A 3-page thread over at Low-Carb Friends caught my attention this morning, and I had to take a look-see. It's called
Are You in This For Life? While the greater majority of answers regurgitated the generic low-carb party line, I was surprised to see that the original poster had approached the question with a healthy, honest perspective
"Honest answer...I don't know. I will never look at food the same way though."
I signed into Low-Carb Friends, thinking I might want to say something, but by the time I waded through the un-realism, a cat-and-dog fight, and all of the "I have no other choice," "There is no other healthier way to eat," "I don't want to get diabetes" and 'this isn't a diet - it's a lifestyle' type of replies, I was no longer interested.
Why? Because when you're in the beginning of a low-carb diet, when enthusiasm and determination is high, when the weight is coming off, and you're convinced a low-carb eating style is the only way to go, you're not ready to hear anything different.
Blinders go on, walls get thrown up, and belief systems get defended; because if we didn't behave that way, we might have to face reality - which most folks in the low-carb community are not willing to do. Heck, look at all of the people who actually believe the state of ketosis is magick.
One of the major threads running throughout the various replies was a solid misunderstanding of what "normal" eating actually is. They've learned through trial and error that returning to their old ways of eating, which was obviously un-normal, would cause the pounds of unwanted body fat to return. So they've vowed to stay at un-normal carbohydrate levels for a lifetime claiming that's the only safe, sane approach to their problem.
And for some...it definitely is.
What disturbed me (and what always disturbs me) are those who began preaching their solution as the only viable one. The only healthy way to be, because it helps them control their own distorted view of what normal eating is.
I'm willing to bet that most of them have never truly looked at what a normal portion size is. (Next time you're feeding your family rice or mashed potatoes, measure out 1/2 cup and put it on the side of a regular-sized dinner plate - you might be surprised as to just how much that really is.) We get hooked into the extravagance and luxury of what works when we weigh 256-1/2 pounds; and convince ourselves that we can eat that way forever.
Truth is...we can't. And we can't do that even by picking all low-carb foods. We will stall out part-way to our goal, as many of us have learned.
The amount of calories and dietary fats we could eat when we started this journey is not the amount of calories and dietary fats we can still eat at the end. For some, the solution to that problem is to give up when our weight loss catches up to our current level of calories and fats. Content to just maintain where we are at, we continue to eat a low-carb diet and convince ourselves that we're grateful for what we've accomplished.
Nothing wrong with that solution.
But for the most part, low-carb folks can't see from a viewpoint other than their own. They say you can go and do what you want, but then in the next breath are telling you that "I do not believe that anyone can go on a diet. This has to be a commitment for life. There is no such thing as a diet."
Well...I'm living proof that is not true.
Now the poster was right in that you can't return to the way we used to eat and maintain what we've accomplished. That was an un-natural, un-normal eating style. However, the choice isn't between a low-carb diet for life and gluttony. What most miss is that there is more than just 2 paths. Science shows and proves individuality. It doesn't prove low carb is best.
In the beginning of my journey, I was like all the rest. I fell hook, line, and sinker for what Dr. Atkins believed. But it wasn't long before I came to realize that Dumbo's magick feather wasn't real. Especially when my Leptin levels began to crash about 1-1/2 years in.
If you've ever reached a point where you've lost a lot of weight and despite being on a low-carb diet your hunger suddenly goes through the roof, you'll know what I'm talking about. The body fights back if you stay in starvation mode (the alternative metabolic pathway) too long. At least, that's what I've learned about myself. My body will only tolerate partially-full glycogen levels for so long.
Now, maybe you're luckier than I. Maybe your Leptin levels have never crashed, you digest dietary fats properly, and you aren't sensitive to gluten. Maybe it's your first or second time on a low-carb diet and your body hasn't adapted to Ketosis yet so you're still basking in the light of your "One Golden Shot." I've been there...done that...so I do know of what I speak.
Science has yet to prove that living the rest of your life with partial glycogen liver stores is safe and healthy. But even if it does, that won't change my experience with a low-carb diet, nor the experience of many others whom I used to converse with several years ago here in the comments section of this blog.
Despite what low-carb folks want to believe, most of the time if you want to make it all the way to goal weight, you gotta bend the rules. Tweak the plan to fit your personal health issues and metabolism. That's what Sherrie from the
Pinch Of... blog used to tell me; and upon following her advice, and a little bit of realism I acquired from a poster who goes by the name of 2 Big, I found that to be true.
The way I see it...success with a low-carb diet isn't guaranteed just because you demonize carbs. Nor is it a lack of commitment as most of those in the Low-Carb Friends' thread claimed. If I'd sat back and continued to believe all of that, I wouldn't be where I'm at today: over 100 pounds lighter.
The way I see it...it's about having the courage to seek out our own personal truth, and then experiment to discover what's real. It's about not giving up, and settling for less than we could have, because we don't want to let go of the low-carb magick. It's about having the strength to DO whatever it takes for us to reach our goals, even if that means "adding" more carbohydrates to our diets, not less.
