Won't someone please think of the carbs?
May 19, 2004 9:22 AM   Subscribe

I Declare This Thursday, May 20th, National Carb Awareness Day. A food lover lashes back.
posted by mathowie (61 comments total)
 
Carbs are what produce the happy brain chemicals .. people on low carb diets tend to be emotionally flat and/or depressed. It's why people like high-carb it makes you feel good. Carbs are good, in moderation, and not in the form of sugar or white flour.
posted by stbalbach at 9:52 AM on May 19, 2004


I'm soaking in a hot tub full of porridge and honey even as we speak. Let no man say I was found wanting when the carbs came calling.
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 9:59 AM on May 19, 2004


Huh. His followup post shows that tiny minds think alike:

GOOD IDEA #2: ROLL AROUND IN OATS
Did you know oats are high in carbohydrates? One cup of oats has approximately 100 grams of the stuff. So why not roll around in them? Come on! Why so rigid? Rolling around in oats is a great way to let the world know that you are serious about carbs. Plus, when you're done, you can take a hot bath and make oatmeal. Who doesn't love oatmeal after a bath?

posted by PinkStainlessTail at 10:02 AM on May 19, 2004


I had the same feeling of waking up one day and suddenly everything was low carb, and thinking, "What the heck is wrong with people?" I love carbs: bread, pastries, oatmeal, shredded wheat and weetabix, rice, pasta, boiled/fried/mashed potatoes, chips/fries, and so on. Mmm-mmm.
posted by carter at 10:15 AM on May 19, 2004




I am on a low-carb diet right now. Low-carb, not no-carb.

The thing about it is that I'm only supposed to eliminate carbohydrates from my diet for two weeks. Then I start adding them back in.

Like stbalbach says, they're not bad, and in moderation, they're quite good, as long as you're not eating highly refined flour and sugar (which are bad, no two ways about it).

The main idea behind these diets is that processed foods are poison. And I knew that already.

And as far as this guy's claim that Panera is losing money: good. That place has shitty food.
posted by rocketman at 10:28 AM on May 19, 2004


I eat bread. I eat pasta. I have lost 32 pounds since January 8, 2004. And I'm a New Orleanian. (If I can do it, jeezus, anyone can.) Four and a half months ago my belt was on the outermost notch. Now it's on the innermost.

How? Weight Watchers. No one's more amazed at how well it's worked than I am. Basically, you learn to be very aware of what you eat (via their excellent Points system), how much food you need every day in order to lose/maintain weight, and just how not to eat so damned much of it. I eat more or less what I want, and that includes the dreaded, poisonous carbs. (Ya just gotta count dem pernts, cap.)

I have given up certain things -- huge desserts (I've learned to enjoy smaller amounts; we split 'em now), French fries (which were an addiction; they're a double-whammy of carbs and fat, so I have them far more rarely now, which can't be bad), things like that.

I haven't given them up completely -- I just eat them in much greater moderation. It's that lack of moderation that caused me to put on 50 pounds since I was in college, and by the end of July I should be damned close to my college-era weight. By Friday's weigh-in, at my current rate of loss, the weight on my driver's license should no longer be the egregious lie that it's been for the past 20+ years, too. Whoo!
posted by chuq at 10:31 AM on May 19, 2004


I've said it once, I'll say it again, and I'll keep saying it until people understand: carbohydrates make the world go round. Well, at least they make us go round the world. You wouldn't run your car on rubbing alcohol, even though it would probably work, so why run your body on ketones?

Also, I am sick of hearing "low carb" and, in fact "carb" at all; I think that if people had to say "carbohydrates" they wouldn't be nearly so quick to jump on the bandwagon. Eat some goddamn oatmeal and whole wheat bread, you freaks!
posted by uncleozzy at 10:31 AM on May 19, 2004


Food extremists are as misguided as any other extremists.

Bravo, chuq!
posted by rushmc at 10:42 AM on May 19, 2004


Don't worry...

Sales of low-carb products have fallen sharply at independent and health food stores, and some longtime industry insiders say a shakeout has begun. ...Even as they rush to cash in on the craze, some major food manufacturers say they see the phenomenon cooling down and becoming one part of the broad market for weight-loss products.
posted by soyjoy at 10:45 AM on May 19, 2004


when i was in high school, a carb was this thing that stuck up out of the hood on your car.
posted by quonsar at 11:19 AM on May 19, 2004


I'm trying to keep myself to 1500 calories per day, based on a calculation that my base metabolic rate is around 1700 and I add to that about 500 sitting in front of a desk.

