This Beginner's Guide to Low-Carb Diets Tells You Everything You Need to Know

Don't start low carb until after you read
this in-depth beginner's guide for newbies.

Last Updated: February 21, 2019

Are you new to low-carb diets? 

If you are, then you need to know that all low-carb diets have several things in common. They only differ in the amount of carbohydrate allowed during the weight-loss phase and implementation of the basics that all low-carb diets share. 

To help you navigate the low-carb waters, and lose 8 to 10 lbs in the 1st 3 weeks, this in-depth guide for newbies will walk you week-by-week through the low-carb philosophy, benefits, and tasty food that is allowed. 

This is an overview of what it means to go low carb and not a highly detailed individualized plan, but it is everything you need to know to help you set up your own personalized diet and get started on ditching those extra pounds right away.

If you're thinking about entering into the low-carb lifestyle, you are going to need a reliable guide you can depend on to help you get started.

Whether you want to shed the fat that's clinging to your hips and belly, lower your risk for heart disease, or eliminate those nasty cravings that always strike as soon as you sit down to watch your favorite television show, this comprehensive guide to low-carb diets will eliminate a lot of the confusion and misconceptions you might have about Atkins and Keto.

There are many low-carb programs you can choose from. Atkins isn't the only choice. Each plan comes with different rules, strategies, and restrictions, so you'll need to find a plan that best suits your personality, tastes, and lifestyle. 

This can easily get confusing, especially if you try to start a low-carb diet by just winging it. 

Using the bits and pieces you've collected from various places online can really get you into a mess if you don't understand the principles and philosophy behind what you're doing, and why.

So, before you begin, you'll need a strong understanding of why carbohydrate restriction works as well as it does, and what you can expect to achieve in the first few weeks. 

Only then, can you expect to possess enough knowledge to weed out the concepts and ideas that are not congruent to your weight-loss goals.

In addition, this in-depth guide will clear up any misconceptions you may have about Nutritional Ketosis, insulin, protein, and calories. 

It will walk you step-by-step through the foods you can eat and offer general advise based on my own experience regarding how to incorporate each food group into your new life.

While no single low-carb diet program is right for everyone, the following beginner's guide will give you a great head start on the basics of low-carb eating, so you can go on to fine-tune the diet to fit your particular needs later on.

What are Carbohydrates?

Carbohydrates are the sugars and starches you find in a wide variety of foods and beverages, such as:

• fruits and fruit juices
• sodas and other soft drinks
• lemonade sweetened with sugar or corn syrup
• breads and cereals, including whole grain varieties
• milk products, such as yogurt
• grains, like rice or pasta
• potatoes, sweet potatoes, and yams
• starchy vegetables, like peas
• beans and lentils
• sugar, honey, syrup, and jam

In a typical diet, carbohydrates provide energy to your cells, muscles, brain, and body organs. In a low-carb diet, carbohydrates are carved down to a bare minimum, so your main energy source comes from fats.

What is a Low-Carb Diet?

A low-carb diet is officially defined as a diet that contains less than 120 grams of carbohydrates per day. 

At this carbohydrate level, the diet may or may not be ketogenic, depending on your metabolism and whether the carbs are low enough that your body begins making a significant number of ketones.

Ketones are not magical. They are simply a by-product of the fat-burning process, but they are a signal that the body is breaking down fat for energy, which is the point.

In comparison, a very low-carb diet, such as the Atkins Induction Diet or Dr. Phinney's Keto Diet, contains only 20 grams of carbohydrates per day in the initial stages of the program.

And this is why it works better than other low-carb programs.

When you go on a low-carb diet, you restrict foods that contain a large amount of carbohydrate. Instead of eating lots of breads, cereals, rice, and pasta, like you would on a standard low-calorie diet, you switch to eating:

• protein foods, like eggs, beef, pork, chicken, and fish
• leafy green salads
• non-starchy vegetables
• low-sugar fruits
• aged and soft cheeses
• and nuts

You can also eat plenty of healthy fats like coconut oil or real butter, since they don't contain any carbs, and a handful of low-carb condiments and sauces, including full-fat salad dressing.

Just keep your daily total amount of carbohydrates to 20-net carbs per day, for the first 2 to 4 weeks, and you're golden.

What is the Benefit of Going Low Carb?

A low-carb diet comes with many benefits. It works to correct:

• elevated blood glucose
• high insulin levels
• high blood pressure
• high cholesterol
• fatty liver disease
• systemic inflammation
• excessive appetite
• severe cravings
• binge eating episodes

All of these conditions have been reported to have improved after going low carb.

Low-carb diets do take a bit of pre-planning since you can no longer depend on carbohydrates to pad out your meals, but the feelings of well being and increased energy you get from using fat as your major fuel source makes these diets well worth the effort.

What Can You Reasonably Expect for the First Week?

Many people associate low-carb eating with quick weight loss. However, a low-carb diet is not magic. 

It works well -- very well -- but not always as quick as you might expect. There are very solid biologically reasons for this, which I will talk about in a minute. 

Most people can expect to lose 8 to 10 pounds within the first 3 weeks. However, most of those pounds are not body fat.

