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Reducing refined carbohydrates may help curb your appetite, lower your insulin levels, and help you lose weight.

But the long-term effects of a low carb diet are not yet known. A reduced calorie diet could be more sustainable.

Aim to include a variety of foods at each meal. To balance your plate and help you lose weight your meals should include:

Eating a recommended amount of protein is essential to help preserve your health and muscle mass while losing weight (5Trusted Source).

Evidence suggests that eating adequate protein may improve cardiometabolic risk factors, appetite, and body weight (6Trusted Source, 7Trusted Source, 8Trusted Source).

Generally, an average male needs about 56-91 grams per day, and the average female needs 46-75 grams per day, but many factors influence protein needs. Here are guidelines to help you figure out how much protein to eat without eating too much (9Trusted Source,10Trusted Source):

Diets with adequate protein may also help you reduce cravings and snacking by helping you feel full and satisfied (11).

Healthy protein sources include:

Don’t be afraid to load your plate with leafy green vegetables. They’re packed with nutrients, and you can eat very large amounts without greatly increasing calories and carbs.

All vegetables are nutrient-rich and healthy foods to add to your diet, but some vegetables, like potatoes, sweet potatoes, winter squash, and corn, are higher in carbs.

These vegetables are considered complex carbs because they contain fiber, but you may want to be mindful of serving size when adding these vegetables to your plate.

Your body still requires healthy fats no matter what eating plan you choose. Olive oil and avocado oil are great choices for including in your eating plan. Nuts, seeds, olives, and avocados are delicious and healthy additions, as well.

Burn 300 Calories

Other fats such as butter and coconut oil should be used only in moderation due to their higher saturated fat content (12Trusted Source).

Exercise, while not required to lose weight, can help you lose weight more quickly. Lifting weights has particularly good benefits.

By lifting weights, you’ll burn calories and help prevent your metabolism from slowing down, which is a common side effect of losing weight (13Trusted Source, 14Trusted Source, 15Trusted Source).

Try strength training three to four times a week. If you’re new to lifting weights, a trainer may be able to help you get started. Make sure your doctor is also aware of any new exercise plans.

If lifting weights is not an option for you, doing some cardio workouts such as walking, jogging, running, cycling, or swimming is very beneficial for weight loss and general health.

Both cardio and weightlifting may help with weight loss and offer lots of other health benefits.

Resistance training, such as weightlifting, is a great option for losing weight. If that’s not possible, cardio workouts are also effective.

If you opt for a low carb eating plan, it’s not necessary to count calories as long as you keep your carb intake low and eat mostly protein, fat, and low carb vegetables.

If you find yourself not losing weight, you may want to keep track of your calories to see if that’s a contributing factor.

If you’re sticking to a calorie deficit to lose weight, you can use a free online calculator like this one to estimate your calorie needs.

You can also download free, easy-to-use calorie counters from websites and app stores. Here’s a list of 5 calorie counters to try.