Low Carb Diets
Losing Body Fat
body's preferred energy source).
While lowering your daily intake of carbohydrates can certainly help you lose bodyfat (especially if you eat a lot of carbs), there are some downsides to eating like this. First of all, you may have very low energy when you cut your carbohydrate intake to the extremely low levels some low carb diets call for. Since stored carbohydrates are the body's preferred energy source, cutting them down by such extreme amounts will almost certainly make you feel lethargic. Another downside to low carbohydrate diets is that you might experience muscle cramps, especially if you're following a weight training routine. Weight lifting requires rest and recovery to see results and carbohydrates help that recovery. Another downside to low carb diets is the fact that it's just plain hard to eat like that every day. Eventually you're going to want a potato or some pasta with your meal. Since low carb diets require extremely limited amounts of carbohydrates you'll need to make up those calories in the form of proteins and fats. A high protein intake is great for losing fat and building muscle, but since fat has more than twice as many calories per gram than carbs or protein you could easily overdo your fat intake. You also don't want to eat the wrong kinds of fat which further limits your diet.
The best thing to do for losing bodyfat is to cut down your carbohydrate intake, but not by such an extreme amount. Try eating carbohydrates with a lower glycemic index level. This means cutting down on foods like potatoes, white bread, and pasta. Eating wheat bread and pasta instead of white bread and pasta will help as well. Get more of your carbs from fruits and vegetables as these foods will fill you up without increasing your caloric intake too much.
Try a diet consisting of 33% protein, 33% carbohydrate, and 33% fat (that means taking in less than half the fat amount in grams as your protein and carbohydrate intakes because fat contains 9 calories per gram, whereas protein and carbs contain 4). A diet like this will insure that you get enough carbs for energy while not overdoing it. This isn't set in stone - play with the percentages to see what's right for you. Combining a diet like this with cardiovascular and weight training should start you on your way to losing bodyfat.
Low carbohydrate diets have been all the craze for the last few years. These diets consist of very low carb intakes daily with increased intakes of protein and fat. The logic is simple: if you eat an extremely small amount of carbohydrates every day your body will be forced to burn fat instead of glycogen (stored carbohydrates - the
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