IS LOW CARB A QUICK FIX???

I don't know about you, but I've been exceedingly annoyed lately about the continual references made by various "experts" and other interested parties to the Atkins diet in particular - and low carb in general - as a QUICK FIX.

And maybe you're new to low carb, or just kind of "checking it out", and you're wondering if this "quick fix" claim is a valid criticism.

My answer to that? YES AND NO

Before you low carb veterans dash off a shocked email to me, please let me explain.

Low Carb Isn't a Quick Fix, Unless You Make It One

"Low Carb Eating - It's a Way of Life". Controlling our carb intake is a life-long challenge, especially for those of us who call ourselves "carb-addicted". It's something I expect to be doing every day of my life. That's not the same as obsessing about it - by the way. Just being (shades of Obi Wan Kanobi here) "mindful".

I NEVER saw my low carb eating plan as a QUICK FIX, mostly because I READ THE BOOK (Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution) HINT HINT HINT which clearly presented the case that some type of carb restriction (especially of the highest-glycemic foods) was something that someone who is insulin resistant (as I believe I am) needs to do for the rest of their lives. Not just to lose weight or maintain weight loss, but for over-all health and wellness.

Of course, not everyone has this outlook. There are, indeed, lots of folks who come to LowCarbEating.com with the idea that they are going to "do Atkins" for a few months, lose the weight, and then go right back to eating their lovely yellow cream-filled snack cakes full of trans-fatty acids and all will be well.

Yes, those people are making low carb a QUICK FIX. And they are unfortunately going to get just what they deserve, that is - all their lost weight back. We try to educate them, but to no avail. These are the same folks who say, "If I can have 20g of carbs a day, and this candy bar is 20g of carbs, why can't I have this candy bar?" I've thought up various replies to this question over the years. But I'm not able to write any of them here.

Also under the category of QUICK FIXERS are the fine folks who think that they can eat bacon and sausage all day and be healthy. I'm still losing weight, they reason, so it's all good, no? NO. Just because a food is "legal" doesn't mean you can "eat all you want". Especially processed foods. Or foods containing nitrates. Or really really greasy foods.

These are the folks who say, "The Atkins diet made me nauseous, so I quit." Yes indeedy, a plate of bacon or three bunless bacon cheeseburgers at one sitting will make you nauseous. What were you thinking????

And to top it all off, we have the QUICK FIXERS who use this (flawed) line of reasoning: "If less carbs is good, NO CARBS must be better, therefore I will just do a NO CARB diet, and lose even faster." When I hear people say this, I know that we can kiss them good-bye as far as low carbing - it's only a matter of time before they either 1. make themselves sick or 2. get so bored/disgusted that they quit or 3. go on a huge carb binge because they've been completely depriving themselves.

And nine out of ten times they blame the diet. It's never that THEY weren't following any diet plan know to civilized man. Or that they were using the same all-or-nothing mentality that probably got them in the state that they're in in the first place. (And I know all about this mentality - I battle it every day, so don't write me telling me I'm being insensitive. I'm not.) No, it is clearly that low carb is a QUICK FIX. And I'd have to agree with them - they sure made it one.

So in the cases above, I have to admit that the criticism of low carb as a QUICK FIX is justified. The Quick Fixers brought it on themselves.

On the other hand, there are MANY of us who consider low carb eating as a "way of life". And we try every day to make the healthiest food choices we can. That means eating a wide range of low carb veggies and low glycemic fruit. Eating protein from a variety of sources. And building in an occasional "cheat" that helps us satisfy cravings without feeling guilty.

But alas, the label "QUICK FIX" continues to stick. And you know what? I don't think it's totally due to the "Quick Fixers". I think it's even more serious than that.

See, the crux of the matter is this: so far, studies done on people following the Atkins diet and other very carb-restricted plans have shown that people on the diets lose weight rapidly, and have a marked decrease in triglycerides and usually LDL. Their blood pressure doesn't skyrocket. None of the study subjects that I've read about got a serious metabolic imbalance or had kidney failure. (This is not to say that low carb is for everyone. I've been saying since I started this site in 1999 that it's not, and you should check with your doctor before starting.)

The problem here is that all this is not good news for the many, many "experts" who have been saying all kinds of horrible things about low carbing in general and the Atkins diet in particular all these years. People who've been saying things ranging from "your brain can't function while you're in ketosis" to "you'll surely clog your arteries" to "you'll drive everyone away with your bad breath" to "you're playing with your health".

(I'm sure you've heard or read these, too. The most recent, which has me wondering whether to laugh or scream, was the claim by a British nutritionist that the followers of low carb regimens are "delusional" about their success. Right. Yes. Delusional. Look through the Before and After Photo Section of this site, ladies and gentlemen, and tell me if all those people are having a delusion. )

Anyway, what are these experts to make of the hundreds of thousands (maybe millions? I don't know) of people who are following the Atkins diet and other low carb diets now, and losing lots and lots of weight? What are they to make of the fact that food manufacturers are rushing to make products that are low carb because that's what people are buying? What are they to make of the fact that so far, the studies of low carb seem to be going well?

Here's what they're trying to make of it: they're working very hard to attach the label "QUICK FIX" to low carb diets. Yes, you lose weight, they admit. Yes you lose it fast, they concede. Yes, so far the studies look good, they are forced to admit. But this is just a QUICK FIX. No one, they are trying to brainwash us into believing, can stay on it long term. And in one study, didn't the low carb people gain back slightly more weight than the low fat people? (Yes they did, but they had initially lost more, so their net loss was about the same while "the low-carbohydrate diet was associated with a greater improvement in some risk factors for coronary heart disease". If you don't believe me, go here to read the abstract for yourself in the New England Journal of Medicine: http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/abstract/348/21/2082 )

I guess that when facts fail, spin takes over. And this QUICK FIX label is, in my opinion, a whole lotta spin being put over failed facts.

Please remember this:

Losing Weight is Easy. But CHANGE is hard.

And permanent change is what this is all about. If low carb is the way you do it, GREAT. If you end up choosing low fat and it works for you, GREAT. WHATEVER works for you and keeps you feeling good and in good health, I'm all for it!!!!!!!

Do most people accomplish PERMANENT change? NO. They never have. In any area of life. But that doesn't mean it's not possible, or that we shouldn't strive for it!

And in this respect, low carb eating is no different than any other way people try to change themselves for the better. It can be used, abused and confused. And it is. Just as low fat diets are. Just as weight training is. Just as vitamin and mineral supplementation is. It's part of the human condition that we take good things and mess them up.

On the other hand, we can also take good things, and rise to excellence with them.

Just like many people have taken low carb eating, and made it a permanent way of life for them.

Remember: Low Carb Isn't a QUICK FIX...Unless You Make It One.

Please don't.

LCandrea

I THOUGHT THAT THIS WAS MY BEFORE AND NOW PICTURE,
BUT I FIND IT IS ONLY A DELUSION.

THANK YOU FOR BEARING WITH MY
KETOGENIC-INDUCED BRAIN FOG.

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