Low-Carb Eating: Where to Start

Remove anything that causes a rapid rise in blood sugar: sugar in its pure form, bread and baked goods, grains, potatoes and corn, sweet fruits, juices and soda, sausages and ready-made sauces.

Root vegetables are also removed, except for onions and garlic — they go into almost every dish and do not make a noticeable contribution to carbohydrate intake.

Hidden sugar is a separate story. It lives where you least expect it: in ketchup, salad dressings, marinades, sweetened yogurts, granola, protein bars, and flavored plant-based milk. On ingredient lists, it may be called glucose syrup, dextrose, maltose, invert sugar, agave syrup, or honey. During the first week, just read the labels in the store; you don’t need to do anything else.

A maximum of 50-70 g per day. This is not “zero carbs”: vegetables, leafy greens and berries in small amounts fit comfortably within this limit.

You won’t have to count grams forever. In two weeks, you’ll know your usual foods by heart, and counting will turn into the habit of checking the ingredients.

The plate rule is simple: half vegetables, a quarter protein, a quarter fats. Fats make up 70–80% of the diet in total, which is approximately 100–150 g per day by weight, depending on your weight and activity level.

From 1.2 to 2 grams per kilogram of body weight. This refers to pure protein per day, not the weight of the meat or fish on your plate.

This is where people most often get confused, so let’s calculate it. A woman weighing 70 kg: 1.2 g per kg gives 84 g of protein, 1.6 g per kg gives 112 g. If you’re losing weight and training, a practical target for you is approximately 85–110 g of protein per day. For comparison: 120 g of chicken breast contains about 27 g of protein. One serving covers a quarter of your daily requirement, not all of it.

There are no snacks in the method at all. The entire daily diet fits into two or three meals, each until satiated.

It works not through willpower. When there is enough fat and protein on your plate, you physically don’t feel like eating between meals: your blood sugar doesn’t spike, and two hours later you’re not drawn to the fridge. If you are, most likely the previous meal was too small.

Meals are arranged within an 8–10-hour window, resulting in a 14–16-hour overnight break. For example: 10:00, 13:00, 18:00. Stick to three meals during the first week. Reducing to two only makes sense when, for several days in a row, you notice that you genuinely don’t need one of the meals: no weakness, no thoughts of food, no urge to overeat in the evening. There’s no need to aim for one meal a day: it is noticeably harder to get enough protein and micronutrients that way.

As a general guide, aim for about two liters of fluids per day. You need more in hot weather and on training days. If you have kidney or heart disease, your doctor—not a table in an article—determines the amount of fluids.

About salt. In the first few weeks, the body excretes more fluid, and salts leave with it, so the method recommends 3–5 g of salt per day. An important condition: do not take additional salt, potassium, or magnesium “just in case.” If you have high blood pressure or heart or kidney disease, discuss any supplements with your doctor.

For some people, the first days pass unnoticed. Others experience headaches, weakness, drowsiness, and changes in bowel movements. The reason is that glycogen is used up, and the water bound to it is lost as well: the rapid drop on the scales this week is largely water.

Eat properly, drink enough, don't combine starting with a severe calorie deficit, and don't add hard workouts on these days.

If there used to be little fat in your diet, start with half or a third of the recommended fat portions. Heaviness after lard or bacon means the portion should be halved. Bloating from sauerkraut is treated the same way: reduce the amount, and if you can't tolerate it, replace it with bell pepper with apple cider vinegar.

There are conditions in which you should not start on your own.

During pregnancy and breastfeeding, strict carbohydrate restriction and fasting are not recommended: the body needs stable energy. The ADA specifies a minimum of 175 g of carbohydrates per day for pregnant women; during lactation, the reference is even higher.

With type 1 diabetes, the regimen should only be changed together with a doctor. The same applies to type 2 diabetes if you receive insulin or medications that can cause hypoglycemia: doses may need to be adjusted.

Chronic kidney disease, gallbladder removal, a history of or current eating disorders, and adolescence should be discussed separately with a doctor. The method is not prohibited for older adults, but sufficient calorie and protein intake becomes the priority.