Questioning the Wisdom of Low Carb Modified Foods

If you are following a low carb diet and you think eating "low carb" versions of things like pancakes and bread is smart, think again. You'll gain weight as soon as you add real carbs (water weight mostly), any carbs, and you will be paying high prices for unhealthy food in the bargain. Instead eat whole foods such as whole baked potatoes, fresh carrots, salads, vegetable soups, bean dishes. Eat the real thing!

Stay away from the modified versions whether low fat, low carb, or low anything. Low carb means added artifical sweeteners and who knows what to stretch the fiber, low fat usually means added sugar, low calorie is usually crappy tasting. Why pay extra for this trickery?

If you want to lose weight and keep that weight off a few things must happen. Your diet must include healthier foods in greater quantity than unhealthy foods. I'm not talking "good" or "bad" foods. Any food is fine, in moderation. The trick is moderation. I love cake but I don't eat it every day. I love all kinds of sweets but I don't over indulge every day. If I did I'd gain weight, and it really is that simple. I choose to stay in shape by eating the goodies when I want, but my desire is infrequent because I want even more to maintain my size.

What does eating pancakes do for me? It makes me want syrup, and maybe something sweet later that day. It sets me up for craving sugary sweet foods. That may not be what I really want, especially if I'm trying to lose a few pounds.

What about bread? Wouldn't I be better off eating the low carb bread? No. Choose a healthy, whole grain bread. The low carb brands are not whole grain, they are white flour, with added corn starch and artificial sweeteners. They reduce the size of the loaf, and slice the pieces teeny tiny then claim, "Only 4 Net Carbs per Slice" or something equally ridiculous. Check the loaf. Is a sandwich made with teensy sized pieces of bread going to satisfy you or is it going to make you want another sandwich? Eat the real thing, and you'll feel satisfied from having eaten an adult sized sandwich, and you won't feel deprived or crave for more.

Kathryn Martyn, M.NLP

Kathryn Martyn, Master NLP Practitioner, EFT counselor, Weight Loss Coach and owner of OneMoreBite-WeightLoss.com is the author of "Changing Beliefs, Your First Step to Permanent Weight Loss," and "5 Steps to Blast Through Weight Loss Plateaus."

Kathryn was a curvy 16-year old when she met a boy who forever altered her life by uttering three little words. No, not, "I love you," but "You've gotten fat." She weighed all of 132 pounds at 5 foot 7 inches tall, a heathy weight for her.

That statement made her vow to never let him see her eat, and she kept that vow, yet at a very high cost. Whenever they were together she couldn't wait to leave so she could feed her desire for peace and comfort as well as quell her constant hunger pangs.

Denying hunger leads inevitably to eating far past full because we lose the ability to know when we've had enough or what enough even means. After the end of the boyfriend she began a relationship with food that also wasn't healthy. Eating enough for several people, buying enough groceries for a family of four despite living alone, and being diagnosed with high blood pressure at the tender age of 19.

She eventually realized she was unhealthy and unhappy with how she looked so she started to learn to get in touch with her "hungers." She taught herself to recognize what it felt to be satisfied with food. She read books about emotional eating, anorexia, bulimia and other eating disorders, owned a natural foods store, studied herbology and nutrition and discovered weight training for beauty.

Kathryn's gone from a low of 118 pounds to a high of 218 pounds. She knows how it feels to wake up every morning saying, "Today is the day I'm going to start eating right," and then by noon hearing, "Tomorrow would be better. Yeah, I'll start tomorrow."

Kathryn now maintains a healthy weight using the techniques in her 8-week Ending Emotional Eating online weight loss program, workshops and her one-on-one private weight loss coaching practice. Her motto is, "Every meal stands alone," which means no single thing you eat should cause, "Oh, well, I've blown it now," because you can't blow it. You can only overeat this one time. Your next meal is a separate event.

She's called the "Weight Loss Lady," because she get results when all else has failed.

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