Want to Start a Low Carb Diet? Here are 12 Things You Need To Consider.

You’re seeing it on Instagram and Pinterest….the weight loss success, the endless recipes, the expert advice.

However, you still don’t know if you want to start a low carb diet.

It feels like you’ll be making the transition into a life of restrictions, endless carb counting, and general food obsession. Who wants that?

The goal of this article isn’t to tell to you still start eating a low carb diet, because honestly, you may be better off just going Paleo, plant-based, or even eating as you are now. It really depends on your body and your preferences.

But if you’ve been thinking about it for a while, here are some things that you should probably consider to know if a low carb diet is right for you.

12 Things To Consider When You Want To Start a Low Carb Diet

1. You’re trying to lose weight but are constantly having weight loss stalls or plateaus
2. You have cravings daily and always need something sweet to feel human again
3. You’re eating a lot A LOT, and you never feel full
4. You’ve been experiencing serious fatigue after your meals
5. For some reason, you can’t seem to quit sugar
6. You are suddenly starting to gain weight like crazy
7. You were diagnosed with diabetes (talk to your doctor first)
8. You have hormonal issues
9. You have high blood sugar
10. You experience inflammation
11. You have digestive issues
12. You’re always tired

Of course, this isn’t medical advice so especially if you have these and any other health issues, you should definitely speak to your doctor or nutritionist.

If you’re only interested in the low carb or keto diet as a way of being more efficient at burning fat to lose weight, this approach is called Fat Adaptation or Fat Fueled. This means you can choose to eat more carbs on a low carb diet while balancing out your hormones, getting more energy and getting consistent weight loss results WITHOUT those crazy cravings.

This popular and very effective book, Fat Fueled, is a great guide if this is your goal. It also comes with a 30-day meal plan and recipes so you can start a low carb diet with less headaches and more clarity.

Common Concerns About Low Carb Diets

Concern #1- You don’t know if it will work for you

I felt this way when I started. I had thought that a low-calorie diet was the way to go.

However, after going vegan, vegetarian, Paleo, doing whole 30, and keto (great but a bit too restricted for me), my body felt the best when I decided to start a low carb diet. While my diet isn’t a ketogenic diet, I consume around 75g of carbs per day with higher fat and protein.

The problems that I had from the list above were lethargy, fatigue, cravings, increased hunger after meals, and inflammation. I don’t experience those things anymore. 

The great thing is that you can tailor the diet to suit your lifestyle and your goals. You don’t have to do a low carb keto diet at all.

Going low carb can simply mean taking out the refined carbs and processed foods out of your diet. You’ll start to see the results in your energy quickly.

But the thing is, you won’t know unless you try. Maybe that’s what they all say, but it’s the truth. Thousands of people have had a successful experience going on a low carb or ketogenic diet, but that doesn’t mean that it’s right for you. But you still won’t know unless you try.

Here’s a low carb diet guide, a low carb diet FAQ, and 10 low carb benefits that you can read to find out more.

 

Concern #2- The increased fat intake seems very unhealthy

The major culprit that’s causing you to think like this is the big ‘C’ word.

Cholesterol.

Ok, brief science lesson. What’s cholesterol?

Cholesterol is necessary for your body to function. So much so that it’s made in the liver. Yes, your own body makes cholesterol. It’s essential for the production of sex hormones, building tissues in the body and helping your liver to produce bile.

But here’s the thing. There’s good and bad cholesterol.

Which cholesterol is bad for you? LDL cholesterol, also known low-density lipoprotein. It’s what causes plaque to build up on the walls of your arteries. When enough plaque builds up, it leads to things like heart attack and stroke.

On the other hand, there’s HDL, which actually HELPS to remove LDL from the body. High levels of HDL have been shown to PROTECT against stroke and heart attack, while LDL increases it. 

It’s also good to remember that several things play a role in your cholesterol levels, such as weight, diet, and DNA.

You can learn more about cholesterol here.

 

Concern #3- I have other dietary restrictions

 

If you can’t eat gluten or dairy, you can still do a low carb diet. In fact, this book outlines exactly how the author does a low carb diet without dairy. She also consumes about 75g- 150g of carbs per day. That means fewer carb restrictions.

For those persons on a gluten-free diet, you can continue this lifestyle with a low carb approach. The book has success stories from a number of people with diabetes, high cholesterol, Crohn’s disease, Celiac disease, thyroid issues, and much more.

The reason I’m talking about it so much is because it really does provide the information you need to develop a diet that’s sustainable and effective for your health and lifestyle.

One last thing…

A low carb lifestyle is not as complicated as you think. Yes, when you start a low carb diet, you’ll have to measure your carbs to find your sweet spot. But it’s not long term.

Here are 3 things that you can do to make your low carb diet easier.

• Use one day to meal plan and meal prep– There’s a difference between the two. Meal planning is when you schedule maybe 30 minutes or so to calculate your macros and use them to prepare your meals (meal prep) for the week. You can use this calculator to get an idea of your macros on a keto diet. 

 

• Get a collection of low carb recipes, foods, and snacks that you can turn to without doing tons of research beforehand. Here are some low carb cookbooks to get you started. They include recipes for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and desserts that are all under 5 net grams of carbs.

 

• Outsource your meal planning and meal prep to reliable online services to save yourself the time and energy. As a bonus for our readers who want to start a low carb diet without the time commitment, we’ve partnered with Blue Apron to give you $50 off your first 2 boxes of meals. These are customizable to your dietary preferences, and you can cancel at any time. If you’re interested, get the deal through this link.

 

Low carb diets definitely have a lot of benefits. And remember that if you start a low carb diet, it doesn’t necessarily mean keto or any other super restrictive diet. A typical low carb diet can simply mean replacing refined carbs with whole foods.

Try it this way and see if it feels good to you, and if it does, you can think about taking it to the next level.

 

Here are some more articles that you can read to learn more about low carb diets:

• Beginner’s low carb diet guide
• 10 low carb diet benefits
• Low carb diet FAQ
• 19 easy low carb diet snacks

 

Nutritional Disclaimer

Please note that I am not a medical or nutritional professional. I am simply recounting and sharing my own experiences and that of others on this blog. Nothing I express here should be taken as medical advice and you should consult with your doctor before starting any diet or exercise program. I do my best to be as accurate as possible but you should independently calculate nutritional information. I expressly disclaim any and all liability of any kind with respect to any act or omission wholly or in part in reliance on anything contained in this website, or any website that I link to.