Holidays can hurt low-carb dieters: expert
 

Holidays can hurt low-carb dieters: expert

Last Updated: 2003-10-28 14:39:05 -0400 (Reuters Health)

By Alison McCook

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Followers of the ever-increasingly popular low-carbohydrate diets may gain more than the average amount of weight when they sit down to this season's holiday meals, according to one expert.

The danger? Overeating, she said, when low-carbohydrate dieters pack their plates with the foods they have been denying themselves all year, like potatoes, cookies and cakes.

A recent report found that people tend to gain an average of around one pound every holiday season. While that amount may seem slight, the study also discovered that people rarely lose that extra weight, causing it to accumulate year after year.

Americans are "literally, as we say, packing on the pounds," Samantha Heller, a senior clinical nutritionist at New York University Medical Center told Reuters Health.

And given their risk of overindulgence, people following low-carbohydrate diets may gain even more than the average amount this holiday season, Heller predicted.

Some tips Heller offered to keep your belly from ballooning during the upcoming season: don't starve yourself before a big meal; try not to gorge on holiday treats; keep up your normal exercise habits and monitor how much alcohol you drink, which can also increase your calorie intake.

"Eat normally over the holidays," she advised.

And this year's New Year's resolution for low-carbohydrate dieters should be to abandon their overly strict regime, Heller added.

Carbohydrates are not evil, she said--in fact, they serve as our bodies' primary source of fuel for the brain and muscles. Weight gain comes from eating too much of anything, not from eating carbohydrates, Heller noted.

For instance, the average American diet often contains too many carbohydrates, she said. Cutting that amount down to 50 or 55 percent of your total food intake may feel like a low-carbohydrate diet, "when actually we're just getting into the realm of reasonable," she said.

And not all carbohydrates are created equal, she added. Helpful carbs include whole grains, such as whole wheat bread, brown rice and whole-wheat pasta. Alternatively, it is best to avoid carbohydrates made from refined white flour, such as white bread, pasta and sugary cereal, Heller said.

"We don't want to avoid (carbohydrates), because our bodies need them. We just want the right kind," she said.


http://www.reutershealth.com/archiv...028elin003.html

So .. I'm a low-carber, therefore I'm at increased risk for overindulgence?? Increased compared to whom? Low-fat, low-calorie dieters?? :rolleyes:

All carbs are equal as far as the beta cells of your pancreas are concerned. They won't know and don't care where that glucose came from when it comes time to pump out insulin.

Excuse me while I go get a second helping of turkey! Burp!!


Doreen

Overly strict? She's obviously never seen our [low carb] holiday table! :lol:

Thanksgiving will be a very nice roasted turkey with fauxtatos (mashed cauliflower), gravy, sweet and sour red cabbage, probably shrimp for an appetizer with a pumpkin cheesecake and real whipped cream for dessert.
Not sure about Christmas yet, but last year it was herb and garlic crusted Prime Rib (rare, of course!), brussels sprouts with bacon, cheese and onions, fauxtatoes with cheese, bacon bits and scallions and a low carb chocolate cheesecake for dessert with more of that yummy real whipped cream.

That's overly strict??? :lol: :lol: :lol:

Another thing that the author of the article implies is that all low carbers will go "off plan" for the holidays. While I have to admit to doing that a couple of years ago, with the predicted results (weight gain), I learned my lesson and will be doing the holidays low carb all the way this year. :)



Yup. Everyone I know is just dying to pig out on whole wheat bread, whole wheat pasta and brown rice for the holidays. Yum, Yum! :lol: :lol:
Not! What do people usually do over the holidays (low fat or not)? Eat lots of cookies, candy, desserts and alcohol...exactly the things that this author is telling us to avoid. Hmmm...wonder if she works for Scrooge (or maybe the Grinch) and just doesn't wany anyone to enjoy their holiday meals? :rolleyes:
At least with low carb, I get to eat some really yummy things and don't have to feel guilty about it in the least, because it's ON PLAN!

I'm looking FORWARD to the holidays....
 

This is my family's first set of holidays doing low-carb, and I'm looking forward to the munchie table that has all sorts of cheeses, nuts, sausage, veggies with nice full-fat dip... all the stuff I used to avoid on the old holiday tables.

I might even do some LC baking this year.

That pumpkin cheesecake sounds great!

We're big fans of turnips. They're a good potato swap as well.

I may indulge in the maltitol a bit, as I'm a chocolate head, but I certainly won't feel deprived.

I'm already looking forward to my nice roasted turkey with that nicely browned skin and real gravy made with a flour or starch substitute.

I think I'm going to hunt for some sort of nice LC stuffing or LC stuffing recipe. I think that's most of what I'd miss. I might just use some dried LC bread with the other good stuff--butter, mushrooms, celery, onions.

