Hey, babes. Are you making these 3 low carb diet mistakes? If you are trying to follow a low carb lifestyle, and not seeing the scale drop yet. Or, you want to implement a low carb lifestyle and enjoy it. But for some reason, it just hasn’t been working for you, no worries. That’s what this post is all about! A low carb lifestyle includes having more energy and feeling great in your body and I’ve worked with hundreds of women following a low carb lifestyle. But it’s important to avoid making these mistakes so you can reap all the benefits of low carb. I’m going to share with you today, three reasons why you’re probably not losing weight on low carb or feeling your best so that you can fix it.
Low carb diet mistakes are quite common to make in today’s conflicting world of nutrition information. I’m here to tell you that living a low carb lifestyle not only helps with weight loss, but it can also decrease inflammation, help you feel better, and decrease food cravings. There are so many benefits. The list goes on, but I totally understand that there’s so much misinformation out there. It could be overwhelming on how to actually implement it, to get the results that you want and feel your best, and where to begin.
Mistake #1 – Going Too Low On Carbs
Tip number one might actually shock you, but the biggest mistake I usually see with women doing a low carb approach is that they go too low. They try to completely cut them out. And especially if you’re coming from a higher carb diet, that’s really not going to work well for you. 
I never want people to feel afraid of carbs or that they can never eat them. It’s actually quite the opposite. I want you to enjoy as many carbs as you can to get the benefits and see results. And that comes along with finding your carbohydrate tolerance. Your carb tolerance is a fancy word for that sweet spot of carbs that helps you get the results that you want to get.
Everyone has their own carb tolerance. So what your friend does or what I do may not be exactly what you need to do. It comes with a little trial and error and seeing what works best for you. But the problem I see is, when people go way too low, they end up craving them even more when they’re cutting them out.
A lot of this even comes down to emotional satisfaction. We do need carbohydrates in our diet, especially to get fiber for regular digestion and hormonal health. There’s plenty of reasons that it’s important to have those carbohydrates. Especially if you are more active, but it’s finding that right amount that works best for you.
Low carb diet mistake you may be making: completely cutting out carbs.
Very often what I see when people go way too low in carbs is, it’s that whole restrict and then binge, right? We try and completely cut them out. And then all of a sudden, we go to a party and we just want to binge on everything. And then we feel like a failure and then we’re cutting them out again on Monday and then the cycle repeats. That doesn’t work for anyone. It’s like I’ve mentioned before, you tell a toddler not to do something, they’re going to want to do it. I just spent four days with four kids under four years old. And trust me when I say, if you tell a kid not to do something, they’re going to want to do it 10 times more. We are actually not as mature as we think as adults. If I tell you not to do something, you’re going to want to do it 10 times more.
With my low carb approach, I never want anyone to completely cut out carbs. I don’t think that works. What we do is we portion them and balance them with other foods so you can still enjoy them and lose weight. It’s about what is going to work for you long term.
Mistake #2 – Not Adding Enough Protein, Fat, and Veggies to your Plate to Lose Weight and Feel Your Best
Often, I just see people cutting out carbs from their diet, and they’re not replacing any of those carbohydrates with something else. That’s probably going to leave you feeling lethargic, irritable, cranky, and hangry. Now, instead of just trying to cut out all the carbs, it’s really important to make a balanced meal and have those carbohydrates in a portion size with each meal. Or, at least one or two meals per day. In addition, you want to make sure you’re having lots of veggies.
Fun Fact: veggies are carbohydrates. They’re just very high in fiber and still low in carbs. They’re a great food group to have a lot of on your plate for your health and your weight loss. I recommend my clients getting about one to two cups or about half your plate of veggies for lunch and dinner. And if you get them in a breakfast, awesome, that’s great too.
Make sure to eat enough protein and fat
You want to make sure that you’re having enough protein to prevent muscle mass loss and to keep your metabolism up, especially when you’re trying to lose weight. And also protein does an amazing job at keeping you full along with the veggies and the fat. I see people all of the time, cutting out the carbs and pulling back on fat. And I just think that’s a really bad combo because when you’re not using as many carbohydrates for fuel, you’re going to switch into using more fat for fuel. Now that’s not to say you can’t do that from eating protein and veggies. However, you do want to make sure that you are eating enough throughout the day, even if you are trying to lose weight.
Fat keeps you full for a long time. It’s one of those macronutrients that is really, really satiating. And the reason why low carb is so successful, a lot of the time is because protein, fat, and fiber are going to keep you super full and satisfied in your weight loss journey, as opposed to carbs, which are more of a quick source of energy. They get digested more rapidly and they don’t keep you as full for as long.
The cool thing about low carb is you can lose weight without calorie counting or macro counting because you’re managing your hunger. Just because you are going low carb doesn’t mean we’re going low on everything, right? Make sure to have enough protein, fat, and high fiber veggies on your plate to keep your blood sugar balanced and you feeling good, satisfied, and energized in your weight loss journey. Okay?
Mistake #3 – Snacking Too Often When You’re Not Hungry
I see people all the time, snacking on keto and low carb products. The reality is, if you’re trying to lose weight and you’re constantly eating these snacks, especially when you’re not hungry, you’re not going to lose weight. Just because you’re eating low carb does not mean you’ll lose weight. There are so many other factors to it. Low carb is a tool that you can use to help you on your weight loss journey and feel good. However, it’s not the whole picture.
You have to also make sure you’re eating enough veggies, drinking enough water, and you’re not snacking when you’re not actually hungry. Don’t get me wrong. Snacks are a great tool for weight loss. And that’s how I use them with my clients. If it’s needed, then we plan a snack for their day.
But there’s a difference between having a snack and snacking all day long. There’s a lot of research that even suggests having bigger, less frequent meals is better for your weight loss and blood sugar control than snacking every two to three hours or snacking really often.
Story Time
I actually have a client story I wanted to share. This client came to me following a keto lifestyle and she wasn’t having any carbs, starch or fruit throughout the day. Instead, she was snacking on a lot of low carb products at night, even if it was healthy, like nuts, and it was holding her back from losing weight.
We literally added one carb serving to her lunch and she felt more emotionally satisfied and satiated that she stopped snacking at nighttime. And she was able to lose 15 pounds. It’s such a simple switch like that. Because she was already eating really healthy. She was already following a low carb lifestyle but going too low carb and snacking too much really held her back from reaching her goals.
If you need help finding your carb tolerance so that you can lose 15 pounds too, I teach you by formula in the Low Carb Babe Society. Come join us here!
I hope that these were really helpful for you. I know it can be a struggle trying to figure out what works for you when it comes to weight loss. Just be patient because it does take some time to figure out what works best for you. And if you are struggling and you want a little bit more help with this, I actually have a free workshop. That’s an hour-long training teaching you my step-by-step process that I walk clients through when it comes to low carb weight loss. If you’re interested in learning more about that, definitely click this link, it’s packed with value. I know you’re going to love it. And like I said, it’s totally free. I hope you check that out.