101 Low Carb Weight Loss Tips

When it comes to improving health and losing weight, we all need a little bit of motivation and a few tips along the way.  This article breaks the Cut the Killer Carbs program down into “bite-sized” bits that you can easily implement and use to lose the weight on a low carb diet, we have distilled the entire 6 hour presentation down into these “101 Low Carb Weight Loss Tips.” Some are motivational. Some what to eat (and what not to eat). Others are ways to think about your new low carb diet and lifestyle (different ways to wrap your mind around the subject). All the tips are based on successful long-term weight loss strategies that are proven to work (see clinical studies here). So what are you waiting for? Let’s get started!

1. Go visit your doctor first.

See your doctor before you begin the low carb lifestyle. You need to know that you are doing something that’s healthy, and know that the way that you are eating is how your body was intended to eat. So see your doctor before you begin a your new low-carb lifestyle, and again after you have started to determine if this lifestyle and this way of eating is working for you. Look for positive results in your improved weight, improved body fat, improved, blood pressure, improved blood sugar (and hemoglobin A1c), improved triglycerides, improved

2. How to think about a low carb diet – cut refined carbs by 90%.

A simple way to approach a low carb diet is to just cut refined carbs by 90%. This way you don’t have to do any math to Cut the Killer Carbs. So your diet still has a little bread or oats or rice or ice cream in it – just 90% less. In this scenario, you can have a little piece of bread daily. Or you can have a little piece of toast two times a day, which is just about the limit of this refined carb consumption. This diet will work, but be aware that continuing to eat wheat can lead to carb/wheat cravings a couple of hours later.

3. A low carb diet improves your metabolism.

Cutting the Killer Carbs out of your diet turns your metabolism backwards. If you stop eating the Killer Carbs, things turn around and go backwards, and your metabolism begins to work the way it was intended to work. When this happens, you should begin to see improvements in blood pressure, blood sugar, and cholesterol.

4. How to think about a low carb diet – start counting carbs.

Another way to think about a low carb diet is this. If you are math person, you can actually count the number of carbs that you are eating. For weight loss, most people need to consume less than 50-60 net carbs per day. For rapid weight loss, consume less than 30 net carbs per day. Note: “net carbs” are not printed on the packages of your favorite food. You will have to calculate the net carbs. To do so, find the “total carbohydrate” printed on the package and subtract out the “fiber.” The difference equals the net carbs.

5. Your body is already perfect, right now.

Remember, your body is perfect right now, just as it is. So to improve your health, achieve your ideal weight, and then maintain this ideal weight for life, you don’t have to change your body! You only need to give your body the fuel that it needs and understands. Your body just doesn’t understand what to do with the Killer Carbs.

6. How to think about a low carb diet – eat protein all the time.

Or, another way to think about eating a low carb diet is this. You can also choose to just really focus your efforts on eating a lot of protein. You can see that the mindset is a little different here. If you car “cutting” carbs by 90%, then you are still focusing in some ways on carbs. Likewise if you are “counting” carbs, you are still focusing on carbs. However, you can alternatively choose to focus on the protein, ensuring that that what you are eating at each and every meal has tons of protein. In this way, you are focusing not on what to cut, but what to eat. I call this the “protein and veggies diet” approach because you are really focusing on the protein.

7. Your subconscious decides what you eat.

There are a bunch of programs stored in your subconscious mind, telling you what’s normal to eat, and what’s not. Many people have been programmed subconsciously to think that “fat” is unhealthy while “whole grains” are healthy. You’ve got to overcome and reverse that type of thinking. How do you do it? One of the best ways is use our 4 Subconscious Reprogramming Weight Loss Meditations found here (Step 4). Another way to change an overcome your subconscious beliefs is through experience. Ditch the grains, lose the weight, increase your energy and begin reprogramming your subconscious through real-life experience.

8. Snack on nuts.

I once heard that you should eat nuts before bed because the protein helps you lose weight. The truth is, you can eat nuts all day and the protein will help you lose weight all day. Raw almonds are very sweet and taste great as a snack. And salted almonds or peanuts can very well replace chips. You can eat salted almonds – or cashews, or peanuts, or pecans, or hazelnuts, or pistachios, or whatever – all day long if you please. You need to find a nut that you like because they are going to be a powerful weight loss super snack to help keep you full while still losing weight.

9. Elevated insulin results in obesity.

We are made to believe that obesity is the root of many other diseases. It is said that a person first becomes obese, then he/she develops other diseases like diabetes, heart disease and cancer. But it is actually the insulin that leads to obesity. And the thing that causes insulin levels to get high is… eating refined carbs. So cut the carbs to cut your insulin levels.

10. How to think about a low carb diet – just cut the wheat.

Or, another way to think about a low carb diet is this. So how else can you easily approach a low carb diet? Simply cut out the wheat and gluten from your diet, and you make no other changes. That’s it. Cut out the bread and everything else stays exactly the same. Pretty simple right? This one step, on its own, is powerful enough for many people to lose weight. And even when you do not lose weight, you will still enjoy many health benefits of eliminating wheat. If you are not losing weight but would like to, then cut some additional carbs as needed.

11. Normal metabolism should start with fat, not carbs.

When you eat fat, you burn it, and convert it to ATP (energy for your body) or glucose – this is how it should be taught in medical school. The reason people erroneously think metabolism should begin with carbs, is Western scientists who first described metabolism started with the preconception that eating lots of wheat, sugar and potatoes is normal – but it is not.

12. Eat full-fat fermented dairy.

Fermented dairy is great on a low carb diet – like cheese and yogurt. This is because fermented dairy has less sugar/carbs than plain milk because the fermenting bacteria ate some of the carbs for you – how nice! Also full-fat dairy like butter, whipping cream and heavy cream is great on a low carb diet. These foods provide a lot of the fat that you need, and they really make you feel full. Just make sure you watch (i.e. count) the carbs when consuming dairy because you can surprisingly eat/drink a lot of carbs before you know it. The full-fat dairy that has most carbs is milk.

