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Pardon me for getting on this soap box, but I need to vent. Hope you don't mind.
Why...seriously, WHY do people say low carb diets are "bad" or "they fail long term" because the people who tried the diet start gaining when they revert back to former habits? I've read time and again where dieters say they lost weight quick on Atkins (or similar low carb diets), but once they hit their goal, they started eating like they used to and regained the weight, and so they have to start all over. And researchers blame the diet for this failure! I actually read this in an article yesterday, and I quote, "After a short period of weight loss, there is a quick return to obesity." Why? Supposedly because low carb diets don't "address eating addictions". To this I wanted to scream, THAT'S BULL!
I have to ask WHY is the gain the fault or failure of the low carb diet when the weight gain was always because of a CHANGE in the person's diet? Return to old habits and of course you'll regain the weight! If you go back to your former eating addictions, guess what? You aren't on the low carb diet anymore. It's not the low carb diet that is the problem. (This really goes for any successful weight loss diet.) It's the perceived notion that once you lose the weight you can go back to your former ways of eating/snacking and somehow keep the weight off. Fact check: You can't! Wasn't it the old diet that got you into the heavy situation in the first place? It was for me!
And it doesn't take a scientific study to tell me that if I celebrate my weight loss by reverting back to my 400-to-500 NET Carb per day intake now, I will return to the size 18W I was in January, probably in record time, because that's how I ate for the past 10 years that got me in the hefty predicament in the first place.
You know...I've decided experience outweighs so-called "scientific study". Why do I say this? Because as part of my weight loss journey this year, I've both "experienced" weight loss and read numerous "studies" on the topic.
And as a "low carber" I tend to read about studies on the pros and cons of low carb dieting. Yes, I've read all the negative press. I get the fact that it's still not as "accepted" as the older, more established forms, such as calorie counting, low fat, etc. But in reading these articles, and as a former journalist myself, I can't help but shake my head at the "spin machine" in action.
For instance, just yesterday, I read an article that said "New Weight Loss Diet Recommends High-Carb And Protein Big Breakfast"... the idea being that you should eat high carbs for breakfast and have lower carb meals for lunch and dinner. It was based on a study that compared two groups: one on an extreme low-carb (<17g per day) diet, and one eating high carb breakfasts with low carb meals later each day. It's not until the last paragraph of the article that you learn the quoted so-called expert who ran the study also happens to be a doctor who has promoted HER diet plan of high carb breakfasts/low carb others to HER patients for 15 years. Am I the only one who sees the conflict of interest or potential bias here? (I'm not advocating either diet, just so you know. I personally think 17 Net Carbs is too low to sustain long term anyway.)
Ironically enough, on the same day, I also read another article that declared "Big Breakfast Generally Doesn't Help Weight Loss". This study found that like the one in the other article, people who ate "big breakfasts" tended NOT to snack as much mid-morning, but contrary to the other study, it stated big breakfasts introduce a higher calorie count for each day's total and therefore didn't help weight loss long term when compared to people who ate small breakfasts and similarly equal meals later in the day.
So, why am I on my soap box about this? I guess because the contradictory natures of these two reports just proved to me that experiencing your own weight loss journey...and then sticking with what worked for the long haul...is far more important than trusting so-called scientific studies, because stats can be maneuvered to fit a preconceived bias. Get to know your own body, what works for you, and then stick with those habits; do that and your weight worries will be replaced by a healthier outlook on life.
Okay, sorry for getting verbose. Stepping off the soap box now. Whew, I feel lighter! ;)
Diet Calendar Entries for 31 August 2011:
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1257 kcal
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Fat: 82.70g | Prot: 85.90g | Carb: 68.50g.
Breakfast: Gold Peak Diet Tea, Scrambled Egg, Sausage Patty. Lunch: Splenda, Unsweetened Instant Tea (Lipton), Bacon, American Cheese, Real Mayo, Mustard, Lettuce, Grilled chicken breast, Flatout Fold-it (small). Snacks/Other: Breyers Carb Smart Vanilla Ice Cream, Atkins "OREO" Cookies, NET CARB Chocolate Covered Almonds. more...
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2131 kcal
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Activities & Exercise:
Driving - 2 hours, Desk Work - 10 hours, Sleeping - 8 hours, Resting - 4 hours. more...
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