Is Low Carb Dieting Best For Weight Loss? - By: Randall Drake

Low carb dieting has become fashionable in recent years especially with the publication of the Atkins diet. Losing weight is a goal for many people and everybody is looking for the quick and easy way to lose weight.

I have personally tried low carb diets and Atkins diet and these diets made me lose weight very quickly. However not only did I lose body fat weight, I also lost muscle weight. So with this in mind it is important that, if you are going to follow such a diet you will need to some kind of exercise program such as weight training, that will help to build your muscle mass back up.

Some people do not need to lose weight at all but still get stressed over a couple of pounds. Others need to lose for medical reasons and may have one hundred pounds or more that they want to shed. When you follow a low carb diet you can and will lose weight very quickly. The frustrating part will be that after you are off the low carb or Atkins diet, you will very probably gain back all the weight that you have loss and even more. This is because your muscles are active and they continuously burn calories. Since you have less muscle mass now, your body’s metabolism or capacity to burn calories slows down tremendously.

Now there are many different diets out there including low carbohydrate diets and the truth is that most of them will achieve weight loss if they are followed correctly. This does not mean always doing what the diet says every moment of every day. What is more important is how you deal with the inevitable occasion when you eat too much or feast on foods that are not on the plan. It is important to remember that even though you may have the occasional binge as long as you can return to the plan without giving yourself a hard time, you are more likely to succeed. Everybody has those days but, the important thing is to let them go and accept them as just another step on the road to permanent weight loss.

It is also important to find a diet that you can easily follow. Low carb diets suit many people because the rules are quite simple. As the name suggests, the diet consists of avoiding or limiting foods that are high in carbohydrates. These include bread, pasta, potatoes, rice and other grains. Sugar is also a carbohydrate. Once you understand what these foods are, it is a simple matter to choose dishes that avoid them. But it also important to remember these kind of diets are designed to help in quick weight loss and not for the long term solution. Again that is where the exercise program comes in to help you maintain the loss that you have achieved and you return to a more nutritious diet.

Most criticism of low carbohydrate dieting is based on the fact that the dieters will get most of their daily calories from meat, dairy and other high fat products. This can lead to high cholesterol and other problems related to a high intake of saturated fats. Low carbohydrate diets for weight management are far from healthy, given their association with ketosis, constipation or diarrhea, halitosis, headache and general fatigue to name a few. Medical advice is a must before starting this type of diet. Sometimes weight loss is good in the early stages but people cannot handle the restrictions in the longer term and start to deviate from the diet.

One of the problems that many people have with low carb dieting is the elimination of bread and pasta. No more toast, spaghetti or pizza! Many of the foods that are quickest to prepare are based around carbohydrates - burgers in their buns, fries, sandwiches, pasta and sauce. Beer and other alcoholic drinks are high in carbs too. It is true that alcohol is generally restricted on any diet, because it is high in calories and very low in nutritional value, but low carb diets put particular emphasis on this. Therefore it would be better that instead of cutting all carbs perhaps you could change the type of carbs that you consume to ones that are more beneficial for you. An example would be instead of eating white pasta or bread maybe switching to whole wheat which is far more nutritional and also helps to break down faster than white does.

Still there are many foods that can be enjoyed on a low carb diet. If you are fond of meat you will relish the opportunity to consume beef, chicken and other animal products. However you must remember that with the increase of meat consumption you will also be increasing your cholesterol count as well, and this cannot be good for your heart. The popularity of these diets is clear from the length of time that they stay on the bestseller lists. It is just a matter of what suits you. Low carb dieting works for many people. But it will only, work for the short term. For a long term solution it would be much better to look elsewhere.

About the Author

Randall is the owner of Randys Weight Loss Secrets and writes on health and weightloss. visit his site at: Randy's Weight Loss Secrets and explore his great products today.

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