13. Eat fat, protein and vegetables.

Eating high fat, high protein and vegetables is normal, healthy and physiologic. Eating refined carbs, grains, breads and sugars is not. Why? Eating these Killer Carbs will double your blood sugar. It is not normal for your blood sugar to double 3 or 4 times a day. It should be stable. Normal, stable blood sugar is physiologic. So what’s the problem? When your blood sugar doubles from eating the Killer Carbs, you insulin spikes up in an effor to bring your sugar down. This insulin is what tells your fatcut the tissue to store fat. Thus the Killer Carbs cause high insulin. The high insulin causes you to get fat. So Cut the Killer Carbs to cut the fat from your body.

14. Refined carbs lead to Western diseases.

People in societies who consume refined carbs (Western societies), end up with what are called “diseases of civilization.” These are common health problems in Western or “civilized” countries. These includes obesity, heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, cancers, stroke and Alzheimer’s disease.

15. Avoid some fruits.

You can eat any and all kinds of fruits, as long as you check and count the carbs. However I would avoid thes fruits which are especially and surprisingly high in carbs – pineapple, grapes, bananas, raisins and dried fruit. These are what I call “carb traps” because they are exceptionally high in carbs. Note: bananas are an interesting food in that unripe bananas can actually lower your blood sugar while ripe ones will raise it. If you are a banana fan, I suggest you test your blood sugar 1 hour after eating ripe and unripe bananas and seeing what they do to you. You might be surprised at the results.

16. Refined carbs lead to dental disease.

The more refined carbs you consume (starches and sugars) the more dental disease you have. The bacteria that cause cavities in your mouth live off the carbs you eat. Dental disease has long been associated with heart disease. Why? Because the amount of dental disease is an index (a measurement or an indicator) of the amount of refined carbs you are consuming. Refined carbs are bad for both your teeth and your heart.

17. Eat sugar-free condiments.

Eat all the condiments that you want (mustards, mayo, hot sauces, salsa, etc…), but stay from those that contain sugar (any kind of sugar). Ketchup and barbeque sauce both contain sugar, either high fructose corn syrup or sugar itself. So if you are going to eat ketchup or barbecue sauce, make sure you count the carbs found in it.

18. Refined carbs are essentially poison.

We call refined carbs the Killer Carbs because they are essentially, poison to the human body. At the same time we acknowledge that refined carbs might not be poison to everyone. But, if you are suffering from obesity, diabetes, high cholesterol, or high blood pressure, or you are struggling with losing weight and maintaining it, then refined carbs are poison to you. They are causing or exacerbating all of the problems above.

19. Stay away from fruit juice.

Even when it is 100%, natural, high antioxidant, vine-ripened, oganic, super-food fruit juice, avoid it. Have you ever squeezed fresh orange juice? Making a glass of fresh orange juice requires 5 to 6 oranges to make a small glass. And 6 oranges is a lot of net carbs (especially because you have removed all the fiber by juicing and your only left with the carbohydrates). This goes the same with orange juice, grape juice, apple juice, and any kind of fruit juice.

20. Modern wheat has different, unhealthy proteins.

In the last decades, refined carbs and sugar consumption doubled and tripled. In addition, during the 1960s, wheat was modified so it grew faster and shorter. And while it fed more people, some of its proteins were modified and changed. Your body may not know how to process some of these proteins leadings to digestive problems. In addition, the modified wheat has been shown to increase your sugar more than ancient wheat eaten before the 1960’s. By the way, modern wheat has more amylopectin-A which raises your blood sugar more rapidly and higher than table sugar. Oh, and also by the way, modern wheat has less protein than ancient wheat. So it is best to just avoid wheat and wheat products.

21. Berries are the best low carb fruits.

Any kind of berry is a relatively low carb fruit, thus good on a low carb diet. These include raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, and strawberries. A cup of grapes has 27 net carbs, but a cup of raspberries has only 7, blueberries only 17, and strawberries only 8 net carbs. So, you can eat a lot of berries while consuming few net carbs compared to other fruits. Note: in my opinion, the carbs from whole, fresh fruits (not juiced and not dried) are a lot less harmful to you that the carbs from grains and sugars (refined carbs).

22. Insulin actually leads to overeating.

Adults actually overeat because they secrete insulin. Why? The insulin is what brings your blood sugar down after a high-carb meal. But if you take one step back, you will see that the insulin was secreted because of the carbs that were consumed at the previous meal. So it is not overeating that makes you fat; it’s insulin. If you stabilized your blood sugar by avoiding the Killer Carbs, then you will stabilize your appetite. Insulin will no longer be driving you to crave more and more carbs and sugar when your blood sugars is low.

23. Starchy vegetables are carb traps.

Starchy vegetables such as potatoes, yam, sweet potato and white potato are serious carb traps. They can contain almost 60 carbs per potato. A great substitute for potatoes is turnips. You can fry it, bake it, or roast it. Turnips only have 6 net carbs a cup (vs. 60 for potatoes).

24. Fat and protein are good for you.

Eating a diet of lots of fat, protein and vegetables, makes people feel wonderful. Why? Because you are no longer getting tired and lethargic every 2 hours when your blood sugar drops. With stable blood sugar, you will have more stable energy levels. You can have energy like a child again, and you can get back that energy that you thought you have already lost. Why? Because energy is coming out of your fat cells (being released from your fat, getting mobilized and utilized). When you Cut the Killer Carbs from your diet insulin is no longer blocking the normal flow of energy from your fat cells to fuel your body.

25. Substitute cauliflower for rice.

Rice is another carb trap. And even if you buy long-grain, organic, super-fiber rice, you can’t avoid the carbs. Cauliflower is a great substitute for rice. Each time you would put rice in your meal, swap it with cauliflower well minced in the food processor. The taste and texture are similar, but not identical, making it a good substitute to eliminate the carbs of rice quickly and easily.

