Many fewer carbs.
That’s the only resolution that I’m making for the year ahead – to change my diet pretty radically so that I eat only a fraction of the carbs I’ve regularly consumed for my entire adult life.
I don’t know if it’s just something that happens as we get older or whether it’s a change in my metabolism that came with the off-the-charts stress of everything I’ve had to deal with since 2010 – or both. However, in the past year or two, something has very, very obviously changed the way my body processes food – carbs and sugar in particular.
In years past, dropping weight after a pregnancy was a slow but predictably steady process for me, without any real effort on my part. By each baby’s second birthday party, I was comfortably back in a size 8. This even includes my postpartum weight loss with C, when I was already 40-plus years old. My body did the same thing after I had C that it had done when I had her 3 older siblings.
But since G’s birth in 2010, my weight – after a period of looking like it was heading in the right direction when I upped my water intake – just isn’t doing what it normally does. In fact, I have been gaining weight recently, and the carb cravings have escalated. Additionally, the weight I’m carrying is all settled in my midsection, which is concerning. And I think maybe the carb and sugar thing is one reason why I often get incredibly sleepy in the afternoons. (I say “one reason” because I’ve always loved a good weekend nap after lunch – at every stage of my life).
Not only do starchy and sugary foods seem to be causing me weight problems, I find that I crave them in a very intense way. I’ve always loved cookies and cake and waffles with syrup and that sort of thing – far more than I crave fattier things that are bad for you in excess, but my carb craving has really gotten worse. Lately, I’ve even found myself waking up in the middle of the night to scarf down something like a Pop Tart or Nutella on graham crackers. My daytime carb consumption has also escalated.
It’s taken me a while to accept that this change has occurred – that eating and metabolizing carbs has become a problem for me – and to accept that the change appears to be permanent. I kept kind of thinking it would just resolve itself and my body chemistry would revert back to how it used to be.
But now that I’m pretty sure that it’s my carb and sugar consumption causing problems for me, I am going to take the responsibility to make proactive changes in response, or I am very likely to end up physically unwell as I round the corner into the second half of my life.
I’ve already made some changes. I’m training for my first 5k, and I am lifting weights at home plus using a strength training circuit at the YMCA. I’ve become a big believer in strength training. And now I will be pedaling Ethel around, so that will be yet another way I will be getting regular exercise.I’m absolutely loving being more physically active, and the benefits are mental as well as physical. I feel just plain happier the more I move and run and get stronger.
Changing my diet is going to be a LOT more challenging for me than exercising more regularly. I have never successfully made any sort of radical, permanent dietary change for myself, and to be honest, my general M.O. has always been to just eat what I want when I want to eat it. But after doing a bunch of reading, and also after talking with other people who have become much healthier after drastically lowering their carb intake, I feel pretty certain that my own carb intake really has to be changed. Until I started thinking about it in an intentional way, I didn’t even realize how huge my carb consumption had become in recent years. Now that I have, here comes the fun (Ha!) task of cutting out most of them.
I haven’t yet decided whether there’s a specific diet I intend to follow – at least in the beginning, but I am leaning toward Atkins. The whole Paleo thing sounds interesting, but I know myself, and there’s no way I am giving up all dairy. I could never stick with that.
I’ve actually been sick with some kind of virus for the past day or two, so I haven’t had a chance to keep reading up on various low carb diet options, but at this point in my limited research, Atkins is looking like the best fit for me.
But until I figure out more specifically how I want to approach my diet change, I’m simply using a carb counting app to keep my daily carb consumption between 20-30 carbs daily. For someone who loves toast and sandwiches and pizza and craft beers and cookies, this is already proving a challenge, but I’m trying!
I’ll let y’all know how my low carb resolution is progressing as I muddle forward. Like I said, I’ve never tried to change my diet in any major, long term way before, so I am prepared for this to really challenge my resolve.
If any of you have ever switched to a low carb lifestyle, I’d love to hear about what prompted you to make the transition, how you’ve done it, and how you feel since going low or lower carb.
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PS: Several of y’all have asked a very good question, which is whether I am seeing a doctor. The answer is yes, and I am having a full physical this month, just to make sure there’s no other reason for my weight gain and energy issues.
You do realize that Atkins eliminates fruits and vegetables, right? As a weight loss regime, it can certainly work but it’s really not a healthy protocol in terms of long term diet change. You really need to research side effects and decide whether or not that is something you’d like to gamble on. A diet that is low in carbohydrates (particularly processed foods like… Pop Tarts) and white flour, high in vegetables and especially dark, leafy greens with lean protein is a much more reasonabe and effective approach to weight loss and sustained health.
You could not be more off-base about Atkins. It is a high fat, moderate protein, low carb way of eating that includes lots of non-starchy veggies. Fruit is restricted in the early phases as there is a lot of sugar in most fruits, but as one progresses from the very low carb Induction phase to the more moderate carb later phases, one can add berries and other low-sugar fruits back in.
Atkins has been shown over and over to be a very healthy way of eating, and one that is the most effective for weight loss.
Atkins does not eliminate veggies! So many people are uninformed and uneducated about Atkins. I eat far more veggies on Atkins than I do when not following the diet. Basically Atkins is healthy protein and non-starchy veg. Very easy to follow, no counting calories or weighing food.
If you are very addicted to carbs/sugar, you will have a difficult time the first few days. You may feel fuzzy headed and headachey. But this will pass and then you will feel amazing! High energy, no cravings and no hunger pains. Just be careful on hidden sugar (in sauces, etc) and go low on the dairy (I found I didn’t have to eliminate it entirely)
Absolutely correct. The Atkins diet is very rich in non-starchy veggies. The myths and misinformation about the diet abound endlessly.
The adjustment to a low carb diet can be a bit challenging. There are some things you can do to mitigate most of it though ….
1. Get plenty of water. Drink at least half your weight in ounces. For someone who weighs 150, they should drink at least 75 ounces a day, and that should be in addition to any coffee, diet sodas, tea, etc.
2. Get plenty of sodium. We’ve been falsely indoctrinated that sodium is bad. There are a tiny number of people who are sodium-sensitive hypertensive, but you stand a greater chance of winning a $300 million lottery than being one of them. So, get some good gray Celtic sea salt, or pink Himalayan sea salt and use it as your taste buds dictate. While getting through the first couple of weeks on low carb, some good chicken broth made from chicken carcass will help tremendously. One or two cups of broth a day should do the trick.
3. Get plenty of good, natural fat. (Yes, another bit of disinformation from the USDA, ADA and other “authorities” that think they know what we should and should not eat.) Fat from animal sources – lard, tallow, butter, cream, fish oil, and cold-pressed oils from nuts and seeds are good for you. (You’ve seen me go on and on about the wonders of coconut oil, I’m sure … it’s good for everything!) Throw out the Wesson oil and other vegetable oils, canola oil, soybean oil, corn oil and anything with hydrogenated in its name. Margarine is evil – it is one molecule away from being plastic. You want to aim for a caloric ratio of 60% fat, 30% protein and 10% carbs once you are through going through the Atkins induction and ladder steps. Yes, really, fat should be the majority of your calories.
The first couple of weeks on low carb can be challenging, but when your body makes the shift from burning sugar to burning fat, you will feel amazing!
More to come ….
One way to unofficially go on a low-carb diet is to use Weight Watchers. Carb-heav foods are higher points, so you have to choose wisely. But you can still have them! And you can “trade” activity points for food points. Some people say that defeats the purpose, but your body needs the fuel when you’re active. I never thought it would work for me but finally signed up about this time last year. I lost about 15 pounds in 3 months and stopped when I learned I was pregnant. Give it a shot!
My family loves (and has had a lot of success with) the South Beach diet!
I went Paleo for the month of September and then switched to basically gluten-free minus traditional gluten replacements (gluten-free cake mix, etc.) I lost 10 pounds within the first month or so and have kept it off. And it’s actually been way easier than I expected. In the end, I don’t think it’s the lack of carbs that contributed to my weight-loss – it is an overall mindfulness of what I am putting in my body. Before I went gluten-free I would often graze as I made my kid’s lunches, meals, etc. Once I said no to gluten I couldn’t eat a handful of crackers just because they were there (which I didn’t need, or even enjoy). I am now much more mindful of what I eat, and therefore, generally more healthy. The weight loss is an added bonus.