Oddly enough, I have noticed about 3/4 of an inch more belt left of the buckle in the 6 days I've been doing this. Huh... that's kinda cool.

I certainly find myself avoiding high-carb foods, if only because the caloric intake is enough that I'll have to go without dinner if I indulged, but that just means eating potato chips instead of fries, or not eating all the rice the slop onto the plate.

I am very anti-Atkins, and find this new diet craze ridiculous, and while I know I'm probably still not eating as healthily as doctors would like, I'm at least controlling my intake.
posted by linux at 11:21 AM on May 19, 2004


Eat some goddamn oatmeal and whole wheat bread, you freaks!
speaking of freaks, what ever happened to the 90's "granola" crowd? We need you back; please pass the doobie on your way as a belly with an appetite would say mmmm, carbohydrates.
posted by thomcatspike at 11:21 AM on May 19, 2004


Along these lines, I give you the Fatkins Diet. [Flash]
posted by monju_bosatsu at 11:26 AM on May 19, 2004


I am so having pasta for dinner tonight...
posted by RakDaddy at 11:36 AM on May 19, 2004


I thought that said National Crab Awareness Day and pictured a bunch of little crabs invading from the beaches. Alas...
posted by DyRE at 11:39 AM on May 19, 2004


"when i was in high school, a carb was this thing that stuck up out of the hood on your car"

Well, if it was sticking through the hood then it was a high carb.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 11:48 AM on May 19, 2004


I knew Atkins was bad news the day I heard a co-worker of mine munching happily away in the cubicle next door.

She was eating pork rinds, bragging about how they have no carbs.
posted by culberjo at 11:50 AM on May 19, 2004


Carter, you don't love carbs. You love starch! You really, really, really, really love starch.
posted by iconomy at 11:52 AM on May 19, 2004


I'm sure this is a result of this memo
posted by fjom at 11:56 AM on May 19, 2004


Actually, The International Media Conspiracy®™ has such a short attention span that it cannot obsess on more than one four-letter quasi-abbreviation at a time, and if it wasn't for "carb", it would be "blog".
posted by wendell at 12:05 PM on May 19, 2004


oh, and quonsar, somebody put a potato in your tailpipe..
posted by wendell at 12:06 PM on May 19, 2004


Hooray for the Amateur Gourmet! For Carb Awareness Day, I'll serve scalloped potatoes as a side to spaghetti with tomato sauce.

Have you ever been stuck in a social situation (a dinner or a golf foursome, maybe) with Atkins acolytes? Gawd, they're boring! Shut up about your low-carb diet! It's a carbohydrate, not a "carb," you fools! And fie on those who shun the wondrous potato!
posted by Holden at 12:08 PM on May 19, 2004


When I was in high school, a carb was a hole in the chamber of a bong.
posted by modofo at 12:21 PM on May 19, 2004


Food extremists are as misguided as any other extremists.

Yes, and people who backlash against food fads are as misguided as people who backlash against any other fad.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 12:22 PM on May 19, 2004


A practical way to lose weight.

Mike Huckabee, the governor of Arkansas, although it doesn't say it in the link, lost all that weight eating LOTS of carbs.
posted by whoshotwho at 12:24 PM on May 19, 2004


Dear Chuq -- Congratulations!

For me, I've tried everything -- I've tried Weight Watchers, I've tried low fat, I've tried low carb, I've tried high carb, I've tried diets where you have to buy special food from a special store. I just recently went through four months of very controlled caloric intake (1500 - 1800 calories a day) and four days a week at the gym and gained nearly 20 lbs and a full size in jeans. I've even tried the dreaded cabbage soup. I've come to the sorry conclusion that its all bunk. I am, more than anything sick and tired of the entire diet industry and all its trends and tricks and marketing ploys, and not-so-subtle stabs at our self-esteem.

The fact is, that some of us are fat, and will always be fat. I know that the more I diet, the more obsessive I become about what I eat -- the more I measure it and calculate it and fuss over it, the more miserable I become, and the more weight I gain. I know for a fact that there are many folks (not me, but people I know, certainly) who eat McDonalds and other 'bad for you' processed foods because they see it as a kind of civil disobedience. Careful research has shown that everything I put in my body -- and I mean everything, from an organically grown green bean to a slab of barb-b-que'd meat -- is bad for me in some way.