26. Cutting calories isn’t healthy – it is called starvation.

We are made to believe that to go on a diet, you cut the calories. And if you burn more calories than you consume, you become skinny and healthy. However, this concept is simply not true. Cutting calories is not a healthy way to lose weight. It is called starvation! In fact, in the early days of diet research, calorie restricted diets were called “semi-starvation diets.” How does semi-starvation sound to you – healthy or unhealthy?

27. Cook your own breads and cakes.

Some people simply cannot imagine life without breads and cakes. The whole idea of life without breads seems like a life not worth living. In these situations, if you have this type of personality – no problem! You can still eat all of the breads and cakes and even cookies that you want! The thing is that you have to cook them yourself – “God forbid! We have to enter the kitchen!” If you want breads, cakes and cookies, bake your own using the approved ingredients and sweeteners (found in the PDF on this website) that fit a low carb diet. Almond flour is great for sweet breads, cookies and cakes. Garbanzo bean flour makes great savory breads.

28. It’s the size of LDL that matters.

You have heard that LDL cholesterol is the “bad” cholesterol. The interesting thing about LDL is this… What matters is the SIZE of the LDL particles rather than the “amount” (high or low) of LDL cholesterol. Small LDL particles put you at a risk for heart disease, stroke, and vascular disease. Large LDL particles reduce this risk. With a low carb diet lots of great things should happen to your cholesterol numbers. Your HDL cholesterol (good cholesterol) improves, triglycerides improve, and your small LDL becomes large LDL. Thus your dangerous (small) LDL become healthy (large) LDL – regardless of the measure amount.

29. Use lettuce in place of tortilla.

Wrap those tacos in lettuce; wrap those burritos in lettuce; wrap those sandwiches in lettuce; it holds just like a tortilla. If you want something that tastes like tortilla minus the unhealthy wheat, you can use corn tortilla. However, corn tortillas contain about 9 net carbs each – so be sure to count the carbs along the way.

30. Cut refined carbs for improved HDL.

Doctors will tell you that HDL (good) cholesterol is extremely hard, if not impossible to improve. That is because, in general, your HDL cholesterol levels cannot be improved by pills commonly prescribed by doctors. To improve your HDL levels, you have to cut the refined carbs. Having a high HDL means that your metabolism works the way that it should work. It means the HDL is working to actually clear (remove) cholesterol from your tissues. That is what HDL does, it is used in “reverse cholesterol transport” – removing cholesterol from the peripheral tissues of the body.

31. Eat and use dark chocolate or diabetic chocolate.

If you want chocolate, use at least 85% dark chocolate. Dark chocolate has a lot more cocoa and a lot less sugar – making it great on a low carb diet. Also dark chocolate can be found in any store. Alternatively you can use diabetic chocolate which is sweetened with xylitol (it can be ordered online). If you want chocolate cookies, use the dark or diabetic chocolate with an approved sweetener and almond flour. There are absolutely fabulous almond flour cookie recipes on the internet.

32. Insulin makes you store fat on your body.

Insulin actually puts fat into your fat cells and prevents it from getting out of you fat cells. To release the fat out of your fat cells (and improve your blood pressure and improve your cholesterol levels), simply Cut the Killer Carbs. When you do so, you will not produce all the insulin. And you can release fat (lose fat, get slimmer, lose weight…. you get the idea).

33. Use spaghetti squash instead of pasta.

So you’re dying for pasta, what do you do? Well, if you want pasta, use a spaghetti squash instead of spaghetti noodles. Simply cut this squash in half, bake, flipped over, and scrape with fork to create long noodle-like strings. Congratulations! You just cooked spaghetti with only 8 net carbs, compared to the 80 net carbs in spaghetti noodles.

34. The carbs actually make you hungry.

If you are hungry all the time, it is probably because you eat refined carbohydrates. Two hours after a high-carb meal, your sugar will drop, you will be hungry, and you will eat again – the cycle just goes on and on. Cut the Killer Carbs out of your diet so you do not end up getting hungry every 2 hours. This works because avoiding carbs stabilizes your blood sugar (rather than crashing your blood sugar every 2 hours).

35. Have protein shakes in place of ice cream.

For ice cream, consume a low carb protein smoothie sweetened with stevia or spelnda. Choose a low carb whey protein smoothie mix (one that has a really great taste, because it’s all about taste here for dessert) from your local grocer or health foods store. Add a mixt of heavy cream and milk to make it good and creamy. Add ice and blend with some flaxseed. Now you have a great-tasting “milk shake” that is actually low carb, sugar free, and filled with tons of healthy fat and protein that will keep you feeling full and burning fat.

36. Wheat acts like an addictive drug.

Wheat (like other refined carbs) causes your blood sugar to crash 2 hours after eating it. In addition wheat stimulates the reward center of your brain, actually making you fee “high,” just like smoking a cigarette or taking other street drugs. So, as odd as this sounds, eating wheat is actually the same as taking an addictive drug. Guess what happens a few hours after your last dose of the drug (wheat)? Your brain goes into withdrawal (just like a drug addict), and your brain tells you to eat wheat again. So the number 1 Killer Carb to cut is wheat!

37. Take a multivitamin with trace elements.

The fruits and vegetables we eat today don’t have many of the trace elements because the soils used to grow our crops are depleted. Farmers can use chemical to restore fertility to depleted soils, but this does not restore the trace elements to the soil or to the foods. Fruits and vegetables that contain trace elements are those grown in healthy soil without fertilizers. These are harder to find, so I suggest everyone take a high-quality multivitamin that contains a wide array of the trace elements.

38. Weaning from wheat.

Wheat might be addictive, but the good news is that the symptoms of withdrawing from wheat are very mild. You will only feel a little irritable for a few days. It is not like withdrawing from other drugs like
heroin where you will have to be hospitalized and put on medication.

39. Take a tryptophan (5HTP) supplement.

Tryptophan (5HTP) is a substance found in turkey and other meats which your body converts into serotonin, otherwise known as the happy hormone. If you don’t have enough serotonin, you can’t help but feel depressed. And if you don’t have enough tryptophan in your diet, you can’t help but be low on serotonin. So if you are feeling a little down or a little depressed, you can take a daily tryptophan supplement.