I also am not suffering. I make my kids pancakes on Saturday morning and I eat bacon + eggs + fruit + yogurt. If they are having dessert, I have some ice cream or dark chocolate. No beer, but I still drink wine. Going Paleo taught me to make a meal without a starch. I am comfortable now eating a meal of meat and vegetable (or just vegetable) without adding pasta/rice/bread/etc. That said, adding in beans, rice and potato makes eating gluten-free MUCH easier than Paleo.
Good luck to you! I think it’s a great and achievable goal.
Last year I became aware of how much WHEAT, in particular, I ate because of the book Wheatbelly. The author takes a much more drastic approach than me, but I decided to strive for more BALANCE. I don’t think it’s smart to get sooo much of my calories from 1 plant source. I cut way back on wheat products (and therefore on carbs) and felt much better, but I can’t say I lost drastic amounts of weight. I stuck with it really well for several weeks, then backslid during the holidays. Getting back on board now though.
Some of the changes I made:
switched sandwiches for wraps, made half-sandwiches with 1 slice of bread, more nuts, more fruit, more protein.
Best of luck! Happy 2013!!
My father-in-law has been onto the low-carb thing for the better part of a decade, and I’m not exaggerating when I say that he sent us four books (4!) in 2012 about just that. To be honest, I haven’t gotten through (any of) them, but the one that looks most useful is Why We Get Fat by Gary Taubes. I had read a Taubes piece in the NYT on sugar, and found it compelling. What this book does is distill down the ideas he presents in Good Calories, Bad Calories (which we also received!) to a broader audience. It’s not a diet plan, but rather describes, biochemically, what carbs do in/to our bodies and why that results in weight gain. The type of diet he promotes as a result of his research is very Atkins-y.
I find it all very interesting, and totally get the white flour and white sugar have essentially no nutritional value, but I remain a moderation kind of girl.
Good luck!!
As you know, we have been low-carbing for quite some time. Rich is following more of a moderate carb approach and his weight is gradually dropping, around a pound a week. Me, my %$&#@&$ thyroid is keeping my weight on, but the diet still does me a world of good.
So, if I may be so bold …. DON’T post to your blog about this, at least not until you’ve gotten well established and have built up some confidence in what you are doing. For some reason, people love to tear others apart over their eating choices. You’ve dealt with enough of that kind of crap to last several lifetimes. The whole insanity of the responses to the bike gift? Holy crap … I’m still shaking my head in disbelief over some of those comments!
Anyway – I started out with Atkins. (Rich also did it years ago and lost almost 100 pounds.) That may be a good way to start out, if you think you need a structured approach. They have a great web site with lots of recipes, meal planners and food trackers. There’s also a forum where you can ask questions and get advice and such. They also have a Facebook group … note well though that anything you post in any group that is not a Closed group will appear on your timeline. I found that out much to my dismay when I was posting some fairly personal things to a thyroid group. Yikes. I created a separate FB account for group postings such as this.
As I became more and more familiar with the carb counts of various foods, and pretty much got set in my way of eating, I left Atkins behind and have adopted a hybrid paleo/primal way of eating. I do consume some dairy – cream, cheese, cream cheese (ha!) and butter. No milk though, as that is high in sugar, and I never really cared for it much. If I have a recipe that calls for milk, I use half cream, half water instead.
The great thing about paleo or primal is there really isn’t a set of rules to follow, if you can do without them. However, there is a subset of paleo folks who are self-appointed paleo police. Oh yes, the drama! There’s even a Tumblr blog where instances of Paleo Drama are recorded. It gets pretty interesting, from “You can’t have cheese and be Paleo, you traitor!” to one low carb blogger who interviewed Dr David Duke … yeah, THAT David Duke, who also happens to be a nutritionist.
Anyway, on the dairy question, that is entirely up to you and your gut. Some people can handle dairy, some cannot. You can pay thousands of dollars to get lab tests done that will tell you exactly what foods you are sensitive to, or you can find out through an elimination test – give up all dairy for 30 days. Feel better? Losing weight faster? Great. Now eat some dairy for a week … belly aches? Weight gain or losing slows? Might want to stay off dairy. If no changes, have some more cheese and celebrate!
I did this with wheat and found that when I avoid it totally, I feel much better and have lots less pain. I cheated yesterday at the family Naughty Santa/New Years party having a few sausage balls that were made with Bisquick and I’m in a good bit of pain today. So yeah … wheat needs to stay totally off of my menu. It’s one you might want to experiment with too. Many, many people find wheat causes all sorts of problems, and it goes way beyond the whole “gluten sensitivity” thing.
There’s a lot to take in and learn, and new ways to think about food … most of what we are told is “good for us” really isn’t. A really entertaining and funny way to start this re-thinking is with the movie “Fat Head” … you can watch for free on Hulu or Netflix, and I think Amazon Instant as well, if you have a Prime account.
Of course, following my food-related Pinterest boards will give you tons of recipes and nutrition information. And feel free to hit me up with whatever questions, concerns or whatever you might have.
Get ready to feel AWESOME (after some adjustment) with a low carb lifestyle!
In the past few months I’ve been working on improving my diet. Our mainstream American diet and the foods that we can buy at the supermarket make it difficult to eat wisely so don’t blame yourself. Our food is about quantity, not quality. Our food makes us fat. In my household, we are moving to a more plant based diet. It’s good for us, good for the animals, good for the planet.
My reading plus several documentaries have made me painfully aware of how bad fAmerica’s food industry is for us. Personally, I am most horrified by how the animals are treated. I am not against eating meat. I am against abusing animals. And the meat you can buy in the supermarket comes from truly abused animals.
Chickens get their beaks trimmed off and are bred to have so much breast meat that their legs can’t hold them up. They are kept in horrible conditions. PIgs are abused. Cows are abused. Everything is abused by big business. The animals. The land. And us.
Dairy is also an issue for me.. my middle name is better-with-butter…. I think dairy isn’t very good for me but I do love the taste. I’ve also faced the fact that dairy cows are pretty mistreated. Their calves are taken away when they are 2 days old. The calves mostly become veal, a terrible life for them. The dairy cows are fed a bad diet that makes them produce more milk but is very hard on them. Like us, they are made fat and miserable. So, what to do? I plan to cut back on dairy and am working on getting my dairy products more directly from farms that treat their animals humanely.
I am looking for Step 5 animal products.
http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/about-our-products/quality-standards/animal-welfare-standards
And, guess what? They taste better, too. Our current American diet is based on making food cheap and convenient. I think we are paying a terrible price in quality.
You talk about cutting back on carbs but complex carbs are good for you. The convenience foods based on carbs are not.
If you want to learn more, check out these documentaries, which are available on Netflix instant play.
Forks Over Knives
Vegucated
Hungry for Change
Food Fight
Food Inc is good, too, but not on instant play.
May we all eat better in the New Year.
I agree that the food industry is serving up a mountain of lies with a side of poison. If I had endless resources and time to obtain such foods, I would eat only grass-fed beef, free-range pork and poultry, wild-caught fish, organically grown veggies and einkorn wheat (there are a few strains left that haven’t been cross-bred and hybridized into the toxic substance we now call wheat.)
However, such choices are costly, beyond the means of most folks … we do alright with double-incomes and an empty nest, but we still cannot afford $12 a pound for grass-feed ground beef and $25 a pound for ribeye, or $5 a dozen for eggs. In Tennessee, it is illegal to sell raw milk or products made from raw milk, though there are work-arounds to that. Then, obtaining such foods requires traveling to the source, usually … you can’t go Krogering and find grass-fed beef, at least not around these parts.
These ideals are great, but are so far out of reach for most folks, they can be intimidating, especially when starting out on a major dietary change. I felt for a time like I was a fraud because while I was eating only whole, unprocessed foods, they weren’t always organic, sustainably grown, grass-fed, free range, non-GMO and the like. Cutting the carbs way down is a huge step … let the rest come with baby steps. It’s far less overwhelming.
