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By David Barr
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Low carb diets are great for
fat loss and keeping it off, and they can also be used as
a modified muscle growth plan. Unfortunately many clients
only come to me only after they've been having problems for
some time. It's my job to not only figure out what the problem
is, but also develop a solution -the implementation of which
is all up to them.
Over the years there seems to
be one consistent issue with low carb diets and my hope is
that by discussing it here you can avoid the same pitfalls
as many of my clients.
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Go
Green To Lose
Low carb diets focus on the use of
fats and proteins for weight loss. In other words, carbs are avoided
for most of the week. The problem is that during this time, intake
of fruits and vegetables is often drastically reduced or even omitted
concomitant with the reduction in carbs. The result is a suboptimal
weight loss and unnecessary muscle atrophy.
After interviewing some of my athletes
it seems that there are two main reasons why this happens: 1) Misdirected
Focus 2) Intentional Avoidance. Determine which category you may
belong to and you'll find the resulting solution.
1)
Misdirected Focus
Some people get so caught up in the
idea of eating fats and proteins that they simply forget about anything
that doesn't fall into either category. Athletes who fall into this
category usually have a very tight rein on their specific macronutrient
intake, and subsequently their diet as a whole. Although this is
often a good thing, it can lead to unwarranted restriction. This
often plagues more advanced clients, who in spite of their tight
control are at a loss to understand why their performance suffers
to such a great extent.
2)
Intentional Avoidance
Most often a result of being new to
the diet game, many people specifically avoid fruits and vegetables
for fear of introducing unwanted carbohydrates into their diet.
Their fear coincides with a lack of information about which fruits
and vegetables to eat, as well as the potential benefits of adding
them to their diet. Their simple solution is to add key foods to
the category of "off limits" and thereby severely hamper
their adaptive progress.
The
Simple Solutions
The first thing to do to fix the problem
is to understand that fruits and vegetables are a key part of your
weight loss and performance diet. We'll go into more specific details
in an upcoming article, but for now this should be enough to get
you thinking -especially if you fall into the first category.
Moreover, we will discuss certain
food products that are low carb and micronutrient packed to optimize
your diet.
Either way you'll have no more excuses
to omit these foods and you'll feel the difference almost immediately!
Quick Tip: If you're new to
dieting it will be worthwhile to check out the short article on
3 Key Supplements You Should Be
Using
Until next time, raise your expectations.
Raise The Barr!
About The Author
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