To Carb or Not to Carb? That is the question.

There are so many diet fads out there...Jenny Craig, Atkins, SouthBeach, ediets, Slimfast, WeightWatchers, Nutrisystem...just to name a few.  I have had success with weightloss with a bunch of them, but none that ever lasted.  I would shed some weight and be so happy, then I would gain it back and then some.  Why?  Because it is "a diet". 

When people go on "a diet", they follow a short term set of standards to get a desired result.  When they begin to see the results, they figure that it is safe to go off of the "diet" or they relax their rules.  Or they get bored with the rigid rules of their "diet" or the foods that their "diet" allows them to eat.  I feel the word diet should be thought of as "food and drink considered in terms of its nutrition, qualities, composition, and its effects on health".  In other words, a person's diet is what they eat everyday- not just a bunch of prepared meals or shakes they consume for a month or so just to get a quick fix weight loss.  The only way you can lose a bunch of weight and keep it off is if you look at everything you eat- EVERYTHING, on a day to day basis, forever.  Only then can you begin to build a nutritious and balanced diet and reap the benefits of doing so.

Why is "carbs" such a dirty word, especially when trying to loose weight?  The short answer is that carbs are eaten in the wrong manner...through over-processed snack foods which are cheap, easy, and packed with empty carbs which get broken down into sugar super fast.  What does your body do with all the extra sugar?  See link for detail:  http://www.adeloja.org/tag/simple-sugars   Carbs occur naturally in all fruits, veggies, low fat dairy & WHOLE GRAINS.  Those are the carbs that your body wants and needs- yes, I said needs.  Your body actually needs a certain amount of carbs (actual amount depends on your sex & body size) -of all the calories we  consume on a daily basis, 50 - 60% of them should be derived from HEALTHY carbs.  Your body requires this in order to keep your brain & central nervous system fueled properly- otherwise your body begins to "steal" energy from other sources...this can be a VERY DANGEROUS SITUATION.  See link for further detail:  http://women.webmd.com/guide/high-protein-low-carbohydrate-diets   So, cutting carbs out entirely is just not an option (it is also an impossibility).  It is the carbs in white potatoes, white bread, sugars, syrups, doughnuts, cakes, cookies, chips, crackers and any other overly-processed starchy food that are the "dirty carbs".  It may taste spectacular & fill us up for the moment, but a moment is fleeting and you will have just stuffed a huge amount of "empty" (no nutrients- all bad stuff) calories http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/beware-empty-calories  into the body that you are trying to change.  Then, the moment is gone and guess what?  You are hungry for more.  It is a nasty cycle and the food industry counts on it.  http://addiction-dirkh.blogspot.com/2009/04/how-junk-food-works.html   But you don't have to choose it.  Every little change helps.  You have to start somewhere.  Start here.  All you have to do is be in control of you.

Follow one simple rule...if it isn't whole grain- don't eat it.  Period.  That means that you will probably have to purge your cabinets almost entirely.  It is expensive, at first, just to restock your pantry and it is time consuming to review the ingredient labels on everything you reach for.  But, after a week or so, you will know what foods to grab for, it will be second nature.  It takes a little while for your taste buds to get used to the change but it is for your health, your well being and your body will thank you for it in wonderful ways!  Whole grain starches are made up of fiber as well & we all know what that does for us :)  Check the list of ingredients for WHOLE GRAIN WHEAT FLOUR or WHOLE GRAINS- the closer to the top, the better.  Don't trust the flashy packaging...if it doesn't say whole grain in the listed ingredients- don't buy it.