Part of the confusion about how much weight you can expect to lose eating low carb comes from the drastic weight losses that some folks report experiencing during the first week or two. 

These losses rarely continue past the first month, for a very logical reason, but many dieters expect the weight to keep coming off at the same pace, week after week, as it did that very first week.

This is a dangerous mindset.

Because when the diet doesn't live up to those false expectations, you going to get your feelings hurt and move into a state of disappointment.

This is one of the main reasons why setting up expectations or weight-loss goals can be counterproductive to your weight loss program. 

Frustration and disappointment often lead to questioning the viability of a low-carb diet plan, rather than taking a serious look at where those frustrations and false expectations are coming from.

Those drastic water losses
won't continue week after week.

You might be one of those who want to lose your body fat quicker than you gained it, and even faster than your body can physically mobilize your body fat and use it to fuel your daily activities.

That is not realistic.

What most people don't understand is that restricting carbohydrates works exactly the same way as any other diet but comes with additional health benefits and hunger-controlling perks that a high-carb, low-fat diet doesn't provide.

If you stick with the list of allowable foods, with no cheats, most people experience an initial drop of several pounds in scale weight during the first week. Many will go on to lose a total of 8 to 10 pounds before the end of the first month.

However, this drop in weight isn't body fat.

The weight you lose during the first week of carbohydrate restriction consists of:

1. Glycogen, your body's way of storing carbohydrates
2. Water
3. Muscle tissue

A pilot study, partially funded by Gary Taubes' organization, Nutrition-Science Initiative (NuSI), and the National Institute of Health (NIH), which was published a couple of years ago in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, discovered that absolutely no body fat was lost during the first week of a low-carb diet.

There was a severe drop in water -- due to the way the body processes stored carbohydrate in the liver -- and there was an upswing in protein oxidation, but instead of burning body fat, participants in the study burned muscle tissue for energy instead.

This was a significant finding because it has always been assumed within low-carb circles that you burn a little bit of body fat along with those drastic water and glycogen losses during the first week or two, but the pilot study didn't find that theory to be true.

Participants were only eating 15 percent of their 2,739 calories per day from protein during those first 7 days because the study diet was designed to reflect an ongoing Nutritional Ketosis low-carb diet program, so don't read too much into that part of the findings.

Eating an adequate amount of protein during the first week may, or may not, change that biological problem. Some physiologists believe that you need to eat 150 grams of protein per day during the first week to avoid muscle losses.

The important thing to take away from this study right now is that if you don't see huge weight losses on the scale the first week, there is nothing to worry about. 

The body won't let you lose body fat that week. It's going to adapt to the carbohydrate deprivation as if the shortage of carbs is only a temporary situation, so it just means that you didn't dump as much water or burn through as much muscle tissue as other people did.

What About Blood Glucose Levels and Insulin?

For a long time, low-carb advocates (including me) have theorized that since a low-carb diet causes your basal insulin level to plunge and your blood glucose level to normalize, this made your body fat more accessible to the liver. 

I no longer believe that.

Today, I understand that those who have full body insulin resistance do not have problems mobilizing fats because your fat cells cannot see that high insulin level. 

As predicted, insulin levels plunged during the first week of the low-carb diet at a shockingly fast rate, but the body was already ignoring that pre-level of insulin, due to insulin resistance, so it didn't make any difference regarding fat loss.

The consequence for insulin and blood glucose levels plunging so quickly is that you can easily slip into hypoglycemic episodes.

When blood glucose falls too fast, the body can interpret a normal level of glucose to be too low. You'll then experience all of the symptoms of hypoglycemia. This can make you feel quite shaky.

Ordinarily, the problem only lasts for a few days, as the body readjusts to its new normal level, but if it doesn't correct itself, it's best to visit your doctor for advice.

What About Week Two?

Many people will begin to lose inches instead of pounds during the second week.

By then, your glycogen stores will have diminished and the body will have switched from predominantly burning glucose for fuel to burning fatty acids and ketones instead.

If you lost a lot of water during week one, a lot of weight, you'll be at least partially dehydrated, so your body will begin to horde water by absorbing that water into your fat cells. 

This is part of the normal adaption process your body goes through as you switch metabolic pathways.

While the body always stores enough water to process whatever fat is available, if you're dehydrated, the body will store extra water, even without the fat.

In 2007, we used to call this water-retention period: waiting for the Low-Carb Whoosh Fairy to show up.

Waiting for the body to correct water retention
is known as: Waiting for the Whoosh Fairy to Show Up.

This is because the body cannot hold onto that water indefinitely. It will let go of the water, eventually, and you'll see a drop on the scale.

By week two, you'll stop burning protein for fuel and begin to burn fatty acids and ketones. This was another thing the Gary Taubes' pre-study discovered. 

Fat-adaption, according to Kevin Hall's perspective, didn't take several weeks. At least, not in the 17 men the study observed.

They were adequately and easily using fats for fuel by week two. 

We know this because the 17 men had plenty of energy to use a stationary bicycle for 90 minutes per day, something a glucose metabolism cannot do.

