Tuesday, January 24, 2012

What Do I Tell People?

I usually tell people that I’m eliminating gluten from my diet because people generally “freak out” when they find out that I’m actually following a low-carb diet (Atkins). It is not actually the no-carbohydrate diet that they think that it is. You are still allowed to eat carbs but you have a small budget of how many a day you can eat & most of those are to come from veggies rather than grain-based things like breads, cereals, pasta, potato etc etc.

People generally say that this way of eating is so unhealthy but they don’t have anything to back those statements up! I have proof that this is the healthiest I have ever been in my entire life! Since I have been eating this way, my blood pressure has gone from 140/96 to 120/84!! I am eating more veggies & green stuff than I ever have... I make sure to complete at least an hour of exercise a day (in addition to every day movement)... I’m drinking more water than I used to drink Coke... My first ring at age 12 was a size 6... My wedding band I received on my wedding day was a somewhat tight-fitting size 7. Now, my new wedding band is a size 5 and it’s beginning to fit just nicely - not so loose that it will fall off. I’m starting to see how small my frame actually is and that the 145 lb goal for “ideal weight” is not so ridiculous now that I’ve gotten down a few pounds. When I reached my highest weight, I was 316 lbs! Even I couldn’t believe that I had let the weight get that far!

Don’t get me wrong - I tried numerous times to lose weight with little to no success. When I tried the low-fat diet, I actually put weight on! Now that I’ve done a little research, I can see that decreasing most of the sugar in my diet was the answer rather than a low-fat approach. When you start to read nutrition labels on things before you eat them, you will be shocked how much hidden sugars there are in supposed “health” foods. Look at the yogurt and berries parfaits that a lot of the quick-service restaurants are offering these days. 9/10 times the low-fat option is higher in sugar than a full-fat version of something & then they’re adding sugary-berries & carby granola to it. Now, that you’ve eaten your “healthy” snack - you’re starving like you haven’t eaten this week. The high-sugar “health” food spiked your insulin levels and now you could eat the place out of house and home!

Don’t believe me - look to my inspirations on my friends list - Jimmy Moore & Kent Altena! They have been great inspiration to what I have to look forward to! Both men have not only lost a huge amount of weight but they have chosen to bless others with their knowledge in their own way. Jimmy (livinlowcarbman) did videos for YouTube on the basics of low carb & keeps a low carb blog and Kent makes cooking videos on YouTube as well. If we can do this - so can you! Be encouraged! There is light at the end of the tunnel!

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