40. Carbs are poisons you can taste.

Do not be lured into eating refined carbs just because they taste good. If cyanide tasted like chocolate, or if arsenic tasted like sugar, would you eat the? Of course not! You would recognize that they are deadly poisons no matter what they tasted like. The Killer Carbs are exactly the same – they may taste nice, but they are poisons just the same.

41. Take an L-glutamine supplement.

L-glutamine will help you with your sugar and wheat cravings. So if you feel like you are having a sugar or wheat craving, take a little spoonful of L-glutamine. Add in some heavy cream and drink it to get rid of these cravings.

42. Don’t be lured in by cheap food.

Do not be lured into cheap food items. Why are some foods so inexpensive? Because the government spends a lot of money subsidizing the production of carbohydrates. Refined carbs like breads, cake and cookies are some of the cheapest foods that you can buy today. The truth is, you can buy the raw ingredients that make up these items at a fraction of the price. Sugar and flour are cheap ingredients, and make up the cheapest foods. Unfortunately, these same foods are horrible for your body.

43. Weigh yourself weekly – no more frequently than that.

Your body weight fluctuates daily. It may be up one day and down the next depending on fluid balance and intake/output. So weig yourself once a week (not daily) and that should tell you if you really are losing weight. However, you must remember that some people lose fat and gain muscle at the same time. When that happens their weight stays the same. In this case, get a body composition analyzer (body fat analyzer that can be ordered online).

44. Buy unprocessed food.

It’s easier to avoid the Killer Carbs by buying unprocessed food that you can find on the outside aisles of the grocery store. Pick all the unprocessed meat, cheese, fruits and vegetables you want. Since they are not packaged (or minimally packaged) there is more of your dollar actually going into your nutrition – and less of your dollar going into a flashy packages and advertising.

45. Don’t be afraid of coconut oil.

Coconut oil contains lots of saturated fat. Plus it is really sweet and tastes great. Health authorities used to warn people to avoid oils with saturated fat such as coconut oil, but this is outdated information – coconut oil is actually good for you. You can use it to cook your food, put it in your coffee instead of sugar and creamer, or even mix up with some of your meals to make them tastier and more flavorful. It adds fat that helps you feel full and aids in ketosis.

46. Your body likes a slightly basic body pH.

A diet of meat and vegetables is an acid-base combination which totals out to an approximately neutral pH diet. However, adding wheat to this combination makes your diet net acid – putting an acid challenge on your body. Your body does not function as well with this acidic pH. So your body buffers the acid. How? By going to your bones and dissolving the calcium and phosphate, leading to osteopenia and osteoporosis. So cutting the wheat is beneficial for your body pH and for your bones.

47. Eat cultured cheese.

Culturing milk actually eats up some of the carbs found in the milk, making cheeses lower in carbs than plain milk. Those cheese made in labs, like processed cheese (i.e. cheese found a room temperature in a store, cheeses in a can, or various “American” cheese slices), are not exactly cheese; they are merely something made in a lab by chemists. If your cheese comes from a spray can, do not eat it.

48. Eat low carb for a healthier lifestyle.

Cutting refined carbs out of your diet has a very big impact on your health and lifestyle – many people can take fewer medications, they feel better, they improve and stabilize their blood sugar, and they lose weight. Not a bad combination. It might not make you perfect, but it should make you much healthier than you were before you started your to the low carb lifestyle.

49. How to think about a low carb diet – Eat a diet of fat, protein and veggies.

Or, here is another way to successfully conceptualize a low carb diet. This is another way you can Cut the Killer Carbs without actually ever having to think about carbs. A diet like this will help you lose weight and improve your health without having to count the carbs. Fat and protein include cheeses, eggs and meats. Eat as much as you want of these, along with all you want of green leafy vegetables. If you add other food items which are more carb-heavy, then you start counting carbs at that point.

50. Wheat may exacerbate inflammatory diseases.

If you are suffering from any of a variety inflammatory diseases (various bowel inflammations, arthritis, and/or autoimmune diseases), you may see improvement in your condition with a trial of going completely wheat free for 6 to 8 weeks. Wheat itself is inflammatory. It has gliadin proteins found in gluten which irritate the walls of the digestive tract and the immune system components found in the digestive tract. Although this inflammatory response starts in the digestive tract, it can have effects on other systems far away, including skin, joints, and other mucous membranes.

51. Your goal is less than 60 net carbs daily.

Some people just have to have a number, a solid numerical goal to shoot for. For most people, eating less than 60 grams of net carbs a day induces fat burning. So, if you are one who wants to count carbs, try to keep your carb intake below 60 to notice weight loss. If you are at 60 and the pounds are not dropping (or not dropping fast enough), then reduce net carb intake to 50 or 40. For rapid fat burning, eat fewer than 20-30 grams of net carbs daily.

52. Wheat may exacerbate chronic allergies.

People with chronic allergies often assume it is the environment (i.e. pollen). However, food can be the culprit in some cases. For example, some people may suffer from chronic sinusitis, and has nothing to do with their environment. And it has everything to do with wheat! So, just give it a try, there is nothing to lose. If you suffer from sinus allergies, stop the wheat (100% gluten free) for just 2-4 weeks and see what happens. You may be surprised with the results. We were certainly surprised at our house when my sons chronic nasal allergies, mucous, and sneezing magically disappeared. How do we know it wasn’t a coincidence? Any time he accidentally eats wheat, the allergies immediately return with a vengeance and he fights them for 3 solid days.

53. Always eat until you’re satisfied.

When you eat following a low carb, high protein, high fat diet, you should never feel hungry. And by never, I really mean never. Any time you feel hunger, just eat! There is no guilt associated with it. By the way, it is normal, healthy human behavior for people to eat when hungry. It is not normal to feel starving and just try to ignore it. You are hungry because it is time to eat! So just eat. Also never leave the table feeling hungry. If you have finished dinner, but you still feel hungry, guess what that means? It means you should eat more, so do it. Eat more of those low carb foods until you are completely satisfied. If you’re still hungry, eat nuts (that’s what I do after dinner if still hungry). But what if I absolutely stuff myself, won’t I gain wait? No. It doesn’t work that way. As long as you are not eating the carbs, you won’t get fat or gain wait. That’s the miracle of normal human metabolism.

