Personal Trainer Blasts Low-Carb With Baseless 'Facts'
The Brewton Standard located in a town Brewton, Alabama offers this real gem of an article today from a personal trainer named Janet Peterman who mindlessly blasts low-carb in a list of fifteen absurd reasons why people should avoid it like the plague to get into shape this.
Let's take a looky at what her beef is with low-carb, shall we?
She proudly states up front that she support "the USDA pyramid, moderation, lots of water and activity."
I'll go for the water and activity, but the government-indoctrinated food pyramid and the ridiculous notion of "moderation" in the amount of foods eaten is way off base. But at least we know where she stands before she starts he tirade against livin' la vida low-carb.
But with all the hype on these low-carb diets, do they really work?
ABSOLUTELY, they work and work VERY well. I was able to shed 180 pounds thanks to the healthy low-carb alternative to the failed low-fat diets we have been forced to live with our entire lives. Despite all the negative publicity that people like Peterman are all-too-happy to spread, the low-carb lifestyle remains a major choice for tens of millions of people looking to deal with excessive weight.
But Peterman offers what she describes as "solid facts" against doing low-carb.
1. You don't lose more weight on a low-carb diet in the long run. The scientific research has proven this over and over again.
WHO CARES! The point is to get on a program that can help you lose ANY amount of weight no matter how long it takes if you are overweight or obese. What is the big deal about whether low-fat or low-carb allows you to lose more weight?! Isn't the point of a weight loss program to lose weight and keep it off? Does it really matter how fast you reach that mark? No, it doesn't. But what is important is to find a program you can lose weight with and then continue to do to keep the weight off. The low-carb lifestyle provides a delicious and satisfying alternative to people who have failed to keep the weight off on low-fat/low-calorie/portion controlled diets in the past.
2. When you cut down on carbs dramatically, the percent of calories you get from fat soars.
Again, WHO CARES! Your body actually needs fat (gasp!) to make the low-fat process work the way it is supposed to. The fat in the foods you eat serve as your fuel just as carbs are what gives someone on a low-fat diet the energy they need. The difference is that low-carbers experience the fat-burning benefits of ketosis while low-fat dieters have to continually starve as they cut down on the fat, calories and portions of the foods they eat. Poor low-fat dieters. They don't know what they're missing by not doing the healthy low-carb lifestyle.
3. No health organization advocates a high-fat diet, especially if the fat is saturated fat.
How do you define "health organization?" There are plenty of groups that advocate the healthy low-carb approach to eating that can include a higher amount of fat than what the government recommends with its precious food pyramid. But don't assume everyone who does low-carb is gorging themselves with globs of saturated fat. While it is perfectly legal to eat fat, most of us choose to consume the healthy fats contained in nuts and other nutritious sources as well. And we don't feel guilty about eating a hamburger or enjoy an egg cooked in real butter. This fat is necessary as I have already previously stated to keep you satisfied while livin' la vida low-carb.
4. There's no magic to a low-carb diet. People lose weight because they are eating fewer calories. The scientific research has proven this, too.
Actually, I am eating a lot more calories on my low-carb lifestyle than I ever did on the low-fat diet I did in 1999. I restricted my intake of calories to around 1200 back then and lost 170 pounds on the low-fat approach. So losing weight is not the issue. It was keeping it off that was difficult. Anyone who has tried a low-fat/low-calorie diet knows firsthand how hard it is to sustain that kind of eating for any length of time. That's why low-carb is so attractive to people. You can eat a lot of food (and I can put away some food, buddy!) and still lose weight. It may not be "magic," but it is certainly the answer so many of us have been looking for.
5. It isn't healthy to cut out a whole category of foods that provide essential nutrients-like fruits, vegetables and whole grains-that are known to prevent diseases like cancer and heart disease.
Who is cutting out fruits, vegetables and whole grains? I eat lots of strawberries, blueberries, green beans, salads, multi-grain low-carb breads and more as part of my low-carb lifestyle. This is a common misconception about low-carb. You don't ELIMINATE fruits, vegetables and whole grains from your diet. It's a lie that continues to be spread by people purposely distorting this incredible weight loss method. Scare tactics won't work because people will see right through them!
