Information on the Big Carb or No Carb Debate

It all gets very confusing.  Low carb / high protein; low fat / low carb; counting calories; counting points; everything in moderation; and so on.  But which one is correct?  I'm all for the one which you can maintain for the long haul.  There are some things I'm kind of against, though, and I'll tell you why.

My doctor said for me to not have more than 20g carbs per day that aren't vegetables.  20g.  That's it.  My mouth just kind of dropped open as I stared at him blankly.  That's less than 2 pieces of regular sandwich bread (about 24g).  That's less than my 1/4 c oatmeal, 1/2 c milk and 2 tsp of stevia in the morning (which comes to just 23.5g).  I did Atkin's for a few months, and I lost a lot of weight on it at first, but it was absolutely impossible for me to maintain, which didn't do me any good.  For some people, like my doctor, it works very well.  For me, not so much.  And that's the key to this whole lifestyle change...what can you do now and maintain later?

And, his recommendation didn't jive at all with the research I had been doing on the internet about how many carbs I should be having a day for a diabetic and heart healthy lifestyle.  Actually, it was very different.  According to an article written by the Mayo Clinic (I try to use highly reputable sources for my information btw), carbs are essential to your body's function.  First, understand that carbs come from fiber, starch and sugar.  You should get your carbs mostly from fruits and vegetables, legumes and beans and low fat dairy.  You should get carbs from starches that are whole grain, such as brown rice.  And then you should limit those things with added or refined sugar.

Additionally in this article (link above), and also backed by the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, and here by the American Diabetes Association you should be eating 45-60g carbs PER MEAL, and your daily carbs should be about 45%-65% of your total calories.  As an example, if you eat 1500 calories per day, and each gram of carbs is 4 calories, then 50% of your carbs would be 187g carbs per day.  (1500 x 50% = 750 calories / 4 calories each g carb = 187g carbs)

When I finally got my nutritionist, who specializes in healthy diabetic lifestyles and is also a life-change coach, it matched with exactly what she told me...45g carbs per meal (men should have a little more at about 60 per meal) and 15g carbs per snack.  So if I have 3 meals a day (and you should distribute your carbs as evenly as possible between meals) and 3 snacks a day, that would be 180g carbs per day.

Why should you have that many carbs a day?  The article I referenced above by the Mayo Clinic goes into more detail, but it says that carbs are essential for many of your body's processes such as providing energy (especially to the brain and nervous system), protecting against diseases like cardiovascular problems, and healthy carbs can also help people maintain their weight. 

In the end, low carb diets are not more effective for weight loss than a diet monitoring calories.  A low carb diet will help you lose weight more quickly initially, but over the course of a year the weight loss evens out between the two. (Harvard School of Public Health)

For me, based on what my professional nutritionist advises and by highly reputable sources on the internet agreeing with the exact numbers she gave me, it is best that I have about 45%-65% of your total daily calories in carbs.  Not 20 like my doctor suggested.

As for counting points, I'm not that familiar with it personally.  I did do Weight Watchers briefly a long time ago, but I don't remember much about it.  I will have to do more research.

Along with keeping my carbs in check I count my calories.  After all, weight loss (and gain) comes down to a very simple fact...if you eat more calories than you burn, you will gain weight.  If you eat less calories than you burn you will lose weight.  I try to keep my calories around 1400 per day.  If I stick to it, it will give me a weight loss of about 1 lb per week.  More on this another day, but if you'd like to start counting calories more easily and get an idea of how many calories a day you are burning and should be eating, check out Fitday.com.  It is free to register and use and it is an awesome website.  I wouldn't have been able to lose my 46 pounds so far if I didn't have that tool.

So, if you decide to keep up with my blog, you will see that the recipes I post and products I review will probably have carbs in them.  But they are at a healthy level, and that's the key for me.  What is healthy and what can I maintain for the long term?

Thoughts, anyone?  If you'd like to reach me I am at happyfairylove@live.com.  Please don't send me hate mail though...I am not saying that people on a low carb diet are wrong or bad.  I'm saying that a diet with carbs is just as good, and maybe even better for many people because of the fact that it is easier to keep up with for a long time since it is less restrictive.

