Living Low-Carb
Another Atkins-wannabe weight loss diet
Full Name: The Living Low-Carb Diet
Origin: Created by Author and Editor Fran McCullough
Description: Combines a diet of low-carb foods with moderate exercise to lose weight and lead a healthy lifestyle
Likes: Olive and sesame oils, low-carb fruits and vegetables, whole / organic foods, animal products
Dislikes: Avoid any white foods such as potatoes, sugar, rice, popcorn, milk and flour (doesn't include white vegetables such as cauliflower)
Looking for: Those looking to lead a healthier lifestyle
Works Well With: Any kind of low-carb food
Award-winning cookbook editor Fran McCullough has authored "Living Low-Carb: The Complete Guide to Long-Term Low-Carb Dieting." The book describes her low-carb diet plan and is also a cookbook for healthy living.
Living Low-Carb is more of a lifestyle choice than a weight loss diet. It seems relatively simple to follow - just trade in the high-carb foods for low-carbs. Thus, with this diet you are still able to eat carbohydrates (so you're not depriving yourself of food and energy), you're just eating the healthier kind of carbs. Although so-called "carb counters" sometimes get a bad reputation in the diet world, the truth is that it's smart to count the carbohydrates in your diet regardless of whether or not you want to lose weight. We should all be cognizant of what we eat, so there's no reason to think that carb counting is a negative thing.
However, for weight loss, McCullough recommends eating no more than 30 grams of carbohydrates a day. So, it seems that to actually lose weight, you do have to restrict your carb intake, which is where the Atkins Diet spin-off thing comes in. Living Low-Carb also suggests that you eat protein at every meal (about half a gram of protein for every pound of your ideal body weight, drink 8-12 glasses of water a day, and eat small, early dinners. Regular exercise is also recommended.
Living Low-Carb is a lifelong diet, not a quick-fix to washboard abs, and it does have some bad points: Many of the recipes in McCullough's book require expensive ingredients, which may be a deterrent. Also, in order to lose weight you have to count your carbs. which bears a striking resemblance to counting calories!
The Living Low-Carb diet does seem to help people lose weight, but there is no scientific research showing that the results are long-term. What this means is that most people will have trouble keeping the weight off in the long-run. Furthermore there is no scientific research showing that this weight loss diet is actually healthy. You'll have to draw your own conclusions on that point.
