That was a sentence that caught my eye as I scrolled through a Banting site. It was sent from someone named Mandy, who celebrated her first Banting anniversary yesterday. What a difference to her life low carb eating has made. This is what she posted:
As I have followed a low carb lifestyle, a few things have come to the fore. The first is that Banting is not for everyone, but for those who are are seriously carbohydrate intolerant, it is the answer. For those who are 20kg or more overweight, it is the right eating lifestyle to embrace.
Join a few of the Banting Facebook sites and you will soon see amazing before and after pictures appearing. Stories like Mandy’s are retold over and over again. Lives and lifestyles are being changed over and over again. It’s wonderful to see.
For me, 5kg overweight, as I have eaten strictly low carb, I have discovered a few things about myself and about how food affects me.
The first is that my dietary cholesterol affected my blood cholesterol. It rose dramatically. It may not be serious, but it was un-nerving. It’s hard to try and ‘unbrainwash’ yourself to all the messages of traditional medicine. “Drive for 5” when it comes to cholesterol, so my 8.1 was hard to get my head around. It was a great sign that I was a serious Banter. Banting doctors & dieticians reassured me that it was fine. The words of Tim Noakes himself rang through my mind, “8 is fine.’. Sally-Ann Creed’s comment flashed before my eyes in bright ‘breath of fresh air’ neon lights, “Cholesterol is a beautiful thing!” Believing this, I only slightly adjusted my diet – maybe consuming a few less eggs a week. I tried also to cut back on dairy, but that was just extremely difficult. Cream in my coffee just has to happen.
The second thing that I have encountered is minimal weight loss. I was 75kg after Christmas. I’m about 71kg right now. I would like to be 67kg, but it’s just been impossible for me to get there without consistent starvation! My body just loves 71/72kg.
The third thing I have concluded is that I am not really carbohydrate intolerant. If I eat regular amounts of carbs, I don’t gain weight. If I don’t, I don’t lose weight. But, I have seen the benefits of cutting out sugar. I’m amazed at how manufacturers add sugar to everything. Bran flakes are sweetened. Muesli is sweetened. Tinned tomatoes are sweetened. Powdered soups have sugar. Every processed food we consume has added sugar. We don’t need any of it and none of it is good for us. I have discovered to my amazement that I don’t miss sugar as much as I thought I would. When I think of eating a regular chocolate, I am put off by the idea of sugar. It makes me be able to walk past the chocolates and not be tempted. My choc of choice is 70% Lindt. That I really enjoy.
My conclusion is to try and pitch for balance. Looking at the food pyramid both old and new ones, this is the one I most approve of…
I think there’s balance in that. The only change I would make would be to stick a Lindt 70% chocolate on the top!
Ecclesiastes 9:7
When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider this: God has made the one as well as the other. Therefore, no one can discover anything about their future.
Enjoy today! It’s a gift!
God bless you!
In His Grip,
Helga xx 🙂
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