The great diet debate

Zdice, Beroun District, Central Bohemian Region, the Czech Republic. A weight scale in the train station. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

If you've been reading the headliners on the home pages of Google, etc..you may have run across articles talking about diets and which ones are the best. Well, naturally I saw a lot of comments on the subject and one from someone who was advising everyone how to eat that had admittedly never even had a weight problem.

 Sigh..these commenters bother me the most because unless you've been overweight and have successfully kept the weight off for  a significant period of time I am not convinced that you aren't just genetically blessed with a good metabolism.

This commenter said no one in their family was overweight, and assumed it was their perfectly healthy eating habits that were the credit and so felt they could school everyone on how to lose weight. How do you tell others how to lose weight, when you've never ever had to lose any?

 If you've never been overweight, chances are you have inherited the right genes over dieting practices. We've all known skinny people that could eat everything and not gain a pound. So for those that have never had a weight problem to tackle, please, stop telling others how to lose weight. I'm sure you don't want a fat person telling you how to stay thin, right? Ok with that being said, I will say that most of the articles again pointed to low carb as being the most successful diet.

English: A pile of Wheat Thins crackers, made by Nabisco. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I like doing low carb, but I follow a loose version of it, focusing primarily on portion control and limiting my overall in take of food. Is it easy? Not really. Some nights I just want to head down stairs and go raid my fridge. Other nights, I fall asleep and then wake up and do it.

Cross section of celery stalk, showing vascular bundles, which include both phloem and xylem. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

What helps is opting for something healthy when I get the munchies. I will eat a few pieces of cheese, a stalk or two of celery and some salad dressing for dipping. I make sure to have a few Wheat thins too..All in a tiny bowl. The crunch of the celery and wheat thins, and the decadent-feels like Im cheating of the cheese and salad dressing..somehow do the trick. I also always drink a bottle of water too. This helps with making me feel full.

whitneyinchicago.wordpress.com/2009/07/11/summery-salads-... (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The bottom line is no diet works if you can't or wont follow it. Find one that you can stick to.

Is a low carb diet enough?

food sources of magnesium: bran muffins, pumpkin seeds, barley, buckwheat flour, low-fat vanilla yogurt, trail mix, halibut steaks, garbanzo beans, lima beans, soybeans, and spinach (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Well from past experience, I'd have to say no, sticking to low carb may not be enough. There are other components and factors that must be considered when we think of what makes for a successful diet.
All diets eventually can hit a road block, where the dieter hits that dreaded "plateau" you hear about, where no weight is coming off and you're stuck in a rut of sacrifice with no reward in sight. This is one of the toughest places to be in when dieting.
It is important though, during this time not to give in, or give up. Push your way through as if you're losing weight every day anyway, even if the scale seems to be stuck on one number. Be more stubborn than the disappointment, and don't think of your quest in terms of failure, but that you're maintaining your edge. No weight loss, after all, is better than weight gain.
That being said there are a few additional strategies you can employ that may help get you past that weight loss rut. Some things that help are these following strategies that can be implemented into you low carb efforts.
1. Drink more water. I know you've probably heard this a lot but it is true, not only does keeping hydrated help your body when you diet, but the water helps aid us in feeling full. I drink at least two bottles of water before I eat my biggest meal and then I have a bottle or two afterward. It really does help when I am fighting the urge to go into the kitchen for seconds or late night snacks.
2. Go to sleep earlier. Funny as this sounds perhaps to some, the truth is you can't eat if you're sleeping. I found I cheated a lot more on my diets when I stayed up really late, say after everyone else went to bed and the refrigerator was just steps away, beckoning me to have peak inside for left over goodies. By going to bed earlier, you give your body not only the extra rest, but it does get your through one more day of not cheating.
3. Portion control. So you've been low carbing and you hit the brick wall. Your problem may be that your body is fighting back and managing a work around. The body is smarter than we think it is. It can find a way to get around your efforts and it adjusts to combat the dietary change. I believe it interprets any diet as starvation. In the beginning it doesn't know what hit it, and over time it seems like our systems figure it out.  So what then? Well could be your portions are still quite large. Larger than you need them to be. It's hard to cut back on portions, especially when you feel you're giving up so much already, but in time you'll realize, you really don't need as much as you think you do.
4. Give yourself a free pass. One day a month, you should really give yourself a treat. It seems like this throws the body off, because you've been following a predictable pattern for so long. The body doesn't always seem to know how to deal with the sudden influx of goodies and generally speaking your improved metabolism will deal with this little treat just fine. Just don't ever for one minute forget this is for life. Diets are not optional for the morbidly obese. There is no getting off of a diet, only modifications of the diet. itself. Lose sight of that one fact and you'll be bigger than ever in a few years. Keep the faith, push on through and good luck low carbing.

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