5 Reasons Why Your Low-Carb Diet Stopped Working

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5 Reasons Why Your Low-Carb Diet Stopped Working

(WellnessPursuits.com) – The low-carb revolution took American consumers by storm in the 1990’s and has managed to maintain a strong following. However, many people can’t maintain the diet for the long haul.

Instead of enjoying the benefits of what the low-carb diet promised, they discovered they weigh more now than before trying the diet. People also discovered that going off the diet and back on again, years later, didn’t produce the same results or took longer to get those same results.

If you’ve ever tried a low-carb diet, and you’ve discovered things aren’t working, here are 5 possible reasons why your low-carb diet is no longer working:

1. You may be losing muscle mass

Exercise and proper nutrition are the keys to losing and maintaining weight. Dieting alone is ineffective over an extended period of time, mostly because diets are too extreme to maintain. After dieting for so many years on a low-carb diet, you’re probably losing protein from your muscles.

With this muscle loss, it is much easier to put fat weight back on. That’s why, women over 40, who’ve dieted for years without exercise, can actually “see” on the scale how easy it is to gain weight. You need muscle to stay lean. Lifting weights create lean muscle and makes it harder for the weight to return, even when you eat things you shouldn’t.

Solution: You Need to Stretch and Lift

2. Your Fiber Intake Has Dropped

Completely cutting out carbs ultimately means eliminating fiber. High fiber vegetables, bread and some starchy vegetables, contain fiber that allows regularity in your system. But without these items in your diet, constipation can result.

Solution: You Need to Take Probiotics

3. You’re Stuck in a Yo-Yo Effect

Yo-yo dieting is when a person starts a diet, loses weight, but the weight comes back with fierceness after ending the diet. Six months later, the diet starts again, the results don’t come, so they quit, again.

Instead of becoming efficient at losing, the person becomes more efficient at gaining. Dieters are demoralized when the weight comes back. The best way to combat this is to find a plan that educates you on your eating habits. Moderation is better than a restrictive diet and eating low-carb in America is very difficult for the long term.

Solution: You Need to Eat a Balanced Diet With Small Portions

4. After age 40, Hormones Truly Run the Show

Besides gaining weight from failed dieting, you probably noticed that after a certain age, you weigh more now than you did ten years prior, although you may be in the same size. Thyroid issues, hyper- and hypothyroidism, exhaust the system due to imbalanced hormones.

And believe it or not, food in-take affects hormones. Although a low-carb diet can help regulate the production of insulin, if you can’t maintain the diet, then you’re probably hurting yourself.

Solution: Get Your Thyroid Checked by Your Doctor

5. You’re Still Eating Too Much Sugar

The best way to lose weight is to eliminate sugar from your diet altogether. Unfortunately, that is much harder since sugar appears in so many different forms. But instead of tackling an almost impossible task, gradually eliminate sugar from your diet, but allow yourself a dessert in moderation. This prevents being too strict and eventually binging on dessert.

Solution: Use Sugar as a Now and Then Reward Instead of a Daily Intake

Whatever your past experiences have been with low-carb diets, learning how to eat and what habits to change can go a long way. Seek the advice of a nutritionist or a support group so that you can reach your goals of weight loss and stop the low-carb yo-yo diet dance.

Here’s to Your Healthy Pursuits!

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