54. Just do it! Cut out the wheat altogether.

Give it a shot. There is nothing to lose. Cut wheat out of your diet just for a trial period of 2-4 weeks. You might just find some unexpectedly positive results! Perhaps you might notice that your longstanding rash is gone, or your indigestion is gone, or your chronic digestive upset (diarrhea or irritable bowel syndrome) is gone, or your seasonal allergies are better. Why? Because the problems might be caused or exacerbated by wheat. So even if you don’t Cut the Killer Carbs 100%, you could still realized benefits just from cutting the wheat.

55. Eat as much as you want – protein, fat and veggies.

These include meat, steak, birds, fish, eggs, and oils as well as vegetables (non-starchy vegetables) and low carb protein smoothies. Eat as much as you want of these food items anytime you want, any time of the day without having to count carbs. I also include sugar-free nuts in this category. Although nuts do have carbs, in my opinion, they are a perfectly balanced food with the right amount of protein and fat in combination with their carbs. So you can eat these too without counting the carbs.

56. Talk to your doctor about your medications.

You may need to get your medicines adjusted by your doctor before you start a low carb diet. And by sticking to the diet for the long term, you and your doctor may be able to reduce or eliminate some of those medications altogether. Also, use this opportunity to determine if you have any disease or condition that would make eating a low carb, high protein diet not advisable. So see your doctor before you Cut the Killer Carbs.

57. Eat in moderation – dairy and fruits.

Full fat fermented dairy, full fat dairy, fruits and condiments can be consumed as much as you want, but you will have to start counting carbs here. While you are actively trying to lose weight, these foods should only take up less than a third of your plate; treat them like side dishes. The other two-thirds of you plate should be the fat, protein, and veggies listed above.

58. If you have kidney disease, avoid high protein diets.

If you have kidney disease, and start a low carb, high protein diet your kidneys will not be able to handle all the protein. This is a bad idea because your kidneys are already weak. However, this does not mean that low carb, high protein diets cause kidney disease – they don’t. If you kidney are sick, they can’t handle the protein. Similarly, if you have a disease called polycythemia, your body can’t handle extra iron – so you avoid it. But the iron is not the cause of polycythemia.

59. Be patient.

The longer you have been overweight, the longer it will take to lower your insulin levels and lose weight, even when you avoid foods high in carbs. The same principle goes for reversing diabetes, reversing blood pressure, and other conditions. The longer you have had them, the longer it will take to see improvements.

60. Avoid whole wheat (low tar) bread.

Two slices of whole wheat bread raise your blood sugar just as much as two slices of white bread. Whole wheat bread might be like the low-tar version of bread, but even whole wheat has many of the exact same blood sugar raising, exorphin producing consequences. So, even if its low-tar wheat, you should still avoid it.

61. Take bullion.

If you find yourself feeling a little lethargic when beginning a low carb diet, then consume 2 cups of bullion daily during the first two weeks of cutting carbs out of your diet. This will help lessen the effects of lowered insulin, which includes low blood pressure and resultant temporary decreased energy, fatigue, and headaches. The bullion keeps your blood pressure up and restores your electrolytes. IMPORTANT NOTE: some people consider the lowered blood pressure which can cause temporary decreased energy and fatigue to be a “bad” thing, and they will use this temporary change as an argument against this diet. That is insanity. Hypertension is a huge problem in the US – and lowering blood pressure without pills is a huge “good” thing in your life. Lowering insulin is natural and physiologic. Lowering your blood pressure is natural and physiologic. I simply cannot make an argument that you should have high blood pressure, high insulin levels, high glucose levels, and general poor health – because that alternative of lowering your blood pressure to physiologic levels naturally might possibly make you feel different for a week or two. That is an illogical and insane argument.

62. Ancient is better than modern wheat.

If you just have to have some tar (wheat) in your diet, then ancient varieties of wheat have been found to be less harmful. In the book Wheat Belly, a doctor ate two pieces of toast made from ancient wheat, but his blood sugar did not spike up. It stayed relatively stable. Neat. And then he ate bread from modern wheat kernels, and it his blood sugar levels increased and he had digestive problems. So if you are really looking for a wheat fix, ancient wheat is much better and safer from a blood sugar standpoint than modern wheat.

63. Don’t sweat temporary blood lipid changes.

When you start a low carb diet your blood lipids (cholesterol and triglycerides) can go up temporarily. Why? Because cholesterol is stored in your fat tissue, and it is used in fat transport. So as your fat cells begin to shrink by mobilizing their stored contents of fat and some cholesterol, you may notice a temporary bump in your blood lipids. After this bump, the lipids (especially triglycerides and HDL) will begin to improve significantly – and stay that way. To show your that what you are doing is actually good for your blood lipids, you need to have blood tests done both before and after you Cut the Killer Carbs. This way you can determine where your cholesterol started from, and see how much better your blood lipids become. Checking LDL particle size by NMR is also recommended rather than only measuring LDL particle number.

64. Reducing carbs is what makes any diet work.

Any diet that does work, work because it restricts refined carbohydrates in some way. Most diets accomplish this through semi-starvation (calorie and restriction). And guess what – if you are restricting calories, you are reducing carbohydrates too. There is no way around it. There are two problems here. 1. You cannot maintain semi-starvation life-long. Your biology simply won’t let you. 2. Companies are making corporate profits off you by packaging $0.30 of carbs and protein in a box and selling it to you for $3.00. You lose 90% of your buying power. You don’t need a “box” to eat meat and vegetables. They can be found, box-free at the meat counter and in the produce department.

