Believe it or not, a low-carb diet is one of the most effective weight loss diets that can help you burn fat fast. From burning harmful abdominal fats to increased satiety, reducing blood sugar, blood pressure, triglycerides to preventing chronic diseases, low-carb diet is beneficial for your overall health.
If you are thinking to follow a low-carb dietary approach to reduce fats, you need to avoid these common mistakes to achieve optimal results.
9 Low-Carb Diet Mistakes Beginners Should Avoid
1. Not Taking Enough Carbs
Transitioning to a low-carb diet means you are eliminating a few diet staples such as bread, cereal, rice, and pasta to reduce your calorie intake. But that doesn’t mean carbs are your enemy. You can still eat yummy carbohydrates such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and beans while sticking on a low-carb diet. These foods can give you the sustained energy you need to stay physically and mentally active.
Keep in mind that high-quality carbohydrates contain essential nutrients such as Vitamin B, C, potassium, and fibre that are essential for your overall health. Reducing your carb intake and ignoring their nutritional values can lead you into a starvation mode, slow down your metabolism, and increase the risk for many nutritional deficiencies.
2. Eating Too Much Fat
Sticking to a low-carb diet doesn’t mean you are allowed to eat nuts, cream, sausage, cheese, butter, and bacon in excess. Though these foods can be consumed while you are on a low-carb diet, eating too much of unhealthy saturated fat can make it harder to lose weight. In addition, consuming foods that contain unhealthy fats can put you at risk for cardiovascular diseases. So, cut back on unhealthy fat consumption and add healthy fats such as flaxseed, walnuts, olive oil, and avocados to your diet.
3. Excessive Protein Consumption
There is no denying the fact that protein is the most important macronutrient that can make you feel full while improving the fat burning process. It improves muscle mass and has beneficial effects on overall health. Following a low-carb diet doesn’t mean to go overboard and eat more protein. Because eating too much of it can improve the process of gluconeogenesis and decrease the process of ketosis. To achieve optimal weight loss results, you need to follow a low-carb diet that is high in healthy fat and moderate in protein.
4. Low Sodium Intake
When you start a low-carb diet, your insulin level decreases, and your body starts to excrete excess sodium. It will significantly increase your salt requirements. Since sodium is an important electrolyte, maintaining an optimum level of sodium level in your body is critically important to avoid poor performance, fatigue, headaches. So, increase your salt intake by simply sprinkling salt on your foods to avoid sodium deficiency.
5. Inadequate Fat Consumption
Carbohydrates such as sugars and grains are the major source of energy that your body uses to perform physical and mental activities. When you eliminate this major energy source from your diet, you need to add healthy fats to your diet to fulfill energy requirements and sustain yourself. Make sure to avoid trans-fat that is not good for your health. In addition, adequate consumption of healthy fats will make you feel full for long.
6. Insufficient Fibre Intake
Eating adequate fibre intake is important to prevent gut problems such as constipation and bloating. Taking high-fibre foods such as broccoli, sprouts, artichokes, avocados, beans, legumes, chia seeds, and flax seeds will increase satiety and suppress your appetite.
7. Lack of Planning
Embarking on a low-carb diet is no easy feat; you need to stay determined to achieve your fitness goals more quickly. With careful meal planning, patience, and cutting back on carbs, your body will start burning fats instead of carbs.
8. You are Not Exercising
Whether you choose a low-carb diet, paleo diet, Mediterranean diet, or gluten-free diet, to achieve the results you want, you need to stay active. Exercising doesn’t mean to hit the treadmill or join a yoga glass. All you need to do is to experiment with different types of activities you enjoy and that work for you. You can watch different fitness videos and try the steps at home. Eating a low-carb diet with enough exercise to feel more energized achieve optimal wellbeing.
9. Not Eating Vegetables
Vegetables are loaded with fibre, minerals, vitamins, antioxidants, and other essential nutrients. Including vegetables such as spinach, lettuce, zucchini, boiled potatoes, and asparagus in your weight-loss meal plan can help you stay healthy and fit. Besides promoting your health and reducing your waistline, vegetables also help you fight against chronic illnesses.
Key Takeaways
Low-carb diet is one of the best weight-loss diets that can be used to shed extra pounds and prevent different health problems such as obesity and diabetes. Adding high-quality and nutrient-rich carbs to your diet can help you gradually lose weight. Low-carb diet is an effective weight-loss strategy, if you are all set to take the plunge, avoid these low-carb mistakes to boost the fat-burning process.
