Carb City

Can we get real here people?

I am going to tell you something about carbohydrates that I've recently discovered. It's not something I want to admit to myself. It's actually going to very difficult for me to type but here goes. All those experts who said you should cut back on white flour and sugar and carbs....were right. A few months back, after hearing for the zillionth time that cutting out bread and pasta made a huge difference in some celebrity of another's life physically, I started to ponder. Is this really true?

I mean guys. I love bread. I love it so much I could subsist solely on grain and be a happy camper. All summer long I baked my own fresh bread, which is the best smell in the world, by the way. And multiple times a week, I tore off piece after piece to dip in olive oil and savor. I'm not sure what changed all that but I stopped baking so much bread and convinced John that we should be eating fewer potatoes and less pasta and upping the veggies on our plates. I knew this would help my calorie counting and hopefully, make me a healthier eater. Instead of hummus on crackers, we switched to celery. Instead of a whole baked potato, I had just half. And guess what, it was totally fine. I didn't starve and I haven't died.

I haven't given up bread and pasta and the like completely but I also wasn't so sure it was paying dividends until recently. For about 4 days in a row, I had major carbs and minimal fruit and veg. This was an unavoidable mistake. Well, not truly unavoidable but we were hosting guests and the meals eaten just weren't the healthiest options available. I also missed all my workouts for those days. Oh, and ate a whole bunch of cookies. Honest, I ate potatoes for something like 6 meals in a row. During that time, I could feel the lethargy creeping in. I felt downright sluggish. Even though I slept an adequate amount of hours, I was still sleepy the whole day. My normally chipper attitude was waning. The carbs were bringing me down!

By Sunday, I decided it was time to turn it around. No carb coma can't be cured by 6 miles in 53:15 (a personal best!) So, while the scale isn't really moving, I am definitely noticing a big difference in muscle tone and definition. Kind of like how the Victoria's Secret models drank only special protein shakes for 9 days before the big fashion show so their muscles would really stand out. Well, maybe not exactly like that. I'll get off my carb-y sopa box now but I wanted to let you know, if you feel like you've plateaued, and even though you think you might be eating all the right things, all calories are not created equally. This realization just days before a sure to be gluttonous Christmas.....