How To Add Variety To Your Low Carb Diet.
By now most people know that carbs tend to be the enemy of weight loss. This is because carbs are designed to stay with us as we spend large amounts of energy throughout the day.
In the times when our ancestors had to spend their days on farms or hunting, carbs were a gem. Carbs kept us alive and were the main staple crop we cultivated.
Nowadays, however, it’s hard to lose weight even with daily exercise if you eat too many carbs. Carbs, however, are in most of our food! Fruits even have carbs, and most popular meals include bread. For these reasons it is important to have a low carb diet that has variety to keep you entertained.
The Basics
Before we talk about how to add variety, let’s talk basics. A typical low carb diet, according to healthline.com, emphasizes meats, vegetables and healthy fats. The foods to limit or throw out altogether are grains like bread (wheat bread too), refined sugar, and potatoes.
Your body does need some carbs. You may experience fatigue if you limit them too much, which will hurt your workouts. Be sure to listen to your body and eat more fruits or have just a little bread if you find yourself tired all the time.
Generally 100 – 150 grams of daily carb intake is the highest level allowed for low carb diets. This is for maintaining weight rather than loosing. 100 – 50 grams is for slow and steady weight loss and it leaves room for even carby fruits and veggies.
50 grams, however, is an extreme low carb diet that limits even fruits. You may find yourself tired a lot, so only do this if you really need to slim up quick!
Popular Low Carb Diets
The keto diet is trending and it’s a great way to get slim quick. It severely limits carbs in exchange for healthy fats. This practice causes your body to go into a state called ketosis where you will basically run off of fat rather than carbs.
The paleo diet is another popular trend which aims to have you eating only food available to our Paleolithic ancestors. The idea behind this is that our bodies are better at processing these foods than modern, post agricultural and industrial revolution foods.
Paleo diets emphasize meats, fish, seafood, eggs, vegetables, fruits, tubers, nuts, and seeds. A strict paleo diet eliminates processed foods, added sugar, grains, legumes, and dairy products, according to heathline.com. This diet doesn’t focus on eliminating carbs, but often does so in practice
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Fun Low-Carb Foods
Carbs are only one type of food. Low Carb diets allow you to eat plenty of meats, vegetables, nuts, and a limited amount of fruits. Grilled salmon is an extremely healthy example of a great, low carb entree. If you don’t like fish, you could still enjoy barbecue and even a juicy steak. Just be sure to cut off the fat from the meat.
Introducing avocado or guacamole adds fun to any meal. Hummus is another healthy addition along with salsa. If you’re getting bored with your foods, spice them up with a good spice or sauce! If all else fails, look for low carb recipes online. There are a vast array!
Zero Carb Diets
If you want to go hard core, be careful. We have very little data on zero carb diets. This is because people have only just begun to experiment with them. It seems that you will probably remain healthy, but long term effects are uncertain due to a lack of data. Historically, our diets have always had at least a little bit of carbs. They are hard to eliminate all together!
The key to a good low carb diet is the same as most diets. Find foods you enjoy and switch them out for more foods you enjoy once you get bored. Just make sure they are low carb!
