In our attempt to lose weight or trying to look like someone we admire or just following a trend most of us have fallen into the trap of dieting with some bizarre ideas that have trended all over. One such idea being a LOW carb or NO carb diet.
How many different diet plans have you heard of and read in the past where you’ve been asked to eliminate carbohydrates- without a clear distinction between the ‘good’ vs. ‘bad’ carbohydrates – either completely or limit it to a minuscule amount in your diet to lose weight? I am sure plenty. Right? And, when you did eliminate it, what did you experience?
When the plans are directed by others with an agenda that is not yours you would probably feel burdened by the pressure in addition to the loss of energy accompanied with general lethargy and that desperate need to binge at odd hours or late in the night-when no one is watching- that you think is coming from absolutely nowhere!
Inability to follow directions as they are, inability to control urges and inability to comprehend conditions as perceived by you will probably lead to stress. And from this inception of stress seed will grow a tree full of accompanying lifestyle disorders when reduced energy followed by binge eating becomes a regular pattern in your life.
You may suddenly face a harsh reality. Your reality could be that you are diagnosed with either type 2 diabetes or cardiovascular disease or even certain cancers. My aim here is not to scare you but to educate you. Being empowered and equipped with the knowledge and resources that you need to understand that health and wellness are not just fragments of someone else’s plan for you but it’s you who takes up the driver’s seat and is ready for the change.
The reason why ‘fad’ diets in the past encouraged eliminating or significantly reducing carbohydrates from your diet is because in the absence of carbs, fat reserves are used as a source of energy and hence help in fat loss or weight loss. The initial weight loss will surely happen but will be short lived. You then get trapped in the vicious cycle of binging, also known as ‘yo-yo’ dieting. These diets have actually done a disservice to you by failing to inform that by doing so the body was deprived of the primary source of energy. Also, a clear distinction between good carbohydrates and bad carbohydrates was never made.
Though strong intentions to lose weight readily arise from the deep personal pain of overweight, they are rarely sufficient to generate full engagement. With an absence of a maintenance plan or a sustainability of the current plan what you face is relapse.
The Science as to what happens: say when you eat a piece of white bread or a slice of that yummy pizza – known as refined carbohydrate- you have been craving to get your hands on and your teeth into for tonight. The pancreas break down the pizza slice into glucose, which is further stored as glycogen in the muscle tissue. The liver breaks this glycogen down, the muscles extract as much glucose as they need and what’s left over is stored as fat via a process called ‘lipogenesis’ in the body. This mainly will happen if a) you have a sedentary lifestyle and b) you do not have a regular exercise regime.
If you are active, you will use this energy almost immediately especially since a slice of pizza is mainly made of refined and enriched carbohydrates. When you are eating refined carbs, be aware that in that case, the outer shell is removed which speeds up the process of converting starch into sugar, which in turn is quickly stored as fat. You will also not feel satisfied by consuming these enriched carbohydrates, the energy provided is short-lived, and you will have the urge to eat more right then or will feel hungry in a short duration of time. And this would then lead to increased calorie intake and which would eventually lead to weight gain. It’s a vicious cycle like I said before! The increased intake of refined carbs world over has led to increase in obesity, weight gain and diabetes.
So, what am I proposing here, you may wonder?
I am asking you to consider new ways to love carbs. And new ways to start and plan your journey towards desired health goals via a medium of holistic and sustainable model that will not only educate you but would rather involve you in the entire process. A plan that will be driven by you, created by you (with expert guidance/advice) and applied by you without being forced to follow rules set by others.
And how may you do that, you may ask? Hold your horses. Take a deep breath. Let me twirl a little and test your patience. Ok, here it goes.
Step one: The remedy is simple- replace refined carbs with complex carbs. But what are complex carbohydrates, I am sure, will be your logical next question. The answer to which lies in my next blog.
Step two: get educated on complex carbohydrates and learn to identify and understand them for which you have to be patient to wait for my next blog coming soon. Stay tuned!!
In the mean time
Step Three: Approach a Health and Wellness coach to help you understand your inner self, your health goals and in accordance with which help you create a Personalised Diet plan
