I don't mean to be an ass, I just see so many people saying "you need to cut carbs to lose weight" and it drives me nuts.
lol--feel free to express yourself. :)
I think most overweight ppl eating too many "carbs" are actually eating too many muffins. No one ever got fat on fruit. Another big culprit is fried foods.
"In Defense of Food" says to eat food (actual whole foods, not processed junk), not too much (and no snacking all day), mostly plants. These are good rules I think.
Here's another money analogy. I used to just spend money on anything I saw that looked good. I'd watch a youtube product review and was already ordering on amazon before the video was even over. Not big ticket items so I didn't think too much about it. Until MMM. All those dollars add up and when you stop spending them on crap, you don't even miss the crap you used to buy.
I also tend to mindlessly snack on whatever while waiting for water to boil or the microwave to ding. A cookie or a few crackers or chips. I'd walk into the kitchen to feed the dog and grab a handful or craisons or chocolate chips, or both. Just mindless spending calories here and there on junk. Those calories add up. Now writing down everything I eat and keeping my calories under 1200, I want to make of most of each calorie, not waste it standing in front of an open fridge eating a stick of cheese. Count each calorie bc each calorie counts.
Yeah, I get that, and I didn't say anything against reducing processed, nutrient poor, empty calories foods.
But I think telling people to "cut carbs" when what you actually mean is to cut processed empty calorie foods is misleading and confusing.
I've had to rehab a number of people off of low carb diets that weren't working for them because they had been conditioned to think that "carbs" were evil and would stop them from losing weight.
They would keto for weeks, and then snap and gain weight.
Meanwhile, they would have been very well served by just focusing on eating more whole, nutrient dense foods and not worrying about carb grams.
As someone who has lost a lot of weight and kept it off for years, and has helped many people lose weight and keep it off, I really hate "diet culture" nonsense that just complicates eating and makes people fearful of foods and food groups.
I certainly tell people to dramatically cut back on highly processed, empty calories, but I do so by focusing on *adding* and filling up with whole foods, and teaching people to focus on how their body feels when they eat nutrient dense foods.
"Carbs" is not a stand in word for junk food, nor should it be. The vast majority of healthy foods are carbs. When we make people fearful of carbs, we make it very difficult for them to relearn how to eat well.
If someone loves a keto diet and does well on it long term, and isn't bothered by the social challenges of it, then that's great, there's nothing wrong with a keto diet for those it works for. It just doesn't work for most people, and that contributes to brutal yo-yo-ing.
For the record, I don't really eat sugar, I don't drink alcohol, and I don't eat a lot of highly processed food. I've probably had two muffins in the past 3 years. I eat exactly what you seem to mean by "low carb", but I eat TONS of carbs: lentils, chickpeas, beans, potatoes, quinoa, bulgur, rice, sorghum, squash, peppers, broccoli, etc.
If we're going to give advice to people who struggle with eating, it should be good advice that isn't misleading and confusing. I get what your intention is, but it could easily lead to someone cutting out a giant range of healthy food options right when they need to be learning how to eat and enjoy those foods.
