Over the past four weeks, in an effort to break through a fat loss plateau, I endeavored into the world of low carb dieting via the Men’s Health TNT Diet.  I’ve dabbled in the low carb world a few years back.  I tried the Atkins diet back in the “day” (the 300 lb day).  I made it one week BUT that was the longest I’d actually stuck to any diet.  That at least gave me something to hang my hat on.

You may or may not be familiar with the theory behind low carb dieting so I will attempt to explain it in plain English…or at least in my Georgia version of plain English.  Your body has a pecking order for burning calories.   Before it will turn to burning fat, it will first turn to your “glycogen stores”.  Your body essentially does three things when you consume carbohydrates: 1.) it burns them immediately for fuel  2.) it stores them as glycogen in your liver and muscles or 3.) if the glycogen stores are full, it is stored in your fat cells.

So what happens when you restrict the carbs?   Simply put, if your glycogen stores are depleted, your body has to use something for fuel so it turns to fat.  It enters a state of Ketosis (hence the incredibly clever title of this post) where fat is the main source of energy.  Ketosis is caused by the secretion of ketones from the liver which occurs when fat is burned for energy. 

There are many (conflicting) studies out there on safety of low carb diets and its effect on your body.  However, for the purpose of this post and for the sake of not making this a book, I’ll stick to the effectiveness of a low carb diet and what you can expect in an effort to help you decide if it is right for you.

Effectiveness of a Low-Carb Diet

There is no denying the effectiveness portion of a low carb diet.  It is a fact that if you restrict your intake of carbohydrates to the point of ketosis, you will lose weight.  Most people that are overweight will experience a rapid weight loss.  Many bodybuilders turn to low carb diets to burn as much fat as possible in the days leading up to shows.  It is an unarguable fact that you will burn fat when you enter ketosis.  That is, after all, the definition of ketosis as shown above.

But what of it’s long term effectiveness?  After all, rapid weight loss is often discouraged because it is often seen as unsustainable.  This, in my opinion, is the most effective argument against low-carb dieting.  Eliminating most of the carbohydrates from your diet is difficult for anyone.  As with any other “diet”, to sustain the losses, it needs to become a lifestyle.  I’m not saying that you can’t introduce carbohydrates back into your diet eventually but, just as with going off of any diet, it has to be done “right”.  You can’t breathe a sigh of relief and start wolfing down steakhouse hamburgers and fries.  Nope, it can’t happen.  If it does, you will probably end up worse than if you’d never went on a diet to begin with.  Again, this is the same with any diet so why is this argument used more with low carbohydrate diets?

It’s really simple.  We have conditioned ourselves to become carb dependent.  When we remove carbs from our diet, our bodies don’t know what to do.  It panics and causes a “craving” for carbs.  Some draw similarities between your body’s carb craving to starvation mode.  The cravings make it difficult to sustain the lifestyle over a long period of time for most people.  When people start a low carb diet and don’t stick to it, they experience both rapid weight loss and rapid weight gain.  This gives the appearance that low carb diets are the reason for both the loss and the gain when, in reality, the diet is only the reason for the loss.  Human nature is the reason for the rapid gain.

My Recent Low Carb Experience

Over the last three years, I have been eating relatively clean.  I rarely indulged in starchy foods and treated them as a treat and not a staple.  This made the transition for me fairly easy…much easier than when I attempted the Atkins a few years ago.  I didn’t really have the carb dependence that many have and therefore didn’t experience unbearable cravings.  As can be expected though, I did experience some noticeable physical reactions.  Because I’ve done my research, I knew that the physical reactions would pass within the first week so I was able to push through.  I was lethargic and I felt like my thinking was muddled.  I was generally grumpy and unpleasant.  I just wasn’t a lot of fun for the first 3-4 days.  But, I persisted.

What made it difficult for me is that I didn’t really experience the weight loss I expected during that first week.  I was limiting my carb intake to about 40 grams per day.  I reasoned it out that my body was still getting adjusted to burning fat and decided to stick it out.

The second week, I started seeing the scales move.  Not dramatically, but down two pounds.  The next week, down two more pounds, and the fourth week, down 4 pounds.  That brings my total weight loss for the first month to about 8 pounds.  I knew going in that I’m not starting from a point of needing to drop a ton of weight so I wasn’t expecting the rapid weight loss most experience.  This was exactly the rate of weight loss I was expecting and I’m more than happy with it!

But, is the lifestyle sustainable?  I’m going to be honest.  It really isn’t easy when you start but it does get easier.  I don’t think I’m at a point where I can say I plan to remain this carb restrictive over the long haul but I do feel like I can intelligently re-introduce more carbs into my diet without destroying the progress I’ve made so far.  Most of the carb cravings are gone and I feel like I’ve almost broken the dependency.  But, for now, it’s business as usual:  more meat, more eggs, more butter…more everything protein and fat.

But is it right for your situation?

At this point, I am going to give you my opinion.  No links to other articles.  Pure, unadulterated Dave opinion. 

First and foremost, if you don’t like meat, cheese, and eggs, don’t even try it.  However, if you do, and you are very overweight, I would still say that this isn’t the optimal way to start if you are looking for long term weight loss. 

Sure, it is effective and you can drop a ton of weight in a hurry.  However, I feel that to start with an extremely carb restrictive diet, it is to drastic of a lifestyle change for most people and it wouldn’t set you up for long term success.  Not only would you be trying to break your carb dependency but you’d also be fighting old habits.  You can’t just grab a burger for lunch or drink a few beers with the guys after work.  You can’t have that usual bowl of ice cream after dinner.  Your meals and snacks will have to be meticulously planned and you’ll have to be creative with it.  Trust me, beef jerky and string cheese will get old. 

Another issue that many fail to recognize is the impact your diet will have on your family…or the impact your family’s diet will have on you.  When I first started four weeks ago, my wife wanted to start with me.  She made it through about a day and a half before she threw in the towel.  My kids, of course, didn’t go on the diet to begin with.  Because none of them are eating low-carb, the pantry is full of temptations and, damn, those cookies look good!  When you take a calorie restrictive approach, it is mostly about portion control and you have a wider variety of foods to choose from and it limits the impact your family’s eating habits have on your progress.

So, my advice, take it or leave it, is to first work to break your dependency on simple carbohydrates through a caloric deficit diet.  Make that your lifestyle before attempting a low carb diet.  This will set you up for a greater chance of success in the long run.

Do you have any suggestions or comments?  Please leave them in the comments below.