1. Is weight gain inevitable? What causes us to gain weight?

Have you given up avoiding weight gain year over year? Do you weigh 20 to 40 lbs more than you did 10 years ago? Have you been told you are pre-diabetic? And this is in spite of following all the dietary and exercise guidelines? I was there two years ago. I had given up. My mom had weight gain followed by diabetes and then high blood pressure. I thought that was my fate as well. But two years ago, I did not like the way I looked or felt. I started doing research on the most ideal diet, studying case studies not funded by the food industry and other special interests. I read books by Dr. Ornish, Dr. Atkins, Nina Teicholz, Gary Taubes and others. I watched videos by many weight loss gurus including the ones who extolled vegan or plant based or raw or low fat or low carb diets. After case study after case study, I saw a common thread here – carbohydrates were the culprit.

I soon embarked on a low-carb diet two and a half years ago and I haven’t turned back. I did turn back the clock as far as my health is concerned. I lost my excess 15 lbs, reversed my pre-diabetes and have the energy of a 30-year old. And I have kept off the weight successfully.  So – you can do it too.  I’ll guide you step by step.  This is the first of my series of 6 blogs on how to successfully lose weight, stop diabetes, reverse pre-diabetes, lower your blood pressure and be on your way to a healthier fuller life.

Why is low-carb diet the best one to adapt for the rest of your life? Your body doesn’t need carbohydrates.  Have you ever heard of an “essential” carbohydrate? No?  There are essential proteins, amino acids and fatty acids that our bodies cannot synthesize and have to ingest in foods for us to be healthy.

So what happens when we eat mostly carbohydrates?

How Carbohydrates make us fat

So – we experience weight gain while we are told time and again to cut fats and eat more carbohydrates. When we gain weight, we are told to start exercising and it’s our fault that we are gaining weight, we are eating too much or we are not exercising enough. Do you know how much exercise is required to burn off two slices of whole grain bread toast (24 gms of Carbohydrates)? 45 minutes of walking, 37 minutes of biking or 20 minutes of running.

Are there good carbohydrates? It doesn’t matter – whether they are good carbs (complex carbohydrates in whole grain breads, fruit juices and fruits high in sugars) or bad carbs (doughnuts, sugars). Our body converts them all into glucose.

How much glucose can the body carry at one time?  Just 1 tsp or 5 gms of carbs.  Going back to the bread example, 2 slices of bread would have 24 gms of carbs!

In this blog – I just wanted you to get aware about carbohydrates and how it leads to ruining our health.  What do we do? Stay tuned for my blogs coming up in the next 5 weeks that will help you take command of your health through your diet.