Stumbling on Your Low-Carb Eating Plan? Here’s How to Find Success by Using the Back Door

Stumbling on Your Low-Carb Eating Plan? Here’s How to Find Success by Using the Back Door

Questions??

Find Low Carb Success Going Through the Back Door

Most folks who start a low-carb eating plan, begin by walking through the front door. They read the book, study the first phase of Induction thoroughly, and then just do it. Some throw out, or give away, all of the high-carb items in the house, stock the refrigerator and cupboards with low-carb foods, and map out a solid plan of action for emergencies.

Others take a more haphazard approach. They read the book, but skip over the boring information to get to the food list and rules. They don’t much care how low carb works, or why, they just want to know what to eat, and what not too. They may, or may not stock up on allowable foods, and they may, or may not think about what to do if they find themselves in a tight situation.

Both dieting styles can lead to problems sticking to a new diet, because no matter what your degree of motivation, switching to a low-carb eating style brings drastic change. Initially, you might have enough determination to get you through the first few weeks while your body busies itself switching from predominantly burning glucose to burning fats. You might even have enough strength to wait it out until the body understands that you want the brain to burn ketones for its fuel. But that doesn’t hold true for everyone.

When excess hunger and cravings arise, some choose to stuff their mouths with more fats and protein. Some choose to ignore what their mind tells them, and continue eating normal-sized portions until the craving goes away. And some cave into that plate of homemade chocolate chip cookies (or that slice of bread, or scoop of ice cream, or whatever their carbohydrate of choice) because they needed them to ease the migraine, or the nausea. Or because unconsciously, they didn’t wake up until it was too late.

Basic theories vary, but most believe cravings come from: 

• detoxing from carbohydrates or sugar
• wheat or sugar withdrawal
• erratic or quickly falling blood sugar levels
• high insulin levels
• liver glycogen stores getting too low

The bottom line? It doesn’t really matter why you have trouble sticking to plan. Whatever the truth, that knowledge doesn’t keep your hand from reaching out for those cookies and shoving them into your mouth. It really doesn’t. So, if you keep finding yourself cheating on Induction, or if you’ve been following a low-carb eating plan for awhile but keep stumbling – take heart. An easier way exists to work around the problem than trying to fight against your will.

How Sensory Integration Affects a Low-Carb Eating Plan

Your first or second time around the block, burning fat on a low-carb diet comes easier and quicker than it will for those who pop in and out for years. And yes, I’m talking about the One Golden Shot Theory. That theory holds true, but not for the reason most people think. Nor are the consequences impossible to overcome, for most.

All behavior results from sensory integration that takes place within the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord). As part of that integration process, the brain interprets the sensory data it receives, organizes a reaction, and then commands the body to carry out the plan. This reaction takes only a second or two, and occurs at the unconscious level. It makes change difficult. The body literally fights for survival.

A low-carb diet places the body in survival mode. So everything you think and do unfolds due to the alternative energy pathway (starvation) called into play when carbohydrates, and thus glucose, severely and suddenly drop, as they do during Induction.

If new to low carb, the body won’t have experience burning ketones for fuel, so it won’t know how many you’ll need. As a result, many partially burned ketones flush out of the body -- if you drink enough water. But if not new to low-carb eating, and your body knows a ketone is the perfect fuel for the brain, it will remember how many ketones it takes to replace the missing glucose, and you won’t overproduce them.

However, you will still have to suffer through the adaption process. This means, the body and mind will most likely fight harder, since you caved in to its desires before, each time you returned to a higher carb diet.

Entering a Low-Carb Diet Through the Back Door

The hindbrain is the first part of the brain to develop. It controls our unconscious body functions like heartbeat, breathing, and digestion. When you enter a low-carb diet, and you restrict the body’s fuel source, this hindbrain’s survival instinct kicks into high gear. It literally believes you are starving, so it will do whatever it has to, to make sure the body survives the famine.