I'm tired of success stories. I'm tired of the Friends and the Sex in the City Girls, where you can see bones on them that were never meant to be seen. I'm tired of the pretty dresses only being sold up to size 12 and everything over that being frumpy or leopard-print, as though I somehow have no taste or fashion sense just because I weigh more than 115 lbs.

In the end, the fact is that some things work for some people, but not everything works for everyone. If removing carbs from your diet works for you, great. If raw foods work for you, great. If you're lucky enough to simply cut out a few ice creams and lattes and lose 30 lbs, great. But we as a nation need to acknowledge that in weight-loss, like in religion, there is no one size fits all. Dieting and depravation to the point of misery and depression is the answer for no-one. PSAs that make you feel guilty for having a slice of your daughter's birthday cake are not the answer.

I'm sorry for the rant, but I'm sick of being bombarded with messages about food wherever I go. Three days ago a woman walked up to me in front of a local bookstore, and I was sure she was going to hand me some some bit of religious propaganda. Instead, she handed me a pamphlet for weight watchers and patted me on the and and said "They helped me get my life back on track, dear. I'm sure they can help you, too."

America has become the land of zealots, and I'm very, very tired of it. All things in moderation I say - be that sex, or exercise, or politics, or religion, or food. Extremism is never the answer.
posted by anastasiav at 12:42 PM on May 19, 2004


Carbs are what produce the happy brain chemicals .. people on low carb diets tend to be emotionally flat and/or depressed.

Actually, this isn't universally true, especially if you are subject to wild swings in blood sugar levels. The crash after the carb high can be a real bitch -- and then you've still got four hours to your next meal, feeling tired and hungry the whole time. Believe me, "happy" is the last word I'd use to describe it. I feel much happier overall when I don't eat a lot of carbs.

Some tissues do require glucose and won't run on ketones. Your body, having evolved to survive in times of no carbs, is happy to provide them -- it can manufacture glucose from protein using a process called gluconeogenesis. This provides a more stable blood sugar level than dietary carbohydrate consumption, and as an added bonus, actually consumes calories. This is one of the metabolic advantages that low-carb dieting gives you.
posted by kindall at 12:44 PM on May 19, 2004


OK, I am ahead of Chuq by 10 pounds and I started four days after he did. There was just too much of me to haul around, and I find myself in remote mountain areas far away from escalators way too often. Now, I am on something like Atkins, but can you really call it "Atkins" since I don't live in the US, and have never, ever seen a "low carb potion" publicly advertised in my life? No overpriced Atkins Bake Mix, no Atkins Bars, no Atkins Ice Cream? I eat a lot of salad and fish, yeah, some Hungarian sausages, and drink a lot of water and a more than occasional vodka.

Yes carbs are tasty. I like carbs. But years of my laziness and carbs were a bad combo. Will I ever eat carbs again? Ask me that on Monday after my weekend in Italy... p...a...s...t...a...

Seriously, if you are overweight it's good to do something about it. But since damn near everything involving health is a multibillion dollar business you can expect even health issues to cross the bad taste line every thirty seconds.

Now can we get back to arguing about smoking in bars? (Pro!)
posted by zaelic at 12:48 PM on May 19, 2004


zaelic, they actually pay you to smoke in bars? That's a good gig. Except, of course, for the having-to-smoke part.
posted by soyjoy at 12:54 PM on May 19, 2004


You love starch!

Mmm, starch :) But starch is a carbohydrate, no?

That might explain my GP's diagnosis of me as suffering from 'post-prandial lassitude.'
posted by carter at 12:54 PM on May 19, 2004


The word carb makes me want to scream. I work in a restaurant P/T on weekends and the Atkins people drive me freakin nuts. Our restaurant is known for its amazing desserts, and the sous chef has started making Atkins cheesecake, which I am embarassed to tell people about. I've actually never had a single person order it. Why go out to dinner if you are not going to really enjoy it?
posted by archimago at 12:58 PM on May 19, 2004


"Three days ago a woman walked up to me in front of a local bookstore, and I was sure she was going to hand me some some bit of religious propaganda. Instead, she handed me a pamphlet for weight watchers and patted me on the and and said 'They helped me get my life back on track, dear. I'm sure they can help you, too.'"

