It is vital that you understand low carbing really is about lifestyle change. You've probably noticed on the different sites you've visited that people refer to this as a way of life. You must learn to recognize how food makes your body feel, and how to feed it properly. Low carbing isn't just about cutting out sugar and starchy food. It also means replacing all those carbs you cut with quality protein foods, and quality fats as well.
Below is a very basic, nonscientific explanation of how low cab eating
will benefit your health and help your weight loss efforts:
• Many people cannot eat large amounts of carbohydrate foods - sugars and starches - without making and storing body fat.
• All carbohydrates, except for dietary fiber, are ultimately broken down into simple sugar molecules by digestive processes.
• The body will not burn fat for fuel as long as there is a steady supply of quick-to-burn sugar. Inversely, without sugar, the body will be forced to body fat energy.
• The breakdown of fat will produce energy for the body, and ketones, which are eliminated in the urine.
• Insulin levels are stabilized because the pancreas no longer has to pump out large amounts in response to sugary, starchy meals or snacks. Insulin not only helps sugar enter the cells for fuel, it also promotes the conversion of excess sugar into fat.
• So now, you are not only burning fat for fuel, you are also no longer
making and storing body fat.
• Without surges and dips in insulin levels, your blood sugar remains
stable.
• Result: You no longer have cravings and blood sugar swings. The presence of ketones helps control hunger. You lose fat and you lose weight.
There is a vast difference between "low fat" and "low carbohydrate"
diets. The standard low-fat/low-calorie weight loss diets basically
starve the body, and both fat and muscle end up being burned for fuel.
You lose weight, but the loss of lean muscle tissue only serves to reduce your metabolic rate, thus slowing your efforts even more. With a properly planned low carb program, your body will burn mostly fat, and will preserve the lean muscle. If you exercise, you will add lean muscle while losing fat, which will increase your metabolic rate, and increase the fat-burning effect. Muscle tissue weighs more than fat, but takes up less bulk, so you may find yourself getting smaller in size without seeing a drastic drop on the scales. This makes it a good idea to check your measurements at regular intervals. Another difference between low fat and low carb diets is the absence of cravings and hunger pangs. Until the excess carbohydrates are cleared from the system, there may be intense cravings. Once this is past though, the insulin and blood sugar levelling effects will sere to curb cravings. And most low carbohydrate plans allow unlimited amounts of allowed foods, so you eat when hungry, and as much as you need to ease your hunger.
The information presented here is very basic. It is best for you to arm yourself with as much information as possible by reading many of the books that are on the market for low carb dieting. If you can't buy your own book, you may be able to borrow a copy from your local library. It will help you better understand the added health benefits of a low carb way of life, such as improved cholesterol leaves, lowered blood pressure and other ailments.
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