6. The initial quick weight loss on low-carb diets, like Atkins and the South Beach Diet, is mainly due to water loss not fat. People are kidding themselves at the scales and then they have to deal with the weight "snap-back" when they eat normally again.
Sigh. Water weight, huh? I guess I had 180 pounds of built up water inside of me according to Peterman. LOL! While I don't discount the fact that there is some "water weight" that is lost initially, pretty soon your body begins burning that stored fat when you are livin' la vida low-carb. I don't know about you, but I couldn't care less if what I am losing is water weight or fat. I was just glad to see the scale moving DOWN! Why are people like Peterman so obsessed with bemoaning low-carb for only causing water weight loss? You should enjoy ANY weight loss! As for eating "normally again," that's the point of making this your lifestyle. You never go back to your old eating habits. You've changed for the better!
7. The terms "net carbs" and "effective carbs" on food packages were created by marketers to sell products. They have no legal or scientific meaning.
While I agree that many companies have used these phrases to market their products, they are not without "meaning" as Peterman suggests. When you are counting carbs, you only have to look at the "net carbs" or "effective carbs" in your total daily intake. During Induction, that's 20 net carbs per day. In the later phases, that total can get up to 60, 70 or even 80 net carbs per day depending on the person. So they do have meaning and help those of us following a low-carb program. If you only look at total carbs without removing the ones for sugar alcohols and dietary fiber, then you are merely robbing your body of the carbs it needs to function. That's what Peterman wants you to do so you'll give up on your low-carb lifestyle. It's just not gonna work.
8. You cannot just count carbs and forget about the calories in a food product. This is like only counting fat grams and ignoring the calories and we all know what that did to our waistlines in the 90s.
Don't blame low-carb for the failures of the low-fat approach. Since I started my low-carb lifestyle in January 2004, I have not counted one single calorie in any of the foods I have eaten. None. Don't care to either. My only concern is to keep track of my net carb intake and that's it. It's worked for me very well and I like the fact that I don't have to be stressed out over fat, calories or portion control. I just eat and let others worry about frustrating themselves with such nonsensical counting.
9. The rigid rules of a low-carb diet are UNLIVABLE.
What "rigid rules" is she talking about? This is the easiest weight loss and weight maintenance plan I've ever been on. You want to talk about "rigid rules," then simply look to low-fat. Hmmm, what shall I have to eat today? Salad, salad or salad. Gee, I think I'll have the salad with some nasty-tasting fat free dressing that is so chock full of sugar and sodium I'm probably doing more harm to my body than I even realize. Yikes! Talk about an "unlivable" diet plan!
10. Low-carb diets are all about deprivation-with a lot of rules about what you can't eat and a little leeway on what you can eat. Who can live with that? Who wants to? It's not normal, and it's not healthy.
What "deprivation" is Peterman talking about? Okay, now she's just gone off the deep end by ranting and raving about her jealousy of the low-carb lifestyle. There are plenty of choices for people doing low-carb that a low-fat dieter can't enjoy. They are scrumptious morsels of delicious-tasting foods that you simply cannot have on low-fat. While you may think this is "not normal," those of us livin' la vida low-carb will take this over low-fat any day of the week. As for the claim that low-carb is "not healthy," I can guarantee you I am a lot healthier now on low-carb at 230 pounds than I was at 410 pounds just a year and a half ago!
11. The highly publicized research reported in the New England Journal of Medicine did not say that a low-carb diet is safe or healthy. What this very preliminary research found is that it did not raise blood lipids in the short term. But we have no idea what would happen in the long term.
So let's continue with the studies. The negative bias against the low-carb lifestyle in the media and from so-called health experts like Peterman has stifled genuine research studies from being given a chance in the public debate on healthy living. How about if these people would start encouraging MORE research to be conducted so we can know the whole truth about the low-carb approach before we simply dismiss it as unhealthy or dangerous? It's intellectually dishonest to do otherwise.
