Are you after a real fat burning diet? In this article I am giving a short introduction to the carbohydrate conscious lifestyle. It has various benefits: it has the effects of a fast diet (especially in the beginning) and it is the easiest way to lose weight. The low-carb diet can help you stay healthier and more energetic.
What are the benefits of the low-carbohydrate lifestyle?
A carbohydrate conscious lifestyle means keeping an eye on your carbohydrate intake. It can also be called the low-carbohydrate diet or the ortoglycemic diet, denoting the state of normal blood sugar concentration. The low-carb diet is the best dietary choice for almost everyone, and especially for people suffering from diabetes (or who have a risk of getting diabetes), cardiovascular diseases, acne or obesity. It is also a popular new cellulite treatment.
When a person eats a lot of carbohydrates (sugar and starches), their blood sugar (glucose) level elevates and the pancreas has to secrete a lot of insulin to lower the blood glucose level back to normal. Insulin does this by storing the glucose to organs. Their storage capacity is limited. Once they are full, all the excess glucose is stored as body fat. Insulin continues to work even after the blood sugar is back to its normal level, which lowers the blood sugar level even below normal. Soon the person will get hungry again (and remember, all the energy storages are full at this point) and goes to find more to eat. Often this means consuming more carbohydrates which will start the whole thing all over again.
This vicious cycle can lead to insulin losing its effect and the person becoming insulin resistant, which in turn can lead to type 2 diabetes or metabolic syndrome. The symptoms of the metabolic syndrome are high blood pressure, disorders in sugar and fat metabolism and abdominal obesity. This body fat is the risk factor for cardiovascular diseases.
Reducing carbohydrates from your diet will reduce the sharp blood sugar changes and keep your sugar levels low and steady. That is beneficial health-wise, and will also keep you more energetic throughout the day. Keep your carbohydrate intake below 72 grams a day to get the health benefits.
How to modify my diet?
Granted, it will take a moment to learn how to diet with a low-carb regime, like mentioned on the low-carb list. When starting a carb-conscious lifestyle, you will remove sugars (starches) like anything with sugar, white rice, potatoes, white bread, pastry, candy and soft drinks from your diet. These foods are sources of unnecessary and unhealthy carbohydrates. When you reduce the amount of carbohydrates from your diet, you start eating more protein, natural fats and a lot of vegetables rich in fiber. The idea is to eat natural and nutritious foods with no food additives or artificial colors or sweeteners. This way you get to eat to lose weight and not be extremely hungry when dieting. One great way to start making changes in your diet is to read more about the low carb diets and adopt the method which suits you the best. If you are not much of a reader, start with these steps:
- eat more vegetables
- stay away from white food (bread, flour, pasta, sugar)
- stop eating candy and drinking sodas (Zevia is OK)
- eat more natural fats (stay away from industrial trans fats)
- eat more protein
- buy high quality foods
- drink water before every meal
Click here to find some examples of diet plans with different amount of carbohydrates. Another good way to get started is to get yourself a low-carb cookbook. Cooking the delicious low carb foods introduced on the cookbook will certainly help you getting started with the carbohydrate conscious lifestyle.
What makes this a fat burning diet?
All fat burning diets are either based on starvation or on low carbohydrate levels. Diets high in carbs mean high levels of insulin, which is a killer for any weight loss systems. Insulin stops the body from burning the fat accumulated in your body. That’s why all the diets that work control the insulin level in one way or another.
If you keep your carbohydrate consumption very low, you will lose weight almost by itself. This is because your metabolism will change. On a high-carb diet the body uses the sugar as energy. Once there is no more sugar to burn, the body will start using fat as fuel… and that includes the body fat.
Once you reach your goal weight, you can add a bit more carbohydrates into your diet. That will help you maintain the weight, so you can actually lose 20 pounds permanently. If you start gaining weight again, reduce the amount of carbohydrates again. The optimal carbohydrate level is individual so you have to test different carbohydrate levels and see what is suitable for you. Often a good level for losing weight is 20-40 grams per day and 40-70 grams per day for keeping your current weight. On top of the diet being a fast way to lose weight, the low-carb diet also is the best cellulite treatment and can even help you become acne free, if that is one of your goals. Carbohydrate conscious lifestyle is really worth testing!
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I can’t hide the fact that I’m one of those who really struggle to burn my fats. I’m now suffering on how to lose my fats cause my appetite really sucks. I usually eat a lot of carbohydrates that why I’m in trouble now. I admit that I got a lot of tips here.
The low-carb diet is the best dietary choice for almost everyone. To much carbohydrate intake is unhealthy act. Thanks to the information above on fat burning foods. A lot of information here.