEARN diets for change in weight and related risk factors among overweight
premenopausal women: the A TO Z Weight Loss Study: a randomized trial).
3. No More Hunger!
Most fad diets are notorious for making you feel starved
and desperate as you white knuckle your way through them to lose a few pounds.
Crashes in energy levels and mood fluctuations are also common with fad diets.
With a low carb plan, you feel satisfied and eat to
satisfaction! Most people who go low carb find their appetite is naturally satisfied,
because they have eliminated those bad carbs that cause erratic blood sugar
spikes that cause out of control cravings and overeating.
There is no white knuckling involved, as you get you
get to eat an abundance of real whole food, including steaks, chicken, bacon,
eggs, butter, non-starchy vegetables, nuts and seafood.
This makes low carb sustainable for the long term, and
since as you reach your weight loss goals you can begin to re-introduce new
carb foods as you continue to monitor your weight, this makes low carb a true
lifestyle plan and not some useless temporary solution.
4. Mistakes Are Ok
On a fad diet, a lapse of one day could ruin your
overall goal, placing undue pressure on you. However, when adopting to a
lifestyle of low carb, it is understood that lapses happen from time to time,
and that is ok.
It will not wreck your metabolism, or cause you to
gain weight lost back in the space of 24 hours. In fact, you will likely find
that your cravings for carbs decrease significantly over time, making it less
likely from the get go that you will have major lapses.
Don’t think of it as a stringent diet, but forging a new relationship with the right
foods.
5. You Learn To Eat Healthy
Another reason that low carb is a lifestyle and not a
fad is that you learn to eat healthy and to make healthy choices in carbs, protein,
and fats, and this ability to choose makes this a lifestyle over the often very
rigid rules of the typical fad diet.
This means, you have to know the differences between
various carbs, and practice planning healthy meals, instead of just following
some “one for all” fad diet menu that offers little variation.
6. You Can Eat Out
Eating out on low carb is easy once you learn to make
the right choices, this allows you to maintain a social life and enjoy dining
out without compromising your weight loss, and nothing is more supportive of a
lifestyle plan than that.
7. Sustained Weight Loss
When you go on fad diets, you typically see some
weight loss, and then when you get off the diet and go back to eating as usual
the weight returns and then some. With low carb, there is no “end” or “getting
of the diet,” it is intended for life, and so you can lose the weight and keep
it off by continuing to make healthy choices and monitoring their effects on
your weight.
This also means that you will be able to eat more
carbs down the road, but you will continue to choose wisely based on your
individual weight loss maintenance.
Conclusion
As you can see, low carb is far from a fad diet. For
many people, carbs are the main culprit in their obesity and when they reduce
them to healthy sources they find they have more energy, lose weight, and are
able to keep it off, a lifestyle that is successful, motivational, and
sustainable.
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