12. It's irresponsible how these extreme low-carb regimes are condemning ALL carbohydrates when many of them are essential to good health.
This is another common misconception about low-carb. It doesn't mean NO carb. Dr. Atkins and advocates of a controlled-carb eating approach acknowledge the important role that certain carbohydrates have to a healthy body. That's why foods that contain these kind of carbs are encouraged throughout every book on low-carb on bookstore shelves today. I don't know of any low-carb program worth its weight in gold that supports "condemning all carbohydrates." Would you care to share with me which ones do, Ms. Peterman?
13. This diet is not heart-healthy and the American Heart Association is very much against it.
I don't care if the American Heart Association is for low-carb or not. What do they base their opinion on? Medical doctors and researchers who already have their mind set up that low-carb is dangerous because it goes against everything they've ever been taught or told their patients about healthy nutrition. Are they supposed to now say, "OOPS! We were wrong!" Not a chance of that happening anytime soon. So they'll do whatever they have to do to protect their reputation regarding health by condemning a plan that has worked very well for people without the negative side effects that are often repeated, but very rarely proven to exist.
14. The National Kidney Foundation is concerned about the rapidly rising incidence of kidney stones in women and links the problem to low-carb diets.
Where's the proof that the low-carb lifestyle causes kidney stones? This is yet another attempt to smear low-carb with unsubstantiated information. I haven't heard about any sudden outbreak of kidney stones popping up in people all of a sudden who have been on a low-carb plan. Will this kind of madness ever stop from those who oppose low-carb?!
15. No study has shown that you can keep the weight off by following a low-carb diet. So now that you have the facts, you can decide what program fits your lifestyle needs.
Give it some time, Ms. Peterman, and you will find people just like me who have lost a lot of weight on low-carb will continue to keep it off using the same eating lifestyle. Your so-called "facts" are nothing more than the same old tired arguments we have heard over and over again that have been proven to be inaccurate time after time.
Why don't you and your fellow "experts" start looking at real people who have been successful on low-carb and stop spreading fear through lies and purposeful distortion? You will probably choose to continue to chastise low-carb, but we'll continue to be here to combat you with personal testimonies of triumph and success from people who are livin' la vida low-carb.
Let's take a looky at what her beef is with low-carb, shall we?
She proudly states up front that she support "the USDA pyramid, moderation, lots of water and activity."
I'll go for the water and activity, but the government-indoctrinated food pyramid and the ridiculous notion of "moderation" in the amount of foods eaten is way off base. But at least we know where she stands before she starts he tirade against livin' la vida low-carb.
But with all the hype on these low-carb diets, do they really work?
ABSOLUTELY, they work and work VERY well. I was able to shed 180 pounds thanks to the healthy low-carb alternative to the failed low-fat diets we have been forced to live with our entire lives. Despite all the negative publicity that people like Peterman are all-too-happy to spread, the low-carb lifestyle remains a major choice for tens of millions of people looking to deal with excessive weight.
But Peterman offers what she describes as "solid facts" against doing low-carb.
1. You don't lose more weight on a low-carb diet in the long run. The scientific research has proven this over and over again.
WHO CARES! The point is to get on a program that can help you lose ANY amount of weight no matter how long it takes if you are overweight or obese. What is the big deal about whether low-fat or low-carb allows you to lose more weight?! Isn't the point of a weight loss program to lose weight and keep it off? Does it really matter how fast you reach that mark? No, it doesn't. But what is important is to find a program you can lose weight with and then continue to do to keep the weight off. The low-carb lifestyle provides a delicious and satisfying alternative to people who have failed to keep the weight off on low-fat/low-calorie/portion controlled diets in the past.
2. When you cut down on carbs dramatically, the percent of calories you get from fat soars.
Again, WHO CARES! Your body actually needs fat (gasp!) to make the low-fat process work the way it is supposed to. The fat in the foods you eat serve as your fuel just as carbs are what gives someone on a low-fat diet the energy they need. The difference is that low-carbers experience the fat-burning benefits of ketosis while low-fat dieters have to continually starve as they cut down on the fat, calories and portions of the foods they eat. Poor low-fat dieters. They don't know what they're missing by not doing the healthy low-carb lifestyle.