You can eat a healthy, whole food, mostly vegetarian diet that stresses vegetables for CHEAP. And I have to disagree with you that butter is preferable to polyunsaturated fats like Canola oil.
Also, calories do matter. If you eat more calories than you burn you will gain weight, no matter where those calories come from.
You may certainly disagree, but your opinion would not be based on facts.
How Canola oil is made:
http://youtu.be/omjWmLG0EAs
I trust cows more than chemists to make something healthy to eat. Butter, and other animal sourced fats, has never, ever been proven to have health consequences, unless one has an intolerance or allergy to whey or casein.
As for the calories in vs calories out myth, yes the kind of calorie DOES matter. Calories from carbohydrates are broken down, converted and stored much differently from protein and from fat. Gary Taubes explains this fairly well in his writing. Here is a shorter, to the point version of the much longer exposition in his book, “Why We Get Fat” – http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/01/opinion/sunday/what-really-makes-us-fat.html
I watched the video… What’s the problem?
“Good” meat and dairy products are always easy to find at Whole Foods or local independent grocers. Ours has local milk, eggs and meats. They have a fair amount of high grade organic seafood, meats and dairy. It costs a bit more for humane treatment of animals but you can always get bread, paper towels, soda and other stuff at Kroger, Publix, etc.
Our income is quite low and yet we can afford it.
This is my set of go-to links of information about food and nutrition … I hope this makes it through moderation:
These first four are Gary Taubes. Someone else recommended his work, which I second whole-heartedly. You can borrow my copy of “Why We Get Fat” if you want -
http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2012/05/06/why-the-campaign-to-stop-america-s-obesity-crisis-keeps-failing.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/01/opinion/sunday/what-really-makes-us-fat.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/07/magazine/what-if-it-s-all-been-a-big-fat-lie.html?
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/17/magazine/mag-17Sugar-t.html?_r=2&pagewanted=all
http://www.cas.usf.edu/news/s/176/
http://www.carbohydratescankill.com/2158/hyperglycemia-causes-diseases
http://www.fitnessinanevolutionarydirection.com/2011/06/big-fat-lies.html
http://www.hulu.com/watch/196879/fat-head
I also highly recommend “Wheat Belly” – here is a review of it by the guy that did the “Fat Head” movie:
http://www.fathead-movie.com/index.php/2011/08/30/book-review-wheat-belly/
These posts are great primers for the low carb/primal lifestyle:
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/definitive-guide-to-the-primal-eating-plan/
http://marksdailyapple.com/primal-blueprint-101/
I’ve never followed specifically Atkins, but my Mom has, and she’s also followed South Beach – which is a bit of a modified Atkins. She found South Beach to be a little more sustainable in the long-term than Atkins. Recently she’s gone to see a nutritionist who worked out a plan for her and she looks amazing. She’s maintaining her weight for longer than I’ve ever seen her maintain it before.
I worked with a trainer for three years, and he helped me with my diet as well as my exercise regime, and he really made huge differences in my life. I’ve fallen out of routine with it and I’m trying to get back. It requires some pretty dedicated meal-planning, which I’ve been pressed to be able to do, until recently.
20-30g a day of carbs is incredibly low, and realistically difficult to maintain – I know, I’ve done it! When I worked with my trainer he encouraged me, for several months to eat “clean.” We started with breakfast: plain oatmeal, and a protein shake, eating small meals all day long each containing protein, and cutting out the ‘junk’ (pretzels, chips, etc). Whenever I ate out, which is rare, I indulged and ate whatever I wanted. THEN I took the leap to gradually reduce carbs over a 90 day period, with a ‘carb-loading’ day every 10 days. At the end of the 90 days, when I was the leanest I’d ever been, we moved into a maintenance plan that included “carb-cycling” for me to have some very low carb days (30g carbs), moderate days, and high carb days. The scale moved – but I was far more focused on body fat %. I went from around 19% down to around 16% with the goal to maintain around 17% or so.
Ultimately, you have to find what works for you, and what you are able to do, and keep up with. Good luck – you can do it!
I personally have no luck following any kind of prescribed diet like Atkins, South Beach, etc. I do much better when I track and count calories, grams of protein, fats, carbs, etc. I know that is definitely not for everyone, though.
When I started eating better I first became mindful of what I was eating. Then I moved to trying to keep it balanced (for me, that was 50% carbs, 30% fats and 20% protein) Since you know you need help with carbs, maybe try 40/30/30 to start? Or even just track what you are consuming now. If you are currently doing something like 70/20/10, just moving down to 50% carbs might help!
Whatever is going to work for you is going to be whatever fits into your lifestyle the best, no matter how well it has worked for other people. Best of luck to you, and I LOVE Ethel!
Doh. I found Sparkpeople.com to be the easiest of the on-line nutrition trackers for me to use, because they have a recipe calculator on SparkRecipes.com that allows me to add my own recipes on and tweak them as needed to meet my goals. It’s a lot of work at first, but once all the info is entered it is a breeze!
It depends on what level of Atkins one is discussing as to what veggies are permitted. Level One, which is the kick off, allows only a small salad or a pickle in terms of vegetables As one gets older, getting those first ten pounds off is very difficult. Even outright starvation won’t do it for a while because the body will cling to that weight like crazy. So, yes, if you go on Atkins, to get optimal results, one does have to start at that practically no carbs point.
Do make sure you have gotten a physical and are in touch with a physician when you are dieting, Katie. You are no longer a young woman, and I’m not just going by age but by the stresses you have undergone. The risks are much, much higher for you in terms of all kinds of physical problems including serious ones like stroke, that can be caused by too drastic a change in diet combined with any other issues that may happen. So getting a copy of the diet is no longer all that is necessary. You need medical inclusion on this.
Good luck. I’ve been trying to get rid of the same ten pounds for 20 years and I used to throw them off with no trouble, and now they refuse to budge.
Oh Lord … this is completely incorrect. Please don’t repeat false rumors about Atkins. Go to their web site and learn what it is all about first.
Here is the Phase One or Induction list of foods you can eat. This phase lasts, for most, only two weeks, the more types of food are added. http://www.atkins.com/Program/Phase-1/What-You-Can-Eat-in-this-Phase.aspx
When I did Atkins Induction, I was full to bursting before I got anywhere near the limit of vegetables each day.
The Blood Sugar Solution by mark hyman. It is a high protein/high vegetable diet. you are alowed one serving of brown rice a day, and a limited amount of fruit too, which helps with the suguar cravings. There is a pretty restrictive 6week cleanse at the beginning which includes no dairy, caffeine, alcohol, etc. But then you can add these things back in after the 6 week. I figured I could do anything for 6 weeks, right? The problem with dairy is that it is processed like sugar. same with alcohol. So you need to “reset” your metabolism by doing the very restrictive 6 week cleanse, but then you can be a little more relaxed, and still see the benefits.
This book is amazing! It is not a diet, it is a lifestyle change, and it works. You will not feel hungry. You will have 100x as much energy.
The first week is hard. Have lots of snacks available (nuts, hummus and vegis, protein shakes). You will want to eat all the time, and you will feel like crap, but then you will feel amazing. Not having sugar/carb cravings is extremely liberating.
Although this book is marketed for people with diabetes, you do NOT need to have diabetes to do this diet. I used it at the recommendation of a doctor to help me with some digestive issues. I did not have diabetes, and was not overweight, but I still saw amazing benefits from this diet, mostly having to do with my digestive system, energy levels, and hormone regulation.
Good luck! I hope you will blog about your progress.
What worked for me wasn’t something I planned to do to lose weight at all. It was just a happy consequence. We went gluten free for a month last spring to see if it would help my 5 y/o son with some health and behavior issues. It made such a dramatic difference that we stayed gluten free. I cooked only GF foods for him and ate only GF when we were out to support him (he went dairy free too since many Celiacs can’t tolerate dairy protein either until their guts heal, but I continued to eat dairy).
I accidentally lost all of the baby weight I had been carrying around since having babies #4 and #5 in only a few months. I am now in my high school jeans size (I’m turning 44 next week and I’m wearing girls size 14 jeans) and I’m thinner than I’ve been in my adult life (Yay for nursing boobs and mama hips that keep me womanly despite it).