65. Don’t fight the fat – eat it.

This is one of the toughest things to get across to people. Most fats are not bad for you – they are actually good for you! In fact, not eating enough fat can make you feel nauseated, so don’t avoid the fat – eat it! What am I talking about? Bacon – that’s fine. The fat on cuts of steak – that’s fine. Full fat dairy, cheese, and yogurt – that’s fine. Cocunut oil – that’s fine. Even lard – yes, that’s fine. What about butter – that’s fine. Fat is fine, don’t fight it. In fact, fat is actually good for you because it will help you feel full, and help you burn more fat off your body. In fact, Dr. Atkins even reported that the more fat his patients consumed, the more improvement they had in their cholesterol and triglyceride levels. NOTE: fats to avoid include those that are labeled as “trans” fats or “hydrogenated” fats or “partially hydrogentated” fats. All of these are chemically modified fats associated with heart disease and should be avoided.

66. Weight loss pills are a problem, not a solution.

There are tons of weight loss pills sold on the internet today. Why so many? Again, because selling you a pill is a way to generate corporate profits – whether they work or not. But the biggest issue is this, weight loss pills are not physiologic. You are not overweight because you suffer from a “pill deficiency.” It is the carbohydrates that are to blame. The Killer Carbs increase your insulin levels. And it is the insulin hormone in your blood that tells your body to store fat and grow fat.

67. Put simply – Cut the Killer Carbs.

The Killer Carbs got that name for a reason – they are killing us. They act as poisons on the human body – they cause harm. These Killer Carbs are the number 1 reason so many of us Americans are overweight or obese. They are the number one reason for our high blood pressure and diabetes epidemics. They are responsible for most of our heart disease and digestive diseases. These refined carbs are the food items that you can to completely avoid. Why? Because they are poison. The Killer Carbs are sugars (cane sugar, brown sugar, high fructose corn syrup, fructose, and other sweeteners that have calories etc…), fruits canned with sugar, sweets, wheat products (breads, bagels, pasta, flour, cakes, muffins, etc…), food items with starch, starch vegetables (potato varieties), colas and fruit juices, cereals grains (like rice and corn) and beer. These are the Killer Carbs.

68. You do not need counseling to lose weight.

Support groups and meetings are all over the place these days, but you do NOT need counseling or a support group to lose weight when you Cut the Killer Carbs. Why? Because you are not starving and you are not miserable when you cut refined carbohydrates out of your diet. In the past, when you went on a diet, maybe you did feel that you needed counseling. Why? Because the semi-starvation diet was making you miserable. Essentially, starvation = misery. But when you remove the Killer Carbs from your life, you feel great and you are losing weight. Hence you do not need a support group on this program.

69. Eat Grassfed Beef.

You might have heard that Americans need to take an omega-3 (fish oil supplement) daily for heart health. Also it is recommended that we eat fish several times a week. Have you ever asked why does this recommendation exist? Did Americans used to eat a lot more fish? The answer is no, we didn’t. The issue is that most beef we eat today is fed lots of corn in a feedlot. So we are eating feedlot beef. And the problem with feedlot beef is that cows are not made to eat corn. They are made to eat grass. When cows eat their natural diet of grass, they produce lots of omega-3 fatty acids and those omega-3s are in the meat and milk. When they eat corn in a feedlot, they don’t make omega-3s. In addition, grassfed cattle tend to be healthier animals than feedlot cattle. So eat grassfed beef to get the omega 3s you need and to avoid the inflammatory consequences of eating sick feedlot cattle.

70. Carbs deplete vitamins from your body.

Sailors, when sailing at sea for months on end, get scurvy if they do not get enough vitamin C. Hence the “limy Brits” would take limes with them for vitamin C on long sea voyages. However Inuit (referred to in the past as Eskimos), who only eat whale meat for 9 months of the year, do not get scurvy. How can this be? They aren’t getting any vitamin C. No vegetables, no limes. This is because it is the quantity of carbs in your diet that determines the amount of vitamins you need, such as vitamin C. Carbs actually rob your body of vitamins like vitamin C which are used in the metabolism of carbs, so eating a low carb, high-protein diet helps you hold on to the vitamins you already have in your body and lowers your bodies need for more.

71. Refined carbs confuse your body.

Refined carbs (refined carbohydrates which we call the “Killer Carbs”) are carbs that are made up from processed sugars, flours and grains. These are new additions to the human diet; they were not eaten for the most part of human history. It is because of this that the body does not know and understand how to process these foods. So stop confusing your body – just Cut the Killer Carbs.

72. Low calorie diets make you miserable.

Calorie-restricted diets fail because they make you feel miserable; you are hungry all the time. You feel like you are starving, that’s why they are called semi-starvation diets. But with a low carb diet, you are not stressed because you feel full. You can eat what you want to eat, when you want to eat, as much as you want to eat, as long as you are not eating the Killer Carbs. And as if by magic, you still continue to lose weight.

73. It’s insulin, not willpower.

People are not overweight because of a lack of willpower. It is the insulin that causes people to put on weight in the form of excess fat tissue. And again, it is the carbs in your diet that cause the insulin to pack on the pounds and make the fat cells grow.

74. Diets fail because they do not address the subconscious.

Another reason why most diets fail in the long run is that they fail to address the subconscious mind. The subconscious mind is like the world’s most powerful supercomputer running in your head. It runs programs. There are programs running in the subconscious all the time telling you “what to eat” and “what to not eat.” If these things are not addressed, your diet will not be a success. In short, the 4 Cut the Killer Carbs weight loss meditations found here (Step 4) will address the subconscious, making your weight loss goals that much closer and that much more permanent.

75. Ketosis is not dangerous.

The myth about ketosis being dangerous comes from a condition called diabetic ketoacidosis. This is a dangerous condition that can occur in people with diabetes with uncontrolled blood sugars. Diabetic ketoacidosis the person’s ketones can go up to 200. But when you are in your normal fat burning metabolism (sometimes called ketosis, or lipolysis, or ketosis lipolysis), it only goes up to 4 or 5.

