There is nothing worse than trying really, really hard to achieve something only to find that your efforts appear to be doing more harm than good. For a number of individuals this can be the experience when following a low carb diet.
While the diet appeared to work wonders initially, over time weight loss slows dramatically to the point you may even be gaining weight. So how can this even happen and what can you do to avoid it?
A low carb diet refers to a dietary regime in which significantly less total carbohydrate than a typical diet and generally eliminates high carb foods such as bread, rice, cereal, pasta, legumes, fruits, starchy vegetables and sugars altogether. The result is a diet that is 40-50 per cent protein, 20-40 per cent fat, 10-20 per cent carbs and features meals such as an omelette or protein shake for breakfast, tuna salad for lunch and meat and vegetables for dinner.
A low carb diet supports weight loss, especially in the beginning as it results in the body rapidly depleting its glycogen stores to fuel the brain and the liver with glucose. Here, over a three-five day period, as much as five-seven kilos of weight (mostly fluid) can be lost and then depending on how much extra weight you have to lose, weight losses of one-two kilos each week will be achieved as the body readjusts to not having glucose readily available as its primary fuel.
Now this is where things can get tricky - if your low carb diet is 1) low enough in carbohydrates to induce ketosis ( less than 20-50 grams of carbs or less than 10-20 per cent of calorie intake) and 2) also low enough in calories overall, this rapid weight loss will continue, especially if you have large amounts of weight to lose.
On the other hand, if you 1) are eating too many carbs or calories to achieve ketosis or 2) do not have a lot of body fat to lose (less than five kilos) or 3) are exercising a lot, weight loss will slow. If you are eating too many calories from protein and fat, even if your diet is low carb, you could even be gaining weight.
Achieving continual weight loss on a low carb diet requires a finely tuned balance.
First of all you need to ensure you are achieving ketosis by actively monitoring your overall carbohydrate and calorie intake. Or, if you are not keen to follow a keto diet rather keep your overall carb intake low, you will then need to adjust your carb and calorie intake based on your requirements and what balance you need to achieve weight loss on a diet with 20-40 per cent carbs.
This means that if you carb intake is only 20-30 per cent or 50-80g of your calorie intake, you may actually need a little more to induce weight loss, especially if you are exercising. The reason for this is when an active muscle is not being fueled by ketones, but also not getting enough carbohydrate it will actively reduce metabolic rate to compensate for the lack of carbs.
It can explain what happens to those who have lost weight on a low carb diet initially, but gradually regained it even though they are eating the same amount. It is suggested that metabolic rate is slowing over time due to an inadequate intake of carbohydrate.
The other reason you may find that you are gaining weight on a low carb diet is if you are simply compensating by eating extra fats and proteins. Often dieters will compensate for the lack of bread, fruit, potato and grains on their plates by eating larger portions of meat, chicken or fish or by adding extra high fat foods such as dressings, avocado and cheese to their meals. Overall this simply adds a whole lot of extra calories and even if your diet is low in carbs, if it is too high in calories you will gain weight.
Like any diet, low carb diets can and do work, when they have the right amount of carbs and calories init for that person. This means if you are gaining weight on your low carb diet, it needs some adjusting.