I would've broken my foot off in her bony ass.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 1:07 PM on May 19, 2004


But Crash, I thought you saved that punishment for people corrupting your hacker offspring....
posted by anastasiav at 1:14 PM on May 19, 2004


The main idea behind these diets is that processed foods are poison.

not always, rocketman. sometimes the main idea behind these diets is: "no carbs, but eat as much protein or fat as you want" - it's not healthy.


posted by mrgrimm at 1:15 PM on May 19, 2004


[...] The fact is, that some of us are fat, and will always be fat. I know that the more I diet, the more obsessive I become about what I eat [...]

I agree with you that diets are not universally successful, but I can't agree that lowering your caloric intake doesn't make you lose weight.

Unless you've developed photosynthetic skin, your body will begin to process fat if you lower the amount of food you eat.

Perhaps 1500 was still too high for you, and the exercises were not jumpstarting your metabolism. You might be required to drop it to an intake level that would require medical observation, or focus on an exercise regimen that ramps up as you progress through the diet.
posted by linux at 1:32 PM on May 19, 2004


Three days ago a woman walked up to me in front of a local bookstore, and I was sure she was going to hand me some some bit of religious propaganda.

And she did.
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 1:33 PM on May 19, 2004


Why go out to dinner if you are not going to really enjoy it?

Uh? What makes you think that people who would order the Atkins cheesecake wouldn't enjoy it? I mean, it's cheesecake! That means it's good!

"no carbs, but eat as much protein or fat as you want" - it's not healthy.

The short-term health effects look good, according to the latest studies. In the long term, I'd wager that any health problems it may cause will be lesser than those associated with being significantly overweight.

Evolutionarily speaking, carbs were a relatively minor part of our diet until we invented agriculture. Hunter-gatherers would have fruit only seasonally and things like honey only occasionally. Many peoples' traditional diets were very low in carbohydrates (e.g. the Inuit traditionally subsisted almost entirely on fish). In one case, a man who returned from working with the Inuit ate only meat for an entire year (under a doctor's supervision) with no ill effects even though naysayers had predicted scurvy at the very least.

Today, most people on low-carbohydrate diets experience improved lipid profiles, increased energy, and weight loss. This doesn't sound particularly unhealthy to me.
posted by kindall at 1:36 PM on May 19, 2004


Atkins is a stupid fad that just doesn't seem to want to die out. Probably because people can eat pork rinds and steak three times a day and still be on the diet.

Chug had it right (by the way, congratulations to Chug and everyone else working on their weight issues), the issue isn't so much about carbs versus proteins versus fats. Its about exceeding your daily caloric needs.

If your BMR and activities equal a diet of 2400 calories and you're consistently taking in 3600 or 4000 then, surprise, surprise, you're going to gain weight.
posted by fenriq at 1:37 PM on May 19, 2004


Sorry, in San Francisco, May 20th is Bike to Work Day. I can only do one day at a time.
posted by msacheson at 1:39 PM on May 19, 2004


I can't agree that lowering your caloric intake doesn't make you lose weight.

Well, in theory I'd agree with you. However, in practice, my body fails to believe you.

I'm 5' 7" tall. I'm about 80 lbs overweight (mostly due to after affects of a prescription medication). According to my MD, there is no earthy reason that 1600 calories a day and 120 minutes on the treadmill (heart rate 140) four days a week should make me gain and not lose weight, but there is the number on the scale, all the same. I've now given up the gym entirely and given up the diet and I've lost four pounds in two weeks. If you can make sense of it, feel free - I've given enough money to 'professionals' who can't figure it out.
posted by anastasiav at 1:42 PM on May 19, 2004


Best way to lose weight:

1. Don't intake beyond BMR + activities, do about 500 less.
2. Aerobic exercise
3. Anaerobic exercise to build muscle/prevent muscle loss from lowered caloric intake

You'll lose 1 pound a week.
posted by linux at 1:44 PM on May 19, 2004


sometimes the main idea behind these diets is: "no carbs, but eat as much protein or fat as you want" - it's not healthy.

Oh, really? Which one?
posted by rocketman at 1:45 PM on May 19, 2004


I would've broken my foot off in her bony ass.

I wuz about to say something similar, but Crash beat me to it.

My Atkins diet pretty much consists of having cut out sugared beverages (with the exception of an occasional tasty glass of orange or grapefruit juice) and few desserts or sweet snacks. I'm not losing serious weight, but at least I'm not gaining any right now.

And I'd like to find the bastard who came up with the idea of making a beverage that is almost but not completely unlike tea, sweetening it, concentrating it, hooking it up to a restaurant's pop dispenser, and selling it as iced tea. I think it should be illegal to sell that stuff under the name "iced tea." They should have to call it "tea-like drink," kinda like Velveeta is "cheese food."