76. Wheat + weight loss = recipe for failure.

If you are trying to lose weight, and you leave wheat as a component in your diet, you are simply setting yourself up for failure. As you might know by now, wheat contains addictive substances (exorphins) that will make you want to eat more, and more, and more wheat (processed Killer Carbs). Cutting the wheat may lead to some mild withdrawal symptoms for the first few hours or days, but you have finally found a recipe for weight loss success.

77. A low carb diet is NOT too expensive.

This is a myth. When you consume less carbs, you will eat less often. Also, there are lots of low carb, high protein food items that you are already consuming. You just need to take the buns off; this turns a high carb food into a low carb food.

78. Even “harmless” foods can add pounds.

Some foods you might think of as “harmless” might actually be the worst culprits adding the pounds on you. For example, some people avoid sweets, cookies, candies, and sodas – and yet they get heavier and heavier each year. How can this be? Because those things you previously thought of as “harmless” and “healthy” are spiking your blood sugar and insulin, causing the fat to accumulate on your body. The worst culprits are things like “healthy whole wheat bread,” “hearty bran muffins,” “fiber-rich, heart-healthy, low fat cookies,” and the like. They all sound healthy and harmless, but they are actually your enemies in the weight-loss battle.

79. Eat low carb to reduce your weight.

For most people, the amount of cereals, breads and potatoes that they consume is what determines the weight that they lose or gain. We have seen this in many weight loss books for the past couple of decades (and couple of centuries, if you dig deep enough). Therefore, eating “low carb” to lose weight is not a weight loss FAD; it is a weight loss FACT (and has been for a long time).

80. Low carb, high protein not recommended for renal disease.

If you have pre-existing kidney disease (renal insufficiency or renal failure), then you should not eat a low carb, high protein, high fat diet. Why? Your kidneys simply will not be able to handle the protein load. However, this doe NOT mean high protein diets cause kidney disease or failure. These diets do not cause kidney failure, but they are not recommended for these patients. Note that there is a difference between “causes” and “not recommended.”

81. Your fat tissue is a blessing.

We’ve been cursing our fat (those love handles, that big belly, those thighs) for so long that it is time for a change in mindset. The truth is, your fat tissue can be, and actually is, a blessing. You see, as long as there is insulin present (i.e. you are eating carbs), none of your stored energy will go out of your fat cells. But once you stop eating carbs and your insulin levels decrease, your fat tissue can do its actual job of giving your body energy. Fat can make you feel great. So your fat cells can be the powerhouse that energize your body and make you feel great! Oh, and by the way, when your fat cells are powering your body, they are shrinking in size (i.e. you are losing the weight and losing the fat the whole time).

82. A high fat, low carb diet should improve heart disease risk factors.

We Americans have been operating under the theory that saturated fat causes heard disease for the last 30 years. And despite all the clinical trials and tens of millions of dollars spent to study the subject, that theory has never been proven. The truth is this: the major risk factors for heart disease should improve on a low carb, high fat, high-protein diet. What specific risk factors? HDL should improve and triglycerides should improve. Also blood pressure and diabetes/blood sugar should improve. So high fat, low carb diets should reduce your chance of heart disease rather than increase it.

83. Cutting carbs doesn’t cut energy.

When you stop eating refined carbs, you actually liberate and allow your fat cells and to dump energy into your blood stream. This is energy you can use, and this is the way your body was intended to work – your fat cells acting like batteries to power your body between meals. This is what provides you with the feeling of more energy on a low carb diet. It’s like getting back all that energy from your childhood you thought you’d lost. Note: when some people first start a low carb diet, they can feel, for the first several days to two weeks a lack of energy due to fluid shifts in the body. This can be improved by taking one or two cubes of chicken/beef bullion daily for that time.

84. Doctors think weight loss is impossible – it isn’t.

Many doctors think that obesity cannot be controlled with diet. Why? Because the diets they are taught to prescribe to control obesity (the diets they were taught to help their patients lose weight), are actually the exact type of low-fat, high-carbohydrate diets that cause obesity! Luckily for us, there are now numerous studies comparing low carb to to low-fat diets for weight loss. Low carb diets win time after time, and you will be the one to educate your doctor.

85. Whole grains are not heart-healthy.

The whole idea of “heart-healthy whole grains” is based on flawed science. Those who originally advocated we eat more fiber, studied hunter-gatherers who did not have any of the diseases of civilization. These hunter-gatherers appeared to eat more fiber than Western peoples. Hence, we need to eat more fiber. What’s the cheapest way to do that? Change from white bread to whole wheat bread, and change a variety of other processed foods to their “heart-healthy whole grain” equivalent. Sounds good, but the hunter-gatherers were not eating whole grain breads. They got their fiber from the of nuts, fruits and vegetables in their diet. So why not just eat nuts, fruits, and vegetables, and skip the killer grains altogether?

86. High fat diets are actually good for your cholesterol.

This is a long story, but the short version is this. Eating a high fat meal will make your blood cholesterol and lipid tests go up temporarily. Then they go back down when digestion is finished. However, doctors and scientists took this fact and twisted it into the theory that consuming a high fat diet increases your blood lipids and cholesterol chronically (over the long term). That theory is wrong. It is actually the carbohydrate in your diet that increases your blood lipids chronically. How? Because your body has to package all those carbs into, you guessed it, fat to store in your body as, you guessed it again, fat. So, ironically, high fat diets are good for your cholesterol. High carb diets are bad for your cholesterol.

87. You won’t starve your brain of glucose.

Starting a low carb diet does not actually mean that you are forbidden from consuming all forms of carbs altogether. It is only the refined carbs that you should not eat. Therefore, you do not have to worry about your brain and not having enough sugar to use.

88. Eat more fat to burn more fat.

If your diet is low carb and high fat, your body will be using fat as its main energy source. This happens because your body is always in the process of burning fat, so whatever you take in is eventually burned. So how do you turn on your body’s fat burning machinery (i.e. how do you lose weight)? By cutting the carbs and eating lots of protein and fat. How do you stop this process (i.e. how do you get fat and gain weight)? By eating the Killer Carbs. It’s that simple.

