When most people think of a diet, they think of eating less. And while this may hold true to some diets, the low-carb diet may not follow this model. It’s not so much about counting calories, as it is watching what you eat. Believe it or not, more is better on a low carb diet.
Low Carb Diet Tips: Why You Need MORE
A healthy diet should consist of eating less of the foods that contain calories from simple carbohydrates (sugar and processed flour) and more whole grains, fresh fruits and vegetables and good sources of protein.
This is the basis of a good low carb diet plan.
As a matter of fact, a good diet should have you eating more instead of less! Not more food, but more often. So instead of three meals per day, maybe 3 small meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner) and 2 snacks. Or 3 small meals and 3 snacks. It really depends on how much your body needs.
Get our list of 50 LOW-CARB SNACKS!
When your body feels threatened by the lack of food it automatically assumes that you’re starving.
To combat this condition the body will start breaking down muscle to use as energy and saves its fat stores for the last-ditch effort to save itself from what it thinks is imminent death. Yes, I realize that sounds pretty dramatic- but stay with me.
This is bad on two fronts.
First, by using muscle tissue for energy you’re losing precious lean mass which is metabolically active. This means that you need energy to support muscle which helps to keep your metabolism running at a higher pace.
Higher metabolism means more calories burned even in a resting state.
Fat, on the other hand, doesn’t need any energy to support it. It’s simply “dead” weight.
Secondly, the body will start storing more fat because it’s preparing itself for the worst. Your survival is your body’s most important concern so it’ll do whatever it can to stay alive.
So what can you do if you want to eat less without starving yourself and sending your body into this defense mode?
Eat smaller meals more often throughout the day.
This works on two levels.
By eating more often you won’t get hungry as quickly and your metabolism will stay raised because you’ll be digesting food more often. Digesting food uses calories just like any other physical activity.
So here’s the plan: Eat four or five meals a day. Or up to 6 small meals as it was discussed earlier.
Now, your small meal is not what most would consider a meal (main course with two sides and dessert!), but a small portion of protein along with some fresh fruits and veggies.
Or you could have just a protein, depending on the time of day.
Try to eat every three hours or so to keep your metabolism and energy up. This’ll help you stay away from those snacking binges too.
Also, drink lots of water. Water will help to cleanse your body and make you feel full.
So you see, with a little planning and by adhering to a low carb diet plan sometimes eating more can be better!
Kori can be found at her blog, Kori at Home, where she seeks to empower, encourage, inspire, nurture, and support overwhelmed moms to reduce the overwhelm in their lives and reclaim the joy of motherhood.
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