Whoever invented carbs should be shot

You are A LEGUME Nazi!!   Peas are yummy  (W/ the exception of canned ones)  I agree there are NO  "EVIL" foods.  It is how much.....and how our bodies process them that are the issue!  I feel the closest to "evil" would be soda......absolutely NOTHING beneficial in it!  Hey I have never seen 666 on a donut.......but if I did..........I would still eat it!

OK.. I don't want to start the carb debate again because I totally get that some people do not have the same relationship with food that I do and that's totally OK by me. I have no interest in changing people's minds; I only share what works for me and my point of view for those who might find something compelling or something they can relate with in my sharing of my story.

If they don't, that's OK....they'll find their own way I am sure. I like to read everyone's experience because I enjoy taking on different perspectives and trying them on to see if they fit for me or others I might discuss this topic with. I have tried on many different perspectives with carbs and I am clear where that fits in my own schema.

For ME, carbs are both physically and emotionally additive. There are known, scientific, and documented reasons for this biochemical addiction that I have that many others share; but of course not everyone. While I would love to be at peace with just eating anything, the reality is that I could never have peace if I continued to indulge in small amounts of what my body considers as a drug.  It would be equivalent to an alcoholic who just has one drink a day.

For me abstinence is the answer and brings me peace, the same way many other alcoholics and drug addicts find peace in their brand of abstinence. I consider my peace with abstinence not different and no better than someone who finds peace with eating a "normal" diet in smaller portions.  That being said I don't think the highly processed food of our modern day age is "normal" by any means, but that's another topic.

There are some people *****act to abstinence as deprivation and they become very uncomfortable and it becomes unsustainable. For me I feel truly deprived when I am spending too much time thinking about carbs because I've let some in and fueled my addiction. Also I know that nutritionally, carbs provide very little, particularly the kind that most people crave.

I think the reason that this topic brings so much angst is because for those of us who can't ever truly be at peace with a higher carb diet (either physically and/or emotionally), it helps us to set our boundaries with them and look at them as unhelpful. It helps for us to vilify them so that we know they aren't going to really do what we want them to do.

However when we do that because it works for US, the people who that doesn't work for maybe feel as if they have to justify the way they eat that works for THEM. Maybe some times we talk generally about carbs being bad because we feel that it is more *likely* that people will be in that category since it is much more common, and that it is a "safer" choice to encourage someone to avoid carbs than to encourage them to assume they will be able to have as many carbs as they want since that does not seem to work for the majority of MO people.

What invariably happens is that there are some people who aren't ready to change their relationship with food and they are resistant to hearing that they might have to. OR, you run into folks that have gone a different route. The answer seems to be to be mindful that there is not ONE path, even though it seems that the majority of us are following the low carb path.

We should be mindful that some people don't need to, don't want to or aren't ready to follow that path. I do try to not speak generally about what people "should" be doing, but sometimes it gets wrapped up in the scientific knowledge I am trying to share, which IS more general. Such as the fact that ALL carbs break down into glucose (sugar) in the body.. that is a fact not an opinion.

In expressing more factual statements, it may sometimes get confused with what I am suggesting people do, which is much more flexible but doesn't always come across that way when mixed with other factual information. 

In short I respect what works for you.. and when I share what works for me it is not to make you feel as if you are doing something wrong, because you are doing something different.  I do try to word my responses in that way, but sometimes that message doesn't always come through.  I hope you can read my messages with the intention that I'm trying to convey. :) Hugs..

Sorry for the long response..

Hey........"Rose" still waitin' for my "low carb" donut! 

It would be higher fat/calorie though.. do you still want it?

On March 15, 2011 at 12:24 PM Pacific Time, sublimate wrote: It would be higher fat/calorie though.. do you still want it?
  Of course......I'm not gonna eat a full "dozen" of them.  I find it much easier to satisfy myself W/ smaller amounts now. How do I know you "made it" instead of stopping by Stan's in SC....or Psycho donuts in Campbell to get them?  Hmmm?  Not that it would be a "bad" thing!

I'll make it in front of you.. how about that?  Then you can taste them fresh. 

