Eating healthy should always be the top priority of people in San Antonio, TX, whether trying to lose weight or not. One question often asked is whether a low-carb diet can do both. The answer is a resounding yes. A low-carb diet is a simple solution, but you must follow some ground rules to keep it healthy. First, it’s low-carb, not a “no-carb diet.” People tend to forget that as they cut out all carbs, including healthy ones, from their diet.
It’s all about cutting sugar and processed foods.
Fruits and vegetables contain carbs, meat doesn’t. However, most fruits and vegetables aren’t a problem. Consider celery. Sure, it has carbs, but you can cut down to 20-50 carbs a day and still lose weight. Eating a cup of broccoli only adds 6 grams of carbohydrates, a cup of cooked green beans has 6 digestible carbs, a salad made with a cup of raw spinach with ½ cup of sliced red bell peppers has four carbs, and a serving of meat has zero. That’s only16 carbs, and it contains a powerhouse of nutrients. A chocolate frosted donut contains 30 grams of carbohydrates and it’s not nearly as filling.
How low can you go?
Not all low-carb diets are as restrictive as the one mentioned. That’s a keto-style diet designed to burn fat most efficiently. You can lose weight by cutting carbs without following the restrictive version of a low-carb diet. Just focus on healthier food options, skipping food you already know is unhealthy, like highly processed flour products, sugary treats, and fried foods. A medium order of french fries contains 47 carbs. That’s almost a full day of carbs on a strict low carb diet and half a day’s on a more lenient one, yet there is no nutritional value.
Combine a low-carb diet with exercise.
The body uses carbs for energy. The average diet has 35% of the calories from fat, 50% from carbohydrates, and just 15% from protein. By switching where the calories come from, you can create your own low-carb diet by changing the source of calories to healthier options and reducing the percentage of calories from carbs. Don’t cut fat from your diet. Healthy fat is vital for weight loss. Keep carbs in your diet for fiber. It helps reduce cholesterol levels, aids in preventing diabetes and insulin resistance, and keeps you feeling full longer.
- Increasing protein in your diet to replace the carbs can help build muscle mass. Make the source a free-range, pastured option and you’ll boost levels of healthy CLA—conjugated linoleic acid, which helps reduce body fat.
- Eliminating pasta and white bread from your diet can be a step toward a lower-carb diet, just as giving up foods with added sugar is. Highly processed bread has few if any benefits.
- No matter what type of diet you use, your plate should be a rainbow of colors. Red, green, blue, and white fruits and vegetables should all be part of it. Each color represents different phytonutrients that help improve your health.
- The theory behind a low-carb diet is that it forces the body to get calories elsewhere. When there are no carbs for quick energy, it starts burning body fat for energy.
For more information, contact us today at Iron Fit San Antonio