I was looking at this book The False Fat Diet by Elson Haas. Which is not lowcarb by the way but deal with food allergies/sensitivities.

I noticed the inimitable Jimmy Moore started a conversation there on amazon that is now a really long thread.

I started reading it and ended up just sitting back and shaking my head. OK, yes, there are going to be people who have their own issues, or different bodies so different opinions, or ignorance or whatever, but really, I thought a couple of the early posters summed up what I hear from other people who tell me they 'used to' do lowcarb and it didn't work for them:



Another person early in the thread said:



Now, I won't argue for a minute lowcarb can be a pain in the ass sometimes, that it DOES require planning, shopping, preparing, that it is not always easy to do when eating out or with others, that it's not easy to get through a drive-through window or in something you nuke for 2 minutes (not counting pepperoni and mozzarella slices ).

And I won't argue that most people's assumption that it somehow consists of eating nothing but bacon and chicken 24/7 is a little bizarre.



But... is it just a cultural thing? Are we so stupendously boring and made inert by the 25 foods we are used to eating, that the options in lowcarb are either beyond most people or outside their food comfort zone?

I mean for people who found a plan that worked for them (even non low carb of course), great, fine, that's their answer. But for people who didn't, is the price of planning ahead using a crockpot your health, your life?

Is it sheer laziness?

Is it just an excuse?

.

P.S. Or is it that food-as-heroin is just harder to kick and more likely to engender infinite rationalization?

I think any diet plan, low-carb, weight watchers, etc etc take a certain amount of effort, planning and cost. Mac & Cheese is a lot cheaper than fresh fish, let's face it...

But, years ago, before I was remarried, I was a single mom of 2 kids on state assistance and managed to eat low-carb and lose a lot of weight. It's a matter of planning carefully to stretch those few dollars as far as they will possibly go.

Low carb plans aren't really any harder or more / less expensive than other plans. (With the exception of the plans that mail you your food - up to $300 a month, though that's a bit less tha what I spend anyway, so i suppose thats the same too.)

Sounds to me like a lot of excuses. If someone really REALLY wants to lose weight, they'll do it and they'll find a way. Thats my opinion anyway, hehe.

Funny - I never stuck to a decent eating plan long enough to complain about the hassle factor until now.

Previous attempts at weight loss lasted a week or maybe two weeks at best. There was enough novelty in the 'new diet' at first. A challenge, if you will.

Thing about low carb? People can stay on the thing long enough to complain about the fact that they're suddenly finding themselves cooking a lot more, shopping a lot more and so on.

I'm learning ways to ameloriate the hassle factor by cooking more food than I need and utilizing leftovers to their best advantage - ie. a ton of grilled chicken breasts provides dinner that night, plus filling for omelet the next day or topping for salad or filling for an LC fajita bowl or whatever.

Um - I think I cook, plan and shop more now than I ever have in my entire life. Before LC - if I didn't feel like going to the grocery store, I could just look in my cupboard, find some pasta, start boiling it up and dump a jar of pasta sauce on it and call it dinner. Or I could heat up a frozen meal in the oven. Or make a sandwich or something. Much more convenient. Things like frozen meatpies or having hamburger on hand all the time for making something out of it for dinner during the week. Come to think of it, me buying a whole turkey or a bunch of steaks or a great piece of salmon - well, that just wasn't done except for company.

I'd cook something good if I had guests. If someone dropped by on the weekend for coffee, I wouldn't dream of offering them a bowl of Quaker Harvest Crunch for breakfast - I'd be in the kitchen making a nice omelet.

Funny - I wouldn't dream of eating that cereal now. Pre-low carb days, I'd sit at the dining room table with my box of cereal, the milk and the newspaper...almost every single morning.

So it's almost like 'company all the time' now. Except, I'm the guest.

When my Mom came to visit here last - she was stunned. "Do you guys eat like this every night???". I think maybe she thought I was making an extra effort because she was here, but honestly - it was just what we've been doing. I went to visit her for a few weeks and did a lot of cooking...and there were more comments, "I can't believe how well you guys eat."

The best comment of all? Get this one...

"I didn't know you knew how to cook."

And I guess I didn't know that either - until now. I mean, sure I'd cook a nice meal for company - but not normally during the week.

I have to think about this every single day. Do I have fresh salad greens? What will I cook tonight? The food I eat doesn't keep in the cupboard. Everything's in the fridge. Come to think of it, there's hardly anything in our kitchen cupboards anymore.

