Last Updated on November 7, 2022 by

I know you are here to find out all about low carb diets and how they can help with weight loss. That should be your main concern. Don’t let other distractions tempt you elsewhere. This is just what you need to make progress on your diet: healthy, natural weight loss with a low carb diet that is easy to follow, think of it as a light at the end of the tunnel. Low carb diets share the belief that when carbohydrates enter the body, insulin levels spike. With this increase in insulin levels, there is triggered weight gain leading to fat storage around different parts of the body including your belly area.

Millions of People around the Globe Try Low Carb Diet with Great Success. Low carb diets have been known to help with weight loss and have also shown many health benefits including lower blood pressure, stable blood sugars, better cholesterol levels, and even better moods. If you want to know more about Low Carb Diet Plans For Weight Loss, make sure you read this article.

Low Carb Diet Plans For Weight Loss

A low carb diet is one that limits carbohydrates, primarily found in sugary foods, pasta, and bread. Instead of eating carbs, you focus on protein-rich whole foods and vegetables.

Studies show that low carb diets can result in weight loss and improved health markers.

 These diets have been in common use for decades and are recommended by many doctors.

 Best yet, there’s usually no need to count calories or use special products. All you need to do is eat whole foods that make for a complete, nutritious, and filling diet.

Learn more about low carb and how to use it for your personal goals below.

1. What is low carb?

A low carb diet means that you eat fewer carbohydrates and a higher proportion of protein and fat. This can also be called a keto diet.

 However, not all low carb diets result in ketosis.

For decades we’ve been told that fat is detrimental to our health. Meanwhile, low-fat “diet” products, often full of sugar, flooded supermarket shelves. This coincided with the beginning of the obesity epidemic and, in hindsight, was likely a major mistake. While the proliferation of low-fat products doesn’t prove causation, it’s clear the low-fat message didn’t prevent the increase in obesity, and we believe that it has contributed.

Studies now suggest that there’s little reason to fear natural fats.

 Instead, on a low carb diet you don’t have to fear fat. Simply minimize your intake of sugar and starches, make sure you are getting adequate protein — or even high amounts of protein — and you can eat enough natural fat to enjoy your meals.

When you avoid sugar and starches, your blood sugar tends to stabilize, and the levels of the fat-storing hormone insulin drop, which may make it easier to burn fat stores in the body.

 In addition, the higher protein intake and presence of ketones (if eating very low carb) may make you feel more satiated, thereby naturally reducing food intake and promoting weight loss.

The basics

• Eat: Meat, fish, eggs, vegetables growing above ground and natural fats (like butter).
• Avoid: Sugar and starchy foods (like bread, pasta, rice, beans and potatoes).

Eat when you’re hungry and stop when you’re satisfied. It can be that simple. You do not need to count calories or weigh your food.

Below are examples of what you could eat, alternatively check out our 1000+ low carb recipes.

• Keto pizza6g
• Keto Cobb salad with ranch dressing6g
• Roasted chicken legs and cherry tomatoes with garlic butter10g
• Keto Fathead pizza8g
• Keto lamb sliders with feta cheese dressing5g
• Baked celery root with gorgonzola13g
• Keto Tex-Mex casserole8g
• Italian keto meatballs with mozzarella cheese5g
• Keto cauliflower chicken Alfredo6g
• Pork shoulder chops with cauliflower au gratin9g
• Crispy Chinese pork with cabbage6g
• Creamy venison stew11g

Who should NOT do a strict low carb diet?

Most people can safely start a low carb diet.

 But in these three situations you may need some preparation or adaptation:

• Are you taking medication for diabetes, e.g. insulin?
• Are you taking medication for high blood pressure?
• Are you currently breastfeeding?

If you’re not in any of these groups and don’t have other severe chronic medical conditions — such as advanced liver or kidney failure — you’re good to go! You can read more in our post about contraindications to keto diets.

Disclaimer: While a low carb diet has many proven benefits, it’s still controversial. The main potential danger regards medications, especially for diabetes, where doses may need to be adapted (see above). Discuss any changes in medication and relevant lifestyle changes with your doctor.

This guide is written for adults with health issues, including obesity, who could benefit from a low carb diet.

Controversial topics related to a low carb diet — and our take on them — include saturated fats, cholesterol, whole grains, red meat and restricting calories for weight loss.