Depending on how much you're eating and how overweight you are, you may or may not see lost body fat show up on the scale during this second week.

People with a large amount of weight to lose tend to be more insulin resistant at the fat cell level and are, therefore, able to mobilize more body fat than those who are closer to their best weight, so they will lose weight quicker than others.

The more insulin resistant you are, the easier it is to lose weight on low carb. As your diet progresses, and your response to insulin get quicker and more effective, this will change, but in the beginning, you can lose weight very easily.

However, you'll need to try and relax your weight-loss expectations because everyone that is overweight or even obese is not insulin resistant at the fat cell level. Focus on what you can do to make a low-carb diet more enjoyable for you. 

If you stick to the plan, your body fat will come off, but not necessarily as quickly as you want it to. The more insulin sensitive you are, the slower the fat will come off.

What Causes the Body to Stall on Week 3 and/or 4?

Not losing weight during weeks three and/or four on a low-carb diet is extremely common. 

Far more common than dieters realize. 

Due to the amount of water lost during the first two weeks, most people find themselves in what they assume is a weight-loss stall. It's not really a weight-loss stall because many people haven't lost much body fat yet, if any.

A stall is just how it feels. 

The number on the scale stops traveling downward. 

If you don't understand the biology behind what is happening during this part of your first 30 days, it's going to look like the diet stopped working.

For some people, at this point, scale weight will begin to bounce up-and-down a pound or two, or you might even put back on some of the water weight you lost during the first week of the diet.

There is absolutely nothing wrong!

Water fluctuations are common on low-carb diets due to their dehydrating nature. 

It takes lots of water to process ketones and body fats, so the body gets more conservative with its current water supply. Some people continue to stuff water into their fat cells for several weeks before the body finally feels safe enough to let it go.

This is especially true for those who have done low carb before.

For me, when I returned to low carb for the second time, I didn't lose weight for another 6 weeks! 

At that time, I dropped two more pounds. I did not see the huge weight losses that others get because it wasn't the first time I'd done a low-carb diet. 

In 1975, I DID see those huge weight losses. I lost 15 pounds in my first 3 weeks, but I didn't do that when I returned to Atkins in 2007.

For yo-yo dieters, the water fluctuations can be more pronounced and stubborn. The only option you have is to keep eating your low-carb diet and patiently wait it out. 

Eventually, your body has to get rid of the excess water. It cannot hold onto it indefinitely.

The Truth About Fat Loss and Ketosis

If you try to force your body into fast weight loss,
you'll likely burn muscle instead of body fat.

The ultimate truth about low-carb diets is that fat mobilization is limited. Your body can only access and use a certain amount of body fat each day.

Expecting to lose more than one or two pounds of fat per week is not realistic. 

You can't force your body to burn fat more quickly.

If you try, you'll likely experience huge losses of muscle tissue instead.

Losing muscle is counterproductive to your aim because it's a threat to life, so your metabolic rate will slow down and body systems like your hair and nails will shut down. 

As a result, you'll lose less weight on the scale, rather than more.

Large losses do not mean you are losing body fat. 

For that reason, slow weight loss is often the best way to go.

When you restrict your carbohydrate intake low enough, the body will use its glycogen stores to keep your blood glucose level steady. This is why the average low-carb diet trims your carbs down to 20 or 30 a day.

Almost everyone can get into the state of ketosis at that level. 

At that level of restriction, you'll burn through your glycogen stores in only a few hours, since the liver only holds about 80 carbs worth of glycogen (320 calories worth).

Once the liver runs low on glycogen, it will convert available proteins to glycogen to keep up with its needed glucose supply for the blood and brain. 

Amino acids can also be directly oxidized for fuel.

Although the brain can derive a large portion of its energy needs from ketones, it still needs a certain amount of glucose per day to function optimally. That glucose can come from:

1. Your carbohydrate intake.
2. Amino acids not needed to repair body structures.
3. Glycerol molecule attacked to each triglyceride.

Once ketone production is in full swing, protein oxidation stops.

This fat-adaptive process causes you to go into a state known as ketosis. Ketosis merely means that your body is making and using an above-average amount of ketones for fuel. 

There are three different types of ketones:

1. acetoacetate
2. beta-hydroxybutyrate
3. acetone

Initially, these three ketones are used to maintain all body functions, but as your low-carb diet continues, your muscles will convert more of its acetoacetate ketones into beta-hydroxybutyrate, the type of ketone used by the brain.

At that point, most of your body functions will start using fatty acids for fuel, rather than ketones, leaving all ketones for the brain and other body cells that don't have mitochondria. 

This includes the muscles, which become insulin resistant if they aren't insulin resistant already, so they stop pulling in glucose from the bloodstream and use fatty acids instead.

An important fact here is that ketosis is not essential for weight loss. It is merely a sign of ketone production. 

If you're eating less than 50 grams of carbohydrate per day, you are probably in the state of ketosis, and if you're only eating 20 carbs – the recommended amount for the first two weeks – you definitely are in ketosis, so don't stress over whether you are or aren't.

