Try this 7-day low-carb meal plan

If you want to get a handle this year on your weight and blood sugar, a low-carb diet may be your best bet. That's because reducing carbohydrates in your diet helps to take away the reliance on insulin, a hormone that, when used too much, may increase the risk for obesity and other components of metabolic syndrome.

This diet may also be useful in managing and perhaps reversing type 2 diabetes (or pre-diabetes) as well, a condition plaguing more than 100 million Americans. The key is doing it in a way where you don’t feel hungry or deprived, but perhaps the most critical factor is being able to stick with it. Many people embark on a low-carb journey only to fall off the wagon a week later because they cut too many carbs.

The TODAY low-carb plan outlined below avoids these barriers by keeping the foods that fill (and fuel) you (like high-fiber roasted cruciferous vegetables and higher fat snack options like mixed nuts) so that you’re not left feeling irritable and starving. This plan is all whole foods and all delicious. Make this year your year of health by trying a smart-carb approach!

Here are a few important things to remember:

This is not a calorie counting plan.
Eat until you're no longer hungry, not until you're full.
Snacks are options — not mandatory.
Keep your drinks void of sugar of any kind (no cola, juice, etc.) and avoid artificial sweeteners that will only make your cravings for sweet (and high carb) options even harder to ignore.