But I'm only an n=1 so...how do YOU see it?
"Honest answer...I don't know. I will never look at food the same way though."
I signed into Low-Carb Friends, thinking I might want to say something, but by the time I waded through the un-realism, a cat-and-dog fight, and all of the "I have no other choice," "There is no other healthier way to eat," "I don't want to get diabetes" and 'this isn't a diet - it's a lifestyle' type of replies, I was no longer interested.
Why? Because when you're in the beginning of a low-carb diet, when enthusiasm and determination is high, when the weight is coming off, and you're convinced a low-carb eating style is the only way to go, you're not ready to hear anything different.
Blinders go on, walls get thrown up, and belief systems get defended; because if we didn't behave that way, we might have to face reality - which most folks in the low-carb community are not willing to do. Heck, look at all of the people who actually believe the state of ketosis is magick.
One of the major threads running throughout the various replies was a solid misunderstanding of what "normal" eating actually is. They've learned through trial and error that returning to their old ways of eating, which was obviously un-normal, would cause the pounds of unwanted body fat to return. So they've vowed to stay at un-normal carbohydrate levels for a lifetime claiming that's the only safe, sane approach to their problem.
And for some...it definitely is.
What disturbed me (and what always disturbs me) are those who began preaching their solution as the only viable one. The only healthy way to be, because it helps them control their own distorted view of what normal eating is.
I'm willing to bet that most of them have never truly looked at what a normal portion size is. (Next time you're feeding your family rice or mashed potatoes, measure out 1/2 cup and put it on the side of a regular-sized dinner plate - you might be surprised as to just how much that really is.) We get hooked into the extravagance and luxury of what works when we weigh 256-1/2 pounds; and convince ourselves that we can eat that way forever.
Truth is...we can't. And we can't do that even by picking all low-carb foods. We will stall out part-way to our goal, as many of us have learned.
The amount of calories and dietary fats we could eat when we started this journey is not the amount of calories and dietary fats we can still eat at the end. For some, the solution to that problem is to give up when our weight loss catches up to our current level of calories and fats. Content to just maintain where we are at, we continue to eat a low-carb diet and convince ourselves that we're grateful for what we've accomplished.
Nothing wrong with that solution.
But for the most part, low-carb folks can't see from a viewpoint other than their own. They say you can go and do what you want, but then in the next breath are telling you that "I do not believe that anyone can go on a diet. This has to be a commitment for life. There is no such thing as a diet."
Well...I'm living proof that is not true.
Now the poster was right in that you can't return to the way we used to eat and maintain what we've accomplished. That was an un-natural, un-normal eating style. However, the choice isn't between a low-carb diet for life and gluttony. What most miss is that there is more than just 2 paths. Science shows and proves individuality. It doesn't prove low carb is best.
In the beginning of my journey, I was like all the rest. I fell hook, line, and sinker for what Dr. Atkins believed. But it wasn't long before I came to realize that Dumbo's magick feather wasn't real. Especially when my Leptin levels began to crash about 1-1/2 years in.
If you've ever reached a point where you've lost a lot of weight and despite being on a low-carb diet your hunger suddenly goes through the roof, you'll know what I'm talking about. The body fights back if you stay in starvation mode (the alternative metabolic pathway) too long. At least, that's what I've learned about myself. My body will only tolerate partially-full glycogen levels for so long.
Now, maybe you're luckier than I. Maybe your Leptin levels have never crashed, you digest dietary fats properly, and you aren't sensitive to gluten. Maybe it's your first or second time on a low-carb diet and your body hasn't adapted to Ketosis yet so you're still basking in the light of your "One Golden Shot." I've been there...done that...so I do know of what I speak.
Science has yet to prove that living the rest of your life with partial glycogen liver stores is safe and healthy. But even if it does, that won't change my experience with a low-carb diet, nor the experience of many others whom I used to converse with several years ago here in the comments section of this blog.
Despite what low-carb folks want to believe, most of the time if you want to make it all the way to goal weight, you gotta bend the rules. Tweak the plan to fit your personal health issues and metabolism. That's what Sherrie from the Pinch Of... blog used to tell me; and upon following her advice, and a little bit of realism I acquired from a poster who goes by the name of 2 Big, I found that to be true.
The way I see it...success with a low-carb diet isn't guaranteed just because you demonize carbs. Nor is it a lack of commitment as most of those in the Low-Carb Friends' thread claimed. If I'd sat back and continued to believe all of that, I wouldn't be where I'm at today: over 100 pounds lighter.
The way I see it...it's about having the courage to seek out our own personal truth, and then experiment to discover what's real. It's about not giving up, and settling for less than we could have, because we don't want to let go of the low-carb magick. It's about having the strength to DO whatever it takes for us to reach our goals, even if that means "adding" more carbohydrates to our diets, not less.
But I'm only an n=1 so...how do YOU see it?