Some low-carb diet plans encourage you to be in a deeper state of ketosis than others. Dr. Phinney's Keto Diet is one of those.

Whether that is important for your personal situation, or not, depends on your individual metabolic defects. Some people have an easier time burning fats for fuel when they are in the Nutritional Ketosis zone and some people do not.

Those with insulin resistance need to eat fewer carbs than those who are insulin sensitive.

The rate at which your body loses fat is not a result of being in a deeper state of ketosis. That's a myth. Deep ketosis is simply an excessive amount of ketones that have built up in the kidneys and bloodstream. 

In reality, these are unused ketones, and as such, have no bearing on your ability to mobilize and use fatty acids for fuel.

In fact, when too many ketones build up in the bloodstream, the body secrets insulin to shut down ketone production until the ketone level goes down into the optimal range.

Acetoacetate ketones are sent to the kidney, which dumps them into the urine because it doesn't have a way to store them. 

Beta-hydroxybutyrate ketones are held in the bloodstream until used, which is why weight loss can actually slow down if you produce too many ketones. 

You don't want your ketone level to get too high. Optimal range for non-athletes is 0.5 to 3.0 mmol/L. Anywhere within that reading is fine.

When people talk about using Ketostix to test their urine for ketones, they are looking for acetoacetate ketones, the ketones that the kidneys have gotten rid of.

When people talk about using a blood ketone monitor to measure their ketone level, they are checking to see how many unused beta-hydroxybutyrate ketones have built up in the bloodstream. This buildup is particularly important for endurance athletes, so they always have a hefty amount of ketones to support their activities.

Dietary ketosis is not dangerous for the average person.

Ketoacidosis is only a problem for those with Type 1 Diabetes.

With Ketoacidosis, both blood glucose and ketones are high due to the lack of insulin. This creates a dangerous acidic environment within the body. 

As long as your body is capable of producing and secreting insulin, the body will keep your ketone level within a safe margin.

For the average low-carb dieter, deep ketosis isn't necessary. 

In fact, when you consistently produce too many ketones, the body will simply begin making less and your insulin level will stay consistently higher. 

Balance is always the name of the game.

How a Low-Carb Diet Really Works

There are many theories within low-carb circles about the hormone insulin and the role it plays in low-carb diets. 

Most of what you hear is not based on facts.

To date, scientific research has not been able to support any of the theories that claim that very low insulin levels unlock the doors to your fat cells. 

This theory is probably based on the observation that diabetics tend to gain weight once they begin using insulin.

Science has never proved that high insulin
locks up the doors to your fat cells.

The recent pilot study I talked about earlier in this post found the opposite to be true. 

While a low-carb diet does cause insulin levels to plunge drastically during the first week, that fall in insulin doesn't make body fat more accessible.

Neither did the participants in the study experience locked fat cells when they had higher insulin levels. 

During the first 4 weeks of the study, they were given a normal diet at a 300 calorie deficit and actually lost MORE body fat than they did after moving to a low-carb diet that contained the same amount of calories. 

Consistent calories seems to be key here. 

My perspective on the role of insulin in a low-carb diet is based only on what we now know:

When insulin levels are high, people tend to be more hungry because insulin is one of the stress hormones. 

When acting in conjunction with cortisol, your hunger level can go through the roof. 

You'll crave sweets and refined starches because the body can convert those foods into quick energy.

But, it's more about the cortisol and adrenaline, than about the insulin because high insulin without elevated cortisol doesn't do this.

In fact, high insulin can be very satiating for a great many folks, which might explain why protein satisfies more than any other nutrient. 

Insulin goes up when you consume dairy, and to a slightly lesser degree for protein, in order to alert your body cells that amino acids are available.

If you're used to eating mindlessly, you'll reach for carby foods without realizing this is what you're doing.

A low-carb diet reduces basal insulin levels quickly. 

They will plunge to very low levels within the first week or two.

That plunge will eliminate any physical cravings you have for sweets and starches, as well as reduce your overall hunger level, due to the drop in triglycerides, leaving you with just your emotional attachment for certain types of foods.

Low-to-no hunger is a good way to judge whether you are in the state of ketosis, or not.

Since your overall hunger is greatly reduced when in ketosis, a low-carb diet makes it easier to eat at a calorie deficit than other weight-loss diets.

In general, people on low-carb diets eat less than they did before, so initially, it is really not necessary to count calories. 

You will naturally eat at a calorie deficit.

This makes it easier to focus on the diet itself, so you can give yourself time to adjust to the changes.

That doesn't mean that calories don't count. 

The closer you are to your best weight, the more you have to pay attention to the number of calories you're eating. 

To keep losing weight on a low-carb diet you have to continuously eat at a calorie deficit.

This is the main reason why most people fall short of the weight they want to be.

Between metabolic rate slowing down, due to dieting itself, and a disappearing calorie deficit, a by-product of the pounds coming off and your body's energy needs going down, you will eventually find yourself eating at maintenance.

A smaller body doesn't need as many calories as a larger body does.

When your weight plateaus, it's time to reevaluate how much you're eating, so you can find a way to eat less. 

