storage, and you will sooner bounce back into a fat-burning
state. Essentially, the safest time to consume simple or
concentrated complex carbs is after you’ve been working
out. Earn your carbs!
Returning to Our “Factory Settings”
It can be daunting to begin a lower-carbohydrate diet, to say
nothing of intermittent fasting—believe me, I know. When I
was a kid, my mom would try every year (in vain) to get me
to fast for one day in observance of the Jewish holiday Yom
Kippur, which I thought was pointless masochism. I would
rather have taken a trip to my orthodontist, Dr. Moskowitz,
to get my braces tightened than ever skip a meal. Today,
however, I can easily fast for hours.
DROPPING CARBS? EAT SOME SALT
One very frequently overlooked factor that sometimes
makes people feel crummy when beginning a low-carb diet
is that lowering insulin (a good thing) can deplete the body
of sodium. Among its myriad of jobs, sodium helps shuttle
vitamin C into the brain, where it is used to create
neurotransmitters that can affect your mood and memory.
Sodium is also key to maintaining exercise performance as
you drop the carbs.