Long live fresh-brewed iced tea!
posted by deadcowdan at 1:47 PM on May 19, 2004


Probably because people can eat pork rinds and steak three times a day and still be on the diet.

Except you wouldn't want to, because one of the chief effects of the diet for most people is a reduction in appetite. This, plus the metabolic advantages (e.g. the extra energy expenditure required for gluconeogenesis, the muscle-sparing effects of eating sufficient protein) are what seem to actually make low-carbohydrate diets work.
posted by kindall at 1:49 PM on May 19, 2004


Heh, well thanks matthowie for linking my site!

And to those on low-carb diets, please know that I'm not judging you. If cutting back on carbs is what it takes for you to lose weight, and losing weight is important to you, by all means do...

My problem is with how this Low Carb Craze is incorporating itself into our mainstream culture. "Carbohydrate" is becoming a dirty word. The masses are clearly catching on: businesses see a need, and they're tapping into it. The result is that our Carb Culture--our bakers, our pastry chefs, our pizza delivery boys--are going to suffer. And one huge facet of our food lives--our breads, our cakes, our Cinnabons--will diminish in quality and availability.

Of course I'm being a little dramatic: the Carbohydrate Cassandra. If anything, this is all a good excuse to stuff your face tomorrow. Pasta and cookies...that's the ticket.
posted by adrober at 2:06 PM on May 19, 2004


Mmmm.. cookies.
posted by linux at 2:22 PM on May 19, 2004


What I don't like about all of it is how it became a "lifestyle."

I do not live a "low carb lifestyle" people, I am just trying to lose some fucking weight. I live an overworked geek lifestyle.
posted by Foosnark at 2:27 PM on May 19, 2004


Of course I'm being a little dramatic: the Carbohydrate Cassandra.

But Cassandra was right. I'm going to have another doughnut.
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 2:28 PM on May 19, 2004


one huge facet of our food lives--our breads, our cakes, our Cinnabons--will diminish in quality and availability.

Actually the quality of our bread products suck. Where can you find real bread? I mean, bread not made with bakers yeast invented in the mid-1800s to allow greater profits for bakers.. I mean bread made the way its been made for thousands of years with natural rising through fermentation. Almost impossible. The bread on the store shelves is really a bread-like-product that reminds us of what bread used to be before the miracle of industrial manufacturing. Bread made the traditional way naturally breaks down the anti-nutrients found in wheat that cause so many people so many problems like Gluten and other things. It is a lost art.
posted by stbalbach at 2:29 PM on May 19, 2004


Anastasiav: I'm on your side, mostly. Some people are just built bigger than others and that's the end of it. It's really damn annoying to be assualted by only one standard of beauty all day long & have nothing pretty ever fit.

That said, two things:
1. Don't give up excercise just because it doesn't make you lose weight. I ride my bike & swim, and I lost weight till I got to 185, then stopped cold. I will always just weigh 185. But I'll be a fit 185 and that kicks ass. Besides, I found excercise got a lot more fun when I stopped waiting for it to do something more than make me feel less streesed and sleep better.

2. Are you sure the numbers going up weren't just muscle? When I started swimming after taking a break, I gained weight first, then came back down.
posted by dame at 3:10 PM on May 19, 2004


I have a cold and little energy to search for it, but I heard on the radio the other day that a study came out that compared low-carb with low-fat and they both ended up with nearly the same results in the end. The low-carb dieters experience more weightloss at the start, but otherwise they were the same.
posted by john at 3:32 PM on May 19, 2004


stbalbcach: I collect yeasts when I travel around Europe, and my girlfriend converts them into bread. You want french or Italian Bread? French or Italian yeast. But for me, not during the last few months, mind you,. You rite, cher. However, I am on an Atkinsoid diet. Since January, I haven't eaten bread. I'm not happy about this, but screw it - my back doesn't ache when I wake up, I've lost 23 kilos (A BUNCH OF POUNDS) I can ride a bike three hours a day, I fit into my ten year old pants, I can sit in plastic bar chairs, so I stick with it. I don't have an appetite so I don't feel like snacking. I need this - feeding all my urges endangered my life. For those of you worried about my cholesterol - and who wouldn't be worried about my cholesterol? - it's normal. Was at the Dr.'s last week. Something about Atkins makes you lose cholesterol. Check their website.