Cutting down on carbs alone rarely works at this point because the amount of food you can eat to maintain the weight you want to be is far less than you think.

Most people are shocked when they discover the amount of food it takes to maintain a normal weight. 

The fantasy of being able to eat a normal diet once you drop the weight is just that – pure fantasy -- because most overweight individuals have no clue what a normal-sized portion looks like.

What are Net Carbs?

Earlier in this article, I talked about 20-net carbs being the starting point for most low-carb diets, so what are net carbs?

In the 1970s, when the Atkins Diet first came out, there was no such thing as net carbs.

In 1996, however, Drs. Michael and Mary Ann Eades came out with a low-carb plan that allowed dieters to subtract the fiber from the total carbohydrate gram count. They called that new figure, net carbs. 

Since fiber is converted into a small amount of fat in the colon, and fats are carbohydrate free, the Eades feel those calories don't matter, especially since fiber is metabolized as a fat.

The Protein Power LifePlan starts you out at 30-net carbs per day, where you stay until you move into pre-maintenance.

Dr. Atkins adopted the net-carb trick in 1999 after being approached about it, but at that time, he limited the deduction to only insoluble fiber, and not the type of fiber found in vegetables. 

In 2002, when the Atkins Diet changed again, the diet moved to an Induction of 20-net carbs, allowing the deduction of all types of fiber from the total carbohydrate count.

Fiber calories matter, but the amount is so small in a 20- to 30-net carb diet, that you can really choose which way you want to do this. 

Those following the original Atkins Diet count total carbs, and those following later versions of the diet count net carbs. People on Protein Power or the Keto Diet also count net carbs.

Today, this net-carb calculation has been expanded to include sugar alcohols, glycerine, and other ingredients that supposedly don't raise blood glucose levels, but this is where the net carb thing gets sticky.

Many people cannot process sugar alcohols. 

The molecules wind up whole in the colon. 

Because the colon is not equipped to handle unbroken-down food particles, the undigested sugar alcohols often lead to intestinal distress, cramping, inflammation, and other unsavory issues.

If you don't have a problem digesting sugar alcohols, you are not lucky. Your body is breaking them down and processing them exactly like sugar. 

While they may or may not raise blood glucose levels, depending on the type of sugar alcohol you're using, the calories are processed the same as any other calorie.

The only exception to this is erythritol. 

Erythritol is absorbed through the small upper intestines into the bloodstream and then eliminated in the urine because the body doesn't know what to do with it. It's a foreign substance.

For that reason, many low-carb dieters prefer to count the carbs in sugar alcohols, count half of them, or they will stay away from them completely.

Others use only low-glycemic ones, such as erythritol, xylitol, and sorbitol.

How Many Carbs Per Day Can You Eat on Low Carb?

Since this is a basic low-carb guide for beginning dieters, I can't cover all low-carb plans in a single post because individual low-carb plans have their own special food restrictions and guidelines.

Although Atkins 92 gave dieter's the option of creating their own low-carb diet, provided they didn't go over 20 total carbs per day, that freedom was taken back with the advent of the Atkins Carbohydrate Ladder in 2002.

The carbohydrate ladder merely told dieters when they could or couldn't return a certain food category to their diet.

If you want to do Atkins, you begin with 20 carbs a day for the first two weeks. This is known as Atkins Induction. 

After Induction, the Atkins Diet allows you to return a few carbohydrates to your diet every week, in 5-gram daily increments, until you find the upper limit of carbohydrates that you can tolerate and still lose body fat.

Other low-carb diet plans, such as the Protein Power Life Plan or the Keto Diet at Reddit, have set limits for carbs that you follow throughout your entire weight-loss phase. 

On Protein Power, you eat at 30-net carbs and on Dr. Phinney's Keto you eat at 35 total carbs (about 20-net) until you feel like you're ready to return a few more. 

It is only when you get closer to maintenance that you have the option to play with a few more carbs when using Protein Power. 

Keto is a bit more lenient, but not by much. You can move to 45 total carbs, when ready, until you reach pre-maintenance.

The consistency between all of these various low-carb diets is the drastic reduction in carbs when compared to the average diet.

Want to Create Your Own Low Carb Diet?

Most low-carb plans allow less than 60 grams of carbohydrates per day, with 20- to 40-net carbs being typical during the weight loss phase. 

However, some of the original low-carb diets used 60 grams per day (total, not net). With these diets, you were allowed to eat anything you wanted as long as you kept to 60 carbs a day, or less.

If you plan on creating your own low-carb diet from the food lists below:

It is best to start off at 20 carbs per day, and then slowly raise them up to fit your preferences and carb tolerance, once your body has adjusted to this new way of eating.

That will trim your hunger and cravings faster.

When I designed my own low-carb plan that enabled me to lose over 100 pounds, I ate 20 total carbs a day -- NOT net, and I didn't raise them up until I was diagnosed with Graves' disease.

For counting carbs, you'll need to pick up a good calorie counter that also lists carbohydrate and fiber grams. 

Alternatively, you can use one of the many online food trackers, such as Fitday or My Fitness Pal to keep track of your carbs and/or calories. 

