You’ve probably heard that low carb diets will help you lose weight fast. And while this isn’t untrue, if your goal is fat loss and not just weight loss, low carb diets aren’t the way forward.

Carbs are you friend 🥯

If you’ve ever had a friend who tried a low carb diet, you’ve probably heard them rave about the fact that they lost like 5lbs in the first week. And 6 years ago, I was that friend. The first thing I did when I started getting into fitness and nutrition was try Keto. I was told it would help me drop weight quickly and I was intrigued.

I did drop weight quickly but after the first couple weeks, my weight loss plateaued. Plus I was also pretty miserable; I had no energy and also not eating any carbs, especially as a college student, was the worst. And to make matters worse, as soon as I ditched Keto I gained back all the weight I had lost. And that’s because I hadn’t actually lost any fat, it was just water.

Carbohydrates are your bodies main source of energy… they’re pretty important! We store carbs in our body in the form of glycogen. We have enough glycogen in our muscles and liver to sustain about 90-120 minutes of intense exercise. And for every gram of glycogen we store, we also hold on to 3-4g of water.

Low carb diets are so effective at helping you drop weight fast because without eating carbs, you very quickly deplete your glycogen stores and all the water that goes along with it.

So yes, low carb diets do lead to weight loss, but they don’t lead to fat loss. The only way that your low carb diet will facilitate fat loss is if it has enabled you to enter a calorie deficit. But spoiler alert, there are infinitely many more enjoyable ways to be in a calorie deficit that don’t involve you giving up carbs.

Take it from me (and many many others); low carb diets are no fun! Not only are carbs delicious, they should make up ~40-50% of your total daily calories! Because once you burn through your glycogen stores, without eating more carbs 💨 poof energy is gone!

Sincerely, your carb obsessed coach 🥞

Train With Moxie