Low-carb thinking for regular people

Food and is an emotional experience. It is not an engineering problem. Our associations with food are reflections of our very identity, as family members, as friends, our successes, our fetishes, our ambitions.

Food is the single biggest controllable factor that determines how much we enjoy our lives. What we eat is a persistent, nuanced balance between short term enjoyment and long term reward.

We are very hard on ourselves

For the most part, I used to be extremely hard on myself for my inability to adhere to my diet. I dieted my way from 105kg to 120kg, trying to go down to below 100kg. I believed it was a question of discipline. To me it was obvious that I did not have any of it.

“Every eating decision feels like a labyrinth”

That is a quote from a WhatsApp conversation with my brother in law. It was in reference to the topics of carbohydrate restriction, health and weight loss. The conversation mirrors so many other conversations I have had in recent times. Paraphrased and summarised, it goes something like this:

“I know carbohydrates are poison”

“But they taste so good!”

“Carbohydrates are everywhere, it is impossible to avoid them!”

“What do you eat?”