Confused About Carbs

Q: I went on the Atkins diet once and lost weight fairly easily and quickly. (Later, I gained it all back.) I'm afraid that I will lose weight very slowly — or worse, gain weight! — with the amount of carbs I'm eating. Am I off base?

A: Yup. WAY off base, killer. When you cut all the carbs out of your diet, you lose a lot of water weight right off the bat, but that isn't necessarily a good thing. The real question is, why didn't the weight stay off? And how did you feel on Atkins? As a slow oxidizer, you require foods with a higher percentage of carbohydrates to best serve your metabolism and energize you both physically and mentally — so I'm betting you must have felt pretty crappy on Atkins.

Weight loss is about calories — it's that simple. You can eat carbs and lose weight as long as you stick to your calorie allowance. Because you are a slow oxidizer, eating HEALTHY CARBS will improve your energy level, thus helping you to work out longer and harder to burn more calories.

What I don't want you eating are unhealthy, processed carbs like white bread, white rice, and packaged junk food. Such foods will ultimately make you overeat because they mess up your blood sugar balance and your metabolic hormones. I am sure you've heard the terms "sugar crash" and "craving carbs." These conditions result from eating crap, so stick to your calorie allowance and make healthier carb choices — whole-grain bread instead of white bread, air-popped popcorn instead of Doritos, brown rice instead of white rice — and you will be A-OK, I promise!