Here it comes…summer (at least for those of us in the northern hemisphere). Beaches, cottages, road trips, patios, and just about every other thing you can do in the sun are back and the chances of removing your shirt in public vastly increases. After a long and hard winter most people fall into two camps at this time of year.

The first are those who have been hitting the gym hard and trying to pack on some lean tissue. Along with this comes a diet a little higher in calories as they attempt to pack on the necessary size to fill out the top of the t-shirt. For many, however, the result also means that the lower half of the t-shirt fits a little tighter as well. The spare tire, love handles, or whatever name you affectionately call it to disguise the fact that it is just gross fat, is there. The time is at hand to get rid of it in order to reveal all the hard work you stuck to all winter.

The second group is roughly the same as the first. Their extra fat sticks out where they wish it wouldn't. The difference with this group is that they forgot the "hitting the gym" part and keeping on top of their health and fitness. Instead, their habits include ice cream, chips, candy, pop, cake, cookies, and super-sized portions. And this group has more than a little extra accumulated fat. They have a second problem: they need to break some bad habits as well as changing their fitness routines.

For all of the people interested in the article there is a solution: the low carb diet.

Who doesn’t know the name Atkins? It has become synonymous with everything low carb. Words like ketosis and useable carbs have almost become household names.

Recent research has demonstrated the safety and effectiveness of low carb diets and nutritionists and authors are quickly devising programs and strategies based on the approach. Even some long term research now shows that significant health risk factors related to the cardiovascular system and cholesterol may not be what the medical community warned us about.

When done properly these diets are extremely effective at burning fat. There are numerous places, however, where people make vital mistakes and not only fail their low carb diet plan but actually end up losing much of their hard fought progress at building some extra muscle tissue.

Let's first look at what ketosis really is and then the pitfalls you need to avoid in order to successfully utilize the low to no carb strategy.

What are Ketones?

In effect, ketones are your bodies' last ditch survival effort to stay alive. Your brain utilizes glucose in the form of glycogen as its almost exclusive fuel supply, often consuming as much as 30% of your daily caloric intake to maintain itself. Ensuring adequate carbohydrate levels in order to properly feed the brain has been a stable argument of the anti-low carb movement since its inception.

Your body, however, has a backup plan. When carbohydrates are scarce or non-existent, you will burn through the glycogen stored in your muscles and liver until another source of carbohydrates can be found. While you are burning through this stored fuel your body begins to take safety precautions. It makes you a little sleepy and sluggish in order to slow you down and conserve as much of this stored fuel as it possibly can. Hoping that a new carbohydrate source is just around the corner, your body gives you a ton of signals for you to find and eat those carbohydrates as soon as possible. Headaches, nausea, and constipation are often side effects during this time period.