99% of the people who come to South Beach from doing low carb are naturally carb phobic. Why wouldn't they be? After training your mind to banish carbs from your diet and mindset, you have worked really hard to stay on the low carb plan.

So it feels really weird to accept that carbs can be good for you again. After all,isn't that the foundation of low carbing -- that carbs are evil and responsible for your weight gain. Well that is true to some extent, but....

Here's where SB is different. Even low carb plans never expect dieters to lay off carbs the rest of their lives. You usually work them back into the plan nearing maintenance and on maintenance you eat them in sparing amounts.

There's a reason for this. This is because grains are good for you. But like with any other food, it depends on the quality of the grain and your portion size.

But many dieters on low carb diets seem to reach their goals without getting up to the grain rung and a lot are still dieting at the lower rungs afraid to advance to the grain rung because the diets tell you that by the time you get to this level your weight loss will slow dramatically or stop. So of course you don't want that to happen so you hang around the lower rungs, thinking I'll do this until I am at goal weight.

Well grains themselves are not the reason you would gain weight or have gained in the past. It's the amount of grains and the quality or better put, lack of it of the food that cause the problem.

Whole grains are nutritious and vital to our good health. But consuming too much of anything is not good. Just like consuming too much sat fat is still very controversial and is not considered wise for a long term diet.

Over processed grains containing white flour or less than 3 grams of dietary fiber are not digested well by the body. Dr. Atkins likens this to gunk in your carbureator (this would clog your arteries) and combining this with high sat fats could definitely spell trouble.

But you might ask, why am I not gaining weight consuming lots of fat on a low carb plan? Fat is very satiating and you are likely not consuming extremely large portions so overall you are eating less and your overall calories are lower so you have lost weight.

But once you have lost significant weight, you need to reduce your calories to keep losing. So calories become important. On a low carb diet, how do you do this? By reducing your fat. But you aren't adding any additional lower calorie carbs so soon the diet plan is not as fullfilling and you either stay stalled or even gain. if you have stalled or gained and are contemplating a switch to SB, you will be reducing your fats and eating carbs/grains. But in controlled servings sizes and from excellent sources. Whole grain has the outer bran or fiber in tact and help the body digest the enzymes slowly, so the good nutrition is absorbed.

None of us here on SB who have switched from low carbing have gained the weight we feared when starting Phase 2. And we are enjoying a great variety of foods now and loving what we are eating.

But we are not eating big plates of spaghetti or as much bread as we did before low carbing or even covering our entire plate with rice before ladeling on the meat and veggies over it. But we are loving the whole grains we are eating and the trick here is that our grains are NEVER the main ingredient and always a side dish in recommended serving sizes.

Once you let go of your fear of carbs you will begin to see how they are beneficial to your diet and you will not have to keep your body in the artificial state of ketosis to lose weight. And since carbs/grains are lower in calorie, they fill your tummy with lower calories and you get full and satisfied.

On SB I would say that most of your calories come from veggies and carbs, with the rest coming from good for you fats, lower sat fat dairy and lean proteins.

Can you imagine for a moment being able to eat sweet potato fries? Brown rice? Whole wheat toast? Whole wheat lasagna? Makes you drool doesn't it? Well add to that we are losing weight too!! Maybe it's time you tried to make the switch? Your tastebuds will thank you and your body will love you!

Great post mindy! Being one that came from Atkins you know i can attest to the carb phobia. I kept my carb/fats at induction levels even in maintenance which ended up with me actually putting on 7 or 8 lbs. If you don't bring the fats down, the calories don't come down. It was extrememly hard to add grains in when I hit Phase II but once i did, and didn't feel like i've gained (i'm not weighing yet), I was far more comfortable with it. I couldn't see myself now never eating grains again for the rest of my life, which was my atkins mindset. I really feel like i'm eating a far more balanced diet, with alot more food choices. I'm hoping to add some fruits back now next week. though I was never really a fruit eater to begin with, it's amazing how your tastes can change after not having something for a long time!

Thanks! And so true Jen and I am so happy you are now feeling more comfortable. It took me a long time to adjust too. I still feel I am doing a controlled carb diet and I feel like I am eating very responsibly!!! I agree about feeling more balance and not wanting to eliminate carbs for life.

Those who have stayed at induction levels really aren't following Atkins as it was intended by Dr. Atkins. Don't you agree? But it's an easy trap to fall into and I think most of us, like me and you did this!

Sure we become convinced the weight dropped off because we eliminated most of the carbs and don't think about calories, but I think we also had alot of portion control since we weren't hungry. but as the diet goes on, and your weight goes down you don't adjust those calories, and you stop losing. I see so many ppl on ADBB that are not at goal and stalled, and have been for some time, and i can guarantee that's their problem. they're either still in extended induction, or doing induction level carbs.

The problem is when you believe it's the level of carbs only that makes us lose, so the thought of upping those carbs terrifies us! Well that's what happened to me anyway.

And me!!! I'm just glad I decided to try this WOE. Honestly I did it out of desperation because nothing else was working. But I am so glad I did. Not only did I break my stall, but I am loving what I am eating.

I don't feel like I am dieting at all. I feel like I am eating really healthy, flavorful food and am just waiting for pounds to drop while I sumptously dine!!!:jester:

Although I never "banished carbs" from my diet. I do find it hard to eat 100 grams and up a day! But then I did move thru all the levels of Atkins which allowed for things like low carb breads, beans, fruits, wild rice and even sweet potatos! Just in small portions.

I think its a misconception to think that low carb means no carb and no grains! I just wanted to clarify that point!

I find the hardest thing about SB is not really eating more carbs as much as it is cutting fats. Maybe I have more of a "lack-of-fats-aphopia" LOL

Sadie, never eating grains for the rest of your life would not have been Atkins, but you know that, right? I don't know if you guys have read Atkins for Life but the maintenance phase of Atkins is very much like SB and you can see that in the book.

You are absolutely right Moggy! That's the point I've been trying to make is that so many low carbers get carb phobic so they never get up the rungs enough to get the good grains back into their life!!!!

ROTFLMAO btw with "lack-of-fats-aphobia":jester: :jester: :jester: It's even fun to say!!!! Think I'll do a post with that on this forum. Can I borrow your term for the header? I promise to give you full credit for it!!!

LOL, be my guest!

Yeah, and I even added them, but i did the 'modified OWL' which i think is a mistake. I kept my carbs low but added foods back. thing is i would add foods, they wouldn't bother me then i'd move onto something else and not really eat the food group again LOL. Especially startchy veggies and grains..those were my biggest fears! LOL afraid of a slice of bread and a sweet potato? how silly does that sound :jester:

Oh Jenn, I just loved reading this statement. It's so good that you realize this now. I have read posts from some hard core low carbers who are so afraid of adding any carbs back into their diets at all. And I just want to scream, "Don't be afraid of a slice of bread!" :Catfight:

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