Watching your carbs?

I' m not. Frankly I' m tired of this low carb trend that has been happening in America for the past two through three years. At first you heard about low carbs diets on TV sparsely. Pass a couple low carb snacks in the grocery store. Like many of you probably did, I just said to myself, " it' s just another fad." Suddenly everything has a low carb counterpart.

I just saw a commercial for low carb chocolate milk. Chocolate freakin' milk! I don' t have a problem with people trying to lose weight, but I hate seeing sheep too. And sheep is what we are. To paraphrase the great Jon Stewart, " What do we know?! We got swept up by the f****** Macarena!"

A lot of people are blinding running to the low carb diet and companies are more than willing to sell us our own sin. They haven' t consulted a doctor, physician, nutritionist, or anyone. They merely see the commercial, listen to the success stories, and automatically think to them selves, “Hey, I can lose weight easily doing that!”

In fact, I shouldn’t say Americans are “running” to the diet at all. Exercise is America’s new communism. Too many people scoff at the idea of exercising, usually because they’re too embarrassed to go outside and jog. But it’s one of the most important elements to losing weight and keeping it off.

People should realize that losing weight is a lifestyle change. Carbs aren’t the devil, and yes they are needed for a healthy diet. You’re not going to look like a super model by just cutting out some carbs.

You have to exercise regularly and monitor what you’re eating based upon the guidelines of well balanced diet. Carbs were never bad, but it’s the amount of food (food in general, not just carbs) that Americans eat. We either eat too much, eat little but eat unhealthy, and don’t exercise…. no wonder we’re the fattest country on the planet.

When I decided to lose weight and get in shape I did so my way. I began to exercise on a regular basis, stopped eating out so much, ate far less portions, and tossed some healthier food choices in my diet.

And this is my own personal opinion, but if you’re dieting and exercising, I really think you should cheat your diet 2-3 times a month. Don’t go overboard (no all you can eat dinners), but allow your taste buds to have some fun sometime. If I spend 4 freakin’ hours in a gym running and sweating, don’t tell me I can’t treat myself to some Dairy Queen beyotch!

It’s not that I don’t think the carb life won’t work for some, but I don’t think people are committed to the lifestyle change that comes with losing weight. They eat all the foods they hate so they can lose weight for the “now” but gain it all back later. And whether you’re using Atkins or Jenny Craig, all those plans promote a lifestyle change, not just a change in diet.

So I can’t wait until the carb fad ends… so another fad can begin….

I mean, geez! Low carb chocolate milk man! Freakin’ kill us off already.

The One, The only One
- The Lotus One

I really dislike the low carb fad also...I remember seeing an add for low carb beer..I found that one pretty funny. I like your method...common sense...it' s just controlling what you eat, not what you eat and then once you learn to control what you eat then it' s ok to cheat sometimes just so long as you don' t fall off the wagon every time you do it(which I' ve seen people do). It' s something you have to commit to and not be half ass about...stop eating cheeseburgers every day for lunch, and put down that diet coke and pick up a glass of water.

edit: And I wouldn' t touch low carb chocolate milk with a 39 1/2 foot pole...I love chocolate milk...if you' re gonna drink it you may as well just drink the real stuff. As long as you aren' t drinking a gallon every day I think you will be ok

What kind of " diet" tells you it is ok to eat bacon but not an apple? This low carb trend is not only rediculous, but it is dangerous, but people do not see it. It is ridiculous and it disgusts me. I could continue to rant, but I won' t. For the most part I agree with what people above have said, but I have one more thought to add.

The key is not deprivation but moderation. For a lot of people it is hard to cut out all things that are " unhealthy" (myself included) but the differeence is, I am not eating cheeseburgers every meal. i do not spend every waking minute inside of Burger King. If you deprive yourself, you are going to " fall off the wagon" , if you moderate, eat healthy and well balanced, exercise and keep active yes, it is ok to indulge in pizza every so ofen, have a scoop of ice cream or two.

I completely agree rikka, moderate is a much better word to use. I didn' t mean to sound like it wasn' t ok to eat anything bad(if I did sound that way). You just can' t eat pizza and beer for 3 meals a day. But certainly we all have our favorite unhealthy food and should not deprive ourselves from it completely

I am not eating cheeseburgers every meal. i do not spend every waking minute inside of Burger King

Check out that documentary ' Super size me" ( i think thats what its called)?

I agree that the low carb is crap
You NEED carbs to function properly. Cut out carbs and your body seeks out other sources of energy which tends to be fat. So THEN your body actually starts reserving more fat because it has to adapt to the loss of carbs. So in the end it doesnt really make you lose weight AND messes up your body

Like others have said : The key is everything in moderation

Raven Shadow, I have heard about the documentary, I intend to check it out when I can. It sounds inteesting.

The reason low carb/high protein diets work is that there is an instant loss in body mass (usually in the form of water) so people think that equals success, but you are depriving yourself of necessary nutrients, essential vitamins, and fibre. The side effects of sustaining a diet like this can be very severe from things like liver and kidney damage, not to mention chronic bad breath.

Raven Shadow is correct, your body perceives this as a type of starvation and you begin to accumulate fat. Not a healthy situation. Did not Dr Atkins die of a heart attack? that has to tell you somethig about his diet, because he was not an old man.

Did not Dr Atkins die of a heart attack? that has to tell you somethig about his diet, because he was not an old man.

That' s actually a malicious rumour purposely started by a group of people against the Atkins diet. Atkins slipped and fell to his death.

This low carb business is a joke, honestly. I found some bread in my kitchen the other day that was " low carb" , its like the only reason its low carb is because theres no bread. Seriously I found a loaf of bread that was " low carb" and there was next to no bread in it, there was a large hole throughout the whole thing! Yet they charge more for it! What is up with that?