2. What to eat on a low carb diet

In this section you can learn exactly what to eat on low carb, whether you prefer visual guides, detailed food lists, delicious recipes or a simple get started guide.

Let’s start with a quick visual guide to low carb. Here are the basic low carb food groups from which you can choose until satisfied:

The numbers above are grams of digestible carbs per 100 grams (3.5 ounces) of food. Fiber is not counted; you can eat all the fiber you want.

All foods above contain less than 5% carbs by weight. Sticking to these foods will make it relatively easy to stay on a moderate low carb diet (less than 50 grams of net carbs per day) or even a strict low carb diet, with less than 20 grams of net carbs per day.

What to drink

What drinks are good on a low carb diet? Water is perfect, and so is coffee or tea. Preferably don’t use sweeteners.

Recipes

Browse our over 1,000 delicious low carb recipes or head over to our 30-day low carb meal plan for inspiration. You can always find our recipes under “Recipes” in the top menu. Here are a few popular ones:

• The keto bread3g
• Whipped dairy-free low carb (Dalgona) coffee1g
• Keto pizza6g
• Keto Cobb salad with ranch dressing6g
• Keto cornbread1g
• Keto seed crackers1g
• Roasted chicken legs and cherry tomatoes with garlic butter10g
• Brussels sprouts with caramelized red onions8g
• Homemade chicken stock0.5g
• Keto gingerbread spice Dutch baby2g
• Baked celery root with gorgonzola13g
• Keto lamb sliders with feta cheese dressing5g
• Keto Fathead pizza8g
• Herb butter1g
• Keto thousand island dressing2g

Try to avoid

Here’s what you should not eat on low carb – foods full of sugar and starch. These foods are much higher in carbs.

The numbers represent grams of digestible carbs per 100 grams (3.5 ounces) of the food, unless otherwise noted.

How low carb is a low carb diet?

The lower your carbohydrate intake, the more powerful the effects may be on weight and blood sugar.

 For this reason, we recommend initially following the dietary advice fairly strictly. When you’re happy with your weight and health, you may carefully try eating more carbs if desired (although we find many people don’t want to).

Here are three examples of what a low carb meal can look like, depending on how many carbs you plan to eat per day:

Ketogenic 0-20 

Moderate 20-50 

Liberal 50-100 

A strict low carb diet is often called a keto or ketogenic diet. It’s not a no-carb diet, but it contains less than 20 grams of net carbs per day.

Ten low-carb diet tips

Many people find following a low-carb diet challenging, particularly at the beginning of the diet. The following low-carb diet tips might help people stick to their diet and may help them lose weight successfully.

1. Knowing what foods are low-carb

Low-carb foods include:

• lean meats, such as sirloin, chicken breast, or pork
• fish
• eggs
• leafy green vegetables
• cauliflower and broccoli
• nuts and seeds, including nut butter
• oils, such as coconut oil, olive oil, and rapeseed oil
• some fruit, such as apples, blueberries, and strawberries
• unsweetened dairy products including plain whole milk and plain Greek yogurt

2. Know the carb counts and serving sizes of foods

Most low carb diets only allow for 20 to 50 grams (g) of carbohydrates per day. Because of this, it is essential that people following low-carb diets choose foods that have a lower carb count but a high nutritional value per serving.

The foods in the quantities listed below all contain approximately 15 g of carbs:

• 1 tennis ball sized apple or orange
• 1 cup of berries
• 1 cup of melon cubes
• ½ medium banana
• 2 tablespoons of raisins
• 8 ounces of milk
• 6 ounces of plain yogurt
• ½ cup corn
• ½ cup peas
• ½ cup beans or legumes
• 1 small baked potato
• 1 slice of bread
• 1/3 cup of cooked rice

While the foods listed above all contain roughly equal amounts of carbohydrates, they are not all nutritionally equivalent. The dairy products on the list contain protein and vital nutrients, such as Vitamin D and calcium in addition to the carbohydrate content.

The fruit and vegetables also contain essential vitamins and minerals. Choosing whole-grain varieties of bread and rice will provide more nutrients than white varieties, even though the carb content is similar.

3. Make a meal plan

A meal plan can help make things easier.

Anyone trying to follow a low-carb diet could try mapping out their week and plan all meals before heading to the grocery store.

Planning meals in advance can help people stick to the diet.

Knowing what they are going to eat for lunch and dinner can help a person avoid making unhealthful food choices, such as stopping at a fast food restaurant.

