Winter Wonderland

We're lucky we didn't get hit as hard here in Lowville by the snowstorm as people in other areas did! At least the storm gave me a good excuse to get a little extra exercise by sweeping off our porch and cars and doing a little shoveling. Now today, I have some sore muscles, but I'm sure the fresh air did me good.

Several years ago, I lost quite a lot of weight by following a strict low carb diet. I was able to keep the weight off for a few years, but after a while, I slowly started losing my will power to avoid carbs. Now that I'm a little older and (hopefully) a little wiser, I understand that by telling ourselves that something is off limits, we often set ourselves up for failure. Plus, carbs, like fruits and whole grains, are good for our bodies and shouldnt' be seen as the great enemy! I shudder to think of the years I forbade myself from eating an apple or a piece of wheat toast.

On an even darker note, even though I tried to eat mainly lean proteins, my cholesterol level skyrocketed. I know now that my body produced high amounts of cholesterol regardless of what I eat or what weight I'm at, but the low carb, high protein diet didn't help. I'm almost ashamed to admit that my cholesterol was over 400.

Now, I'm on lipitor and I eat whole grains and fruits and starchy vegetables. But, of course, too much of anything can be a bad thing. Once I realized the damage I might be doing to my body by not eating carbs, I began eating a variety of complex carbohydrates. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to stop at the 'good' carbs and soon found myself often binging on sweets. To this day, it's hard for me to not crave sweets often. I believe these cravings are partly caused by my abstinance from them for so long.

So, if you ask me about low carb diets, you won't hear a positive point of view. I'm pushing ahead with my diet by trying to eat nutritionally balanced meals and allowing myself a small sweet now and then. I just have to keep watch over myself on the binging thing. That's my downfall. And it's a big one!

Dee