If losing weight were easy, I wouldn’t even have to be writing this right now. But, weight loss (and gain) is a lifelong battle for many. Although I’ve never had a severe weight problem (other than my first year of college and during pregnancy), I am extremely sensitive to carbohydrates and diabetes runs in my family. For many years, after consuming too many carbs, I would be unable to concentrate, feel bloated and before I knew it, I was starving and craving more carbs again. Going overboard on carbs is not just about weight gain, but it wasn’t until I discovered Atkins that I fully understood what was happening in my body. The over-consumption of carbs interferes with your ability and commitment to achieve a healthy weight. In other words, all those carbs get smack in the way of fat loss, just like a schoolyard bully who steals your lunch or pushes you down in the playground.
Carbohydrates ARE your body’s metabolic bully. Eat too many of them, and they block your body’s ability to burn fat, so as long as you continue to eat this way, you’re not going to burn your body’s fat stores for fuel—they’ll continue to hang out on your hips, thighs and stomach. Your body will keep using the carbs you are consuming as fuel versus tapping into all that stored fat. You won’t be able to lose weight without drastically cutting your calories—throwing your body into starvation mode, where it wants to hold on to every possible calorie it can. And yes, you feel like you’re starving and irritable, and you crave carbs more than ever. This is almost impossible to maintain before you fall off the weight-loss wagon. But when you cut carbs and control your carb intake, like you do with Atkins, you can win the war with this metabolic bully. You start burning fat primarily for fuel, and you start losing weight. Cutting back on carbs (and kicking that metabolic bully to the curb) helps you lose or maintain weight while controlling your appetite, reducing or eliminating cravings and giving you steady supply of energy all day long. And that’s the secret to winning at weight loss.