I also feel so much healthier, and I would have sworn I had no intolerance to gluten at all.
I actually recommend taking a month completely off gluten for every family, just to see what happens. My husband lost a noticeable amount of weight around his belly, too, and it seems to be linked to migraines and anxiety issues for my 14 y/o. There’s a bit of a learning curve to cooking GF but once you get the hang of it, it’s not so hard. I’ve actually mastered a lot of recipes that I like better than the old wheat-based ones (waffles, battered fish, onion rings and crepes to name a few that I think are tastier with other flours). I have lots of GF recipes pinned here: http://pinterest.com/magicandmayhem/gluten-free-dairy-free/ We are a mostly vegetarian family so that adds another element of challenge for me as a cook, but an 11 y/o family friend has dubbed me “the cooking god” so I think I’m managing pretty well with all the restrictions.
I used to live on bread products but I don’t really miss them. I love my strong, healthy body so much that it makes up for it.
Good luck with whatever route you take and happy 2013!
I love this! I’ve been reading your blog for several years now, and I just love the direction your life is going: gardening, running a 5K, and getting your diet in order. It’s all very inspiring <3
I made the switch to paleo last spring and other than the occasional “cheat” meal I have been thrilled with the results. I am 45 yrs old and a carb addict, so I was expecting the change to be hell on earth. Seriously, I could live on pasta. And donuts. With the occasional Belgian waffle thrown in for variety. I had added in the exercise and was definitely healthier from that perspective (also a Couch to 5K fan!) but the weight plateaued, which just made me mad. So I jumped on the paleo bandwagon cold turkey one day. Stayed strictly paleo for the first month, no cheats, just to give my body a chance to truly make the switch. Lost 6 lbs in the first ten days–woot! I eat LOTS of fruits and veggies. I use unsweetened almond milk in my coffee instead of cow’s milk. I use spaghetti squash or zoodles as my “pasta”. I eat two different types of veggies with dinner instead of a veggie and a starch, but I am not at all a die-hard “thou shalt not eat” kind of person. If I want to eat a gluten free pizza that has cheese on it, then I’m gonna eat it! Just not on a regular basis. I still exercise–two week in to a round of Insanity, which I love (and hate), and I weight what I did when I got pregnant with my 2nd child. That’s only 5 lbs away from my goal weight. The more I read about grains and the more my experience sans grains brings positive healthy results, the more convinced I am that grains need to stay out of my diet completely.
I’ve cut down my carbs since august and I love my new me. Not only have I lost a lot of weight, I feel lighter -well, I am, lighter- and my energy level is way up. During this last Xmas, I have relapsed -not so much- but I did eat my share of cake, bread and potatoes, and have noticed that I am much more sleepy, bloated, etc. Not good. I go back to work tomorrow and get back into the wagon. I tried Atkins but I am not a big fan of fatty things and cannot give up my coffee with skim milk. Go online and read about the Dukan Diet. It is very similar to Atkins, minus the fat, and introduces the veggies sooner at alternate days until you reach your target goal. Here in Europe it is more popular than Atkins. I am very happy with it. Just take a look!! Good luck!
There’s nothing wrong with fat … it’s not bad for you nor does it make you gain weight. It’s really high time to set aside those myths. It is a necessary nutrient, without which our bodies cannot process other nutrients from our food, nor function normally. Low fat, calorie restricted dieting wrecked my health. A high fat diet is healing me. The Dukan diet is completely removed from anything resembling what the human animal was intended to eat, and is not healthy.
My husband went low carb last spring when his usual exercise routines weren’t helping and he felt really unhealthy. He could feel the crash after he ate too many carbs. We got the book “The 6 Week cure for the Middle Aged Middle” by Eades and Eades. (It was mentioned on Instapundit). The weight came off slowly but steadily, and he felt so much better. His blood pressure measurements dropped, and he slept better too. He did hit some plateaus for weight loss, but eventually lost 25lbs.
What I liked about the book named above is that it gave some good menus and recipes that helped me figure out what I could cook and what vegetables and fruits were better choices. It gave him a way to better eating without being on a restrictive diet – there is a lot of flexibility in the low carb lifestyle once you get used to it.
He found drinking a lot of water helped, and that he shouldn’t skip meals. If he didn’t eat enough, it did slow down his weight loss. (He did regain weight this fall after our family crisis, but he’s now back to low carb and feeling better for it.)
Look up Gary Taube. Very good explanation on carbs and fats and how that affect us physically. Cutting out carbs will make you feel great. Good luck!
I have no thoughts about a particular diet, but I wanted to say that I have been drinking 1-2 green smoothies a day and I feel awesome. The scale hasn’t changed but my clothes fit differently and it has only been 2 weeks. I found a neat website if you are interested:
simplegreensmoothies.com
It is easy–some fruit, leafy green veg and water in a blender. Totally customizable! Just a thought.
. Good luck!
Like Lissa, I follow a Paleo-but-not-cut-all-the-dairy kind of diet combined with high intensity exercise 3-4 times a week.
The huge thing for me was not what I ate but how I ate. As a very busy working mum, I would often cut breakfast, eat on the run at 2pm ish then go home starving and eat way too much.
My trainer taught me to eat every 2-3 hours but small portions, the right fats and how to get in lots of proteins to help me rebuild after my strength sessions.
I haven’t lost heaps of weight really fast as some people do with the crash style diets but this is totally sustainable, I never feel hungry and I don’t feel at all deprived. I’ve also realised I have a real sensitivity to gluten and have a much happier tummy without it!
I guess this is Lissa’s blog now. Good grief with the policing of comments. I wasn’t trying to be confrontational or offer myths about the Atkins diet. I’ve known several people who have been on it and it’s just not sustainable for most. It is effective for weight loss, yes. There are side effects associated, yes. The beginning part of the plan eliminates vegetables, yes. Thereafter, you can eat leafy stuff and tomatoes I think, but not things like sweet potatoes or legumes which are extremely healthful carbs weighted with all manner of nutritional goodness. I would just encourage anyone, especially a busy mother who presumably feeds her family as well, to approach diet not as some restrictive fad type thing, but as a whole life approach where you strive to eliminate processed food and focus more on foods that are closer to their natural state. In doing that, you will acheive much, much more than losing those 10 pounds via eating slabs of meat at each meal.
Sorry, but you are completely wrong about Atkins. Two people have corrected you on your assumption, and you remain incorrect in your repetition …
Phase One of Atkins has a long, long list of vegetables one can eat: http://www.atkins.com/Program/Phase-1/What-You-Can-Eat-in-this-Phase.aspx
When I was doing Atkins, I could not eat all the veggies allowed on the plan in any phase. I’d be stuffed from the huge salad I had at lunch even when dinner time came rolling around.
Progressing through the phases, one can add berries, some grains, and some starches, INCLUDING sweet potatoes and legumes. Atkins is not a fad diet, is far from restrictive, and far from unsustainable, and it most certainly does not involve eating “slabs of meat at every meal.” The information is there on the web site, free for the taking and easy enough for most anyone to understand.
Katie asked for information, not rumors and heresay, and certainly not mythical lies. I’ve been very happy with my eating style, seguing from Atkins to paleo/primal/ancestral way of life and I am excited to know that she’s going to give it a try as well, so I want to share what I can. But after having MY health wrecked by false information about food, I will correct misinformation whenever I can, perhaps saving someone else the agony.
I feel so ~schooled~. Pfft.
Your graciousness has not gone unnoted.
Have a blessed day!
To anyone thinking of doing Atkins, the easiest thing is to read the book – the first edition is usually best. For those who have not read the book, it is probably not best to comment. There are many myths about the way of eating, and many people follow their own version as to what the diet is about. You may be right that you know several people who have been on it and were only allowed to eat a tomato, but they were doing it incorrectly.
And…there are many many ways of eating/controlling carbs/sugar etc that work for some and not for others. Counting calories never worked for me….others swear by it. It’s all about finding out what your body will respond to – that you can continue in the long run.
