Slow Carb Diet Why We Love And You Should, Too!

Many people who are overweight and obese are sharing the common sentiment on how to reduce some extra pounds. The good thing is that there are ways that can help to ease the struggle of losing weight. Diet, exercises and keeping a healthy lifestyle play significant role to succeed in this quest.

To address the concern of losing weight, many diet plans are available to choose from. Each of them claims to provide the best results. But, before making your choice, you should take time doing your research. This will help you find the one that will best suit to your needs.

What is The Slow Carb Diet?

The Slow Carb Diet is one of the diet programs introduced. The man behind this diet program is Tim Ferris. He had introduced and used Slow Carb Diet in his bestseller 4HB or The Four Hour Body. The main goal of this diet program is to encourage individuals to eat foods that are low in GI to promote weight loss.

It emphasizes staying away from harmful carbs such as grains and sugars. Instead, you should consume vegetables, legumes and meats. Following this diet program helps in maintaining low insulin levels.

The Slow Carb Diet implements 5 rules that every dieter must follow. This will guarantee success including the following:

1. Refrain from “white” carbohydrates – If you want to succeed in losing weight, you must avoid eating foods that contain “white” carbohydrates. You should avoid those that contain grains.
2. Consume the same few meals repeatedly – The Slow Carb Diet program isn’t that strict than other programs. It’s because the plan is easier to follow. It allows the dieter to choose the foods he or she likes most (provided that the foods are in the list).
3. Avoid drinking calories – Most beverages contain higher calories and provide lesser nutritional value.
4. Reduce fruit consumption – Fruit is healthy and it’s ideal for healthy person. But, if you’re overweight, you must reduce or don’t eat fruit as it will hamper your goal of losing weight. Likewise, you should also reduce consumption of sweet potatoes. They have high content of carb. It prevents your body to burn fat.
5. Take one cheat day – The good thing about the Slow Carb Diet is that it allows one cheat day. You can eat anything that you want without worrying about gaining weight back.

Who is the Slow Carb Diet Best For?

The Slow Carb Diet is for those who want to lose weight by eating cleaner to feel better. This diet program is also ideal for those looking for a simple eating plan. Dieters need to follow some rules persistently without doing major changes in lifestyle.

If you want to lose lots of pounds, but you don’t have time to cook healthy food, then this diet program seems to be the best for you. All you have to do is to follow the rules and the food list, there’s nothing to worry about and expect for better results.

When starting this diet plan, you should change gradually. Start with your breakfast by eating at least 30g of protein alone 30 minutes after waking up. The best way to ensure success in this program is to ensure cutting on grains. These include pasta, bread, cereal and the likes as well as sugar.

This is also perfect for busy people as there are lots of foods listed in the 4HB that you can made easily. This makes sense of stocking up in your kitchen eggs, canned tuna, canned beans, frozen veggies and spinach leaves.

Who is the Slow Carb Diet not as good for?

The Slow Carb Diet entails less calorie intake. It’s not recommended for higher level athletes. People having specific health issues or nutritional issues should not take the slow carb diet.

It’s because this diet program is based on generalized diet. The main goal is to lose weight easily and quickly for long term.

Slow Carb Diet Meal Plan

Meal planning is very easy when following the Slow Carb Diet. All you have to do is to pick the foods listed in 4HB and create your own meal. You can make a simple or extravagant meal as you like if it follows the rules.

Make sure that each meal includes vegetable, legume and protein and good fats as well. Here’s a sample of meal plan that you can follow:

Breakfast

Breakfast meal must always have 30g of protein. Some meal ideas for breakfast include:

1. Microwaved mixed vegetables, ½ cup black beans, one whole egg and scrambled egg whites
2. 3 servings of broccoli or spinach frittata (30g)
3. 3 slices of bacon (13g) and 3 eggs (16g)
4. Whey protein smoothie or shake with 30g of protein powder

Caffeine is good but it should be unsweetened without cream or milk. You can drink caffeinated soda, but limited to one can a day.

Lunch and dinner

Again, your lunch and dinner must be a combination of vegetables and protein. If you’re a busy person, you can cook in bulk and refrigerate individual serving sizes that you can consume for at least two days. Here are some meal ideas:

1. Roasted chicken and mixed vegetables
2. Mustard-crusted pork loin with mushrooms and spinach
3. Steak with asparagus and ghee or green beans
4. Homemade burrito bowl that include leftover chicken breast, guacamole, salsa and black beans
5. Tunafish with salsa or mustard along with fresh spinach salad
6. Bean and beef chili
7. Vegetable and meat curry
8. Lentil stew

Beverage

It is suggested to drink plenty of water. If you’ll drink other beverages make sure that they have zero calories. The following beverages are good alternatives:

1. Unsweetened tea
2. Coffee with cinnamon
3. Lemonade or flavored water with vegetables
4. Red wine (1 to 2 glasses a day)
5. Diet soda (1 can per day)

Slow Carb Diet Food List

As stated above, the slow Carb Diet isn’t strict as compared to other diet programs. You can eat as much as you want all the foods listed or mix and match to make your meal. Read Calories in Fruits and Vegetables

Proteins

• 1 or 2 eggs/ egg whites
• Chicken breast or thigh
• Beef
• Fish ( salmon, halibut, tilapia)
• Pork
• Oyster, crab, shellfish

Legumes

• Lentils
• Pinto beans, black beans, soy beans and red beans

Vegetables

• Mixed vegetables
• Spinach, kale, chard, collards
• Cabbages
• Broccoli, cauliflower
• Asparagus
• Peas
• Green beans

Checkout: Top 10 Slow Carb Diet Recipes

Considering the food listed for Slow Carb Diet, you can ensure that you’re getting the right food and nutrition needed by your body. Make sure to stick to the recommended food list during the entire course of the diet program.

Slow Carb Diet Results

People who have been following the Slow Carb Diet are giving positive reviews about the diet program. They are satisfied about the results. They achieve the body weight and size that they want to have.

Following this diet program improves both physically and mentally. Some of the clear results are as follows:

• Better physique – Combining Slow Carb Diet with exercise can improve your physique. It makes your muscle more toned and significantly healthier.
• Improved skin – Cutting out sweets and carbs can help in improving your skin. If you have some skin problems, taking slow carb can pave away skin issues. It will make you more confident to show some skin.
• Feel energized and satiated – Starting your day with slow carb meal will make you more energetic. It won’t make you feel hungry as you’ll eat protein-packed and nutritious food every 4 hours.
• Improved mood – Consuming healthy foods such as those recommended by slow carb diet can make a big difference in your mood. It will make you more at ease, relaxed and approachable. It will also enhance your focus and concentration. Thus, makes you as responsible and productive as you would be.
• Sound sleep – The Slow Carb Diet can make your general well being better as you can have sound sleep.

Just like any other diet programs, the Slow Carb Diet won’t give the best results unless you’ll do it with self-discipline and strong determination. Keep in mind that it might be difficult during the first week of the program.

The first thing that a dieter must do is to change habits and lifestyle particularly the eating habits. You should not be hard on yourself when following this diet program. It does not require you to be perfect. As long as you’re good on following the meal plan you can expect that it will work for you.

While taking the Slow Carb Diet there’s no need to work out too much. In fact, 80% of your body weight is determined by the food you eat and 20% by exercise. As your body is getting the right amount of nutrition it needs every day, you can expect achieving the best results.

If this diet program works best to other people, it may also work to you. To ensure your safety, you must consult first your health care provider before starting the Slow Carb Diet.