There are so many options when it comes to weight loss. Diets are a dime a dozen…
As you know, I chose the low carb diet – and the main reason I chose it is because it doesn’t limit the amount of food I get to eat. LOL. I do love to eat!
And of course there’s the better reason to love it (heh): I am eating healthier than I ever have in my life. I’ve cut out tons of junk and processed foods, finally familiarized myself with the produce section at the grocery store 🙂 and am living mainly on meats & greens. Instead of donuts and pasta. Big change! And a very positive (healthy!) change, at that…
I’ve actually been watching a friend of mine go through a number of weight loss diets. Low calorie, low fat, low carb, even juicing. Of course, she tries something new every week and hasn’t stuck to anything consistently. And “cheating” when you’re on a juice or low carb diet is worse than being on no diet at all – given the amount of sugar intake with juicing, or the amount of fat intake with low carb. (No, she hasn’t lost any weight.)
Consistency really is the key to success. With anything in life, really.
Some of the weight loss diets out there can be really scary. For me personally, I wanted to change my eating habits long term. Going low carb was a lifestyle change for me, not just a way to drop a certain number of pounds. Whatever you choose, it’s important to make sure it’s a healthy choice – and one you can sustain.
Unfortunately there’s so much confusion surrounding diets and dieting. You wouldn’t believe the number of negative comments I’ve gotten over the last year just eating low carb. In general, I tend to keep it to myself. There’s nothing so odd about ordering a steak and salad if you’re out with friends, saying you’re too full for dessert, or using a polite “no thank you, I’ve already eaten” (and it’s usually a good idea to eat first before heading somewhere you might be offered food you know you don’t want to eat!).
I made a comment about “eating more bacon so I can fit into this shirt” in a recent video blog post, which just confuses most people. LOL. It reminded me of an infographic I remembered seeing awhile back, so I went to look it up. Here it is:
There’s actually a science to how the low carb diet works. And it’s nothing new – not a current trend or a fad. It’s been around for decades, and has worked successfully for many people.
See: What Happens to Your Body When… You Carb Binge?
When I looked up that infographic though, the comments were just all over the board. The amount of confusion surrounding the low carb diet is just nuts. Mmm, nuts. Almonds, Pecans – wait, where was I? 😀 LOL…
It’s the same with most weight loss diets of course. Your friends will give you that big eye pity look, or bring up all sorts of myths and misinformation to try to talk you out of eating healthy or losing weight. (Oh yes, Aunt Sue, the burger & fries YOU had for lunch is much healthier!) ::rolleyes::
This is the reason I make it a point not to bring it up. If an issue comes up while ordering in a restaurant, I just “play diabetic” and that usually does the trick. If someone happens to make a comment about how the Splenda in my coffee will kill me, I just politely reply “I smoke menthol cigarettes, so my coffee is the least of your worries” and flash them a nice smile. 😛
Back to my point though, I was reading comments in a number of places in response to the infographic above. Some people were comparing the number of calories between the two breakfast choices, others said it’s totally incorrect, etc. Here are just a couple of examples:
What makes you fat is much more than a simple choice for breakfast. We need to consider portion size, balance of total nutrients consumed, physical activity, genetics as well as… (blah blah blah)
Ooh, or my personal favorite:
the myth about Carbs making you fat, is just that… a myth… it’s not the carbs making you fat… it’s the sitting on the couch while eating the carbs playing video games, watching TV or a movie, and playing on Facebook (or anything on the computer) that is making you fat… it’s also the sitting behind your desk for 8 hours a say that’s making you fat.
Boo, whatever. I lost ALL of my weight on the low carb diet JUST eating low carb. Yes, while sitting behind a desk doing computer work and never once lifting a leg or an arm or any other body part to do any physical exercise. I didn’t even start working out until AFTER I had lost my initial weight goal of 20 pounds. And even then, I didn’t start exercising to lose weight. I started working out to tone up…
There’s just so many myths surrounding weight loss diets – and serious mass confusion about the Low Carb Diet in particular. The bottom line is… it works. I sat on my butt and ate bacon, and lost almost 25 pounds.
So there. 😛
If you choose to start a diet, stick to it consistently. And quietly. It’s nobody’s business but your own. The more noise you make about it, the more you invite criticism. I’ve had some of the most friendly conversations turn into a downright war of daggers. Good intentions and good manners are not match against “defensive ignorance” LOL. Later, when you’re looking healthy & fabulous, THEN you can tell them how you did it. If you even want to. 😉
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