Personally I’d recommend reading the more recent edition of the Atkins book, as it is updated and addresses some things earlier editions omitted, like additional aspects of how diet can affect blood sugar and insulin, and the importance of fiber (not to say these were completed omitted from earlier editions, but more recent are more complete).
In defense of Norla and others who “are not a big fan of fatty things,” I don’t read that as a condemnation of fat, just a description of tastes. Atkins’ early endorsements of his dietary approach as one that embraces fat notwithstanding, Atkins is really pretty neutral on fats — if you don’t like ‘em (and want to eat per Atkins’ guidelines), don’t eat ‘em. Omitting (simple) carbs and steering clear of (most) fats) will leave you with lean meats, fiber, and a wide array of vegetables to munch on, and (per Atkins’ guidelines), you can then add as many complex carbs as are consistent with your own experience of what your body wants/needs.
Try the Perfect 10 diet – I downloaded the book from Amazon. Has worked well, is relatively easy to adapt to, and I am down 30 lbs. Cut my cravings a ton.
Yay! Good for you, you are going to feel amazing
Read and research a lot in those first few weeks, it will help you stay focused on why it is better for you to eat this way. After that it should be smooth sailing, but remember not to beat yourself up if you go off plan, just get back on the wagon again straight away.
Might I suggest you check out the “100 Days of Real Food” blog, which will give you plenty of information on changing your diet to real, (mostly) unprocessed food. That, in and of itself, will lower your carb intake. It is something that real families can easily do, and it is a great way to educate and empower your children to make healthy food choices. Yes, it is a little more expensive to eat this way, but it is certainly doable. Cruze Dairy Farm is an awesome supplier of milk (not ultra-pasteurized), and the Market in Maryville is a great place to get grass-fed, hormone and antibiotic free beef and pork, as well as local, free-range chicken. Every so often there is a Groupon which makes the meat very affordable. Of course, you can also get Mitchell Farm Beef at Pratt’s Market and a plethora of good, fresh, organic veggies, whole grains, etc. at Three Rivers Market.
I have also had success with “My Fitness Pal” a free online source to track your calores, carbs, etc.. It is super easy. Good luck with you endeavors!
For what it’s worth, my brother, his wife and I all did the Atkins diet a few years back. Yes, we all lost weight. And all of our Lipid panels shot through the roof. My brother ended up with blockages in his coronary arteries and stents placed. I had a carotid artery endarterectomy. Coincidence? Maybe, maybe not. No advice, other than to second Cath Young’s suggestion that you make an appointment with a good health care provider.
I know a lot of people have different ideas about diets, and I would think a nutritionist would be the very best person to ask. But regardless of what others say, I do have one awesome trick for managing food for my family. I make sure that everyone eats the right stuff by making the healthy snacks the easiest food to get to in the house. If you invest in a TON (40-50 or so for a large family like yours) of half or fourth cup sized sealed tupperware containers, you can fill each one with a reasonable serving of yummy stuff–berries; sensible amount of crackers; nuts; single serving of pasta; cut vegetables like baby corns, carrots, snap peas; applesauce; a single serving of cheese–like a lunch-able! Make eating healthy way easier than eating foods like pop tarts (put those up high where you need to get a step ladder). You’re much more likely to actually choose a little container of strawberries and a little container of yogurt both at eye level than a pop tart that takes effort to reach. I fill the tupperware on the same day that I go to the store so that I put away the groceries by filling up snack servings sizes of them.
This is a great, practical suggestion! I’m going to try this…
Awesome comment
Oh Katie… this post makes me very upset, and very depressed.
I think our approach to eating and diet is completely wrong-headed in North America; that making eating fraught with guilt and micronutrients is a recipe for disaster.
So far, I haven’t been proved wrong.
Katie, your extreme cravings for specific processed carbs and sugar could be a sign of an underlying health issue, so you should get checked out by your family doctor. As someone who had a child in her 40s, well, it really changes your body.
You are doing a lot of the right things — exercising for fun being the most important. Lifting weights too (just please don’t injure yourself running!).
If I may though, I would suggest that in order to help yourself re-learn how to eat properly balanced meals and lose weight, join WeighWatchers. Their program is the only one that is actually supported by the best and most recent (reliable) research. It weans you off processed carbs, and you learn to eat complex carbs instead. WW isn’t so much a diet, as it is a way to relearn how to eat.
I would also suggest that you read the book “French Kids Eat Everything”. It explains why our approach to food is wrongheaded, and how we can try to change. Although it may sound like a flighty little book, it’s not; it is actually very well researched and written — the writer is a Rhodes Scholar and university professor.
Diets don’t work over the long term — the evidence on that is incontrovertible. We need to eat sanely, eat a wide variety of good foods (in North America, we need help learning about good foods). Food should be a pleasure, not a source of guilt, angst or torment. And that little parenting book provides the keys.
Good luck.
I concur with this post 100%. I also recommend the book The End of Overeating by David Kessler. It shows the chicken/egg cycle of craving salt, sugar, and fat. I thought it was really good. I’m impressed you keep Pop Tarts in the house at all. I remember my childhood breakfasts of pop tarts and toaster strudels and it makes me shudder.
I agree with this. I grew up in a family where we vascillated (behind my mum) between years where we would “give up” and eat all kinds of crap and years where it was all carob and toasted soy beans (hey it was the 70s). Over my lifetime I have made it a big part of my life to get a healthier relationship with food going and while I’m not skinny, I’m not fat either (BMI of around 21, 155 lbs on a 5’8″ frame). I have watched low-fat come and go, low-carb, Paleo and all that. I actually think that is a huge part of the problem, people treating food like religion and getting so overzealous.
Each particular demonizing diet works for some people because that’s the change -their- body might need, and works for more on a temporary basis because heck, if you go through your cupboards, get rid of all the junk, and think about what you eat, surprise! You’ll be healthier! The question really is, can you find something that makes food healthy and pleasurable both long-term that also doesn’t increase your risk for other health issues.
A book that helped me with the psychological/eating cues was Mindless Eating by Brian Wansink. Totally not a diet book but it’s great. As a family we follow the advice to serve most things from the stove and then plunk down big bowls of the veggies on the table. Another author I love and agree with and who talks about the change from food to nutrient based thinking is Michael Pollan. (“Eat real food. Mostly plants. Not too much.) I like this view: http://michaelpollan.com/reviews/obsessed-with-nutrition-thats-an-eating-disorder/
This this this. Great post, Shandra! First, as you age your metabolism slows down and you don’t need as many calories as you did before. That’s true of everyone, not just you. If you eat Pop Tarts in the middle of the night and see a weight gain, there’s a fix to that. It might not be easy, but it’s not rocket science.
Hi Katie,
As a person with Type 1 diabetes I made a huge lifestyle change when I got diagnosed almost 15 years ago regarding carbs. I’ve read about almost all the diets people have mentioned–and I think each one has merits. My suggestion is to be moderate with your choices and changes as you go along because make too many at one time–and you won’t keep up. Outlaw food as “bad” (whether it’s wheat or carbs or fats or sugar…) and guess what? You will find yourself “sneaking” around.
Type 1 is not a fad. I have to eat the way I eat to live–it is not a diet for me–it is not temporary…So I have had to make my way and eat in a healthy way that I can sustain borrowing a little from the low Glycemic index food approach, Atkins, South Beach.. American Diabetes Association, Mark Bittman, and Weight Watchers. You’ll have to find out how this will work for you, too. I just want you to know that there is no one magical answer. And it is hard work.
Good luck.
Interesting conversations. I have been eating low carb for 1 year now and I have lost about 15 pounds. I recommend reading “A New Atkins For A New You”. It is actually a very balanced approach to food after the first 2 weeks of induction. The main thing is to leave wheat and sugar out of your diet. You will have some headaches and cravings in the beginning, but they go away. There are a bunch of support site with 100′s of recipes on FB. Just search low carb. I can recommend “Your Lighter Side.” Great folks and great recipes. You can do it and you will be healthier for sure. Sugar and flour are the bad guys.
Go Katie! I don’t have any advice to offer on the food front – except I like Michael Pollan’s Eat Food, Not To Much, Mostly Plants philosophy. In general I’m all for people, and especially mother’s, living healthier lives in the way that feels good to them. More power to you!
