Why Low-Carb is a Lifestyle and NOT a Fad

You’ve likely heard of the low-carb diet, or even tried it at one point in your life. Maybe you had some success but found the “fad” diet too hard to maintain, and this is what happens with most people who choose fad diets to lose weight.

Well, news flash… low-carb is not a “fad,” but rather a lifestyle. While you can follow it for a short period, if you do, you’re merely scratching the surface of what you can achieve.

Not sure if you can manage the low-carb lifestyle? It can be pretty straightforward, but that’s not to say it’s effortless.

However, you’re in luck; following the low-carb lifestyle for the rest of your life can be achievable, at least by following our tips outlined below:

Low-Carb Has Been Used For More Than 100 Years

Fad diets come and go. Low-carb has been in use for many years, and before they demonized saturated fat (erroneously as it turns out); low-carb was the way to lose weight.

Dr. Atkins published his infamous low carb diet book in 1972, long before the low-fat guidelines came out.

Studies Support Low Carb Diet Many Times Over

There have been more than 20 randomized controlled trials published since 2002 in respected, peer-reviewed journals. These trials show low-carb diets to be useful for weight loss and completely safe without a single adverse effect. You can’t say this about other fad diets.

Additionally, many studies show low-carb eating to have better results both in bodyweight loss and in support of heart disease prevention than the typical low-fat plan.

Low carb leads to more weight loss, especially visceral fat, and also helps to improve HDL cholesterol, insulin levels, blood sugar levels, and blood pressure. (Volek et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2004) (Foster GD et al.; A randomized trial of a low-carbohydrate diet for obesity) (Keogh et al.; Effects of weight loss from a very-low-carbohydrate diet on endothelial function and markers of cardiovascular disease risk in subjects with abdominal obesity) (Westman et al., The effect of a low-carbohydrate, ketogenic diet versus a low-glycemic index diet on glycemic control in type 2 diabetes mellitus) (Gardner et al.; Comparison of the Atkins, Zone, Ornish, and LEARN diets for change in weight and related risk factors among overweight premenopausal women: the A TO Z Weight Loss Study: a randomized trial).

No More Hunger!

Most fad diets are notorious for making you feel starved and desperate as you white knuckle your way through them to lose a few pounds. Crashes in energy levels and mood fluctuations are also frequent with fad diets.

With a low-carb plan, you feel satisfied and eat to satisfaction! Most people who go low-carb find their appetite stays satisfied, which happens because they’ve minimized bad carbs that cause erratic blood sugar spikes. Carbs and sugary foods are responsible for out of control cravings and overeating.

There is no white-knuckling involved as you get to eat an abundance of real whole food, including steaks, chicken, bacon, eggs, butter, non-starchy vegetables, nuts, and seafood.

These factors make low-carb sustainable for the long term. As you reach your weight loss goals, you can begin to re-introduce new carb foods as you continue to monitor your weight. Yes, low-carb is a valid lifestyle plan and not some useless temporary solution.

Mistakes Are Ok

On a fad diet, a lapse of one day could ruin your overall goal, placing undue pressure on you. However, when adopting a lifestyle of low carb, it is understood that lapses happen from time to time, and that is ok.

It will not wreck your metabolism, or cause you to gain weight lost back in the space of 24 hours. You will likely find that your cravings for carbs decrease significantly over time, making it less likely from the get-go that you will have significant lapses.

Don’t think of it as a stringent diet, but forging a new relationship with the right foods.

You Learn To Eat Healthy

Another reason that low-carb is a lifestyle and not a fad is that you learn to eat healthy and to make healthy choices in carbs, protein, and fats. The ability to choose makes this a lifestyle over the often very rigid rules of the typical fad diet.

You want to know the differences between different carbs, and practice planning healthy meals instead of just following some “one for all” fad diet that offers little variation.

You Can Eat Out

Eating out on low-carb is easy once you learn to make the right choices, which allows you to maintain a social life and enjoy dining out without compromising your weight loss. Nothing is more supportive of a lifestyle plan than that!

Sustained Weight Loss

When you go on fad diets, you typically see some weight loss, and then when you get off the diet and go back to eating, as usual, the weight returns and then some. With low-carb, there is no “end” or “getting off the diet.” It’s intended for life, and so you can lose the weight and keep it off by continuing to make healthy choices and monitoring their effects on your weight.”

You’ll be able to eat more carbs down the road, but you’ll continue to choose wisely based on your weight loss maintenance.

Conclusion

As you can see, low carb is far from a fad diet. For many people, carbs are the main culprit in their obesity. When they reduce their carbs, they find they have more energy, lose weight, and can keep it off. This gives you a lifestyle that’s successful, motivational, and sustainable.