ALL carbs may break down to glucose but to compare apples to donuts is throwing the baby out with the bath water.
To suggest anyone has
and that it is a "safer" choice to encourage someone to avoid carbs than to encourage them to assume they will be able to have as many carbs as they want since that does not seem to work for the majority of MO people.
is a gross mistatement of what I have posted though it certain "feeds" your agenda.
One the one hand you say you do not want to make me feel as what I am doing/posting is wrong however you take every opportunity to try and "prove" just that.
I continue to receive PM's from folks who apparently are afraid or intimidated to post on this venue and the VSG board about eating a higher amount of carbs and being successful at it.  This saddens and angers me.
Statistics and facts are interesting things. I recall something I read when I was still in grade school in the early 1960's and it went something like this
A Russian and a American were in a foot race and the American won.
The Russian Newspaper headlines read
Russian runner came in 2d and American came in next to last.
Statistically and factually correct but still not very accurate

This may be just the way I am reading your response, but it sounds like you are determined to find fault with me no matter what I say or how I say it. :****rtainly don't have an agenda.. I'm glad not everyone is low carb.. it leaves more meat for me. :)  The part of my message you quoted wasn't specifically towards you (it was a general thought pattern) and was taken out of context.

I'm just sharing information and opinions as they pertain to my experience and learning from others.  I'm certainly not trying to prove anything about what you are doing as wrong or right.. as a constructivist I don't believe in such absolutes anyway, nor do I have the time or interest in changing something that you are doing that obviously works for you.   It sounds like you are reading a lot into what I am writing that is not my intention.

I'm only sharing my viewpoint which just happens to be different, and let people choose which ever path works for them based on the sharing of information. I doubt that people are intimidated by my opinion of carbs enough to not post because of me.. there are plenty of other people who feel that way and that just happens to be the general vibe of many in the groups, particularly because many surgeons are recommending that low carbs post-op.

I am neither the diet police nor the carb nazi in the group.. I just share my own truth on the topic. I would never judge someone for eating higher carb especially if it seems to be working for them (at the moment).  I might tell them my concerns or opinions, but I would never judge them.

Perhaps those people that aren't posting are just projecting their own guilt because deep down maybe they know that what they are doing really doesn't work, or that they aren't making the healthiest choices?  Or maybe they just sense that the general populace is focused on low carbs, and they don't feel as if they fit in?

Listen, I am an abstinent food addict, and I certainly feel like a freak around here at times, with few others to relate to that are in the extreme category I am in.  I sometimes feel as if I don't fit in, but I am comfortable enough with myself to realize that I don't need anyone else to be like me to feel comfortable sharing my truth.  People can relate to me or not, but my truth is my truth.  I hope you'll continue to respect my prerogative to share my truth, as I will continue to respect yours.

Its fairly amusing when folks want to be respected for their opines and get a little support that its their truth and its okay, but are crazy with the finger pointy about other folks being the *whatever police,* when truths do not match. 

Fairly. 

I hate it that we are not freaky enough to make money off our freakiness.  What a waste of freakiness, I say, Ginger.

*squeeze*

Perhaps those people that aren't posting are just projecting their own guilt because deep down maybe they know that what they are doing really doesn't work, or that they aren't making the healthiest choices?
 While I do not find fault with everything you say I do find statements like this to be quite value ladened and judgemental. This is not sharing a truth it is making a value statement. I am not sure you are in a position to determine they feel guilt or believe they are doing anything wrong because they do not prescribe to what you believe is the "best" way.
You are correct they do not feel as if they fit in, from my dealing with them, in large part because of statements like this which not everyone makes but which, you appear to make more than others.
Jimbo and I disagree at times, however he does not come across as judgemental and preachy and I read your posts to be.
Frisco and I have locked horns and even he does not, in my opinion, come across as strident and preachy as your posts appear to me.
While I do not need or want your approval nor am I asking for it I am going to call it like I see it. I am more than happy to agree to disagree. What I will not go quietly in to the night about is intolerance and prejudice and the holier than thou attitude that somehow because folks feel uncomfortable posting an "unpopular" opinion in is because deep down they believe they are doing something wrong.