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Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Why Low Carb Diets Work

Dieting, mainly cutting carbs and/or cals, is how you lose weight. The body changes carbohydrates into glucose when ingested. The glucose is used to fuel the body and it's organs. When you don't use all of this glucose it is converted to storage as glycogen and stored in the body for later use. When too much glycogen is stored in the body, it starts to convert to fat. So how do you lose fat? It's simple, deplete the body of its energy stores. By remaining active and cutting down on carbs your body will have to tap into its stores of glycogen to fuel the body. When the glycogen stores run out the body then taps into fat and proteins to fuel the body. Doing this all at once can be dangerous so I advise to slowly deplete the carbs. Think of Carbohydrates as a 12 oz glass of water. Everyday you drink (exercise) 2oz of water. Everyday you refill it (eating carbs) by 1oz. After about two weeks the glass(Carb stores in the body) will be empty. That is when you start tapping into fat stores for fuel. Some people advise against this method but in my experience it is the most simple and effective method. As long as the output is greater than the input weight loss is inevitable. Another method is calorie counting. If you burn more calories than you eat then eventually you will start to lose weight. As soon as you get to your goal all you have to do is maintain your exercise regimen and you can loosen up on the diet. Some will claim that this method will result in the body breaking down muscle tissue for energy. This is true to a certain extent, but the amount of fat lost compared to the amount of muscle lost is what makes it worth it. Getting more cut will make you look like you have more muscle anyway.