To think low carb is just another faddy diet?

[trilobiterevival]

(And it works for some people, much the same as other diets. We know this. And some people are sensitive to carbs, so I am not including them in this AIBU).

But I think most naturally slim/fit people eat carbs. They just don't gorge on them.
Many who go low carb began quite overweight and were probably eating large portions before. Changing their diet and becoming more mindful is likely the reason for weight loss, not the total annihilation of all carbs.
It's all a bit evangelical isn't it?

Plenty cultures enjoy rice, bread and pasta. But I have seen these foods described on MN as.... and I quote.... "nasties'. What utter, utter tripe. There is a huge difference between a serving of wholegrain rice and a sugar festooned donut!

There are healthier carbs than others, like most foods, but it is very easy to locate bread made with only a few ingredients, similarly to what you could make at home. The excuse that all bread is full of sugar and oil is a cop out IMO.

Most people I know who are slim and healthy eat bread or pasta, or both. It isn't the work of satan. It is quite easy to incorporate healthy carbs into one's diet, whether daily or weekly and stay healthy and slim. I wonder if those who claim they can't eat carbs or else they gain a ton of weight immediately are not able to them it in moderation, so it's easier for them to just quit.

For the record I don't favour low fat diets either, I also believe that fat is good for us.

Unless you have a health related issue that requires you to reduce carbs, then I think YABU!

Please tell me how you did this!

My friend has lost 5 stone on the Keto diet. She has done well but personally I think she is too slim now and it’s become an obsession, she won’t touch any carbs and even drinks low carb wine. IMO, she has lost the weight because she overhauled her diet and now eats small portions compared to the huge ones before.

She lost weight as on a low carb diet you won't be eating as many calories.

People complicate diets but it is calories in Vs calories out, each person's calorie burn just by being alive will be different, however you cannot create fat from nothing.

I don't think carbs are evil or a sin, or any of those things, but I do know that as someone with PCOS I am more likely to develop diabetes in the future as it brings with it insulin resistance and all sorts, and I just know that sugar does not do me any good. I love it, I love bread, I love pasta and everything else. But my hirsutism does not. Nor does my mood, or my energy levels. When I eat low carb, all of my symptoms improve and life is happier and more balanced for me. I sleep better, I look better. I wish I had the metabolism of others, but for me I know they are not a good choice.

This is me too. Everyone's bodies are different. I have an insanely sweet tooth bordering on addiction which means the watching calories route with a bit of sugar/carbs just doesn't* *work- I'm permanently hungry and craving more sugar.

Low carb has been shown to reverse T2 diabetes so for some people it's a good way of eating.

I’ve got type 2 diabetes so it’s low carb life for me. Trying to reverse it with the fast 800. I’m
not overweight, a size 10/12. It doesn’t feel faddy to cut most carbs from my diet, started when I had gestational diabetes and now feels really normal. I eat lots of veg and lentils so get carbs in my diet there and just avoid bread, pasta, rice, cake and pastry.

Carbs are the food of gods. I couldn't imagine my life without them tbh, I probably eat too many of them but they're so good. Dh has been doing exclusion diets to work out of any help his autoimmune conditions, gluten free would have me crying in minutes.

I'm 35 and always been around 8 stone, but as I see from other comments that may well hit me in the ass, I'll come back in 10 years and resurrect this zombie thread

@TheCanyon three weeks ago I would have said the same. I genuinely loved carbs. I would have spaghetti bolognese so that I could have spaghetti. I'd happily eat pasta with butter - the taste of pasta was amazing. I don't have a massively sweet tooth but savoury carbs were my thing.

Within 3 days of going low carb, I don't even feel a pang when I serve spaghetti to the rest of the family. My portion sizes have reduced, simply because the food I'm eating satisfies me.

That's brilliant, well done you! I still couldn't do it though.

Carbs are filling though, so I'm not quite sure what you mean by being satisfied by portion sizes? Was it just pure greed as its so good? Sorry! I have a similar sized pasta dish as my 11/13yo girls, I know when I'm done. That's what it's all about surely?!

I think cutting out or limiting a food group diet is generally a way to re-jig eating habits. Sometimes people lose control of their sense of portion control. Removing or limiting carbs short term can help people that want to lose weight, as they stop eating their 'go to' unhealthy meals and consciously make healthier meal choices. I'm not saying a spag bol is unhealthy for instance, but a huge portion with tonnes of cheese is. It can be easier to switch out a meal entirely sometimes (by using some sort of food group limitation) to regain control of eating habits rather than reducing the size of the spag bol and removing the cheese. After a while they can then look to include more carbs into their diet if they wish, but in a healthier way.

Essentially, I think limiting a food group short term can make someone think more consciously and creatively about food.

I don't think so, in the purest sense. We follow the guidelines on the packet for pasta, for example. But DD1 tends to have a small appetite, as does DD2 (both teens) and DD3 can be variable, so DH and I tended to split what was left between us.

Also, I think that I'd got into the habit of matching DH food wise but he's 3" taller than me, does around 18000 steps a day in his job, and he's 20kg heavier than me.

Add to that, the fact that my metabolism has slowed with age, and it explains why I've crept up from 57kg (BMI 19) to 69.5kg (BMI 23) over the course of a few years. But technically overweight, but with a fine bone structure and carrying on my stomach, it's too much for me.

To be fair I wouldn't consider all breakfast cereal as junk food, but I certainly wouldn't consider it as particularly healthy either. Even the supposedly healthy ones have quite alot of sugar in. The only one that doesn't is shredded wheat which is just shredded wheat and nothing else.

Don't get me started on ghd chocolate flavoured ones. Now that really is junk.

