Tuesday, December 8, 2009

The Low Carb Chaos


Okay, I visit Lapbandtalk.com and obesityhelp.com a few times a week. I like to see what other people are doing and how their journeys are going. But, I feel this resounding pressure to go low carb or no carb. I almost always leave these sites feeling like I need to revamp my diet just because everyone else is doing low or no carb.


I have tried this form of dieting before and know it doesn't work for me. I am cranky and tired and miserable. I also can still eat all carbs because I have little restriction. I know that as my restriction changes so will my carb eating, but I still will be eating them.


Obviously I know some carbs are better then other carbs, but I am so tired of talking about it. I track everything I eat, every day. Today I had 977 calories, 116 carbs, 29 grams of fat, and 79 grams of protein. Most of the carbs came from the oatmeal and Greek yogurt I ate, but I also had some brown sugar on my oatmeal, and I refuse to feel bad about that.


Every time I see my nutritionist I ask her about this. She says not to worry about carbs, just to make good choices. But, somehow, I still feel like she is lying to me. Every time someone asks a question about their Lap Band "diet" on one of the message boards all the answers always involve the dreaded low carb phrase. Some people are incredibly extreme others just say no potatoes, bread, or pasta EVER. I am not willing to say"no ____ EVER". I will not live that life. I love potatoes... I even like pasta, bread is good.


Why can't I get over the fact that what I am doing is working for me and I don't need to do something because everyone else is. I am averaging a loss of over 3 lbs a week and that is great. Could it be better if I didn't eat the evil carb?? Maybe, but I would hate it. This is my carbohydrate manifesto!


P.S. Harvard agrees with my stand against low carb. They have come to the conclusion that all diets work pretty much the same as long as you are taking in less calories then you are using. Read all about it here.


3 comments:

Gen said...

Great post! The whole deal with WLS is to get OFF the dieting merry-go-round. Low carb will only work for a short period of time for most people. Then they will fall into the diet-failure-diet cycle. Or I would anyway. No freakin way am I "dieting" or eliminating an entire universe of foods anymore! I did it for years and it got me nowhere. Why would it be any different now?


Thanks for your rant, I totally agree! And just keep doing what you are doing, it works!

Amy W. said...

I dont give a flying flip about those fads ya know? I never have and now since we are banded I think it is even MORE stupid! The point of the band (in my humble opinion) is everything in MODERATION! And yes, that means making healthier choices...but still. Study after study will say it doesnt matter...that those fads whether low carb, glutton free, whatever, all produce practically the same results. Good post!

Anonymous said...

I totally agree with you! I see some of the meals listed and wonder if people are ever getting any kind of fiber or whole grain.

Yes, we probably shouldn't pig out on candy and french fries but come on -- we need veggies and whole grains and some fruit, EVERY day!

Trixie