Low Carb Monster - Low Carb

Do Not Jump Aboard The Low Carb Train Just For The Sake Of It

Stacey tells us her low carb tale

This is the story of Stacey, a twenty-something bride-to-be. Stacey had always had a slight weight problem, but in 1999 she lost 23 pounds. Everyone noticed, even people who never thought she needed to lose weight. Before she lost weight, she was between a size 12 and a size 14, but after she lost weight, she was down to a size 10. She was at the perfect size. But about a year before her wedding, Stacey had gained 14 pounds back. She still wore a size 10 though.

This puzzled her a little, but she attributed it to giving up cardio exercise in favor of doing just a weight class one hour a day, three days a week because she hated cardio. She developed nice muscle tone, and people at the office envied her arms. Still, she wanted to lose that 14 pounds (or as much of it as she could) before her wedding. And this time she wanted to keep it off. So instead of losing weight the way she had done it before, she asked a nutritionist at her gym what to do.

He told her to try cutting carbs for two weeks and see where she was.

Taking that advice, Stacey started her low carb journey. She bought whey protein to make protein shakes (but she still used milk when making them because she couldn't bring herself to have a protein shake any other way). She used egg substitute to make scrambled eggs every morning and topped them with salsa, for lunch she would eat turkey or just have a protein bar, and for supper she'd have a skinless, boneless chicken breast or a hamburger patty.She found herself obsessed with food. She didn't know if a low carb diet was going to be her thing for the long term or not. Her friend Katie had great success with it, which inspired her. But it didn't seem right to have to give up fruit and vegetables.

She spent nearly every day at a bookstore looking at carb counting books to determine what she could eat. Finally after a week and a half, she decided she was almost done. She had bad breath, she was grumpy, and barely had enough energy to go to her weight class anymore. Katie saw what was happening and urged her to stop. "You don't need to lose weight, Stacie. You don't need a low carb diet." Then her friend Joann urged her to stop as well. "Low carb diets stop working when you stop doing them. Then you'll just gain your weight back. Do you really want to eat this way for the rest of your life? Besides, you need more milk." It didn't take much convincing before Stacey decided a low carb diet wasn't for her.

The skinny on most low carb diets

Most low carb diets only allow you to have anywhere from 20-40 grams of carbs in the first two weeks, and they encourage you to eat a lot of protein. Considering your body needs 225-250 grams of carbs a day while you're dieting, cutting your carb intake down to 20-40 grams a day is a drastic shock to your system. This sends your body into ketosis, which is a fat-burning state. A side effect of ketosis is the bad breath that Stacey had.

Another drawback is that carbs help your brain produce the feel-good hormone serotonin. This is why people get grumpy on low carb diets. And low carb diets tend to make you tired because carbs are what gives us energy. Getting fuel from fat and muscle tissue simply isn't enough. (DISCLAIMER: The grumpiness caused by a low carb diet is supposedly only temporary until your body is used to its new chemistry.)

Bottom line? It's not great just because it's low carb. Choose healthy carbs like whole grain and whole wheat breads and pastas, brown or long grain rice, oats, nuts, green leafy vegetables and fibrous fruits like apples, pears, oranges, grapefruit, etc. instead of refined, sugary foods, white bread, foods made from white flour, regular pasta and white rice.