Benchmark Performance on a Low Carb Diet Plan

Dieting is not always a popular course of action and most people are not very motivated to try it even though looking slim may be the goal they have in mind. Dieting can deprive a person, though not all diets are created equal but the low carb diet plan is one way of losing weight and eating well at the same time.

Before embarking on a low carb diet plan one should know how to benchmark its performance and so ascertain whether it is working as intended or not. This means one should have a starting point and this may involve taking one’s weight before embarking on the low carb diet plan and using it to see whether the diet has been effective in one way or the other.

It needs to be emphasized at the outset that the low carb diet is radically different to low fat or low calorie diets and so one need to take a blood test before beginning and have the blood pressure checked, as part of a good low carb diet plan. Having a blood lipid profile performed would help check total cholesterol, HDL, LDL as well as triglycerides.

For Diabetic Patients Take a Fasting Blood Glucose Measurement

For persons suffering from diabetes, the low carb diet plan should ensure that the fasting blood glucose is measured and a hemoglobin A1c test be performed, also. Having followed the low carb diet plan one should find that the total cholesterol level has come down if it was high to begin with and the ratio between the HDL (good cholesterol) and total cholesterol would have reduced. In addition, a person may also find that his or her triglycerides have reduced noticeably and that HDL cholesterol has increased and high HDL is good for the person taking a low carb diet plan.

Taking the low carb diet plan may also enable a person to get off their blood pressure medication or diabetes medication within a short time of having started but this should not mean that the person gives up or reduces his medication without prior consultation with their doctor. The next step after having got the blood work done is to prepare for the new way of eating and eliminating high carb foods. Following a week of consuming a low carb diet, one should have given up the craving for sweets and starchy foods, if the low carb diet plan has been adhered to religiously.