Honestly what got me to look at my carbs a LOT more is Weight Watchers. Carbs are part of the numbers that you put in the calculator. When the carbs go up so do the point values, it makes you think about what is going in your mouth and how much is truly in a portion- this is something I have to get back to.
I’m of the attitude that the best diet is the one that works best for you. For some people eliminating (or reducing) carbs works great. For others, reducing animal sources of food has worked (going vegan). For others (like me), any kind of diet which restricts types of food doesn’t work. I don’t like the way that lots of food gets put in the “bad” camp, which for me alters my relationship with food and eating in a negative way. On low carb diets I would “give in” and eat some bread or pasta and then go through a guilt/loathing cycle. I also didn’t like the way I had to eat different food to the rest of my family.
The plan that has worked the best for me is food journaling (using an iphone app). It’s basically calorie counting. Weight watchers works this way, but uses a simplified points system. Basically, I can eat anything I want, I just have to be careful how much I eat. The thing I like about it is that it doesn’t classify some types of food as bad, instead it teaches portion control. You can have pasta. You just can’t have 3 bowls of pasta. You can have bread. But not half a loaf. You end up choosing the healthier options because you get to eat more. One of the great things about it is that because there are no restrictions on types of food, you can eat anywhere and enjoy the same foods your family eats. For others, this type of eating is too annoying because you have to write down everything you eat. But for me, it works great.
I hope your dieting thing works – I think the great thing about starting any new healthy plan is that you learn more about yourself and what works for you.
Get the Atkins book and do what it says. You will feel like crap the first week, especially the third day. My husband and I have been on it for 2 years as of Feb. 4th. HIGH FAT, low carb works. 60-65% of your calories should be fat calories. I know it sounds weird and disgusting but do it. You can’t do low carb and low fat. You won’t be hungry and your carb cravings will go away. My lipid numbers have improved dramatically, especially triglycerides.
I am fascinated that your lipids improved following Atkins, while my shot through the roof. To me that shows what other commentors have said, there isn’t a one size fits all that works for everyone, so we all need to find an individualized path to health and wellness.
It’s pretty typical for people’s lipid numbers to improve, of course I am reading blogs and articles from people who low carb has worked for. I agree, diet is not a one-size-fits-all thing. Low carb seems to work best for people who carry their extra weight in their abdominal area, which is totally me. I have two friends who low-carb did not work for, one is very thin in all parts of her body except her hips, butt and thighs and she diets like a fiend and the other one has something called familial hypercholesterolemia (had to google how to spell that) and her cholesterol shot up into the 400′s while on Atkins. My HDL almost tripled and my trigs were reduced by about 2/3. My ratios are outstanding now. I thought the guy who gave me my results was going to bring out the party hats and streamers.
I’ve seen reports from folks where they say that after a few months doing Atkins or high fat, low carb eating, that their cholesterol numbers “get worse.” But if they stick with it, the numbers normalized after about a year. The most common advice is to avoid the lab tests until one has been in the new eating style for a year or so.
My cholesterol levels are great. Rich’s were awful and the doctor put him on statins and high blood pressure medicine and said he was pre-diabetic before we went low carb. Now his numbers are all normal and he is off all medications. You’d never believe he is a going-to-be-50 year old grandpa of 7, soon to be 8.
Too, the link between high fat diet and high cholesterol is non-existent. There is no proof that dietary cholesterol raises serum cholesterol. Quite the contrary, dietary measures to reduce cholesterol by eliminating or reducing cholesterol heavy foods has failed to improve cholesterol number.
The number one culprit causing high cholesterol is actually low thyroid activity. Now there are a number of theories behind that, placing diet as a secondary cause of high cholesterol …. extreme dieting – especially calorie restriction and low fat-high sugar diets – can lead to low thyroid activity which leads to high cholesterol.
Finally, it has never been proven that high cholesterol leads to heart disease. Half the people who have heart attacks have low or normal cholesterol levels. Most likely, it is that whatever causes cholesterol to rise also increases the likelihood of heart disease … and sugar, in all its forms, is the leading cause of disease.
Gary Taubes, the guru of high fat-low carb eating, published his lipid panel a while back on his blog. He is the picture of health.
http://garytaubes.com/2011/04/before-sugar-were-talking-about-cholesterol/
Again, different things work for different people. I was on the Atkins for 1 1/2 years. The numbers just kept going up and up. I am happy for those it works for, but it didn’t for me. I have had digestive issues in the past, and in the past 3 mos. have been taking a daily probiotic pill. It has worked like magic. My sister has the same issues, has done the same thing, and it hasn’t helped in the least. Generalized statements of what is the best or what will work for everyone just aren’t factual.
Have you looked into the Whole30 plan? It specifically addresses digestive issues, as well as metabolic and overall health. Weight loss is a secondary concern, but usually happens for most who go through the plan.
You can learn more about it here: http://whole9life.com/start/
I may jump on this bandwagon one of these days as I am sure some of my health issues are related to digestive problems, but I just can’t motivate myself to make these changes quite yet. I would have mentioned this to Katie also, but she was pretty emphatic that giving up dairy is not an option …. it would be pretty rough for me too, cause I love me some butter and cream!
Yeah, I can’t see me giving up dairy either. I have always felt the best, slowly and steadily lost weight, and my digestion is great when I follow Weight Watchers. So the question I have to ask myself is why I don’t follow it all the time, right? LOL
Lissa, I agree with a lot of what you say, except for this: “Finally, it has never been proven that high cholesterol leads to heart disease. Half the people who have heart attacks have low or normal cholesterol levels.”
This is technically true inasmuch as there’s nothing like Koch’s postulates for non-infectious disease to prove that one thing causes another. But in the case of serum cholesterol it’s been pretty conclusively shown that high levels of LDL and other non-HDL particles are correlated with cardiovascular disease; that prospective studies show a difference in mortality among people who start out with higher levels of non-HDL cholesterol; and that in matched populations with elevated LDL, therapies that lower LDL are associated with a corresponding lowering of their cardiovascular event risk. (Unfortunately, the recent systematic reviews on this topic don’t seem to be open access. I have read the papers myself and could link to abstracts, though.) There is also a known mechanism by which hypercholesteremia can cause vascular events. To me, that’s sufficient evidence to presume that high cholesterol causes heart attacks. It’s the best fit for the evidence we have.
I’ve seen the statistic that 50-75% of people who have heart attacks in the US have cholesterol below the recommended threshold for their known risk group — however, only about one in six Americans has high cholesterol, so you’d expect that number to be more like 87% if there were no link whatsoever. There’s currently debate over whether current LDL targets are too high, whether we should actually be looking at all non-HDL particles, or whether public health efforts need to put more emphasis on raising HDL.
At risk of offending even more people by posting factual stuff (pfft!) ….
First, correlation is NOT causation. That’s the most common fallacy of bad science. As I noted, most likely, the same factors that lead to heart disease ALSO leads to elevation in serum cholesterol, the primary candidates being a diet high in sugar, in all its forms – fruit, grains, starches – and low thyroid function. And again, many of the causes of low thyroid function are also causes of heart disease.
The whole cholesterol scare thing is based on bad science. Really bad science. In fact, it is now being shown that LOW cholesterol levels are linked to higher death rates:
– Heart attack survivors live longer if they have high cholesterol
–Low cholesterol levels increase the risk of death from stroke, cancer and all causes
–Low cholesterol levels predict death in patients with bacteria in the blood
–Colon cancer deaths increase in men with low cholesterol
(Low Cholesterol Leads To An Early Death – Evidence from 101 Scientific Papers, David Evans, http://goo.gl/mvYqN)
We have all been led to believe things that are incorrect from the sources we are supposed to trust – the USDA, American Dietetic Association, our doctors – but not all they tell is is necessarily true. How often do we see the recommendation to eat a diet low in fat, low in sodium and rich in whole grains? The truth is, that is completely and wholly incorrect. Same thing with the information we have been given about cholesterol … even more suspect because a lot of it is driven by the pharmaceutical companies that sell the statin drugs. They tell us lies about the foods that affect cholesterol while writing a prescription for statins.