There are also phone apps to help you do that, but since I just barely upgraded to a Smart phone a few months ago, I'm not familiar with them.

To help you construct your own low-carb plan, here are the foods used on most low-carb diets. I've included rough estimates of what's allowed and what is not.

Protein Sources: Meat, Eggs, and Cheese

An easy low-carb breakfast with very few carbs.
Meat, eggs, and cheese form the foundation of the Atkins Diet.

Protein foods form the basic foundation of a low-carb diet because they are super low in carbs. 

Fresh meats, poultry, and fish are carb free, but eggs and cheese have just a little bit. 

For a loose estimation, you can count 1/2 a carb for each egg and 1 carb for each ounce of cheese to make things easier.  

Some processed meats like sausage or lunch meat have a few carbs, so make sure that you check the package for carbohydrate amounts and beware of serving sizes. 

Smoked sausages, for example, generally cost you 2 or 3 carbs for only 2 ounces of meat. An average serving can run you as much as 8 to 12 carbs, so make sure that you're choosing a low-carb brand.

Unprocessed meats, poultry, and seafood are carb free, so they can be eaten to satiety.

In the beginning of your low-carb diet, you need to make sure that you eat enough protein. The standard thought of the day is that most people following a low-carb diet need to eat at least 0.8 grams of protein per pound of lean body mass you have. 

In 2007, before the idea of reduced protein arose, we used to eat 1 gram of protein per pound of lean body mass.

Severely limiting protein intake to deepen your state of ketosis is a relatively new idea.

While those who are sensitive to protein foods can over-secrete insulin in response to eating too much protein, the idea that protein is turned into glucose and can, therefore, kick you out of ketosis is just another myth that doesn't hold up to the science.

While protein can be turned into glucose, when absolutely necessary, the process is very slow and the body prefers to use other sources of glucose first. 

What most low carbers don't know is that protein can be oxidized directly for energy. It doesn't have to be converted into glucose.

Therefore, gluconeogenesis is demand driven. 

The body only converts protein into glucose to fill your glycogen stores and only if absolutely necessary. 

Most of the time, it isn't. 

However, that doesn't mean that you can gorge on protein foods and still lose weight. 

The Art and Science of Low Carb Living, by Dr. Stephen Phinney and Dr. Jeff Volek, recommend that protein intake consist of about 15 to 25 percent of your maintenance level of calories.

If your maintenance level is 1800 calories (what your body needs to maintain ideal weight), your protein in grams should be about 90 grams of protein.

However, for those who are active or lift weights, this isn't going to be enough.

Meats, poultry, fish, eggs, and hard cheeses are all suitable for a low-carb diet. The only caution is to watch out for fillers in processed meats, such as:

• sausage
• hot dogs
• lunch meat
• imitation crab

Some low-carb dieters are super strict with sugar and look for sugar-free varieties of bacon, ham, pepperoni, and salami, but I've never found the sugar in processed meats to be a problem for me. 

While uncured meats are often thought to be superior, they are higher in bacteria, so might be problematic. 

They are, for me.

Many low carbers stick to super fatty cuts of meat and do a lot of deep frying, but you don't have to. All of that fat is going to supply extra calories that your body will have to use before it can access your body fat.

I eat a variety of cuts, including chicken breast, pork loin, and ham, but I also buy chicken legs, chicken wings, and fatty pork shoulder.

The flat iron steaks I get are on the lean side, when compared to other cuts of beef, and the hamburger I pick up at Costco is pretty lean, but I also buy a fatty chuck roast when it's a good price. 

Here in Texas, we also buy a lot of fatty beef brisket and pork ribs.

If calories are a problem for you, choosing lean cuts of meat, poultry, and fish will help keep them low.

Full-fat cheeses used to be preferred for low-carb diets because lower-fat versions often contain fillers. However, that too, is a matter of taste and calories. 

I prefer low-fat cottage cheese, but I've only recently been able to eat mozzarella due to previous lactose intolerance.

Other cheeses I use are Parmesan, full-fat cream cheese, and name-brand hard cheeses like cheddar or pepper jack.

The caution on cheese is to beware of pre-grated forms. Make sure that the shreds have not been dusted with flour or starches to keep the shreds from sticking together. 

Most brands are.

You're better off grating your own.

Also, keep in mind that cheese is very calorie dense, so even though it is super low in carbohydrates, it is easy to eat too many calories when your diet contains a lot of cheese.

Side Dishes: Salads and Vegetables

Acceptable low-carb side dishes:
salad or non-starchy vegetables

Next to protein foods, salads and vegetables are the mainstay of your low-carb diet. 

They will keep you from getting bored with just eating meat, and vegetables can be fixed in dozens of different ways. 

While the media often portrays a low-carb diet as heaps of bacon and greasy burgers, most low-carb dieters do not eat that way.

