Reading an old issue of Men’s Health, I saw a weight-loss bulletin about low carb dieting.

It says: Lose fat, build muscle

The best combination for chiseling your ads: dumbbells and a fork. University of Connecticut researchers found that men who lifted weights and ate a low-carb diet lost 17 pounds of fat and gained 2 pounds of muscle in just 12 weeks. What’s more, the low-carb dieters cut twice as much lard as lifters who followed a low-fat plan. “Restricting carbohydrates forces your body to burn fat instead of sugar; while lifting spurs muscle growth,” says study author Jeff Colek, Ph.D.

After following a low-carb diet myself and living a very active lifestyle, I can attest to how great it is… for me. The reasons I eat a high-protein, low-carb diet are pretty simple.

  • Easy to stick with. Diets are different for everyone, but for me it is by far the best way for me to eat healthy consistantly.
  • Satisfied feeling. Meals high in protein leave you feeling full.
  • It’s natural. Candy, deserts, soda, and other highly processed foods full of empty carbs are unnatural. For the longest time, peoples’ diets were almost completely made up of meats, vegetables, and other foods that weren’t processed over and over again.
  • Low maintenance. You don’t have to constantly count the calories or fat grams of every meal.
  • Psychological effect. Low-carb diets show results fairly quickly. One of the first things to happen when low-carb dieting, is you start to shed water weight. Although this isn’t a lasting thing, immediate changes in how thin you look can help you to stick with the program. One reason many diets fail, is that people get impatient and quit when they don’t see results right away.
  • It works. Sticking to a high-protein, low-carb diet while living an active life, will help to build muscle, and make your body burn fat for energy instead of carbohydrates. The more muscle you build and maintain, the more fat you will burn.

Note: My diet consists largely of lean means, vegetables, yougurt, protein shakes, nuts and dairy products. When I say low-carb, to me that means somewhere in the ballpark of 100 carbs a day, while making sure I don’t eat sugars and processed carbohydrates. I believe the Atkins diet is too leinient as far as fat intake is concerned, and too restrictive on carbohydrate intake. Always do your own research, or consult a physician before starting a new diet plan.