3. No health organization advocates a high-fat diet, especially if the fat is saturated fat.
How do you define "health organization?" There are plenty of groups that advocate the healthy low-carb approach to eating that can include a higher amount of fat than what the government recommends with its precious food pyramid. But don't assume everyone who does low-carb is gorging themselves with globs of saturated fat. While it is perfectly legal to eat fat, most of us choose to consume the healthy fats contained in nuts and other nutritious sources as well. And we don't feel guilty about eating a hamburger or enjoy an egg cooked in real butter. This fat is necessary as I have already previously stated to keep you satisfied while livin' la vida low-carb.
4. There's no magic to a low-carb diet. People lose weight because they are eating fewer calories. The scientific research has proven this, too.
Actually, I am eating a lot more calories on my low-carb lifestyle than I ever did on the low-fat diet I did in 1999. I restricted my intake of calories to around 1200 back then and lost 170 pounds on the low-fat approach. So losing weight is not the issue. It was keeping it off that was difficult. Anyone who has tried a low-fat/low-calorie diet knows firsthand how hard it is to sustain that kind of eating for any length of time. That's why low-carb is so attractive to people. You can eat a lot of food (and I can put away some food, buddy!) and still lose weight. It may not be "magic," but it is certainly the answer so many of us have been looking for.
5. It isn't healthy to cut out a whole category of foods that provide essential nutrients-like fruits, vegetables and whole grains-that are known to prevent diseases like cancer and heart disease.
Who is cutting out fruits, vegetables and whole grains? I eat lots of strawberries, blueberries, green beans, salads, multi-grain low-carb breads and more as part of my low-carb lifestyle. This is a common misconception about low-carb. You don't ELIMINATE fruits, vegetables and whole grains from your diet. It's a lie that continues to be spread by people purposely distorting this incredible weight loss method. Scare tactics won't work because people will see right through them!
6. The initial quick weight loss on low-carb diets, like Atkins and the South Beach Diet, is mainly due to water loss not fat. People are kidding themselves at the scales and then they have to deal with the weight "snap-back" when they eat normally again.
Sigh. Water weight, huh? I guess I had 180 pounds of built up water inside of me according to Peterman. LOL! While I don't discount the fact that there is some "water weight" that is lost initially, pretty soon your body begins burning that stored fat when you are livin' la vida low-carb. I don't know about you, but I couldn't care less if what I am losing is water weight or fat. I was just glad to see the scale moving DOWN! Why are people like Peterman so obsessed with bemoaning low-carb for only causing water weight loss? You should enjoy ANY weight loss! As for eating "normally again," that's the point of making this your lifestyle. You never go back to your old eating habits. You've changed for the better!
7. The terms "net carbs" and "effective carbs" on food packages were created by marketers to sell products. They have no legal or scientific meaning.
While I agree that many companies have used these phrases to market their products, they are not without "meaning" as Peterman suggests. When you are counting carbs, you only have to look at the "net carbs" or "effective carbs" in your total daily intake. During Induction, that's 20 net carbs per day. In the later phases, that total can get up to 60, 70 or even 80 net carbs per day depending on the person. So they do have meaning and help those of us following a low-carb program. If you only look at total carbs without removing the ones for sugar alcohols and dietary fiber, then you are merely robbing your body of the carbs it needs to function. That's what Peterman wants you to do so you'll give up on your low-carb lifestyle. It's just not gonna work.
8. You cannot just count carbs and forget about the calories in a food product. This is like only counting fat grams and ignoring the calories and we all know what that did to our waistlines in the 90s.
Don't blame low-carb for the failures of the low-fat approach. Since I started my low-carb lifestyle in January 2004, I have not counted one single calorie in any of the foods I have eaten. None. Don't care to either. My only concern is to keep track of my net carb intake and that's it. It's worked for me very well and I like the fact that I don't have to be stressed out over fat, calories or portion control. I just eat and let others worry about frustrating themselves with such nonsensical counting.
