A belated conclusion about "moderation" and carbs...
 

It just isn't worth it.

I have dramatically reduced carbohydrate in recent days, increased physical activity (which has a similar effect to lowering carbs) and let me just say this. Why oh why did I ever want to eat everything "in moderation" to begin with? This is so much more pleasant.

I had to deal with the following on my "moderate" diet:

• Constantly fighting urges to over eat,
• having to be obsessed with restricting myself and worrying about over eating,
• very obvious fat weight gain at the slightest loss of control,
• near uncontrollable urges to binge out by the end of the day,
• horrid blood sugar,
• deteriorating health (a resurgence of mild mood disorder/depression, some PCOS symptoms, and signs of metabolic slowdown (coldness, lethargy, etc) when food was delayed for a while (oh and by the way... I thought this was my body reacting to "starvation mode" and "weight loss" but it turns out it was an insulin thing all along because it totally went away when I went back near ketosis). )

The scariest thing to me is that my diet was STILL very low carb and high fat (only about 30-35% calories were from carbs and 40 from fats and except for a few items my carbs were coming from rather low glycemic sources and meals always taken with fats and protein). I can only imagine how horrific low fat & high GI must be for someone with carbohydrate sensitivity. Those poor people.

It's not even like the food was better. I mean there is so much delicious food on a very low carb diet. Artificial sweeteners have come a long way, the real good stuff is the fats, starches can be replaced with proteins and fiber and veggies easily.
I had more choices, but that meant I had to MAKE more choices too... which meant I had to deprive myself of a lot of things by the virtue of choosing. Variety is a double edged sword, you "allow" yourself more, but you also have to deny yourself more, too. When some foods are off limits period psychologically it's easier.
It's not just a psych trick, either (that normal "moderation diet" leads to feelings of deprivation). When you consider that on a normal diet eating often just whets and stimulates appetite rather than satisfies it (at least for a carbohydrate sensitive person), you can see what I mean when I say that "choosing" a meal just made me feel more deprived (because my choices often lead to me craving MORE of the things I couldn't work into my allowance/tolerance of food). What I wound up doing a lot was taking really small portions of everything I wanted and therefore not really enjoying any of it, feeling guilty the whole time anyway. I felt guilty because I knew my appetite was unsatisfiable, and in fact eating often just made it worse. Even though logically I understand it's not my fault and it's just my body, for some reason I still feel shame that I can't TRULY naturally eat like other people...as if it were a moral failing. I guess I internalized a lot of the rude comments directed to me over the years, so on some level I believe the "fat glutton" stereotype, and that I am it.

I guess I just thought that trying to raise carbs higher was the way to go, because it was healthier or something. I assumed eating more fruits and veggies and grains had to be healthier alternative to eating as much cheeses, meats, and stuff like that. For me and I suppose a lot of people (maybe most) it's just not worth it. I feel better in every way when I stay within the boundaries of a level of carbohydrate that is low enough for me.

Interesting story - thanks!

It is good that you have discovered this, Woo. I recently rediscovered for myself that eating much sweet fruit at all brings on extreme hunger for me.

Depression is a huge thing for me too. Extreme lc keeps that bad bug away for me and that alone is worth it all!

Same here. :-/ Some people tend to be outraged by the fact that we can't all jack up the carbs to 150 g a day, and that some of us choose (?) to maintain not much above ketosis, but what works for you as an individual is what you have to go with. I feel best with no more than 50 or so g per day.

It is kind of sad that we, as a society, have been lead to believe that carbs are the path to health. I know that if I had continued to eat those 'healthy' whole grain foods and avoid eating those 'artery-clogging' fats, I would be a diabetic today and still be taking numerous drugs to try to control my blood chemistry.