A funny thing happened at the upscale restaurant this weekend. As I examined the menu for the lowest carb item, I asked the waitress for her recommendation. “Sounds like you’re on the same diet I’m on!” was her reply.  Feeling confident I was now in good hands, I immediately took her recommendation and ordered a tilapia dish with a big long name that I couldn’t pronounce.

 Imagine my reaction when out came a big serving of fish completely smothered and buried under a pile of moist bread crumb/tomato/parmesan coating. By the time I scraped off the breadcrumb goop, I had a pile as big as the size of my fish. Wonder how many carbs were in all that mess?

 A couple days before that, I accompanied my granddaughter to the day care on her 2^nd day of school. Sierra was so excited to eat breakfast at the day care. Guess what the breakfast was? I stood in stunned shock as a piece of white bread was slathered in butter and sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar. That and a cup of milk was “breakfast.”  

 Sierra was so upset with me when I told her I had to go get her some breakfast somewhere. “No, Grandma! I’m not wasting this good piece of bread!” What nutrition is in a white piece of bread??  Plus, it breaks down into simple sugars…carbs and no nutrition.

 An employee overheard our commotion and offered that Sierra could eat the school breakfast if she wanted. Ah, big relief since we didn’t have much time till the bell rang! What was the menu? Biscuits and gravy, orange juice and milk. Biscuits?  More carbs and more simple sugars and no nutrition. And milk…that’s another topic for another day. Check out what Dr. Joel Fuhrman has to say about milk in Disease-Proof Your Child or Dr. Campbell inThe China Study.

 “Releasing” weight is a S-L-O-W process. Imagine how much slower the process is when you add all those carbs to a meal. It takes courage to search the menu for the lean meats and low carb vegetables, particularly when the people you are dining with order the breaded appetizer, the hot rolls, and the tub of pasta. Try to find a menu anywhere that isn’t loaded with carbs. We have a serious carb crisis in America. Carbs are making us fat.

 It also takes discipline to record every single item you consume in your food journal. What a pain to look up the number of calories, fat, protein, and carbs for each item. The pocket sized Calorie Fat & Carbohydrate Counter makes the job easier, but it requires discipline indeed.

 But you know what? Before you know it, you are pretty educated on the number of carbs and calories in food items, and the process takes less and less time. Plus, there is something about holding yourself accountable to record every single item. Less likely to “cheat” that way…and oh, the reward is so very sweet.

 Yes, it takes time to release 5, 10, 15, 20 pounds, but you’re going to be here 1, 2, 3, 6 months from now anyway. Might as well be 5 or 10 pounds lighter and feel good about yourself. Imagine not having to carry that 5 or 10 pound bag of sugar around with you everywhere you go.

 Tut.com had a pointed comment yesterday…

 “One of the trickiest things about life, Rosie, is that, at times, it happens so slowly.

 Yet…if…it…happened…any…faster…you’d…already…have…everything…you…ever…wanted…without…learning…to…enjoy…the…ride.

Beep, beep…

The Universe”

 Want to hear still yet another blessing of counting carbs? You learn to choose your food wisely, and the flavors literally burst in your mouth. You find yourself having a whole new appreciation for the substances that you put into your mouth.

 Oh, yes, enjoy the ride. The thrill of victory is sweet – even without the carbs!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 19th, 2009 at 5:55 am and is filed under Weight Loss. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.