Be well,
Lisa

My History, My Diagnosis, My Goals

A little bit about me.  Growing up I almost always struggled with my weight.  I definitely did not have the perfect supermodel body.  Nope.  I am short (5'2" at my tallest, now shrunk to 5'nothin'), and I've got a large frame.  I never was, nor will I ever be, a size 0, 2, or even a 4 for that matter.  I remember as a kid wearing long pants to hide my legs, because even then I was self-conscious of my legs, big calves and thighs.  And my brothers didn't help much by nick-naming me "Bubble Butt".

There was a point, when I was 15, that I got fed up with my weight problems.  So I did what a lot of teenage girls do...I starved myself.  I never ate breakfast.  I ate diet caramel "candies" for lunch to take away the hunger, but they still gave me the feeling of eating candy. And I barely ate anything for dinner.  To increase my weight loss I started working out with weights several times a week and also played racquetball almost every day.  I got down to 115 pounds, and I wore a size 5.  But you know what?  It looked terrible on my frame.  You could see my ribs in my back...ick.  Even then, though, I still thought I was fat.

I managed to stay at a reasonable 125ish for quite a few years.  Up until I married Jeff in 1994 and started having more kids.  Then I couldn't keep from gaining.  Speed up a few years, and my weight troubles got even worse when I started taking some medications that made me absolutely ravenous.  I couldn't eat enough.  And, to top it off, (although I didn't find this out until just a few months ago from my new doctor) one of my medications is also used to give to anorexic patients to MAKE them crave sugary foods to gain weight.  No wonder I've ballooned up to where I'm at!

I went to a new general physician in February, 2012 to try to get a handle on my health, which I have sorely neglected for quite a long time.  Denial, really.  It was a real eye opener when he told me if I don't lose weight he's going to be telling me soon that I'm diabetic.  I told him about my frustrations.  It didn't seem like I ate that much, but I kept gaining and gaining and gaining for over 5 years.  It was a life-changing moment when he handed me a pamphlet on the lap-band surgery.  I almost burst into tears right then.  Has my situation become so desperate, I thought, that my only option was to have major surgery to force me to stop eating?

Sure enough, when my blood tests came back I had Type 2 diabetes with an A1C of 6.5, my blood pressure was out the roof, and all my cholesterol levels were bad.  Not good.  After I cried a few times over a few weeks, I started to get my resolve back.  I am NOT going to let this get the better of me.  I am NOT going to be on Metformin and Victoza for diabetes forever, nor am I going to be on Simvastatin for cholesterol problems forever.  Being bi-polar does sometimes work to my advantage.  I get manic and super-focused.  My new hobby became my health.  I am NOT going to get beat by all the problems my weight has caused.  Google became my best friend.

I am really embarrassed to admit this to the world, but when I first started seeing my doctor in Februrary, I weighed in at 275 pounds!!!  How did I let it get so out of control?  My goal is to get to 135 pounds by my huband's birthday next year...8/24/13.  I need to lose 140 pounds...that's more than some adults weigh.  I need to lose an ENTIRE person!  140 pounds is also equivalent to 560 sticks of butter!  Imagine all that ooey, gooey, greasy butter sitting in a big pile.  Yep.  Lovely thought, huh? It is also my goal to have an A1C of 5.5...without the help of medications.


What I would like to share with you through my journey are the things I have discovered (and am continuing to discover) from my endless hours of searching the 'net for information on diabetes, diets, recipes, etc.  I now also have a professional  nutritionist and life-change coach that my insurance actually pays for.  So I consult with her once a month.  In addition to that I am now going to my doctor on a regular basis, about every 2 months or so.  My A1C is being monitored, along with my daily glucose readings at home.

Feel free to leave comments here...I will answer you back personally if you have reply enabled to your email, otherwise I will just comment back here.  If you'd like to contact me directly, please feel free at happyfairylove@live.com. 

Best wishes,
Lisa