Tom Naughton, the guy that did the “Fat Head” movie, writes frequently about bad science, as well as food and nutrition and other topics. It’s good stuff – he picks apart the reports we see that scream “Bacon kills!” and shows the fallacies and misinformation that makes it bad science, and presents it so that regular folks like me can understand it. I highly recommend reading his blog to get this view of those “scientific studies.”
Oops. Forgot the link to Tom’s blog:
http://www.fathead-movie.com/index.php/category/bad-science/
Wow. You should have a blog. I’m not even kidding.
I think you’re arguing with a statement I didn’t actually make.
I believe I was quite clear that correlation did not necessarily equal causation, and I believe I’ve also been clear that I don’t think the science states that low-carb diets are inherently harmful in any way.
I’ve seen Fat Head and read Gary Taubes’s book (Good Calories, Bad Calories). I give greater weight to a methodologically sound meta-analysis than to popular science works, especially when I’ve read the papers in question and can check the methods myself.
Great post, Victoria. Diseases like heart disease are multi-factorial but some factors have such a mountain of evidence behind them that the fact that their prospective cohort studies or randomized clinical trials are moot. Funny how people always say correlation doesn’t equal causation (which is true), but the scientific method is much more than that. We know smoking can cause cancer – yet we know this by the preponderance of evidence (cohort studies, case control studies, etc), not randomized clinical trials (as it would be unethical to assign people to the smoking arm). Thanks again for a great post.
And I sleep so much better on low-carb!
Have you considered that maybe your sugar cravings are coming from dehydration? You have started running 3x a week. Are you drinking enough water before and during your runs? As a runner I am thinking you need to eat to run. Fuel your body properly and then after you get in the habit of choosing healthy foods and eating them, you can get to a diet. I do not see any low carb diet working well with running.
Get rid of the pop tarts so you won’t be tempted.
I also wonder how successful you will be at eating differently than your whole family. Seems way too complicated for a working, running, mama of five! Go on to Plan B!!
Good luck!
I was thinking the water intake as well. A track coach I once had said that most often what a person thinks is hunger is actually thirst. I have tried to keep that in mind at times when I realize I shouldn’t be hungry and try to conciously remember and drink a glass of water. It more than not does the trick! Plus all the running you are doing you are probably definitely not drinking enough water.
My husband and I both started Atkins together at New Year’s 2011, and we had very different experiences with it.
For him, Atkins was tremendous. At his lowest weight he was down 50 pounds from where he was when we started (that took around 8 months); and for the last year he’s hovered at 40-45 pounds down from his high (he is now well within healthy BMI for his height). He’s found the diet easy to stick to and is still happily on a mostly low-carb diet — he’ll have one martini after dinner 4-5 times a week and the occasional higher-carb treat when we go out, but probably 90% of his dietary intake is low-carb.
For me, Atkins was…not so great. My main goals were to tame my sugar consumption (which it was great at), but mostly to moderate my energy levels and make me feel good, and on that score it failed pretty miserably. I did lose some weight on it, pretty rapidly. But I never got over the “low-carb flu,” even after a month of being very, very strict with it (by the end I was dry heaving several times daily. Not fun!). I tried another couple weeks bumping my carbs up to Atkins Phase III levels, but didn’t see much improvement. So I quit. I had a similar experience with the Whole30 (I had high hopes for that one, since fruit and starchy vegetables are allowed from the beginning, but it did not agree with me one bit). I just find that I do better with some grains and starches in my diet.
So I’m now doing a heavily modified version of Alton Brown’s diet plan, which seems just perfect for me. I’m losing weight slowly if at all, but I’m eating real food in a sustainable way, I have more energy, and I no longer have cravings for refined sugar, which is HUGE for me. I’m losing weight slowly if at all, but at this point I don’t care.
Oh, one other thing: I spend my days reading medical research and read just about every rigorous study or systematic review I could find on this stuff. There’s NO reason to think that low-carb is dangerous for most people, though it’s not a good choice for people with pre-existing kidney conditions (it doesn’t cause them, but it can force your kidneys to work too hard if they’re already damaged). There are also some people whose cholesterol rises significantly, as mentioned, but they’re a minority.
On average, people who do low-carb, when compared to people who start on other diet plans, lose and maintain the loss of slightly more weight IF they stick with it: low-carb diets in study situations tend to have somewhat lower adherence (though few people stick with a given diet for more than about six months). Long-term, the average differences between people on different diets really are quite small and it really comes down to what you can adhere to!
Best of luck in this endeavor to become healthier Katie! I know nothing about various (fad?) diets and what works – so my only suggestion would be to speak with your PCP (primary caregiver) and then meet and speak with a registered dietion. That’s what I would do to get a handle on things, vs trying to jump into a popular way of dieting. It’s my understanding that they would go over your eating/workout in a comprehensive manner and then break it down for you in what will work best for YOU (body type, eating, labs they get from your doctor, etc).
Good luck! And If you see an RD, I’d love to see how it goes!
Yes, I concur. My GP has a dietitian on staff and the service is covered under my insurance. You may have something similar with your plan.
Respectfully, I ask you to consider this: weight is not the same thing as health. It is possible to be healthy no matter what you weigh, just as it is possible to be unhealthy no matter what you weigh. I strive to feel good, and eating high quality foods (unprocessed, as natural as possible) and moving my body in ways that are pleasing make me feel good. For many people, those things may make them lose weight. There is no credible research that shows that dieting keeps weight off long term. I know you are a good researcher, so don’t take my word for it. Choosing to eat healthier foods is something we should be doing every day, not just for a set period of time. There was a great article a couple of weeks ago about an MD with multiple sclerosis who was able to reverse many of the degenerative effects of her disease by making specific (restrictive) dietary choices. I’m not saying we should all be so restrictive, but if some “super foods” can heal a sick body, why wouldn’t we all want to be putting them into our bodies in the first place? In my own opinion, I think artificial sweeteners and other processed foods are harming our bodies more than whole grains, eggs or butter.
I tried Atkins in college (roughly when it first came out). I lasted 2 weeks and it was awful. I had the zaps (like you can feel every neuron in your brain firing, similar to withdrawal symptoms from going off SSRIs) and zero energy. I felt so, so, so bad.
I’m not sure if it’s been mentioned elsewhere in the comments (there are so many!) but I recommend reading The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan no matter what you choose to do with your eating. I think it’s important to know *where* your food is coming from and what is being done to it before it reaches your plate. It was super eye-opening and has helped me tremendously.
I have had great success with “primal” eating for the past 18 months, and can’t say enough good things about it. I too was a carb addict (bread and pasta were my staples) and didn’t think I could live without them. It turned out that I had a gluten sensitivity I was unaware of, though; within 48 hours of quitting them, certain life long health issues had started to improve, some dramatically. Because I felt so much better so quickly, I have never been tempted to go back. I have also lost 15 pounds that I had been trying to since I hit my 40s a few years ago. The weight loss was not quick, compared to many who eat this way, but it has been very steady and effortless (no cravings!).
Primal *is* low carb, but more than that it is about eating fresh, whole foods. I don’t count calories, points, or carb/fat/protein percentages, I just eat the best quality fruits, veggies, and meats I can afford, and good fats (olive oil, avocados, macadamia nuts, coconut oil). The fat is key, because it satiates you. Many follow an 80/20 rule – eat well 80% of the time. So primal certainly allow for treats, and I regularly enjoy red wine, chocolate, occasional primal baked goods, etc. I also eat some diary – cheese, Greek yogurt, ice cream if I feel like it. Honestly, though, since I stopped eating processed food, a lot of what formerly tasted good as a “treat” now tastes like crap! Our grocery budget has increased because we buy local, grass-fed, etc, but we seldom eat out anymore (the restaurant food usually just doesn’t taste as good), so it balances out.
I highly recommend the Mark’s Daily Apple website. It is jam-packed with info, but here are two good links to get started.
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/definitive-guide-to-the-primal-eating-plan/#axzz2GryLtV4v
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/primal-blueprint-101/#axzz2GryLtV4v
Good luck, Katie!
