7 Mistakes You’re Making on a Low-Carb Diet

If you've been on the media about health and weight loss, the chances of you stumbling on low-carb diets are huge.

Many people think carbs are the biggest culprit to making you fat, so they assume that avoiding carbs completely will keep them from becoming overweight, obese, or removing that disgusting belly fat on their stomach.

Unfortunately it is not as easy as it sounds. Carbs are your body's main source of fuel, so you need them for sufficient energy and functioning. It's important to remind ourselves that not all carbs are the same. While avoiding refined carbs such as sugars and white flour are good if you want to lose weight, consuming more complex carbs engulfed in fiber like whole grains and fruits can actually help you to lose weight fast as well.

If you were avoiding these important macronutrients completely and your weight isn't showing the results you expected, just watch out for these major mistakes when you're trying to diet.

You're Skipping Exercise

Exercise lowers insulin resistance. This may be the reason that exercise alone will tend to do the job just fine in helping many people lost a couple of pounds.

Exercising provides many great health benefits that it deserves an articles series all about it. While we can achieve weight loss by just dieting alone (at least to an extent), we are most likely unable to lose significant weight without exercising regularly.

Read: 14 Subtle but Powerful Health Benefits of Exercising Other Than Losing Weight

You Are Too Low On Carbs

Some people make the mistake of removing carbs completely or eating fewer than 20g of carbs a day. The FDA recommends people to eat approximately 300g of carbs on a 2000 calorie diet, and that's way beyond your typical low-carb diet.

“A low carbohydrate diet is less than 125 grams a day,” White explains. “Some people go more extreme in cutting and others are more liberal. In my opinion, if you are going to cut carbs, keep vegetables, fruits, and low-fat dairy into your diet.”

Related: You Should Not Completely Avoid Carbs For Weight Loss. Heres Why

By cutting down tremendously on carbs, you’re also making yourself missing out on B vitamins and essential antioxidants found in many complex carbohydrates that will help combat inflammation.

Whole grains are excellent sources of fiber which can boost your weight loss progress. Fiber keeps you feeling fuller longer, which will help keep midday grazing at bay. By skipping out on complex carbs, you’re missing this essential nutrient.

You're Not Eating Enough Calories

Even though cutting calories will help you lose weight, it’s important to stay within your daily range to help fuel your metabolism. "When people begin cuting back on carbs, they start making the crucial mistake of cutting their calories too much", says dietitian Jim White, RD, ACSM, and owner of Jim White Fitness and Nutrition Studios.

“A lot of people drop their carbs but also drop other macronutrients such as protein and fat,” he explains. “This can cause many deficiencies, slow down the metabolism and decrease energy levels impacting overall health.” Here's What Happens When You Consume Less Than 1000 Calories A Day

Talk to a doctor or RD about your daily caloric needs — depending on activity level, that’s usually between 1,200 and 1,800 calories for weight-loss — and stick to your target.

Read: 13 Kardashian Weight Loss Tips You Should Never Follow

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You Are Depriving Yourself

Avoiding refined carbs such as white flour and sugar is a tremendous method to boost weight loss. After all, these simple carbs will help increase your blood sugar and help your body store fat as excess glucose. But if you're depriving yourself of your favorite foods and certain treads entirely, you're asking for disaster.

“When people eliminate them from their diets, they tend to crave them more over time,” White says. “This leads people to go back to eating them and failing their low carb diet attempts.”

Related: Here Are Several Important Reasons Why You Need To Eat Throughout The Day If You Want To Lose Weight

This leads to a destructive cycle of feeling guilty, cravings, binging, deprivation, then depriving yourself again. Instead of restricting yourself from eating your favorite foods rich in carbs entirely, White suggests giving yourself 150 calories at the end of the day to eat whatever you want. This could actually be a small slice of a brownie or an ounce of potato chips — whatever curbs your cravings for carbs.

You're Being Too Afraid From Fat

Shutting yourself away from fat is as dangerous as consuming too much fat, as healthy fats are crucial components of a healthy diet. Despite the low-fat fad being widely discredited and healthy fats have been proven to improve everything from high cholesterol to brain health, hardly a day goes by that you don't see or hear a negative message about fats in the diet. This, and a desire to drop weight fast, may cause you to attempt a low-fat version of a low-carb diet.

You might actually see results in the beginning if you are using up a lot of your own fat as opposed to eating them. However, fat loss slows down and you may then become even hungrier if you don't start adding some fat to your diet.

Nothing will hurt a diet faster than hunger. So don't let this happen to you. Have your eggs with half an avocado and dress your salads with olive oil-based dressings.

Related: 6 Eating Rules For Faster Weight Loss

You’re Not Listening to Your Body

One of the benefits to weight loss is actually gaining more energy. Unless you’re cutting out carbs entirely. Since carbs are our body’s number one source of fuel, leaving them out of your diet will completely drain your reserves in energy.

“Carbs are important for fuel,” White explains. “In fact, a large part of the brain’s fuel comes from glucose. Without carbs, people can feel low on energy, dizzy, confused and irritable.”

Related: 10 Ways Your Mind Makes You Fat

If you begin feeling fatigue or hungry after cutting out carbs, it’s important to listen to your body. Try incorporating more fiber-rich, low-glycemic complex carbs for full day energy foods such as quinoa and sweet potatoes.

You’re Too Active

“I would not recommend athletes or anyone who is performing exercise with high intensity to go on a low carb diet,” White says. “This may include those who are competing in events, marathons, biking distances or swimming should keep carbohydrates in their diet.”

Carbs are necessary for energy use, especially for people who are living an active lifestyle. People who are big athlethes or live in the gym (gym rats) will need a big time sufficient amount of carbs to fuel their workouts, keeping their energy steady as needed.

Read: 10 Crucial Health Benefits Of Yoga