Is it your fault you are heavy? We have all been told that ‘A calorie is a calorie’ and ‘Eat less, exercise more’.
These cliches are stereotypical and demeaning, no matter the intent. I find these to be excuses to blame people for failing to lose weight, particularly so on someone’s favorite fad diet. This blame game has been relentless over the years in the nutrition world. I have been told this over the years too.
Why typical fad diets don’t work
Diets like the rice diet, the sardine fast, the juice diet, and, yes, even the Standard American Diet (SAD) don’t work. What you eat does matter. Your body processes calories differently depending on what macronutrient(s) you eat, and the quantities thereof. Besides, many diets restrict calories, and this makes you hungry. I know this – when you are hungry for long enough, you eat – breaking your diet. When I followed the SAD, I gained over 60 pounds in a year, so I know.
Hormonal shifts
Insulin is only one of the dietary hormones for blood sugars. It serves to drive blood sugar into the organs, including fat tissue. Yet, insulin does much, much more. High levels of insulin alter other hormones in your body, and even prevents fat burning. This fundamentally changes the way our bodies work.
If you are overweight, obese, or metabolically ill, IT CAN’T BE YOUR FAULT CAN IT?
Well, often it is not. We, as a people, have followed dietary advice for 5 decades, lowering fats, eating more veggies and fruits, and so on. During this time, we have gotten fatter, sicker, and even perhaps decreased our average life span. Perhaps what we have been told is wrong.
Our diets today.
Today, we consume many more carbohydrates (starches and sugars) than we use to, and way more than we need. The average consumption of carbs today is 325-350 grams per day (g/d). Our baseline need is about 50 g/d, and we typically burn about 150-200 g/d if we have “normal” metabolic function. So, what happens to the extra 150 g/d? If this is a regular daily occurrence, it finds it’s way into fat. It is worth repeating, high insulin levels prevent fat burning.
It’s not our fault! We did what we were told, and it didn’t work. So what do I do now!
If high carbohydrate consumption is the cause, then the obvious and simple solution would be – to reduce the carb consumption – DUH! But this is often easier said than done. Too many internet influencers say, even demanding, that their method or their supplements are the only way. Hear this, guidance is the key. Find a knowledgeable coach to show you how to cut back on the carbs in the foods you already eat.
Keys to finding the right coach.
I never had a coach to help me navigate the low-carb or carnivore lifestyle. They didn’t exist then. Now, they are all over the internet, and finding the right one is difficult. Some things to look for:
- Are they low carb practitioners? Do they practice what they preach?
- Are they pushing a particular “my way is the best, or only, way”?
- Do they want to individualize approaches to your lifestyle?
- Do they talk “this is how I did it”, rather than this has worked for others?
- Do they have certifications or training in low-carb lifestyles?
- And, do they indicate that they are following a method proven by others before them?
Eating low-carbohydrate and ketogenic ways have been around for a couple of hundred years. They have been used by Drs. to treat many ailments and fix obesity. They are not a fad diet. Find a coach and enjoy your freedom.
I do live coaching in West-Central Missouri. You can find out more about my program here.