Initially, most of the 20 carbohydrates in your daily diet should come from leafy greens and other low-starch vegetables, such as:

artichokes

asparagus

avocado

beet greens

bok choy

broccoli

brussels sprouts

cabbage

cauliflower

celery

chard

cucumber

eggplant

green beans

kale

leeks

mushrooms

okra

olives

onions, all types

peppers

pumpkin

radishes

sauerkraut

snow peas

spaghetti squash

spinach

summer squash

tomatoes

turnips

wax beans

Just watch the carb count, so you don't go over your 20- or 30-net carb allotment for the day.

In addition, fresh or dried herbs and spices are also acceptable. Just make sure that you keep an eye on the carb count. Some seasonings like garlic or onion powder have more carbs than you might think. For example, each clove of garlic is about 1 carb, so you'll need to carefully measure out the dried variety.

Also, keep in mind that some people have trouble losing weight when eating too many vegetables, but it isn't common to be that sensitive. 

Most people can handle 12- to 15-net carbs of vegetables per day, what's required on the Atkins 20 plan, even those with severe insulin resistance issues like PCOS.

To find net carbs, you subtract the grams of fiber in the vegetable from its total carb value. 

For example, according to Calorie King, one cup of chopped broccoli has 6 grams of carbs and 2.4 grams of fiber. The math: 6 - 2.4 = 3.6 net carbs. The net carbs is what you count, unless you choose to go with the total carbs, which in this case is 6.

However, not everyone can handle that much produce, which is why you can still find lots of information on the early Atkins plans here, such as Atkins 72, Atkins 92, and Atkins 2002, as well as Atkins 20 and Atkins 40. 

The link goes to our Atkins content page, which contains all of the important Atkins articles on the site, including how to do Atkins if you don't have the books.

You do want to avoid vegetables that come with fake-butter sauces, due to their increased carbs, but most steamer varieties are fine. If you prefer processed vegetables, just make sure that veggies are the only thing in the package or can, except for maybe salt.

Fats, Oils, and Salad Dressings

Fats are used to control your calorie intake.
Dr. Atkins recommended you eat fat as found in nature.

People who hang out in low-carb forums often praise the healthy benefits of added fats. Like protein foods, fat has no carbs, so many people on low-carb diets eat huge quantities of fat. 

While some of what they say is true, most of what you hear won't be.

For decades, people have swallowed the myth that increasing the amount of fat in your diet will set you up for heart disease and other health problems. On a high-carb diet, eating lots of fat will definitely do that. 

However, low-carb diets are different.

Since carbohydrate restriction causes the body to burn fat for fuel, your triglycerides will generally go down, your HDL will go up, and your total cholesterol number will improve.

You don't need to be afraid of fat, but that doesn't mean you can gorge on real butter, heavy cream, and cheesecake every single day and still shed pounds. 

Since adequate protein is a set amount and carbs are kept to your tolerance level, the best way to adjust your calorie intake is by upping or lowering your fats.

Most fats and oils are carb free and freely allowed on a low-carb diet, which means there are no carbs to count. This includes:

• bacon fat
• butter
• chicken skin
• coconut oil
• cream cheese
• fish oil capsules
• pork, beef, or chicken lard
• pork rinds
• mayonnaise
• salad dressings, like ranch or Italian
• sour cream
• vegetable, seed, and nut oils

It is often suggested that salad dressings need to be free of added sugars. However, I have never been that vigilant myself. 

While I avoid sweet dressings, unless made with sugar substitutes, I don't worry about the small amount of sugar in mayo or a bottled dressing when I eat at someone's house.

At home, I simply make my own salad dressings.

More importantly, in my own experience, is serving size.

Four to six tablespoons of salad dressing, even if you're eating a huge dinner salad, is far more than you need. Same goes for butter and other fats. A tablespoon or two per meal is plenty.

Fruits, Seeds, and Nuts

While low-sugar fruits are acceptable on low carb,
it's best to wait and add them later on.

Since this is a beginner's guide for general low-carb dieting, you need to know that many dieters enjoy returning low-glycemic fruits, nuts, and seeds to their diet after the first few weeks. 

It is not recommended to eat them initially due to their addictive nature and the way the body processes them.

However, people following Atkins 92, Atkins 40, Protein Power, or the Keto Diet at Reddit can eat fruit even on Induction.

Some people find fruits and nuts will ignite their cravings for other sweet foods that are not on plan, while other people won't be able to control themselves and will overeat the foods themselves.

I happen to fall in the second category. 

I cannot have mixed nuts in the house. 

Like that old Lay's potato chip commercial that says, "bet you can't eat just one," that's how mixed nuts affect me. I can't stop eating them.

For that reason, it is best to wait and experiment with low-carb foods one at a time, so you can carefully watch how your mind, body, and emotions react to each food individually and then evaluate whether or not they can become a part of the new you.

I have solved my own problem by limiting my nut intake to a small gas-station sized bag when we are out and about.

Water, Diet Soda, and Other Low-Carb Beverages

Drink adequate water,
at least 8 cups a day
in addition to other drinks.

Water is essential to a low-carb diet. 

You need to drink a minimum of 8 cups of water per day, which doesn't include tea, coffee, or soft drinks. 

Many people believe you need a lot more.

The formula we used in 2007 was to drink one-half of your current body weight in ounces. 