I'm an American living in Europe. When I meet Americans one thing I notice is how embedded the custom of snacking is in American culture. Everybody has a bag of something (healthy, tasty,crunchy, lo carb, cajun flavored, thai style) in their hand and is constantly crunching away. It may be lo-carb, lo-cal, or lo-creativity, but everyone snacks. We don't do that in Yurp. We go to a place, sit down, and eat a pastry if we want, or maybe some fried brains. Instead of talking about fats and carbs, we eat them. And then we are not hungry any more.

A quote from my peasant uncle, Jozsi (dead of stomach cancer at 66) "You Americans are so obsessed with how you die. We Hungarians know we will die. We drink, we smoke, we eat raw bacon. We're Hungarians. And then we die."
posted by zaelic at 3:53 PM on May 19, 2004


My problem is with how this Low Carb Craze is incorporating itself into our mainstream culture. ... What I don't like about all of it is how it became a "lifestyle."

Yeah, amen to that. I do like that there are more low-carb dishes available at restaurants, but the processesd foods tend to be just more processed foods.

You have to be careful with your lifestyle, especially talking about it.
posted by kindall at 3:58 PM on May 19, 2004


because the only thing better than meat and potatoes is meat and MEAT.


*sorry, had to filch from those 'Real Men of Genius' ads*
posted by NationalKato at 5:46 PM on May 19, 2004


chuq: Not far behind you! I started on Jan 18th and have lost 28lbs. No Weight Watchers though, and I eat everything I like. Difference? I pick a few things I'd really like to eat, then work out the calories in each, and eat the one with least, and try and make sure it doesn't go over a reasonable amount (I don't calorie count, after a few weeks you just 'know'). I guess this is similar to Weight Watchers, but without having to pay them any money. :-) Keep it up man.
posted by wackybrit at 6:10 PM on May 19, 2004


Actually the quality of our bread products suck. Where can you find real bread?

Well, you could make it yourself. Or I could give you suggestions based on what I like (European-style substantial bread), but they'd all be pretty much specific to West Michigan. So yeah, America's had crappy bread for a while and will continue to have crappy bread and it's no fault of Atkins, at least.
posted by dagnyscott at 7:31 PM on May 19, 2004


john, here's that study you mentioned. Yeah, it says that though low-carb works faster over the first six months, the end results are basically the same after a year. My own experience would probably bear that out. I lost about 40 pounds in my first six months of low-carb but I've just been maintaining ever since. Personally, I think there are other benefits to the low-carb approach that make it desirable for me. Evening out the hunger cravings is the biggest. I used to eat a massive plate of pasta and then be ravenous again an hour later. Same with salads. Anything with a lot of carbs gives me a massive blood sugar spike and then a crash. Even worse, refined white flour makes me feel like shit. I never knew this before. I only figured it out once I stopped eating them and started feeling better. Now when I indulge in anything starchy - like fries or french toast - I feel horrible and bloaty and gassy afterwards. Sure, I still miss Doritos and bruschetta and potato wedges, but it's worth missing those not to have the associated periods of feeling like crap.

Of course, when I was in Italy last summer all bets were off. Gastronomically-speaking, that was the best and worst vacation EVER.
posted by web-goddess at 9:10 PM on May 19, 2004


I eat bread. I eat pasta. I have lost 32 pounds since January 8, 2004. And I'm a New Orleanian. (If I can do it, jeezus, anyone can.) Four and a half months ago my belt was on the outermost notch. Now it's on the innermost.

How? Weight Watchers.


I've lost about 25, in close to the same time frame. I haven't changed any of my eating habits, which were scrupulously healthy before that, bar a bathtub full of beer once a week or so.

How? Strenuous exercise, for a total of about 4 1/2 hours per week.

I was only moderately pudgy before. Now I'm dead sexy!
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 10:04 PM on May 19, 2004


In the last year, I've lost over 100 pounds, eating carbs, eating the right kind of carbs, and exercising.

That is the thing that annoys me about these low-carb diets. It's the whole "I'm too lazy/busy/good to exercise, so I will lose weight through diet alone." Bullplop.

Get on a treadmill, do some weight training. Not only is it good for the waistline, it's good for your cardiovascular health as well.
posted by benjh at 3:02 AM on May 20, 2004


I don't know about any other low-carb plan, but Atkins specifically says that exercise is essential.
posted by maurice at 8:53 AM on May 20, 2004


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