Low-Carb Diets for Women

It used to be assumed that simply creating a caloric deficit was adequate to induce healthy weight loss. All you had to do was eat less food than you used for energy and you would have a sexy, lean physique. According to Troy West, CSCS, CPT, and owner of Empower Fitness Company in Portland, Oregon, it's not that simple. "Coach" West insists that it's more important to control the timing and balance of nutrients than it is to control simple quantity.

Reduce Simple-Carbohydrate Consumption

• Many women find that excess body fat develops around their hips and buttocks area. By reducing the overall intake of simple carbohydrates such as sugar, corn syrup, white flour and other grain-based products like bread and pasta, you can reduce the insulin spike that occurs as the result of a blood sugar increase. This prevents the nutrients consumed from being shifted to fat stores in the hips by the insulin.

  By replacing the daily consumption of these simple sugars with fibrous, complex carbohydrates like vegetables and beans, the level of glycogen in the bloodstream is reduced, creating a need for the body to use stored body fat as an energy source. Coach West says that, in his experience, most women who begin a low-carb diet see a very rapid loss of stored body fat from the hip region, followed by body fat stored elsewhere, such as the thighs.

Increase Protein Consumption

• The USDA's daily recommended protein intake for adults is between 10% to 35% of total calorie consumption. For a 135-pound woman, this could range from 0.2g to 0.5g per pound of body weight.

  Strength-training experts, however, have long recognized that healthy, active adult women need far more protein intake than that. The recommended intake for active women should range from 1.0g per pound for moderately active adults to 1.5g per pound for serious strength trainers.

  Protein consumption intake can be increased by eating whole foods like meat, eggs and dairy, or through the use of nutrition supplements like whey or casein protein.

Diet Drawbacks

• The drawback to low-carb diets is that, over time, they can decrease the amounts of intracellular glycogen within the muscles. This leads to reduced strength and size of lean body tissue, reducing the metabolic demand. This means that the low-carb diet can reduce the effect on fat loss over time.

  The way to overcome this is to consume some simple carbs immediately post-exercise. At that time, the insulin spike will be beneficial, because it will shuttle the nutrients into the muscles, where we want it to go, instead of to fat stores. A simple protein shake consisting of a 2:1 ratio of simple fats to protein, within 45 minutes to one hour post-exercise is a popular method of achieving this. The recommended serving of a protein powder of your choice, combined with a cup of whole milk will provide the proper ratio.

Conclusion

• Whether your goal is to increase lean body mass or to decrease a significant amount of body fat, a low-carb diet, combined with a regular strength-training program, will drastically improve your body composition.