Easy Weight Loss Tips - Low Fat or Low Carb

Posted by Quick Weight Loss Coach on May 16th, 2008 at 01:30pm

Are low-fat or low-carb diets best for easy weight loss?

In the same way that low-fat has become a lifestyle choice, low-carb eating will take its place as the diet of choice for those of us with a metabolic problem, because it’s essential for our continued good health as well as weight control.

Although most of the recipes in the great many low carb cookbooks work perfectly well for the easy weight loss plans of the low-carb diets, they’re really designed for the long haul, on the assumption that if you’re seriously concerned about your health and your weight, you’ll need to watch the carbs for the rest of your life.

But you’ll also need to be able to entertain, to serve holiday meals, to move easily from one season to the next, taking advantage of farm-fresh produce. You’ll need to know bow to stock your pantry in this new and unfamiliar way of looking at the kitchen. And you’ll probably prefer to avoid eating bizarre diet versions of familiar foods. Because I’m nutritionist and health consultant, it’s very important to me to eat well, and to serve food that’s as much like traditional good food as possible while staying within the healthy diet guidelines. That’s my mission here: simple, quick and easy weight loss tips that work to solve some of the problems of cutting back the carbs.

Does taking the low-carb leap mean you’ll never eat another doughnut, another plate of pasta, another slice of your own birthday cake? Of course not - life is too cruel, and these foods are too wonderful to forego them entirely. A little treat every now and then works wonders (”a bit of what you fancy does you good” as my mum used to say - but only every now and then), and a special occasion becomes truly special when it involves an indulgence. Once your insulin is well under control, you’ll probably notice that an occasional piece of cake - once or twice a month, say - has no effect whatsoever, possibly because you lack the enzymes to properly digest the sugar.

However, do not, under any circumstances, take a major holiday from your diet. I did this one Christmas for two weeks, thinking I’d just deal with the few pounds I gained later, and it would all be worth it.

My weight loss stopped cold, and it took me six months of strict dieting to get back to where I was, never mind to get the momentum going again. Your body has a built-in survival mechanism that actually promotes fat storage once you’ve come off a diet, and it’s frighteningly effective.

So stay conscious, watch the scale, and remember: You’re doing this for your good health as well as to lose weight quickly and permanently, so you don’t want to sabotage all your hard work.

A weekend is about the maximum debauchery you can easily handle - just jump right back on a strict version of the diet, consuming as few carbs as you can manage, until you lose the extra weight. And even that will be hard; the Hellers are right, for people with insulin problems, carbohydrates realty are addictive.

But the good news is that a low carb healthy diet is a snap to follow, because the terrible cravings for food, especially sweet and starchy food, disappear quickly. You’ll have an amazing take-it-or-leave-it-alone attitude about food, you’ll drop all the anxiety and guilt and shame you may have felt about it, and you’ll feel so good and so energized that sticking with it seems a very minimal price to pay.

Tags: best way to lose weight, easy weight loss, how to lose weight fast, low carb diet, low fat diet