Since I started the Atkins Diet at 257-1/2 pounds, a gallon of water was more than I could drink without triggering a vertigo episode. I did better on three quarts of water instead, so use a little common sense when it comes to water intake.

Diet soda and low-carb beverages also come with a cloud of controversy. 

Some people swear off all sugar substitutes and insist all low-carb dieters do the same. 

Others don't have a problem with them.

I drank diet sodas throughout my weight-loss phase, even though they contained aspartame, and never had them affect my cravings or fat loss.

There have been times that I stopped drinking them, to see if my health would improve as these rigorous dieters claimed, but after 3 or 4 years of being diet-soda free, my health still didn't improve, so I went back to drinking them again.

Although coffee and tea don't count as water, they are fine to drink on a low-carb diet. 

I have a large travel mug full of coffee every morning.

Just be careful about the amount of sugar substitute you use, since those little packets are not carb free. 

Also, be careful when you measure your heavy cream for your coffee. 

While the carton might say zero carbs, a cup of heavy cream actually has 6.6 grams of carbohydrate and lots of calories. There are a hundred calories in every 2 tablespoons of heavy cream.

Some people have said that caffeine can cause hypoglycemic episodes, but I've never experienced that due to caffeine. 

I have heard that sugar substitutes can cause cravings in some individuals, and they do keep my sweet tooth alive, but I'm not convinced that is a bad thing.

The aim of going low carb is to turn the diet into a lifestyle, and living without ever having anything sweet just isn't living to me.

If you are dairy free, unsweetened soy milk, almond milk, or full-fat coconut milk is also fine. Just make sure that you keep an accurate record of the carbs.

Low-Carb Specialty Products

Low-carb products can really perk up your meals if you use them sparingly. However, most products like:

• low-carb tortillas
• pastas
• bars
• special mixes

are made with wheat-based low-carb flours, so they can be a quick way to derail your diet before you get started.

While some low-carb flour alternatives, such as almond flour and coconut flour, are healthy options, it's best to save all low-carb products for later on, after you've adjusted to your eating plan. 

Get the basics down first before you start experimenting.

Most products are heavy on wheat protein or modified cornstarch, and if you have a wheat or corn sensitivity that you don't know about, the resulting inflammation will cause you to stall. 

In addition, trying to imitate your old diet can ignite cravings, although that never happened for me.

What did happen was that the upswing in gluten caused my celiac disease symptoms to really ramp up. 

I went from basically being asymptomatic (no obvious symptoms other than the associated conditions of vertigo and neuropathy) to complete digestive and intestinal distress.

You need to be very careful when returning any form of wheat to your diet.

A low-carb diet acts like an allergy elimination diet and when you return foods you're sensitive to, but haven't eaten for awhile, you can have a serious overreaction.

Is Alcohol Allowed on a Low-Carb Diet?

I get this question quite frequently.

Since this is a beginner's guide to low-carb diets, you'll see the best results from your diet efforts if you can refrain from using alcohol for the first several weeks.

If you can't do that, which I completely understand, you'll have to accept the fact that drinking alcohol will cause your fat loss to stop until the body completely processes those alcohol carbs and calories. 

Many forms of alcohol, such as distilled spirits, are carbohydrate free, so they won't affect ketosis, other than to put ketosis on hold.

Other forms of alcohol, like wine or low-carb beer, do contain a few carbs that you need to be aware of and count in your daily totals.

While alcohol won't kick you out of ketosis, all fat loss will completely stop until the body gets rid of it.

Putting Together a Low-Carb Meal Plan

When you're used to padding your meals with lots of carbohydrate foods, it can be difficult to figure out what to eat on a low-carb diet. Telling you to:

• cut your carbs down to 20 a day
• eat plenty of protein foods
• use carb allowance for salad, vegetables, and sugar-free condiments

Might still leave you feeling overwhelmed and insecure at how to go low carb. If so, you'll find a ton of resources here on the blog to help you get the job done. 

From the easiest way to go low carb to choosing the best low-carb diet plan, we have a wide variety of:

• low-carb recipes
• food posts
• holiday ideas
• a sample first week menu
• menu templates to make planning easy
• and even a list of low-carb flour alternatives

I also wrote an article on what I used to eat in 2007 and 2008 when I was in my weight-loss phase. That article includes a giant list of ideas to help you get started right away.

For those who need more specific help, you can also check out how to get into ketosis in less than 3 days or our simple 5-step guide for newbies. 

This guide walks you step by step through the process of setting up a low-carb diet. It's specifically designed for those who haven't read a low-carb book.

If fasting interests you, you might also find how to get into Ketosis in 24 hours helpful.

Eating low carb isn't hard. In fact, you don't even have to do Atkins Induction if you don't want to. Just eat:

• 72 to 90 grams of protein foods
• 20 to 35 carbs, net or total
• and just enough fats to make your diet satisfying

Fats are used to dial in your calories, so you simply adjust them up or down to get the scales moving in the right direction. Eating low carb isn't any more difficult than that.

*This beginner's guide to low-carb diets is quite lengthy, so If you can't find the help you're looking for, drop me an email or leave a comment in the comment section below.