Low carb diet?

Question
QUESTION: I'm trying to lose weight. I'm 18. Female, 4ft 10in and i weigh 140. about 50% body fat. I did some research and found that low carb diets cause ketosis. Is that what I'm suppose to be aiming for? I'm not sure what to look for on lables, how to add things up, how to measure stuff. Etc. I was just wondering how I should start a low carb diet. I tried a low calorie diet, lost ten pounds. But, i stayed there. I didnt lose any more weight. can you help me please?Thanks.

ANSWER: Hi Sarah...

I'm excited for you to take the first step of looking into low carb diets! There are several low carb diets that you can follow, I would recommend you do some investigating at sites like:

http://carbstation.com

and

http://www.lowcarb.ca/atkins-diet-and-low-carb-plans/


In general, you will be restricting daily net carbs to a certain level, the level is determined by the various plans. On Atkins, one of the more popular plans, you consume less than 20 grams of net carbs per day for the first 2 weeks called "induction". After this 2 weeks you increase carb intake by consuming more vegetables.


As far as what to look for on labels...You will want to look at total carbohydrates and then subtract dietary fiber grams. This will give you net carbs. For instance, flax meal is 4 grams of carbohydrates and 4 grams of dietary fiber, this would mean there are 0 net carbs in flaxmeal.

Regarding Ketosis, it is really a byproduct of the diet, you don't really need to be concerned with it. Ketosis is a state your body goes into when you restrict carbohydrates and your body begins breaking down fat.

Like any diet, you will lose weight quickly in the beginning and then slow or even stop for a period of time, you just have to stick through the slow times until weight loss picks back up.

Good luck!

Dan





---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: I'm not sure how to measure the grams of carbs in vegtables. I dont eat many. The only ones i will eat are spicy ones, like red,green and yellow bell peppers. Do you know how i would measure it? most of the stuff i find is 1/2 a cup is x carbs. But, how do i measure a cup? Chop it up? I'm kind of trying the atkins diet. Which is 2-3 cups of veg per day. But stay at 12-20 carbs. Well, that many cups may end up going over the carb limit. My goal is just ketosis. Getting there, and keeping track of everything, and measureing everything, is my problem right now. Thanks!

Answer
Sarah,

I would recommend the website below to look up whole veggies, I have it linked directly to bell peppers. You can choose, cups, or whole vegetables, very useful:

http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/vegetables-and-vegetable-products/2536/2


Thanks,
Dan

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