Thursday, August 26, 2010

Low carb diets suck

Camy here, and in case you didn’t know already, low carb diets suck.

I am doing it because I have insulin resistance, which is causing health problems for me because I’m in pre-menopause, and could cause diabetes for me since I have diabetes in my family. In order to decrease my insulin resistance, I have to eat less carbs (less sugar in all its starchy and sweet forms) for a few weeks to let my body’s cells “reset.”

Oh my gosh I’m DYING.

To be honest, giving up the sugar wasn’t as hard as cutting back on starches like bread and pasta. On the low carb diet I’m on, I’m allowed to eat lots of non-starchy veggies (no potato pig-outs), but I do have to limit my fruit and dairy since both of those have sugar. And I also have to cut WAY back on starch.

I would KILL for a fettucine alfredo right now.

So why am I doing it? Because I’m a couple years shy of 40 and I’m fat and unhealthy, that’s why. I have eaten badly almost my entire life, and I didn’t start really exercising until a couple years ago when I took up running—I did the Couch to 5K program and now I’m doing the Jeff Galloway running method, which totally rocks!

But abusing my body for 30-odd years wasn’t miraculously cured by running. I had the insulin resistance to contend with, which is why I’m now taking these special supplements and going low carb for four weeks.

The first two days were AWFUL. But then after that, the starch cravings went away. Now don’t get me wrong, I still WANT carbs because I LOVE carbs. And I can still eat carbs in the form of non-starchy vegetables, and I’m not entirely carb-free, because that kind of diet is just really unhealthy, which would undo everything I’m trying to do with my body.

But I still longingly sigh when I pass the donut shop next to my grocery store. :(

I’ve learned to like snacking on carrots instead of potato chips. And I add more veggies to my meals since I’m only allowed ONE-THIRD OF A CUP OF RICE (being Asian, that just bites).

I only have another 2 weeks on this low carb diet before I can slowly start adding carbs back in, although I can’t go overboard or it’ll totally screw up my system and undo everything I’ve accomplished.

Oh, and so the point of all this whining?

TAKE CARE OF YOUR BODY WHILE YOU ARE STILL YOUNG AND NUBILE. Don’t wait until you’re about to enter menopause and you’ve become an unhealthy slob.

Tonight, I will dream about chocolate chip cookies.

Camy Tang writes romance with a kick of wasabi. Out now is her humorous contemporary romance novel, Single Sashimi, and her romantic suspense, Formula for Danger, releases in September. In her spare time, she is a staff worker for her church youth group, and she leads one of the worship teams for Sunday service. On her blog, she ponders dogs, knitting and spinning wool, running, Asiana, and other frivolous things. Sign up for her newsletter YahooGroup for giveways!

And in case you haven’t heard, I’m holding a giveaway for my Street Team members with a chance to win Formula for Danger! Click here to find out how you can join my Street Team—it’s free and there’s lots of chances to win prizes!

3 comments:

Camy Tang said...

If you've gone low carb and have some tips, I'd love to hear them!
Camy

Donita K. Paul said...

Camy, you are not, NOT, not fat!

Camy Tang said...

Aw, thanks Donita! I just want to be pain free, and the extra 20 lbs I'm carrying is screwing up my back.