So yes, there is a lot more work involved.

I think people are very attached to convenience.

it's both.

our society puts enormous pressure on us from all sides, and more often than not it sets us up to fail and then makes us feel guilty for it. get 8 hours of sleep, but eat a nutritious breakfast, make sure you're at work on time and your kids are dropped off at school... work a full day but be there to pick up your kids after school and take them to the extra-curricular event of the day, serve a balanced meal without relying on convenience meals or boxes or drive-thrus, but have dinner on the table by 6:30pm... and if you fail at any of it you're a bad parent/person. and that's not even going into the issues of "eat lots of grains and fruits, no fats, and if you gain weight it's YOUR fault because you cheated."

somewhere along the line, we have to pick our battles. we have to figure out what's going to take priority in our lives and not whine about the rest. i know it's easy to get caught up in everything, but we are in control of our own lives, not the other way around.

so if losing weight and improving your overall health through low-carbing is important to you, more than just for the sake of lip service, then you do what you need to to make it work.

This was *great*. I just realized that while there's all this cooking, prepping, shopping and clean up going on - there's a bunch of other stuff that isn't getting done. And yes, I have been feeling very guilty about it.

I don't think anyone can 'do it all' all the time.

The arguments are really false to begin with.

People complain that diet X are boring and repetitive yet if they looked at the dieting they were eating it was probably pretty damned repetitive. But the difference was they liked that food and were accustomed to it.

I think the real problem is that people have gotten into the habit of doing 0 work and 0 planning about what they eat. When, in the history of mankind, has that ever been possible? You were damned lucky to get a meal and you probably had to work pretty hard to ensure you got it. Now we can't be bothered to spend a few minutes a week thinking about how we're going to eat for the week, shop, and perhaps do a bit of preparation in advance?

What to take in a car... *sigh*
Two thoughts about this. First if people spent just a little more time planning, implementing and eating proper meals they wouldn't need to worry about eating in a car. Why? You'd be full from your last meal and could easily last until the next meal, many hours down the road. But because they're constantly ravaged by blood sugar and insulin they're constantly pecking at something.

Ok, so fine. You need a snack. There's one food you could live off of for a long, long time that is portable and needs no special storage. NUTS! Macadamias are and several others are excellent for low carbers. Get the unsalted, raw ones if you over-indulge.

Allergic? Ok, how about Jerkey?

Others not trying to avoid dairy have tons of options like a big chunk of cheese.

Sometimes I just take some olives and nuts with me for a quicky meal.

The problems here are self-inflicted. I have dietary restrictions on top of just low-carb and I never get bored with my diet and I rarely find myself without food to eat or even inconvenienced.

The things to tackle or some rudimentary planning, it doesn't have to involve making complicated menus or anything, just thinking for a few minutes in advance. This week it'll be pork ribs for either lunch or dinner, eggs for breakfast, peanut sauce for the eggs (takes about 10 minutes to prepare, enough to last over a week) and pork, salads for one meal a day, a pickled cabbage salad as side dish (takes 10 minutes to prepare, lasts for days).

Learning to cook... wow, I meet so many people that have no clue. Its just something I don't understand. Its like meeting someone that never learned how to read or do simple math. I really wonder what their parents were thinking about, not teaching them to cook. *sigh*

Being curious about food. What do people in other countries eat for breakfast? You'd be surprised what most people eat is probably fish for breakfast in Asia. Why do we think we have to eat certain sorts of foods at certain times of the day?

Unfortunately people get so tied up in knots they don't think things through. When you fail at something you have to ask yourself why you failed and take ownership of the failure and try to solve the problem. Don't throw up your hands and say you can't. Figure out a way to do it, don't just repeat your same mistakes.

It's an excuse. How hard it is to throw some nuts in a ziplock bag? I went to help a friend with a garage sale Saturday. I knew I would be there all day. I knew I would get hungry at some point (duh). I keep those blue freezer gel packs in the freezer and ready to go. I chopped up some jicama, grabbed some string cheese, threw in a bag of nuts, some dried, unsweetened cherries and even put some coconut oil bark in a bag right on the freezer pack. Then I made myself an ice water jug AND a sugar-free Carmel Frapaccino (or what passes for it at my house). It took about 5 minutes total to prep a cooler bag and the drinks.

