Note: it’s probably a bad idea for anyone who exercises for more than 3-4 hours/week to do a low carb diet.  More than this and your body starts to require carbohydrates for fuel.  So, don’t go gung-ho for lo-carb if you’re seriously training for triathlons or another endurance sport event.

Low carb diets, for the most part, operate on two basic principles:

1. Eating fewer carbs forces your body to metabolize fat as an energy source.  This process allows for weight to be lost in a slightly more efficient manner.
2. Eating more protein and fat (and, to a certain degree, dietary fiber) helps you to get “full” faster.

In the initial phase of the diet (called “induction” in the Atkins Diet), the dieter cuts virtually all carbohydrates from his or her diet.  He or she is limited to just 20g/day of carbs, all of which come from leafy vegetables and a small amount of cheese.  No bread, no sugar, no starch.  In fact, the dieter will mostly be eating animal products (steak, fish, chicken, eggs, etc) with some vegetables also.

After this phase, the dieter gradually re-introduces certain carbohydrates back into his or her diet.  First to be re-introduced are certain vegetables such as carrots, followed by things like nuts, certain fruits and eventually certain grain products on a limited basis.  Weight loss will be slowed and diet will stabilize as well.

I’ve found that the greatest amount of focus is placed on the initial induction phase.  While this is understandable, as it’s the most drastic of the phases of the diet, it’s a misnomer to associate low carb diets entirely with the induction phase.

In reality, after the first two weeks and the gradual re-introduction of more “normal” foods into one’s diet, the food choices of a low carb dieter are really quite good: lots of fruits and vegetables, lean meats, certain dairy products and whole grains, and minimal starches/sweets.  This is a diet that anyone can sustain and enjoy indefinitely.

Again, serious athletes require larger quantities of carbohydrates to fuel their workouts.  However, if you’re not seriously training for an endurance sport event (such as a triathlon), a low carb diet is a relatively easy and sustainable way to lose weight and keep it off.