How to low carb

Some people have a real hard time figuring out how to lose weight, and when I talk to them about low carb living, they really get confused.

Most of us are nutrition illiterates. I was until I started reading articles like What if its all a big fat lie and the Soft Science of Dietary Fat by Gary Taubes. I also read his book, Good Calories, Bad Calories. What a revelation.

Then I bought a few books on metabolism that would be termed texts. And I got some from the library. I think I understand more about how my body works.

It is the why that most of my friends and colleagues don't get. "Aren't carbs good for you?" and "They are low fat." Well, no and yes. They are low fat. But they make you fat. They make your body store fat.

My kids (all adults) now understand about the few good carbs, all whole grain or super complex carbs which are relatively low GI. I tell them the trick is to eat as few of them as you can manage. Two of them go on South Beach from time to time, with some success.

In Canada, the expected intake of carbs is about 300g per day. Way too much. I try and stay around 50 g, from my breakfast cereal and bits of other things during the day. I know a lot of people who would probably eat 500g of carbs a day because they love a big serving of low fat potatoes or rice with supper.

And we eat way too much. Those of us who don't dig ditches for a living really need to eat more like birds.

It's an ongoing struggle, for sure, but low carb does work.

Fat and your body

Most people wonder what triglycerides are. Triglycerides are the fats as they are stored in your body. That stuff you want less of. It is a flag for you when your triglycerides are high, as that means there are lots circulating in your blood stream, and most likely you are in the process of storing them. They have to be broken down to get out of your cells, and that happens when you have used up (or don't have) glucose in the blood stream to burn as fuel for your body. So that is how a low carb diet burns fat: it absolutely will get fuel from wherever it can get it. And that will be the protein in your diet, and the fat stored in your body.

My husband has lost 30 pounds in the last four months on a low carb diet. He wants to lose another 10-15 lbs. He eats less than 50 g of carbs a day. I have lost 15 lbs and stay under 100g of carbs, which is one third of the recommended daily allowance in Canada. I'm sure I used to eat a lot more carbs before I knew to count carbs.

His triglycerides are now low compared to last year. His is more of a Meditteranean diet, I guess, but it is pretty low carb. We used olive oil. His HDL is good, and so is his LDL. Mission accomplished, and he walks on a treadmill. His family has high blood pressure and stroke as risk factors.

I was happy someone pointed me at "Good Calories, Bad Calories" or GCBC as its known. I recommend it.