9. The rigid rules of a low-carb diet are UNLIVABLE.
What "rigid rules" is she talking about? This is the easiest weight loss and weight maintenance plan I've ever been on. You want to talk about "rigid rules," then simply look to low-fat. Hmmm, what shall I have to eat today? Salad, salad or salad. Gee, I think I'll have the salad with some nasty-tasting fat free dressing that is so chock full of sugar and sodium I'm probably doing more harm to my body than I even realize. Yikes! Talk about an "unlivable" diet plan!
10. Low-carb diets are all about deprivation-with a lot of rules about what you can't eat and a little leeway on what you can eat. Who can live with that? Who wants to? It's not normal, and it's not healthy.
What "deprivation" is Peterman talking about? Okay, now she's just gone off the deep end by ranting and raving about her jealousy of the low-carb lifestyle. There are plenty of choices for people doing low-carb that a low-fat dieter can't enjoy. They are scrumptious morsels of delicious-tasting foods that you simply cannot have on low-fat. While you may think this is "not normal," those of us livin' la vida low-carb will take this over low-fat any day of the week. As for the claim that low-carb is "not healthy," I can guarantee you I am a lot healthier now on low-carb at 230 pounds than I was at 410 pounds just a year and a half ago!
11. The highly publicized research reported in the New England Journal of Medicine did not say that a low-carb diet is safe or healthy. What this very preliminary research found is that it did not raise blood lipids in the short term. But we have no idea what would happen in the long term.
So let's continue with the studies. The negative bias against the low-carb lifestyle in the media and from so-called health experts like Peterman has stifled genuine research studies from being given a chance in the public debate on healthy living. How about if these people would start encouraging MORE research to be conducted so we can know the whole truth about the low-carb approach before we simply dismiss it as unhealthy or dangerous? It's intellectually dishonest to do otherwise.
12. It's irresponsible how these extreme low-carb regimes are condemning ALL carbohydrates when many of them are essential to good health.
This is another common misconception about low-carb. It doesn't mean NO carb. Dr. Atkins and advocates of a controlled-carb eating approach acknowledge the important role that certain carbohydrates have to a healthy body. That's why foods that contain these kind of carbs are encouraged throughout every book on low-carb on bookstore shelves today. I don't know of any low-carb program worth its weight in gold that supports "condemning all carbohydrates." Would you care to share with me which ones do, Ms. Peterman?
13. This diet is not heart-healthy and the American Heart Association is very much against it.
I don't care if the American Heart Association is for low-carb or not. What do they base their opinion on? Medical doctors and researchers who already have their mind set up that low-carb is dangerous because it goes against everything they've ever been taught or told their patients about healthy nutrition. Are they supposed to now say, "OOPS! We were wrong!" Not a chance of that happening anytime soon. So they'll do whatever they have to do to protect their reputation regarding health by condemning a plan that has worked very well for people without the negative side effects that are often repeated, but very rarely proven to exist.
14. The National Kidney Foundation is concerned about the rapidly rising incidence of kidney stones in women and links the problem to low-carb diets.
Where's the proof that the low-carb lifestyle causes kidney stones? This is yet another attempt to smear low-carb with unsubstantiated information. I haven't heard about any sudden outbreak of kidney stones popping up in people all of a sudden who have been on a low-carb plan. Will this kind of madness ever stop from those who oppose low-carb?!
15. No study has shown that you can keep the weight off by following a low-carb diet. So now that you have the facts, you can decide what program fits your lifestyle needs.
Give it some time, Ms. Peterman, and you will find people just like me who have lost a lot of weight on low-carb will continue to keep it off using the same eating lifestyle. Your so-called "facts" are nothing more than the same old tired arguments we have heard over and over again that have been proven to be inaccurate time after time.
Why don't you and your fellow "experts" start looking at real people who have been successful on low-carb and stop spreading fear through lies and purposeful distortion? You will probably choose to continue to chastise low-carb, but we'll continue to be here to combat you with personal testimonies of triumph and success from people who are livin' la vida low-carb.
posted by Jimmy Moore at
6/07/2005 11:49:00 AM
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