When you drastically cut carbs, you bring that survival instinct to life. And when you expose your senses to smells, pictures, or imaginative images of food you miss, the central nervous system recognizes those smells and images as food and cranks up your desire to eat.

A backdoor approach slowly introduces the mind and body to a low-carb eating plan. It doesn’t do that by dropping carbohydrate consumption to a mere 20 grams per day, and shocking the body into ketosis for survival, but by gently correctly the energy imbalance that caused your body to store excess carbohydrates as fat.

According to Dr. Eades (author of The Protein Power Lifeplan), the body needs about 200 grams of carbohydrate per day, to meet the needs of the brain and other glucose-dependent tissues. How much it needs exactly differs from person to person, depending on activity level, metabolic rate, and body size. Most nutritional experts recommend a dietary approach that consists of about 50% of calories in carbohydrates. At 4 calories per gram, however, the 200 or so the body needs would only come in at 800 calories – that’s less than half.

Most individuals not following a low-carb regimen eat about 300 to 400 grams of carbohydrate a day, or even more. While it takes a little less than 100 grams to get into the state of ketosis, entering ketosis is not the goal of using a backdoor approach. It’s to begin making changes in that direction. So pick a comfortable carbohydrate level to begin. Whether you choose 200 grams, 150, 100, or 60 doesn’t matter. Just make it less than you current eat.   

Give yourself a month or two at that level to adjust, and then begin taking steps to lower the carbohydrate level, again…and again…for as long as it takes. How much lower? And how quickly? That depends. A backwards approach doesn’t require the dieter to go down to Induction levels, ever, but to slowly incorporate carbohydrate restriction until you reach the level of carbs that allows you to lose weight. The back door takes a low-carb diet and actually puts it into practice, in reverse. You travel down the carb ladder (if so inclined) rather than up.

By following a low-carb eating plan backwards, you avoid shocking the body, and give yourself time to adjust to giving up your favorite carbohydrates (perhaps even one at a time). You also give yourself more time to find healthy and satisfying ways to replace them. In addition, you never have to suffer through the initial deprivation that has so far been working against you.

Granted, this describes a slower approach, and not for everyone. But for those who can’t seem to make it through Induction, or those who keep stumbling because you can’t give up your favorite treats all at once, knocking on the backdoor can offer a chance to make your weight-loss goals become a reality, rather than just a dream.


*Photo by Roger Ward

Are You Making One of These Two Low-Carb Diet Mistakes?

Are You Making One of These Two Low-Carb Diet Mistakes?

Questions??

A low-carb diet is an effective, but highly restrictive, weight-loss plan. It works well when you follow the rules. If you waltz into the room thinking you can do your own thing without having read and studied any of the weight-loss plans, you’ll probably find yourself asking, “Am I doing low carb right?” A dead giveaway that you aren’t.

However, if you’ve been carefully following one of the low-carb programs, and weight loss has slowed, or stopped, you might want to check and see if you’ve been making one of these low-carb mistakes.   

Where Are Your Carbs Coming From?

Most individuals enter the Induction phase on a diet-high. Motivation is strong. The weight loss you experience from losing the glycogen needed to get you into ketosis keeps you pumped. Motivated by the new lack in cravings and sense of well-being, low-carb diet mistakes are few. You stick to the rules, start experimenting with new foods and recipes, and make the decision that this low carb stuff is going to be a lifestyle change – not just another diet.

But lifestyle changes don’t come that easy. Like anything else, even with a rock-solid foundation, we can reach a point where we start to slip back into our old ways of doing things. For some, that means giving ourselves permission to cheat once in a while. But for others, the tendency surfaces by trying to recreate the diet that got us fat in the first place – but from a low-carb perspective.

While there’s nothing wrong with attempting to low carb a favorite recipe or holiday treat, it’s easy to slip away from Dr. Atkins’ caution when moving into the Ongoing Weight Loss phase. “If you have decided to move to phase two, I want to remind you not to regard it as a time to cut loose and undo all of the good work you have just completed,” Atkins writes. Pretty much common sense. But then he adds that phase two is “very similar to Induction in that you will continue to derive the majority of your carbohydrates from vegetables low in carbs.”

