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So you’ve decided to try the LCHF way of eating, this is great! Food is more than just something you eat when your hungry, bored or even celebrating a special event. Food is this amazing thing that helps nourish our bodies in many ways, from keeping your nails strong, creating healthy shiny hair, preventing cold and flu’s and helping maintain beautiful pimple free skin! If this sounds good to you then I suggest you keep reading…
LCHF FOR BEGINNERS – The Diet Doctor makes it easy to get your head around the LCHF way of eating. A low carbohydrate and high fat diet means that you eat fewer carbohydrates and plenty of good fats. 5% Carbs 25% Protein 70% Fat is the best place to start! It is always important to eat until you are satisfied and then stop, over a short time you should notice weight loss! Everybody is different so everyone’s carb intake varies, but Dr. Sarah explains how many carbs you should be eating in a simple and easy way – Watch this!
HOW TO TRACK YOUR CARBS
Download the My Fitness Pal Application, set you Goals–Nutritional Goals–Calories & Macronutrient Goals to 5% Carbs, 25% Protein & 70% Fat and track what you eat until you get your head around it!
HOW TO READ LABELS
When eating a low-carb lifestyle it is important to read labels, the general rule is
- if it’s 10g or less of total carbohydrates per 100g then this is good
- if it’s 5g or less of total carbohydrates per 100g then its fantastic!
The label will either say ‘Carbohydrate’ or ‘Total Carbohydrate’
This product has only 1.8g of carbs per 100g which is fantastic!
WHAT DO I EAT?
LCHF means that you will be eating a lot of fresh wholesome foods, and the following ‘Go Nuts’ list will hopefully make your journey simple. The following foods are between 0-5g of carbohydrates per 100g. The ‘Go Nuts’ list means that you try to eat only when your hungry and only until you feel full. It’s important to learn to listen to your body and not over or under eat! You’ll know if your doing right because you’ll find you only need to eat 2-3 times a day, you wont need to snack, and your portion sizes tend to decrease. Make sure you have a moderate amount of protein, combined with plenty at fat and topped up with vegetables.
FOODS TO BE EATEN IN MODERATION!
The ‘Go Easy’ list is a variety of food that must be eaten in moderation as the carbohydrates vary between 5-25g per 100g. If you indulge in any of these foods you may not achieve you goals. Be sure to calculate your carbs each meal to keep track of your total carb intake, and make sure you stay on track. Ensure you eat more foods from the ‘Go Nuts’ list and only pick from this list, especially in the initial stages of starting the LCHF way of eating.
WHAT SHOULDN’T I BE EATING?
The reasoning as to why we should avoid the foods outlined on the ‘Avoid List’ is because they are either high in carbohydrates or toxic to our bodies. These products will affect your goals in a negative way so if you do have these products restrict the amount you have and eat them once in a blue moon!
ANY PRE-PACKAGED PRODUCTS WITH A USE-BY-DATE THAT EXPIRES WITHIN 2 WEEKS!
LCHF RULES
- Don’t lie to yourself – Eating carbs indicated on the ‘avoid list’ can be unfavourable to your goals and body.
- Be smart – products will advertise as being low-carb and no sugar when there actually not! Be sure to read the all labels looking for hidden carbs (sugar, sweeteners, alcohols, and aim for between 0-10g of carbs per 100g.
- Eat enough fat – don’t be scared of fat, fat is good for you and will keep you fuller for longer, prevent hunger, and provide you with ongoing energy.
- Don’t eat too much protein – this is not a high protein way of eating, so make sure to calculate the recommended amount for your body type and lifestyle.
- Eat enough vegetables – vegetables are high in fiber and very nutritious so eat your vegetables with most meals.
- Don’t over or under eat – you must listen to your body and eat until your comfortably full.
- Monitor dairy intake – different dairy products contain different levels of carbs and some people don’t process them as efficiently as other, so if you find your weight loss has hit a plateau or your gaining weight reconsider how much dairy your having.
- Restrict fruit and nuts – fruit in made-up of the ‘good sugar’ fructose, which is okay in moderation and berries such as raspberries, strawberries and blueberries, are your best options. Nuts can be high in carbs too, so be sure to check carb content and eat in moderation.
- Don’t over or under eat – If you eat a well-balance, appropriately portioned sized meal of fat, protein and vegetables there is no reason why you should be hungry or over-full, and only require 2-3 meals per day.
- Don’t snack – Initially when first changing to the LCHF way of eating snacking is common, as your trying to compensate for not eating carbs. Be sure to increase your fat intake. Once your body becomes ‘fat adapted’ you should find that you don’t need to snack much or at all!
- Never give up!
STILL NOT LOSING WEIGHT?
If you are finding that you are plateauing with your weight loss journey or just can’t seem to lose weight eating LCHF then check out what Andreas Eenfeldt, MD, has to say about tweaking your LCHF way of eating!
WHAT IS A CARB?
A carb is essentially anything that isn’t fat or protein, but even these food sources contain small amounts of carbs. Carbs are all the different sugars, fruit, vegetables, grains, nuts and seeds. When carbs are processed in the body they are converted into glucose causing an insulin response. The aim of low-carb diet is to keep the insulin response to a minimum, as insulin is an inflammatory hormone and a fat-storing hormone. Insulin initially turns glucose into energy, but when there is any excess glucose in the bloodstream it gets stored as fat.
A low-carb intake = low insulin levels / Maintaining stable low insulin levels assists to burn fat stores
HOW TO WORK OUT NET CARBS?
Total Carbohydrate 7.2g – Fiber 4.5g = Net Carbs 2.7g