4. Meal prep

Planning is one thing, but preparing meals ahead of time can also help. Meal prep can help a person:

• avoid making unhealthful food choices
• save time during busier times of the week
• save money

Some people like to prepare a week’s worth of breakfasts and lunches ahead of time and store the meals in containers, so they are convenient and ready to go. It is possible to freeze some meals too, meaning people can prepare even more food in advance.

Having lots of pre-prepared meals on hand can help people avoid choosing less healthful options.

Popular low-carb meals to prepare in advance include:

• egg muffins
• Greek yogurt bowls
• protein pancakes
• chicken lettuce wraps
• protein and vegetable stir fry with no rice

5. Carry low-carb snacks

Low-carb snack options for between meals include:

• hard boiled eggs
• unsweetened yogurt
• baby or regular carrots
• handful of nuts
• cheese

It is essential to regulate portion size of any snacks to avoid overeating.

6. Consider carb cycling

Carb cycling involves eating very low-carb foods for a set amount of days, followed by one day of eating higher carb meals. This helps the body avoid fat-burning plateaus that can develop after weeks of low-carb dieting.

Carb cycling is not for everyone, and anyone considering it should talk to their doctor or nutritionist first.

7. Not all carbs are created equal

Carbs come in different forms.

Simple carbs consist of easy to digest sugars. Refined and processed carbs, such as white sugar and white flour, are simple carbs.

People who are starting on a low-carb diet need to think about reducing their intake of refined and processed carbs. Avoiding these carbs will be beneficial for reaching an ideal weight and for health in general.

However, not all simple carbs are created equal. Fruits include fructose, which is a simple carb, but eating fruit is recommended in a low-carb diet, as it is loaded with nutrients and is a whole-food source of carbs.

Complex carbs take longer to digest than simple carbs, as they need to be broken down into a simpler form. Complex carbs are found in more nutrient-rich foods, such as beans, whole-grains, and fiber-rich fruits, such as bananas.

Complex carbs also have the added benefit of making a person feel full faster, which might prevent them from overeating. Complex carbs also make people feel full for longer, which might help them avoid snacking between meals.

8. Be aware of alternatives

Substituting low-carb or no-carb foods for high-carb foods can help reduce carb intake.

Some low-carb substitutions include:

• lettuce leaves instead of taco shells
• portobello mushroom caps instead of buns
• baked butternut squash fries
• eggplant lasagna
• cauliflower pizza crust
• spaghetti squash instead of noodles
• zucchini ribbons instead of pasta

9. Exercise appropriately

Exercise is an important part of overall health. People should avoid a sedentary lifestyle but refrain from excessive exercising.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)Trusted Source recommend that adults do moderate exercise for 150 minutes a week for a minimum 10 minutes at a time for moderate health benefits. For optimal health benefits, the CDC recommend 300 minutes of exercise. The CDC also suggest that people lift weights or do other strength training exercises to improve overall health.

Those on low-carb diets may want to avoid long periods of intense activity such as distance running. This is because people who are doing a form of exercise that requires extra endurance, such as marathon training, will need extra carbohydrates to fuel their bodies.

10. Use common sense

People should know about potential health risks before starting a low-carb diet.

Short-term health risks caused by a low-carb diet may include:

• cramping
• constipation
• palpitations
• high cholesterol
• headaches
• brain fog
• lack of energy
• nausea
• bad breath
• rash
• reduced athletic performance

Long-term health risks caused by a low-carb diet may include:

• nutritional deficiencies
• loss of bone density
• gastrointestinal problems

Some people should not follow a low-carb diet unless instructed to do so by a doctor. These groups of people include those with kidney disease and teenagers.

Not everyone will benefit from, or should even consider, a low-carb diet. Anyone thinking about doing a low-carb diet should speak with a doctor before starting.

Why follow a low-carb diet?

Many people follow low-carb diets on the basis that if the body does not receive extra carbohydrates, it will not store excess fat.

The idea, then, is that the body will burn some of the stored fat rather than the carbs, which will promote fat loss.

Research from 2003 in the New England Journal of Medicine found that people who followed a low-carb diet lost more weight than those on a low-fat diet after 6 months, but not after 12 months.

The study noted that “longer and larger studies are required to determine the long-term safety and efficacy of low-carbohydrate, high-protein, high-fat diets.”