I've been thinking a bit about when I first discovered the low carb way of eating. As I've said in my first post, it was a surprise to me that this kind of diet wasn't more widespread. Of course, we are all told that low fat and high carb plus exercising is the only way we can lose weight in a healthy manner.
So as I was beginning to learn and understand about this way of eating, I thought nothing of telling people about my discovery. I mean, who wouldn't be happy for someone who had found a way of eating that works for them, has improved their health and happiness and helped them to lose weight? As I found out, a strange thing happens to people when you mention LC to them. They suddenly become experts in diet and nutrition and begin to tell you how to go about losing weight the proper way, with a low-fat, high-carb, 'eat your 5 a day' government recommended diet. Wait a minute, didn't you hear me say that I no longer get migraines, I'm not depressed, my hair, skin and nails are healthy, soft and glowing, I don't get mouth ulcers, I'm not bloated, I don't crave after every meal, I'm not getting stomach cramps, I'm not lethargic, my periods are pain-free, I'm full of energy, my mind is focused, and I'm losing weight, and this is all down to my new way of eating? I'm happy, elated even, I've made the discovery of the century, and you're pissing on my chips (made from courgettes though, perhaps)!
So here in snippet form, I present to you some of the responses I've had when my diet has been mentioned, and my thoughts on them:
"Low carb? So... Atkins, basically. So you're just going to gorge on cheese and bacon?"
There are many different books on low carb eating. Atkins is probably the most well known one and it has had a lot of bad press simply because people will believe anything that they read in magazines and newspapers, or what they hear from friends who have tried the diet, but without actually reading the book! People are just unwilling to do any research of their own, yet they feel confident enough from reading a magazine article on the subject that they know all there is to know. Although I have not followed the Atkins diet, I do have the book purely to try and gain more understanding of the subject. I will go into more detail about various different plans at a later stage, but for now I will say that Atkins is a tiered way of dieting where you start with the basics and slowly introduce various foods back into your diet in order to discover your own personal carbohydrate intake limit, and it is a life-long plan. It is not a fad or a quick fix and you don't gorge on cheese and bacon throughout.
"But you can't cut out a whole food group, that's so bad for you, where will you get your energy from?!"
So restricting carbs in my diet is bad, yet somehow restricting fat from my diet is good for me? Fat is a very good source of energy. I will explain more about this in a later post.
"You know, Dr Atkins died of a heart attack because he was so overweight from eating all that fatty food"
This is a prime example of someone who heard something on television or radio, or read it somewhere, or heard it in conversation and they have taken it as fact. Dr. Atkins had been treated for his cardiomyopathy for a couple of years, however he was in good health when he slipped on an icy pavement, hit his head and died nine days later from the injury.
"All you need to do to lose weight is burn more calories than you take in."
Do you know what a calorie is? It is the measurement of the quantity of heat needed to raise 1 gram of water by 1 degree Centigrade, at 1 atmospheric pressure. I know I didn't pay that much attention in biology classes at school, but I'm pretty certain that at no point in our digestive system is a section where water is boiled. Also, given my previous symptoms of depression, migraines and lethargy, do you think it would be possible for me to exercise these carbohydrates away so easily?
"You are what you eat!"
Perhaps one of my favourites. If I am what I eat, then that would mean I am protein, fat and water. Huzzah!
As a side note, it was shortly after my first experiences of these types of reactions that I made a conscious decision to stop reading newspapers, magazines and watching the news, and take things that people claim to know with a pinch of salt.
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