Oh! Also, I find that carbs sneak up in that they are easy to eat quickly and then they expand in the stomach, so I could easily eat a big portion of pasta and it would only be ½ hour later that I'd think 'I've overeaten'. With the low carb diet everything is a bit more bulky so I notice when I'm getting full as I eat and stop.

I’m currently cutting back on carbs (mainly bread) but also cutting back on chocolate and not eating last 7pm as we go on holiday soon. It’s the mindless eating that puts on so many calories you just don’t notice. I have a bit of a carb addiction and eat a really poor diet so unless I make them a no go zone I just won’t stick to it. I will choose carbs over any type of food. It really baffles me when someone can choose anything at a restaurant and ends up with something low carb. Carbs = fun to me 😂 But yes I agree with what you’re saying. The people who have lost X amount of weight probably consumed so many calories without even considering what they were eating before

Nutrition is really the main thing. although I do buy the insulin argument and think constantly raised insulin levels do mean you retain fat more.

You are much more likely to be satiated when eating your calories low carb, there is basically no nutritional value in pasta for example, they are essentially empty calories. Swap those calories for a steak and you’ll feel satisfied and just eat less. There is an interesting theory by Ted Naimen that you’ll basically keep eating / not be satisfied (so have to rely on willpower) until you’ve had enough protein. It’s really hard to get the right protein when you are high carb. And add onto that nutritional value, a steak compared to pasta is just incompatible.

Thé reason China has a problem with obesity is that now they are eating carbs and fat together which is the worst combination. Ice cream for example. It is highly addictive.
Calorie counting is ridiculous because the body uses more energy to assimilate 199 calories of broccoli than 100 calories of cake. The NHS healthy recommendations are way out of date. Anything made of refined grains is to b egg avoided. Seed oils the same. You don't need to calorie count to lose weight, just eat lots of veg, 'good' fat as ne protein which fills you up and avoid sugar.

I started at the beginning of lockdown aiming to overhaul my diet and get fitter to protect myself against covid. I was 10 stone 12 so just in the overweight category, but tbh, wasn't bothered about weight loss as I felt and looked OK, and assumed the middle aged spread was inevitable.
For health reasons, i gradually replaced processed foods and ones of low nutritional value with whole foods, mainly veg, some fruit with bead, oats, rice or pasta. Then cut out meat and fish and eventually dairy so my diet is now 90% whole food vegan. I never eat fake meats, they're horrible!
I also don't drink alcohol, other than nights out, maybe monthly.
I walked about 45 minutes a day when losing weight, but now it's more 30 mins 3 times a week, including hills and at a fast pace.
I've also learned that I can eat more than 1800 calories a day without starting to gain weight.
I feel better than I have for years.

I can't eat more than 1800 calories!

People do need to be educated properly about nutrition.

I saw a Facebook advert for Noom today. They had a plate with around 5 custard creams with a big '375 calories' and next to it a plate with 2 crumpets with butter on with a big '150 calories'. The implication was that you should choose the crumpets and you'll have half the calories. But a single crumpet without butter is just shy of 100 calories, which makes the pair with butter easily 280 calories, if not more. People will be sucked in to buying that product when all they need to understand is what our body does with food and what we need to fuel it.

I completely understand that it’s calories in against calories out but I find that cutting back on carbs helps me moderate my appetite. It automatically makes me chose healthier options and I get far less hungry . Basically I find it the easiest way to cut calories and still eat a balanced diet. ( eat plenty of veg/ lentils / pulses etc) . I find it works for me as I need rules, I also had gestational diabetes so very aware of my risk of developing type 2 diabetes. This made me very aware of the impact certain foods had on my blood sugar levels.

I have been low carb for a month and I feel great.No lethargy or ibs.im definitely going to stick at it.

That is brilliant! I am similar to how you were in that I'm 51, 5ft 3 and 'stuck' at 10 stone 9. I eat anything between 1200 and 1800 calories per day and I'm just maintaining, it's so frustrating.

Oh! Also, I find that carbs sneak up in that they are easy to eat quickly and then they expand in the stomach,

They really don't unless you don't know what you are eating, and the expanding in stomach is a good thing you will be fuller.

If I eat bread, crisps, biscuits, cakes, pasta, potatoes and rice in the quantities I used to I would remain very obese and feel sluggish and awful come the afternoon, my body doesn't need energy from those carbs, it has more than enough stored energy with me being obese, plus I don't exercise nearly enough to use up additional energy via carbs being put in.
Instead I eat loads of green veg, plus other veg, protein and some fats, the veg has carbs in it so I am not 'no carb' , I just avoid eating processed sugary stuff. I am not sure how that is faddy or bad for me ?

I don't know whether it's connected, but I also became officially post menopause during that time. They say for some women it can help with weight loss, though its rarer than the other way round. I certainly don't have the horrible hormonal hunger I used to have, or the cravings, so it's probably helped.
I also read that some foods don't 'stick' as much as others, so not all of their caloric value is retained, the foods are plants and nuts basically, which is mainly what I eat. I don't know how true that is though.

I had anorexia in my late teens til about 25, but have been a healthy weight (and reasonably relaxed about food) for nearly 20 years. some of the MN threads take me straight back there.

I love carbs and I would probably cry if someone tried to give me a pizza with a cauliflower base, or expected a "massive salad" to fill me up for hours.

On one thread I read a few years ago, it seemed that giving children cereal for breakfast, or sandwiches in a pack lunch was tantamount to child abuse!

Cereal is demonised it isn't bad for you and is full of fortified minerals and plenty of fibre.

No food is bad in moderation.