I had no desire to cheat, I was outside all day, I had exactly what I needed, and even got my non-lc friends to try jicama for the first time. One LOVED the coconut bark and could not believe it was sugar-free.

Some people aren't willing to think more than 5 minutes in to the future. Not sure there is a cure for that.

Valid questions....and as another poster said "it's both" that I tend to agree with. Now that I have almost six years under my belt of following controlled-carb, it's second nature - little "planning" time is required now (if any), shopping is simple since we order much in bulk (meats, local organic produce with a CSA) so my needs in the grocery store are pretty limited now, and we all eat a similar diet in our home, so there isn't a need to prepare different food for each family member....it also helps, I'm sure, that I love to cook and experiment with putting together new dishes with different ingredients and spices just to see how it goes? In some ways I think part of our "success" at maintaining a carbohydrate restricted lifestyle is our commitment, but I also think part of it is due to our strong involvement within the community of researchers and professionals - the social aspects of maintaining the dietary approach.

There is a strong social aspect that many attempting a low-carb/controlled-carb diet fail to appreciate when they're starting or well into their plan....with an estimated <10% of the population actively reducing carbohydrate by varying levels (low-carb, low GI/GL, paleo, etc.), you're hard pressed to find others eating as you do, and in social situations it can be awkward if you're not prepared to just ignore the pressure to have a bit of this or that and actively commit that it's OK to be doing something different than your social network.

Few people want to be viewed as "outside" their social group with anything - including how they eat - and while the initial novelty of dieting - any diet to lose weight - works because weight loss is happening, over time it wanes because carbohydrate restriction is vastly different than how most Americans eat IMO. I think without the dual "commitment" and "social support" many do find it difficult to maintain a carb-restricted lifestyle in our society....

Add to that the abundance of food that we simply do not include in our daily diet is "in your face" day in day out in commercials, menus, drive thrus, grocery stores, billboards - everywhere you turn you're innundated.....

Then there is the nagging suspicion, because the "experts" condemn carbohydrate restriction to nothing more than "fad" that is "unhealthy" that you're doing something that in the long-term is bad for you and the vast majority of people do not want to willingly do something that may harm their health.

So, I think there is a lot of subtle undertones as to what derails people in the long-term.

But excuses? Yes......they do exist.....as this one highlights:



Tell that to my husband, who wakes each morning between 5:00-5:30AM - makes his own breakfast (usually eggs of some sort or leftovers re-heated)....is into his office by 6:15AM with patient appointments or surgery beginning at 6:30AM (and sometimes surgery starts as early as 5:00AM, on those days he's up at 4:00AM) with last appointment for the day at 6:00PM...often with no time even available for lunch (although most days he does get lunch and has it over at the hospital).....followed by dictations, getting caught up with referrals, mail and such, visiting with admitted patients at the hospital and then being able to head home - rolling into our driveway most evenings between 7:00-8:00PM

Has his schedule caused him to abandon carbohydrate restriction?

Hell no.....in his desk are:

A) a variety of jerky (turkey, bison, beef, elk, venison) with no nitrites/chemicals;
B) at least ten different varieties of nuts/seeds to choose from (pecans, mixed with no peanuts, cashews, almonds, mixed with peanuts, macadamia, pistachios, sunflower, sesame, pine nuts);
C) canned tuna in olive oil, packets of real mayo

In the refrigerator in the break room:

A) an assortment of cheese
B) plain whole-milk goat yogurt & an assortment of berries
C) RTD protein shakes
D) olives (black and green)

Yeah, he eats hospital food for lunch....the doctor's lunch that's provided each day is actually pretty decent (he says).....and he chooses the salad, whatever the protein is for the day, along with the steamed veggie of the day....no brainer, he skips the starches (bread, potatoes, rice, pasta) and no one bats an eye. Then again, many of his colleagues "get" carbohydrate restriction, so they don't view it as dangerous or faddish, and they also eat in a similar way. [people might be shocked to learn just how many doctors actually practice carbohydrate restriction, all the while recommending the AHA or ADA diet to patients - it's INSANE!!!!]

I make dinner each night....so no-brainer, it's a good carb-controlled meal at home.