89. The brain actually doesn’t need glucose from your diet.

Guess what? The brain can run on ketones, and it efficiency does so. This is why ketogenic diets are used to help Alzheimer’s and epilepsy patients. Your brain actually does not need glucose from your diet. If it did, everyone who ever went on a fast (religious or otherwise) would be dead or brain damaged. But they aren’t. In addition to ketones, your liver uses fat to produce low levels of glucose and pump it into your bloodstream. So on the Cut the Killer Carbs diet (or even on a water fast) you will not have any glucose deficiency that will make you go brain dead.

90. Killer Carbs in the diet cause high cholesterol and triglycerides.

High cholesterol and triglyceride levels occur in those who eat lots of carbs and little fat. These same people also have low HDL (good cholesterol). The combination of these risk factors makes them more susceptible to developing heart disease. In addition all the sugar and insulin in their blood increases their chances of having diabetes and high blood pressure.

91. There is no carb deficiency syndrome.

Did you every ask yourself why flour is “enriched” with so many vitamins? Flour is enriched with vitamins because it does not have any of them! Animal products and nuts have all the vitamins you need, except for vitamin C, which you can take a multivitamin for. There is no such thing as a refined carb deficiency syndrome.

92. Low cholesterol is actually harmful.

It’s funny, your doctor is always trying to get your cholesterol lower. But interestingly, people with low cholesterol levels have a higher mortality rate (are more likely to die) compared to those with high cholesterol. Therefore, the whole concept of “high cholesterol” is out of date. The whole concept is rather complex, but the idea of simply ”high” and ”low” being ”bad” and ”good” is just too over-simplified. You should be more interested in your HDL cholesterol (a better predictor of heart disease than LDL and a lot better than total cholesterol). Also you should be more interested in your triglyceride levels. Finally, have your doctor check your LDL cholesterol by NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance) to check the particle size. You want your LDL to be large, fluffy, healthy cholesterol particles – regardless of whether the number is ”high” or ”low.”

93. Low carb offers fiber.

You will still get plenty of fiber from this diet, particularly from the nuts, fruits and vegetables that you will eat. You do not need the fiber from those “heart-healthy whole grains” advertised on TV. After all, whole grain or wheat bread is just the low-tar version of the white bread. By the way, why do you think they advertise so many wheat products on TV? Because it is profitable. Corporations make a lot of money selling you $0.40 or sugar and wheat for $4.00.

94. Benefits of low fat diets are unproven.

There is very little and inconclusive evidence that consuming less fat reduces your chances of heart disease. In fact, the federal government spent more than $150 million for a 10-year study to prove that reducing fat can reduce heart disease. What was the result? Inconclusive. Let me repeat, $150 million and 10 years, and they still could not prove that low fat diets reduce the chances of heart disease.

95. Eat low carb to improve inflammation.

There are so many other things that a low carb diet can offer, including improving inflammation. Homocysteine, CRP, and fibrinogen are measures of inflammation in the blood steam. And these things can improve once you eliminate the wheat and the Killer Carbs from your diet.

96. It is not a lack of willpower.

Many people believe it’s impossible to eat as much as you like and still lose weight. They think that being overweight is the result of a lack of willpower. The truth is that you can eat as much as you want for as long as you avoid the Killer Carbs, and you will still lose weight.

97. Eat more fat to improve cholesterol.

In Dr. Atkins’ books he describes a certain group of patients who lose weight but do not get the expected improvement in their blood lipids (HDL cholesterol and triglycerides). What is the recommendation? Dr. Atkins recommends these patients eat more fat (not less). It is actually the absence of adequate fat in the diet that is preventing the blood lipids from improving. This is exactly what happened to me, increasing my HDL from 41 to 71 by increasing my dietary intake of fat.

98. Low carb diets are balanced.

Just because you eat fewer carbs, does not mean that low carb diets are unbalanced. In fact, modern Americans get about 60% of their calories from carbs. Does a diet 60% carbohydrates seem balanced? Or does it seem a little heavy on the carbs? This very high intake of carbohydrates, folks, just ain’t normal! And it has not been normal for 99% of humanity. The processed food revolution has driven this super-high consumption level of refined carbs. And our obesity and diabetes epidemics are the predictable results.

99. Meat has all the vitamins you need.

Meat contains all the amino acids necessary for life. Meat contains 12 of the 13 essential vitamins, as well as vitamins B12 and D which are only found in meat. So you will not get any vitamin deficiency by eating meat. The one vitamin missing from meat is vitamin C. And that’s fine. Why? Because by eating less carbohydrates, your body will require less vitamin C. In essence he more refined carbs you eat, the more vitamins B and C you need. Despite all this, I still encourage everyone to take a high quality multivitamin. Why? For the vitamin C? No. For the trace minerals and elements that tend to be absent in the over-planted soils of industrialized countries.

100. Replace carbs with vegetables.

Getting into a low carb diet, does not necessarily mean that you will just eat meat, cheese, and bacon all day. If you choose, you can only slightly increase your protein and fat intake and replace the Killer Carbs vegetables. Instead of bread, wrap your burger in leaves of lettuce. Instead of mashed potatoes, use cauliflower. In both cases you have not increased the fat or protein in your diet. You have simply replaced a Killer Carb with a low carb vegetable choice.

101. Remember – There is no “What’s next.”

One of the biggest mistakes that people make when they start the low carb lifestyle, is thinking that it is temporary. It isn’t. It is a permanent lifestyle change, and that’s why I prefer to call it the “low carb lifestyle” rather than a “low carb diet.” You don’t temporarily avoid a poison like arsenic or cyanide – you avoid it your entire life. Similarly, the Killer Carbs are essentially poisons – and you avoid them for your entire life. Why? Your body is not made to effectively process the Killer Carbs, just as it is not made to effectively process arsenic or cyanide. So always remember – there is no “What’s next” when you Cut the Killer Carbs. It is a divorce. It is permanent. You are leaving an abusive relationship, and you are leaving it for good, permanently. That is the recipe for success!