Archive for the 'Low Carb' Category

Get Me OUTSIDE!

This is why I don't like treadmills in the spare bedroom, garage, working out at health clubs or other forms of indoor exercise,  other than they are boring, boring, boring, wall mounted TV or not. I don't care if Oprah has Michelle Obama, Tom Cruise, David Letterman, Ellen, Donald Trump and Tiger Woods on the same show! (wouldn't that be a show?), indoor workouts just don't work for me, even if I have a window to look out of.

If you ever wondered why your new year's resolution to exercise and lose weight lost it's momentum after only a few weeks here is a clue:

Hello! It's winter out there, cold, rainy, gloomy, etc. Your brain wants to be doing something outdoors, walking, hiking, just about anything as long as it's outside while your body cringes at the thought. Some refer to exercising outdoors as eco-therapy, or green exercise, although I think that word green is overused. Did you know for example that the color green balances the nervous system and is supposed to have a calm, soothing, effect?

When there isn't a whole lot of green around during winter where you live it can be tough to get motivated, much less stay that way until spring. But don't despair, just by seeking the natural world you can reap the benefits of re-connecting with the environment – a reduction in anger and stress levels only to mention a couple. Take the dog for a walk, bundle up and breathe the fresh air.

Saturated fat will have much less impact on insulin levels than whole grains (bread), cereal fiber or fruit and vegetables (which can heighten the risk of type 2 diabetes). Even if you don't follow Atkins or The South Beach Diet you may already have suspected as much or experienced an increase in blood sugar from eating them.

Low-Carb regimens that follow similar paths to those of the Atkins and South Beach Diets can be diets that include animal fat and  protein. Or they can be vegetable and fruit inclusive. The problem is that most people don't know how to eat well and do what it takes to maintain a healthy and balanced diet.

People tend to go to extremes, carbs should be limited just like fats. If you eat too much of anything, you're headed for a fall.

American Diabetes Association  

Care, Cure Commitment

The good news about Type 2 diabetes, which affects as many as 45 percent of women and 30 percent of men in the United States, is that it is 75 percent preventable with the proper diet. (The other 25 percent is hereditary).

And, while low-fat, high-carb diets are often recommended by doctors who treat diabetes, my feeling is that we have to minimize our carb consumption, especially the bad carbs (sugar) found in processed foods (empty, useless calories) and continue to promote the "good" carbs found in fruits and vegetables.

It then becomes a question of finding your carb "threshold" the fine line between weight stabilization and weight gain.

Protect Yourself Against Diabetes

Being overweight is not just a cosmetic problem, it's a major health problem around the world. Just in the US alone, two-thirds of adults weigh more than they ought to. And, as the study in the current issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition points out, a  low-carb diet that minimizes bad carbs is a much better way to go than eating sugar-loaded, low-fat products.

I love sugar as much as the next person and, as a matter of fact, I have a serious sweet tooth. However, a low-fat cookie for example has more sugar per serving than a regular one. Not surprising since low-fat translates into added sugar – no tasty no selly.

A Common Sense Approach to Dieting

The thing that has worked for me, after having read and studied both of the definitive books on the subject of low-carb dieting; Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution and the South Beach Diet by Dr. Arthur Agatson, is a combination of low-carb and low-fat, meaning, have that juicy steak – but cut off the excess fat, enjoy your cream cheese – but on a stalk of celery, not a bagel, keep the bacon for breakfast – but limit it to two slices.

Use common sense when faced with eating decisions. Keep track of what you don't eat and make a list of the (bad) carbs that didn't make it past your lips. At the end of a week use this formula to see the amount of weight gain you avoided. (this is only an approximation because of the differences in body structure from one person to another).

I start the formula with a stern warning; one dessert consumed = 1 lb of weight gain, no matter the portion size. That's the bad news IF you should fall. But for each 100 grams of bad carbs you resist you can say you avoided a pound of weight gain.

So, at the end of the week, if you lost 3 lbs and you resisted 300 bad carbohydrates, you can say you doubled your weight loss! It's just like resisting a sale, especially when you don't need the item that is discounted. Like my Dad always said (i know it's corny but I think of it often) "Son, if you want to double your money, fold it twice and put it back in your pocket."

Low-Carb Diets Show Protective Effect Against Type II Diabetes!

There is only one diet I know that has been shown to have a protective effect against type 2 diabetes, drum roll please…A low-carb plan, one that advocates cutting out "bad" carbs like processed sugar and flour and limiting the "good" carbs like those found in vegetables and fruit.

Duh!, just because dieters the world over (nutritionists and doctors too!) have been brainwashed by all the low-fat propaganda out there doesn't mean that there aren't some people in the know.

Dr. Atkins NEVER said "don't eat fruit." He DID say "don't eat fruit during the induction phase" of his low-carb regimen. But what is it that most people will say when the subject of low-carb and the Atkins Plan comes up in conversation? "isn't that the nut that said don't eat fruit, it's bad for you?" What a travesty.

What has happened here is that the sugar people have done their jobs well, just go to any grocery store or even specialty "health food" stores and read the nutrition labels of their "low fat" products. Prepare to be amazed at the sky-high carbohydrate content – 99 percent of which is sugar! In order to make low-fat products palatable, food manufacturers have to add sugar when they take out the fat. No taste = no sale!