Carbs do not make you fat

Carbs do NOT make you fat

By DearGaby, on November 2nd, 2009

I am so tired of everyone telling me that carbs are bad for you because they make you fat. Most people I know who are dieting are limiting their carbs or almost completely eliminating them. They’ve stopped eating pasta, grains, breads, etc. How can one be so cruel to oneself? Depriving yourself of these foods is not the way to go about losing weight and keeping it off.

Frankly, I can never stick to a diet that doesn’t allow me to eat what I want. Which is why I think many people “go on” different diets and can rarely stick to one. A diet is NOT something one goes on or off of. A diet is a way of eating; a way of life. You do not go on a diet. A diet is what you eat. A diet is how you eat– forever. Yes, forever.

I love pasta, breads and all carbs so I refuse to eliminate these wonderful foods from my diet. Guess what? I am NOT fat. So therefore, it is not the carbs that make us fat. What makes us fat is really very simple – Its how much we eat, the way we cook what we eat, and our level of activity which makes us fat and has an impact on our weight and health.

Not a very complex idea. If you consume more calories than you burn off, you will gain weight. If you burn off more calories than you consume you will lose weight. It is as simple as that. Pure mathematics. Approximately 3,000 calories equals one pound. So to lose 1 pound of weight one must consume 3,000 less calories than one burns off over some period of time. Ideally one should never try to lose more than 2-3 pounds per week.

The way one cooks has a big impact on diet. If you fry food all the time, you will get fat. Frying adds a lot of extra calories. Instead of frying the food, oven bake it. Spray a little olive oil on the food, place it in the oven and there you go– you are now oven baking. You will eliminate a lot of unnecessary calories from your diet without eliminating the flavor. None of my recipes call for frying. No need to fry anything. Even with my eggplant parmigiana recipe I do NOT fry the eggplant. Rather I oven bake it. I promise you, you will not miss frying food.

Lastly, your level of activity does impact your weight. So the more activity you incorporate into your daily life, the more calories you will burn off.

So how can you incorporate the foods you love into your diet and still lose and/or maintain your weight is the real question. Stop frying foods, increase your level of activity and pay attention to the quantity of food you eat to help assure your calorie intake is not greater than the calories you burn off. If you do these three simple things you will lose and/or maintain your weight. So forget all these crazy diets – just use your common sense.

If you look at many of the recipes I have included in my blog, it has all kinds of foods in it – YES even carbs. Try some of my recipes out and let me know what you think about them. Most of all please remember – CARBS DO NOT MAKE YOU FAT.

About Gabrielle:
Gabrielle Ottavio is certified as an International Image and Style Consultant. She is a member of AICI, which is the leading and largest professional association of personal and corporate image consultants worldwide. She possesses several years consulting experience in the areas of staffing, one on one executive coaching, career couseling and image consulting. Gabrielle is also on the board of ISACA, an international organization comprised of professionals and students, IT Women, and the Fashion Group International, comprised of professionals in the fashion business.