Back when I was a competitive swimmer (what seems like 100 years ago) my coach always told us "eat a lot of carbs" and that's exactly what we did. I pretty much lived on pasta and we were all in amazing shape...granted we were teens but still.
What changed that carbs are like kryptonite? Whenever I eat them now I feel shame after.
I feel no shame with carbs. Doing a low carb diet has quick results in the beginning due to loss of glycogen and water weight which is motivating to many. Also, some people find that certain carbs cause cravings, which I believe is mostly linked to the glycemic load.
You can lose weight eating a low carb diet or a high carb diet. The most important thing is you ind what works for you.
Well I think they are pretty important for athletes because they provide immediately available/easy to process energy but someone like me probably doesn't need so many :P
There is nothing innately wrong with carbs, though. If you can lose weight while eating them then go for it!
Last edited by katrinakit; 02-28-2013 at 09:05 PM.
I do a lot of cardio per week so I figure it won't kill me just as long as I am not totally overdoing it. I have high cholesterol (getting that checked again in April so hopefully I can say "had") so living on high fat, eggs and red meat isn't a great idea. Truthfully if I don't eat some carbs a day I never feel full.
I know other people are carb-sensitive, but it's never been an issue for me. Although, I don't naturally gravitate to breads & pastas. I do have some potatoes roasting in the oven as I type, though. Yum!
I'm definitely carb sensitive. I can lose weight eating carbs but it's much more of a struggle. With a low carb plan, I feel great, have lots of energy, sleep better, have a manageable appetite - and oh, I lose weight too!
But it really is very individual. If your plan works for you and you feel good, then that's the right plan for you, whether it's lots of carbs or low carbs really doesn't matter.
Athletes need carbs for a quick burst of energy to perform well as your body uses carbohydrates first in energy conversion.
Some people with insulin and metabolic problems tend to do better not eating them because they basically turn to sugar during digestion. That being said, even that process varies by each. Insulin resistance prevents the body from getting rid of the excess glucose dumped into it which leads to weight gain and other issues.
If you can lose weight and enjoy pasta, by all means do so! But if you are like me and pre-diabetic with insulin issues, low carb is a better way to go.
I'm not carb sensitive. I love my carbs. They do not prevent me from loosing weight. That is something I am very very thankful for since if I had to drastically reduce my carb intake, I would have never ever been able to stick to a meal plan.
I can lose weight with anything, and I'm always 'carb heavy' in my diet. HOWEVER, I LOVE carbs and it is much harder for me to eat smaller portions just because I love them so much. (heck, that may been I am 'sensitive' to them, but I just think they are delicious)
But, I don't avoid carbs or anything, I just know if I eat something like rice, I'm not gonna get as much as I want, and I stand a better chance of being left a bit unsatisfied.
I think there is always some current diet 'hype' that, while it's good for a certain percentage of folks, doesn't mean that it's the new rule for the masses.
I don't think lowering carbs is a fad diet, but there always seems to be a food group or macro that is said to the bad one of the moment. First it was fat, but now healthy fats are good and needed, and I think dairy was frowned upon at one time too! So unless you have a sensitivity to something, I wouldn't worry about cutting out specific food groups or macros.
I think it's because the whole low fat craze of the 80s and 90s made highly processed carbs seem like the lesser evil... which clearly didn't work out so great. So the pendulum swung the other way. Although, I was under the impression low carb diets were a lot less popular that they were a few years ago. Maybe that's just my perception?
Anywho, I am one of those people that fares a lot better while avoiding carbs. I think a big part of that is it forces me to avoid the vast majority of processed foods, and thus excess calories.
But I've also tried eating higher carb and whole foods only... and I had to white knuckle every second of the day! I just couldn't do it for more than a month or a month and a half, tops. Carbs really are my kryptonite, I guess.
Carbs make me fat and sick. It's not dogma, it's an observed and tested fact with my body. Qualitatively and on blood panels, sugar and starch do awful things to my blood sugar regulation, fat gain/loss patterns, energy, immune system, you name it. Ketogenic diets help me run better, and anti-inflammatory ways of eating (in my case eliminating allergens and anything that spikes my already screwy insulin regulation) are a must for me to lose weight AND have the best overall health and vigor.
Not everyone has a messed up metabolism, not everyone is prone to sensitivities or food allergies. But I am, and low carb, whole foods, low inflammation diets like Atkins have been a HUGE blessing to me. I didn't start out my weight loss that way, and tried several other methods before coming to this. So it wasn't hype or a desire for quick losses in my case, but recognizing what did and didn't work for my system.
Quite frankly, MOST humans consume far too much sugar in simple and complex forms - just because some carbohydrate is good and even necessary for some bodies doesn't mean more is better and for everyone. The converse is true as well. And what would be recommended for an endurance athlete in training is also quite different than a sedentary, menopausal female or a diabetic man in the middle aged spread, yes?
My path to "low carb" wasn't intentional. When I started to count calories, I included carbs as a major portion of my food intake. What I started to realize after a while, though, is that protein and fat really upped my level of satiety and allowed me more room for unprocessed fruit and veggies. Slowly frozen waffles for breakfast became eggs, baked chips at lunch and 100 calorie packs of packaged desserts became carrots sticks with (full fat) cheese and whole strawberries.
This transition happened over the course of months and it wasn't until I looked back that I realized that my diet had become much more carb controlled - and that my weight loss was benefiting. Whether from better diet compliance or the elimination of some cravings or . . . whatever. I'm not exactly sure, but I know that I feel better having eliminated most sugar and flour.
According to Mark Sisson, author of The Primal Blueprint, we don't need to eat any carbs at all.
Quote:
"There is actually no requirement for any 'essential dietary carbohydrates' in human nutrition. It’s possible to live a very long and healthy life never consuming much – if any – in the way of carbs, provided you get adequate dietary protein and fat. The same can’t be said for going too long without protein or fat. Cut too far back on either of those macronutrients and you will eventually get sick and die."
Low- carb is the only diet that I've been able to stick to for longer than 3 months. I think it helps that I've cut almost all sugar out of my diet because I don't crave it anymore. Whenever I was eating simple carbs before I would have that one day where I went completely crazy.
But I think the best diets are the ones that you can stick to and that work for you. I'm super jealous of people that can control themselves around carbs. I LOVE bread.
Why are Carbs so taboo?
I just couldn't do it for more than a month or a month and a half, tops. Carbs really are my kryptonite, I guess. 