My viewing the above as an excuse extends to my habits too.....all it takes is a small cooler and you can take ANYTHING you want in a car or to work at your desk - small cooler, some ice and you're set with anything perishable for the day. My little cooler is soft-sided with a hard inside, strap for over my shoulder and it is always going with us when we're out and about - especially this time of the year when the car sitting in the sun is going to get too hot quickly....I've yet to have anything spoil and it makes keeping things like cheese or yogurt handy and allows me to make sure the milk my son gets is the kind we provide at home and not conventional "low-fat" milk that is everywhere we might stop!

So, in some ways I do see the "time" thing as an excuse because if it's something you want, you make the time.

When you have an active toddler and are going to be out for a few hours, having something available - especially beverages - is important IMO....when I'm out with my son, sometimes he does get hungry and I'd much prefer to have the cooler with food I know is good for him than be caught having to make a compromise I don't want to make. For example, if my son is going to have some juice, I dilute it 2-oz juice to 6-oz water...it's silly to buy a bottle of juice and a bottle of water in a convenience store (not to mention outrageously expensive) when I can pack it myself....or milk - he gets VAT pasturized/non-homogenized milk from an Amish dairy that grass-feeds their cows - the cooler let's me bring that instead of having to settle for whatever low-fat milk variety is available, ya know?

So far as snacking on the go - hey, he's two and active - he does get hungry and sometimes does need something while we're out, so having something good for him in the cooler (or just in the car if it's non-perishable like nuts/seeds) makes sense to me......better than the junk available at most places we could potentially stop at for a snack or meal out.

All I can say is that I have 3 kids under the age of 7, and I'm actually finding it EASIER this time to stick to than in previous lives where was single! (You think I have trouble now? Shoulda seen me before!)

My take? Laziness AND excuse. But if they say or hear or think something often enough, they WILL begin to believe it as the truth. So every one of those excuses is true, for them, b/c they choose to believe it.

If you eat food with staying power (fat and protein), you don't need to have snacks available in the car.

I was a single parent for years and still had time to cook meals. They weren't low carb because I was following the food pyramid back then. It takes no more time to cook low carb than it does to cook anything else.

I have found that 'fast food' is not fast. You spend quite a bit of time waiting to order it and then more time waiting to get it.

This is easier to stick to than the other "diets" that I've tried before I had to drive 50 miles each way to get Jenny Craig food and talk about expensive!! And if anyone would even think of eating one of my boxes it would be death!!! And yes this way is more convenient because I can eat at restaurants, bbq's and most gatherings.

But....Yes this plan does take a lot of planning and thinking and trying to find just the right blend of food without causing a stall. But if you think about it isn't the reason most of us are overweight is because we didn't think of what we were putting in our mouths??? Just grabbing chips here or candy?

I find this way of eating also helped eliminate the thought of my next meal - food used to always be on my mind and now I have a healthier view of food and just eat the correct things when I'm actually hungry (stomach hungry not mind hungry)

This woe and my health have become the priorites in my life. I usually spend 2 evenings each week cooking meats and making low carb recipes which I then package in single serving baggies and place in the refrigerator. Every morning I pack my breakfast, lunch, dinner, and a snack along with 6 bottles of water in my bag before I leave the house. I work 2 jobs and leave home at 7:30 a.m. and return at 10:30 p.m. If I happen to be off from my 2nd job, I'm in the kitchen cooking more meat and bagging up my foods. If there is a problem and I find myself away from home, hungry and nothing with me to eat, McDonald's make an acceptable grilled chicken caesar salad that is legal and I can drive thru and pick one up OR there is a 7-11 on every corner in town and they sell string cheese in little single serving packages. Others can make excuses all they want, but this is my wol and I'm loving every minute of it.

"Too much" always has to be balanced by "compared too..."

Is it more trouble than ordering a pizza or getting drive through? I guess.
I don't think cooking a low carb meal necessarily takes any more time than cooking a high carb meal.

I think its a heck of a lot more convenient to have a lot of extra energy and tons more brain power than it was to eat carbs and be exhausted, stupid, and sick all the time.

I have to do low carb with no soy, no dairy, no gluten, and very little artificial sweetener. Plus I'm allergic to several low carb mainstay veggies like bell peppers and celery.

Its still worth it to me. I like being smart and healthy. Whatever extra time it takes me its worth it because I can now walk for hours rather than minutes and I'm off a truckload of medications.



What she said.


edited to add: I do think people are so exhausted from carbs and poor nutrition that the idea of making any extra effort is just overwhelming. The irony is, if they'd just get over the hump, they'd probably have enough energy that the changes wouldn't really make an impact.