My History with Carbohydrates

I have come to learn that that I am a carbohydrate addict to some degree. I'm not really even sure if I know what that means, but over the course of my life, and especially in later years, there was something more to wanting something sugary or starchy than just being hungry. Whether it be a slight alteration of my route somewhere so I could stop and get an afternoon mocha, or an attempt to cure a low energy or down part of the day...it was definitely pre-meditated.

In many cases when someone has an addiction to something, they try to just quit doing it entirely - smoking, alcohol, gambling, or whatever it is that interferes with life. When it comes to food though, it isn't as simple - obviously we can't just stop eating food entirely. But, in 2004, at 215lbs, and after several friends of mine had been having success with the low-carb diets, and despite this being contrary to all "conventional diet wisdom", my curious side got the best of me and I started reading. There were two books out at the time getting the most traction - "Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution" and "The South Beach Diet". I read both of them. And even then I had lots of skepticism - how could all this stuff about low-fat, high-carb, calories in < calories out, the food pyramid, etc. possibly have been wrong all these years?

However, I was also had a great exercise routine going, including a lot of power weight training, and I knew that whatever I did had to be high enough in protein so that my muscles could recover from their workouts (I was already supplementing with protein shakes). So, on Saturday, January 10th, 2004, after the holiday eating had "cleared", I went to the grocery story and stocked up on all the food I would need (and also got rid of or gave away all my "carb" food).

I won't explain all the details of Atkins, but every low-carb diet has a similar set of phases - an "induction" phase with almost no carbs at all that resets your body so that you get off of the sugar spikes/lows you're used to with high-carb diets, an intermediate phase (or two) where you slowly add stuff back in, and a lifetime maintenance phase where you figure out how many carbs you can eat without losing weight, and presumably adjust it over the rest of your life.

The main difference though, between a low-carb diet and other more "conventional" diets, is that besides having to limit carbs (either by # of grams per day, or by the foods you are eating), you eat normally, and if you're hungry, you eat. For me, this was huge for two reasons - I knew I wouldn't be starving my body, my muscles, etc., and I also knew that I'd never get to that point in the day where I'd have eaten all my allotted "portions" (calories, servings, etc.) and couldn't eat anymore. If I really wanted to eat some more, I could - just not carbs.

Dr. Atkins does say that the first couple of days when you stop eating carbs altogether, your body will try to fight you. The first time I did this, it really took a whole week of feeling like I was in a fog, but I now realize that the main reason for that was probably the fact that I was also giving up caffeine completely at the same time - and before that I was a coffee + 5-6 can/day diet pop drinker. Besides that week though, every day after that I generally felt better, and had lost 10 lbs in two weeks (Dr. Atkins does mention that a few pounds of that are usually water weight). After two weeks I continued to phase 2, where you add back 5g of carbs every day for a week, then the next week you add back 5g more, etc. while monitoring your weight loss, until you're losing about 1 lb/week.

According to the log I kept, I went from 215 to 185 in about 4 months, and trickled down to 180 after that. By the summer, I was a healthy, in-shape 180 doing power weight training and cardio. I was never hungry, never tired (after week 1), and at my physical all my cholesterol, triglyceride, blood sugar, and blood pressure numbers were fantastic. I might have been in the best shape of my life. So you think, "wow, it worked", huh? Yes, it did. And that could have been the end of the story, had I stuck with the lifetime maintenance plan and just controlled my carb intake (and by controlled, we're talking 80-150g a day depending on physical activity, which is NOT that hard to accomplish).

But that's not the end of the story. And not because of Atkins or low-carb. I kept in great shape the rest of 2004 into 2005. And then...I started marathon training again. Anyone who is a runner knows that when you run 30-40 miles per week, you just can't gain weight, and for long runs you generally want some more "quick" energy, the kind that comes in carbs. Which is fine, because when you're running those kinds of miles, you burn it all off. But, as in 1999, once I started eating like a high-mile runner, I didn't have a plan to stop eating that way when I was done running. I actually did another marathon in 2006, so I kept on that high-energy-burning routine through June 2006, when I finished my 3rd marathon. I was still in fantastic shape - around 175 and could run 20+ miles at a time :) But, alas, when all that high-mile running stopped, the high-mile eating didn't.

(Do you see a pattern here?) It was summer, I was in great shape, I'd just run 2 marathons in two years, why should I give up eating all the ice cream, cookies, chips, crackers (pick your favorite carb) that I want? I will get back to the "good" eating "pretty soon".

"Pretty soon" turned out finally be nearly 5 years later, in March 2011. At 223 lbs, the most I've ever weighed in my entire life, I'd gained 43 lbs, stopped exercising, and, for 2 straight years at my annual physical my cholesterol, triglyceride, and blood pressure numbers have gotten progressively worse. Somewhere in those 4 years I tried an "all organic foods" diet, which might have helped me eat better quality food, but didn't help me lose any weight. I also half-heartedly tried to start the South Beach Diet, but, at least for me, it was not structured enough for me to not stray on (I think some people find that a lot easier).

So, March 14th, 2011, I started Atkins again, this time with some experience and hopefully a little smarter. There's also been a lot of new studies and science in 7 years, which was great and helpful to read. Yesterday I finished week 4 and am down 13 lbs to 210. My long-term target is 180 again, but I now see this as a lifetime thing, so if it takes a year to get there I'm ok with that. I've also started back into some regular exercise - I ran a mile last Thursday, a far cry from the 26.2 I had been running, but I suppose you have to start somewhere :)

One more post (I know I said 3, but hey it's my blog and I want to write some conclusions), which will include some of the more useful and interesting links I've found pertaining to studies on carbohydrates, cholesterol, and saturated fat.