Mailbag Monday

Question: Do you have any meal plans that are high in protein and low in carbs? What are your thoughts on this?

Answer: In general, I don't have a problem with low-carb diets.

But, remember, it's not the carbs or the fat that is going to cause the numbers on the scale to start creeping up, it's extra calories.

So, yes, you can lose weight if you reduce only your carbs intake or only your fat intake, or a combination of the two. But the overall goal to losing weight is to take in less calories than what your body is burinng.

That being said, yes, low-carb diets are a great way to lose weight. But, you need to keep in mind that there are carbs out there that should be a staple of your diet such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains such as oatmeal and whole wheat bread (real whole wheat flour, not the fake stuff), legumes such as all the different kinds of beans (kidney, black, etc).

At the same time, don't forget that there are plenty of good dietary fats out there that you should keep in your eating plan as well. These would include nuts (almonds are king!), eggs, lean meats, fish such as salmon, and tuna, and don't forget about olive oil.

So if you want to try out a low-carb diet, give it a shot, but remember that losing weight is not something you should be looking at as a quick fix. In other words, if you're going to go on a low-carb diet in order to lose some weight before spring break (ya, I know, trust me, I'm normally not very good at rhyming but that one just seem to come together), but then once you reach your goal weight you're going to go back to your old habits, I'll bet you a nickel you're going to put that weight right back on, if not more.

Make a long term plan to lose the weight you want to lose, as well as knowing how to keep it off once you get there and that has to include an eating plan full of good carbs, good fats, and good protein AND a solid, efficient workout program such as the Lean Body Fat Loss Plan.

As a side note, I've been spending the last 2-3 months on a somewhat low-carb diet. I'm going to give it a couple more months as I also want to get some blood tests done (cholesterol, glucose, etc) to make sure those are checking out okay before I put my stamp of approval on it. So keep an eye on this blog for more information that I'll be making on that diet in the near future.

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