While the carbohydrate ladder allows later additions of nuts and berries, phase two doesn’t lift most of the restrictions given for Induction. These daily limits are:

• cheese (3-4 oz)
• heavy cream (2-3 tbsp)
• sugar substitutes (2-3 servings, counted as 1 gram of carbohydrate each)
• salad dressings (without sugar, and no more than 2 grams of carbohydrate per 1 tbsp serving)
• spices (without added sugar)
• lemon juice (2-3 tbsp per day)
• olives (20)
• sour cream (1 oz – that’s 2 tbsp)
• avocado (1/2)

Dr. Atkins also cautioned against using too many low-carb products. While he did mention that convenience foods were an option for when “you are unable to find appropriate food, can’t take time for a meal or need a quick snack,” he also warned to watch out for carbohydrate counts. Far too many products today, like low-carb breads, tortillas, and pastas, or low-carb shakes and bars have hidden carbs or digest exactly like the high-carb products they replace.

In addition, if you have wheat sensitivities, be extra careful with what you spend your carbs on, because most low-carb products are loaded with wheat protein. The same is true for many favorites like soy sauce. Also, keep in mind that some whole grains like soy flour and uncertified gluten-free oatmeal (which many low-carb bakers grind into flour) are also highly contaminated with wheat.

Are You Counting Your Carbohydrates?

Following a low-carb diet, rather than a traditional low-fat low-calorie plan, doesn’t get you out of having to play the numbers game. Do you know what your Critical Carbohydrate Level for Losing (CCLL) is? According to Dr. Atkins, knowing that number and “counting grams of carbohydrate is truly your responsibility. If you don’t count you could get into trouble.”

The idea behind the Atkins diet, or Protein Power, or any number of other low-carb plans is that your rate of fat loss is in direct proportion to the amount of carbs you eat. Knowing your CCLL, and staying at or below that number (or whatever level of carbs and protein The Protein Power Lifeplan assigns you) is like a safety net. That’s a little less than the amount of starch your body can deal with on a daily basis without having to store it as glycogen, or body fat if glycogen stores are full. Go above that number, and your weight loss will stall.

That’s pretty much what the carb ladder is all about too. Helping you make the best choice for whatever condition your current metabolism is in.

But too many times, we think we know better and we do something that sits outside the rules. Sometimes we get away with it, like eating low-carb tortillas, pasta, and bread way before step nine on the ladder. Or we stick to eating just allowable foods without actually counting the amount of carbs we are eating each day. If we’re lucky, we will continue to lose weight just fine. But sometimes we don’t. Sometimes those little inconsistencies and mistakes catch up with us, and our weight loss stalls.

Get Back on Track

When that happens, step one is always to get back to counting carbohydrates. After which it’s a good idea to examine closely where those carbs are coming from. It’s easy to get lax and stop reading labels, allowing a little sugar or high fructose corn syrup to slip into our diet through a store-purchased salad dressing. It’s also easy to forget what level of the carb ladder we’re on – when see others eating low-carb pasta and continuing to lose weight. And it’s even easier to devote ourselves to low-carb foods and ingredients than it is to drag out the measuring spoons and cups to find out exactly how many carbs we’re eating.

That’s because, when it comes to fat loss and staying on plan, most of the time, we are our own worst enemy. However, if we want to reach our weight-loss goals, we have to be willing to take a good look at ourselves, our current lifestyle, and weed out any low-carb diet mistakes that might be standing in our way. That certainly isn’t easy; it’s where I’ve been slipping down the slippery slope of fat gain lately. Not much – I weighed it at just three pounds over my current temporary weight maintenance goal – but three pounds is where I’ve personally chosen to draw the line.

So it’s back to lower carbs for me, for awhile.