GOOD-BYE, MY BELOVED . . . CARBS!

"Don't get me wrong; I love carbs, especially anything baked, be it yeast bread, hot biscuits dripping with butter, cake, pie, doughnuts, lasagna, dumplings, etc. HOWEVER, my beloved carbs do not love me back. They make me:  fat, retain water, have higher-than-recommended triglycerides, feel tired and draggy--well, you get the picture."

(See TO DIET OR NOT TO DIET and I WANT TO BE A LOSER, previous posts for background on this topic.)

Like I've written in the other dieting posts, I've been on all types of diets over the years.  After eating low carb this time, however, I want to go on record that I NEVER PLAN TO GO BACK TO EATING LOTS OF CARBS AGAIN!  I am simply feeling so much better now, and it is not worth it to feel awful all the time!  I've lost 20 pounds and 30 inches with a long way to go, but I'm pleased. 

Was it easy?  In a word, NO.  The hardest part was just making up my mind to say good-bye to more than 30 or 35 grams of carbs per day.  Really, in my case it is an addiction to carbs, notably sugar.  Staying far away from sugar is the best road for me to follow.  All carbs (starches, too) turn into sugar during digestion.  Then we have that insulin thingy to contend with, where the body stores fat instead of shedding it.

I was on the Atkins diet 25 years ago when it was controversial and considered downright unhealthy in some quarters ("What??  You eat bacon and eggs for a snack?").  I lost over 50 pounds, but gained it back when I resumed eating those carbs. 



Don't get me wrong; I love carbs, especially anything baked, be it yeast bread, hot biscuits dripping with butter, cake, pie, doughnuts, lasagna, dumplings, etc.  HOWEVER, my beloved carbs do not love me back.  They make me: fat, retain water, have higher-than-recommended triglycerides, feel tired and draggy--well, you get the picture.


We are all different in what we eat, and so is our metabolism, our insulin level/resistance, etc.  According to the Drs. Eades, authors of THE PROTEIN POWER DIET, man was not designed for excessive carbs--meat, nuts, a few veggies, and we're good to go.  I tend to agree, for myself, anyway.  Now my tall, skinny brother says he just does not feel full if he doesn't eat a good portion of carbs at a meal.  Well, good for him!  He can eat whatever he wants, but I, on the other hand, cannot do that and live to tell about it.  And that is precisely why I am on the Protein Power diet--I want to live. My joints and muscles have been complaining about the extra weight they've had to deal with for awhile now.  I just don't want my vital organs to follow suit.  I need them, you know.

Lots of foods actually taste good and are also good for me (imagine that).  Last night, for example, I had a quesadilla fajita at our favorite Mexican restaurant, sans the tortilla. This fabulous meal consists of grilled steak strips (or grilled chicken) with sauteed green peppers, tomatoes, and onions, topped with melted cheese.  Along with that were pico de gallo, guacamole, sour cream, shredded lettuce, and sliced tomato.  Ahhhh, delicious . . . and I ate fewer than ten carbs in that entire meal, probably fewer. 

Low carb eating allows me to think about something besides food since I do not feel hungry all the time.  That pesky insulin thingy I mentioned earlier is caused by eating carbs, triggering the insulin response, making me hungry (the proven scientific studies behind all this is too involved to include here).

This eating style also equals zero cravings for my favorite type of carbs, sweets.  Sorry, Little Debbie cakes; I practically owned stock in that company.  I am on the road to carb-addiction recovery.  It is wonderful to feel better instead of worse after eating a meal!