Quick Weight Loss and Low Carb Diets

The beauty of a low carb diet is that you don't have to count calories or settle for small portions. It is also one of the best ways to lose weight as you eat as much as you like of some foods, restrict carbohydrates, and you lose fat without really trying!

But it will involve a change in the way you think about food. For example, most of us are conditioned to consider carbohydrates as our primary 'fast' food, from cereals and toast with marmalade for breakfast, to pastries or biscuits at mid-morning, sandwiches or fried food at lunchtime, and pasta, rice or potatoes as a standard addition to the evening meal.

These carbohydrates are self-serving: the more you eat, the more they stimulate insulin which rapidly lowers your blood sugar levels; this in turn makes you crave yet more sugar, which is then deposited as fat. So you need to stop thinking of carbohydrates as the 'main event' of your meals, and base your diet instead on meat, fish, poultry and vegetables.

Bread, rice, pasta and potatoes are merely the 'support act'; they provide bulk to your diet - and more energy than you require, which is stored as excess fat. You don't need them, and should therefore exclude them from your diet - at least while you are in the process of losing fat.

Have a substantial breakfast

How many times have you heard that breakfast is the most important meal of the day? This is true, but it's also true that you have to eat the right kind of breakfast, especially if you are trying to lose fat. There is no point filling up on carbohydrates at breakfast - bread, jam, marmalade, cereal, milk and sugar - because they only stimulate an insulin response, your blood sugar drops within 1-2 hours, you become hungry and slightly irritable, and eat more carbohydrates (such as biscuits, pastries or cakes) to compensate. And thus the vicious circle continues.

So when you are on a quick weight loss diet, you should stick to an absolute maximum of one slice of bread (or equivalent) per day, and avoid all cereal, grains and sweet food (except fruit, and even that has to be severely restricted during the weight-loss phase) for breakfast. In addition, try to cut out virtually all milk, as it is relatively high in sugar. A little milk in tea or coffee is about the maximum, but try to replace it with cream, or even better a soy based cream if possible.

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