Should have added the “O” to my original post since I see there is more than one “Liz” commenting.
Just wanted to add that one of the unintended side effects of suddenly going paleo last spring is that I stopped having migraines. I used to keep Imitrex with me at all times. I’ve only taken it twice in the past year and both times were after starchy carbs.
Someone mentioned Whole 30 and while it is a great program–my skin has never looked so good as it did when I did Whole 30–it is TOUGH! It was pretty hard for me and I was already doing paleo. I can’t imagine how tough it would be for someone who wasn’t. However, I do highly recommend that you get the ebook, “It Starts With Food” from Whole 30 and use their master recipes. I love to cook but working full time and having four kids with busy schedules means that during the week I want food prep to be EASY and FAST and healthy. Now I keep stapes like canned coconut milk, a wide variety of spices, frozen meats, and frozen stir-fry veggies and I can whip up a healthy, filling, crowd-pleasing meal in 30 minutes.
Lastly, Katie if you are noticing weight gain now that you are running, it’s probably the muscle you’ve gained in your legs. Of course my appetite always jumps up when I start a new exercise regimen, so it could be that you are just hungrier and eating more right now. Nothing wrong with that! Especially if you are moving toward a healthier diet.
Good luck! Hope you’ll let us know how it goes.
Good luck! It’s really such a good health decision no matter how you look at it. Carbs are delicious but so bad for you. Be careful of the hidden carbs! I learned the hard way about things like black beans and corn.
It may very well be in your best interest to see a Registered Dietitian (RD) who can help assess your issues, identify realistic goals and figure out workable strategies for success. It may not be hip if trendy ala Paleo, Atkins, etc. but an RD (whose services can be covered by insurance) is a well trained nutrition professional who’s main goal is to help you (not to sell books or products). It’s always interesting to me that people turn to doctors, journalists etc. with no real nutrition training for dietary advice. If you need legal advice, you seek out a lawyer, right? Like any other professional, you can easily find an RD who will be sensitive to your particular needs including things like food costs, family meals, sustainability, vegetarianism, etc. Issues that many fad diets don’t address.
You bring up an excellent point. So many of these doctors are trying to sell a book or a product. An RD would be the best choice. I am reminded when I asked my own internist what she thought of Dr. Oz, of Oprah fame. I had heard so many patients come in and say “well I heard on Dr. Oz, or Dr. Oz says”. My doctor smiled and said “well he is a trained and I am sure skilled cardiothoracic surgeon. My problem is when he speaks of so many other issues in which he has no experience or training.”
It may very well be in your best interest to see a Registered Dietitian (RD) who can help assess your issues, identify realistic goals and figure out workable strategies for success. It may not be hip and trendy ala Paleo, Atkins, etc. but an RD (whose services can be covered by insurance) is a well trained nutrition professional who’s main goal is to help you (not to sell books or products). It’s always interesting to me that people turn to doctors, journalists etc. who have minimal, if any, nutrition training for dietary advice. If you need legal advice, you seek out a lawyer, right? Tax assistance? Find an accountant. Like any other professional, you can easily find an RD who will be sensitive to your particular needs including things like food costs, family meals, sustainability, vegetarianism, intolerances, allergies, dislikes, likes, genetics, blood work etc. Issues that many fad diets and non-professionals don’t address.
Hi Katie
This comment is in no way related to your post and I apologise for that but it’s the only recent one I see with comments enabled. You won’t remember me but I commented on your blog a few times a couple of years ago, about how I was a young guy struggling with alcoholism. I linked to the own blog I made to detail my journey in trying to overcome that (linked here again), and Betsy left encouraging words for me sometimes. I really can’t remember the details to log into said blog, else I’d email her directly myself, but I stumbled across your blog again and just wanted to let her and you know that I did indeed overcome my problems and that I’m now sober, a lot happier, healthier, and best of all, am now a father to a beautiful 3 month old girl. I think about Henry and your family often still… I just wanted to stop by and let you know again that his story really is helping people and that I appreciated your family’s kindness towards me through my blog for the few months I kept it… I think Henry’s grandmother also took the time to comment once..
Anyway, best of luck with your diet endeavours. If you could please pass this onto Betsy that would be really great. Hope this comment improves your day a little. All the best for a fantastic 2013!
Thinking of Henry always.
Best of luck with whatever eating plan you choose. The only minus I would voice against Atkins is the use of artificial sugar substitutes. (Has it changed in later editions?) Please avoid the chemical sweeteners; they can be worse than white sugar. For neat & satisfying dessert ideas, check out some raw food recipes. Actually, though I’m not an enthusiast, raw food recipes are a good resource for some really nice alternatives that can fit into any diet when you just want something different now and then without falling off the wagon.
Hi Katie! Congrats on taking control of your diet! I saw that many other commenters recommended reading the Gary Taubes’ NYT piece and his book. I’ve read both and they were certainly eye-opening. I agree with his basic findings about sugar/carbs and the problems with American diet.
My husband and I decided to lower our carb intake (lower…not eliminate!) by making reasonable but small changes to our diet. For me, it’s too overwhelming to make a “lifestyle” change but I do most of the cooking and it’s pretty easy to make small meal changes. Here’s what we did:
1) Eliminate the “starch” portion of our meals. I was brought up on meat, starch and veg as a complete meal. So instead of chicken, rice, and green beans, I eliminated rice and either a) add another veg or b) just make more chicken or green beans. This alone has been the easiest way to eliminate carbs for us.
2) Do not buy carb-y snack food. No chips, cookies, candy, etc in the house. It makes it easier to avoid splurging on since it’s simply not there as a choice! I have no problem with snacking between meals but I stick with almonds, cheese, dried fruit, etc.
3) Replacing sugar with Truvia. I know some low carb diets want you to eliminate all sugar and sugar substitutes but I’m not willing to do that…especially in my coffee! I feel comfortable with Truvia because it’s NOT a chemical sugar sub. and it’s been used in Japan (which has very strict food regulation laws) for 40 years and studied with no adverse effects. I also try to use Truvia baking blend as a sugar sub in desserts.
4) Make your own junk food. Michael Pollan’s old rule: If you want junk food, make it yourself! If I want a cookie, I bake it. If I’m too lazy…oh well…no cookie for me!
5) No sugary beverages: no soda, no juice, no iced tea, etc. Just milk and water in our house. Again, if it’s not lying around, you won’t consume it! Soda is once again the “special treat” it was in my childhood and I enjoy it so much more when I order the occasional one!
6) Make smart restaurant choices: No fast food. Period. I was never a big fast food eater so this was not an issue for me. But also, when you’re out, order water and try to look for entrees that have meat and veg. If there’s a starch, ask for it to be removed off the plate or ask for an extra portion of veg.
That’s basically it. It’s just a matter of retraining your brain. Sugar cravings are STRONG but not satisfying ultimately. I still eat pizza (that I make!) and occasionally pasta. I also kept dairy but I just love it! I also eat lots of fruit, especially berries, for nutritional value. I can’t say that I lost tons of weight b/c of this change but I didn’t really need to lose weight to begin with. I do feel more satisfied and more energetic and my blood sugar feels more stable and less prone to highs and lows.
I hope you find something that works for you and your family! Best of luck!
My goodness this is a hot topic. My advice is pretty similar to what others in the “make your own healthy eating habits” camp. Blend the best of Weight Watchers and South Beach, say. I like WW — the emphasis on portion size is a great way to recalibrate how much you eat, which I am sure you are not aware of, like everyone else. Portion creep is a huge issue.
South Beach eliminates bad carbs without going all the way to ketosis like Atkins. I don’t think all the fatty foods eaten on the Atkins plan are a good idea. I’ve watched people on Atkins snarf down three fried eggs and six slices of bacon for breakfast and felt my own arteries seizing up. Too much fat and impossible to sustain even if you do lose the weight.
Someone’s advice about setting up prepared snack attack servings in containers is great. I don’t keep bread, crackers, breakfast cereal or any snacking type carbs in my house, but I don’t think you could do that because of all the kids. I also rarely eat white pasta anymore and I limit even whole wheat pasta. Eat more veggies, less of everything else. A lot less. Yes, it’s very hard.