Low Carb
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Hi,
I’ve now done a few challenges and always notice they are low carb in the phase 2 of the program. I’m in my 40s and in perimenopause, everyone keeps telling me the best diet is the Mediterranean diet for sustained weightloss in this life phase seeing as these programs are designed for women of my age and older can I please ask why the diet is low carb instead of Mediterranean, which would typically be higher in carbohydrates? Is this better for fat loss? ThanksHi,
I’ve now done a few challenges and always notice they are low carb in the phase 2 of the program. I’m in my 40s and in perimenopause, everyone keeps telling me the best diet is the Mediterranean diet for sustained weightloss in this life phase seeing as these programs are designed for women of my age and older can I please ask why the diet is low carb instead of Mediterranean, which would typically be higher in carbohydrates? Is this better for fat loss? ThanksGreat question.
When I design the challenge meal plans, I’m creating them for the majority of participants. Because of that, I avoid structuring the program around specific diets like keto, Mediterranean, paleo, pescatarian, etc. Those approaches can absolutely work, but they usually require a much more individualized approach depending on the person, their preferences, lifestyle, and goals.
Most of the women who join these challenges are also coming in with a specific goal of losing body fat. In order for fat loss to happen, we need to create a calorie deficit. Phase 2 adjusts calories slightly (often by lowering carbohydrates a bit) to help create that deficit while still keeping protein high to support muscle, strength, and satiety.
The plan isn’t extremely low carb- carbohydrates are still included through foods like oats, rice, potatoes, fruit, and vegetables in every meal.
I do believe that the Mediterranean diet is a great long-term lifestyle approach and actually shares a lot of overlap with the foods I include in the challenge. But when someone wants to follow a very specific approach like Mediterranean, keto, vegetarian, etc., that’s where more customized nutrition guidance can really make a difference, which is exactly what we do in our one-on-one coaching.
If the Phase 2 calories feel too difficult to follow consistently, I usually recommend one of two things:
1- Stay in Phase 1 and don’t drop calories lower. Consistency is always more important than automatically lowering them and not being able to stick with it.
2- Double-check that you’re following the correct meal plan. Sometimes people default to one of the lower calorie plans because they think it will help them see results faster, when in reality it can make the plan much harder to sustain.
The goal of the challenge programs is to provide a simple, structured framework that works well for most people, while coaching allows us to personalize things much more when someone wants or needs a different approach.
I hope this helps!
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