iulani's Journal, 29 January 2016

Yes, I do Weight Watchers but try to stay away from processed foods. I can't do low carb because it does bad things to me. But I do a modified lower carb. Whatever works and keeps us healthy is the way to go. 

Once getting back to low carb my arthritis and carpal tunnel symptoms dramatically reduced. I lost almost 6 pounds in the first 3 days, doubtless from water retention, and could actually make a fist in the morning. I agree that when "on a program" we have to pay more attention to what we're eating and seemingly be more food-focused but I find that overall I'm LESS food-obsessed and more satisfied. I believe that is because when I eat carbs my blood sugar is yo-yoing so I'm constantly concerned about my next "fix." My mood and sense of well-being is more steady when I'm burning fat for fuel.  

@suzi - when you think about it, pretty much any diet ends up reducing carbs because it cuts out the chips, desserts, etc. Those I suppose there are some diets that are 100% carbs - "fruititarian"?  

Well said! 

Great comments! I found some delicious recipes in my South Beach Diet book from long ago. I am a big fan of meal salads. Greens topped with meat, cheese and a heavenly dressing which is OK as long as you don't eat bread or sugar. Metabolic diets can be very tricky...but ya know, ya gotta keep trying!  

I modify every recipe I look at to omit the things that are full of sugar and carbohydrates. Most of the time it doesn't affect how good the recipe turns out. Yes, scrape the toppings off the crust. Yes, chunk the bun in the garbage where it belongs and eat the burger and veg. Yes, keep the fillings and chunk the tortilla. Guacamole and stuffed poblano peppers were my dinner entree, guess, what, very little net carbage. Life is good and it's easy to skip and discard the crap foods.  

Trying 80% fat, 20% protein, using info taken from a number of web sources including bodyrecomposition.com and books from Lyle McDonald, Walford/Delaney and Catherine Shanahan. 

you have to be careful, not to cut out carb completly, i have read up on all the diets and one thing stands out, its not just about weight loss its about HEALTH, your body needs certain minerals, vitamins and nutrients, from ALL food,. except of course the junk ones , fast foods, ect, I have cut out bread and pasta, i still have carbs as in fruit, veges and beans as well as small amounts of oats which i am careful how much i eat, I have noticed that i am more inclined to crave the healthy foods than the unhealthy. The sweet treat is fruit for me, just check out the diets before you decide on low carbs or cutting out carbs altogether, i work out so i need the extra energy,  

My carbs are negligible, I don't count veggie carbs. Actually I'm getting carbs from fortified milk, so 80/20 is not quite right, its more like 70% fat, 17% protein, 13% carbs. Carbs aren't required for life, agree that nutrients in carb-containing food are. I eat lots of sprouted beans, liver etc, all the "good" stuff, until the next breakthrough when they tell us we should all be eating Pepperoni pizza ...