1 pound ??? I used to gain 20-30 pounds between Thanksgiving and New Years, with most of that after Christmas...One store used to sell Candy Canes for like for 5 or 10 cents a box the day after Christmas. Plus, I'd always eat LOTS of bread and potatoes over the Holidays. I started LCing near the beginning of holiday season '02. I lost 12 pounds in the last 2 weeks of 2002. I didn't weigh until my 3rd week, so I may have lost 20 pounds or more last December.

The only day that I plan to cheat during the Holidays is Thanksgiving...Since I'll probably be just shy of my goal...I plan to have some Mashed Potatoes (Can't stand Faux-tatoes and wouldn't ask my family to eat Ketatoes) and Reduced-Carb Whole Grain Rolls (7.9g Net Carbs vs. 12.2g in 100% WW Rolls vs. 13.3g in White Rolls vs. 18.9g in Sweet Rolls)...Everything else will be Low-Carb.

I figure I'll take in about 68-85g Net Carbs (26-33g Fiber) for Thanksgiving. I'm shooting for as high fiber as possible to slow the absorption of the potatoes.

Lisa... can I copy that menu it sounded wonderful!!

Go for it, Lessara!

A lot of those things I don't have recipes for except the cheesecakes...I'm the tyep of cook who does it by "eye" and by taste. But I can give you the main gist of it unless you'd rather come up with your own versions. :)

cc...I'm not at all sure where the author of this article got her 1 pound figure. The average American gains 10-12 pounds between Thanksgiving and New Year (usually closer to 15 for me with all the potato and breads...my personal weakness). I've heard of doctors referring to the holidays as "fat season". :p

And it's not just the HoliDAYs, it's all the time around them; the parties, the office goodies, etc. Around here the stores offer free cider and cookies.
Must be strong...first Holiday season low carbing.
This sorta supports my theory that "nutritionists" who cannot imagine low carbing cling to their carbohydrates because of their own, unrecognized, carbohydrate addiction.
After all, they think we are deprived!

Once I got to the "nutritionist's" comments, I realized this article would be more heresay and nonsense. I think of nutritionists like most people think of lawyers. Do they actually go to school to learn to think this way, or are they born stupid?

"The danger? Overeating, she said, when low-carbohydrate dieters pack their plates with the foods they have been denying themselves all year, like potatoes, cookies and cakes."

The nerve! implying that I'm going to pack my plate with the things I no longer eat. I no longer want to eat those things and a holiday will not be a reason to.

I've lost 21 lbs. and don't plan to gain ANY of it back.

I for one plan to eat whatever I feel like on Thanksgiving and again at Christmas, including a few cookies and some pie, some ice cream, and of course, some potatoes and probably a few other goodies as well. So, I'll gain a few pounds, but as soon as I go back to my normal low-carb munchery, those pounds will drop off almost as fast as they appeared. Did that last Christmas, did it over my 3 week vacation (really put on some pounds there!), and see no reason not to do it again.

but the funny thing is, when I eat that stuff now, I realize I just don't like it as much anymore. Seems like empty calories. Maybe it's just that my habits have changed, or maybe it's because that kind of food makes me feel pretty yucky.

So why continue to eat it? ;)

Thanksgiving traditions
 

Every year before I started low-carbing, I brought wild rice dressing to Thanksgiving dinner. Last year was my first low-carb Thanksgiving and my contribution was fauxtatoes, which no one guessed wasn't real mashed potatoes.

I had been low-carbing for about 10 months at that time and was not tempted by the deserts, but that's mostly because I've never been much of a sweets person. I've also never been interested in dressings or mashed potatoes, except for my wild rice dressing, and so I had a wonderful, satisfying, non-depriving Thanksgiving dinner of roast turkey, gravey, green beans, and fauxtatoes. And I could eat as much as I wanted, which was also less because the foods I ate were more filling. I plan to do the same again this year.

However, I do like pumpkin pie (interestingly, I've always preferred it without the crust), so this year, I'm going to bring low-carb pumpkin cheesecake and serve it with real whipped cream. This is going to be fun!

well, during the holidays, it's a matter of tradition, and it's only a few dayas out of the year, and what the heck, why not? I know I can loose whatever I gain without much worry or effort

as for my vacation, I was in a location and situation where I needed to carry my food for the day whilst engaging in a very strenuous activity (surfing and long hikes carrying a heavy surfboard) in a very remote location - stay9ing low carb just wasn't practical, in fact, it was nearly impossible.

Darn it, post that recipe!!
 

I swear if I hear about that great pumpkin cheesecake one more time... :doah:

Y'all are givin' me the munchies.

So post the recipe or a link to it!!

:Party:

And fauxtatoes, too... if there's a good source for a great recipe, then I'm all for it.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!! :angel: