To Cut Or Not To cut?

To cut or not to cut that is the question?

For most people when they are trying to lose weight the first thing they do is begin to cut different food groups out of their diet (which I think is completely absurd). We’re going to explore the benefits and risk of cutting food groups from your diet as I give my personal opinion on why cutting out is not for me.

In researching some of the most top diets in the world almost every diet requires you to cut out several food groups. The most cut out food groups are carbs, fats and sugar. We’re going to take a look at the benefits and risk of cutting or limiting these food groups starting with the biggest threat of them all CARBS.

Carbs

When I think of carbs I think of the most delicious foods you can imagine, I am an extreme pasta head and creamy sauces are my kryptonite. Carbs pose a big problem for most people when losing weight. Some of our most favorite food is literally stuffed with carbs, so if we take away some of those amazing foods what do we get. Well for one it will reduce the feeling of hunger and calories. Studies show that a reduced carb intake automatically reduces the appetite and calorie intake by eating more protein and healthy fats. A low carb diet has also been proven to help diabetics by lowering blood sugar and insulin levels.

Cutting carbs does have its limitations. Cutting carbs completely out of your diet is a very risky line to cross, it can cause nausea, headaches, mental and physical fatigue and so much more.

Cutting out carbs means you are cutting out the healthy benefits of carbs as well like whole carbs such as quinoa, sweet potatoes, chickpea etc. these items are packed with nutrients and vitamins that the body needs. Cutting carbohydrates has been a go to source for losing weight since the 19th century and will always be the first thing most diets will either lower or eliminate completely, if you still wish to monitor your carbs lowering your intake and eating healthy carbs is the safest way to eat carbohydrates without having to feel any of those side effect.

Sugar

As the old saying goes, carbs turn into sugar and sugar turns into my 12 o’clock snack at night. We all have a sweet tooth and there is absolutely no way around it, we all crave those cookies, pies, and cakes (only from giant eagle because we all know they have the best cakes), that so many of us love and is exactly what we need to cut back on. Sugar is naturally in fruits, dairy, and many vegetables and is a great benefit in eliminating added sugar, which has been shown to help with weight lost.

Eliminating added sugar has many benefits, besides reducing the risk of diabetes it can also help with reducing heart problems, clearer skin, inflammation and so much more. Choosing a no added sugar diet is idealistic to any diet especially with the help of natural sugars to help with those lil cravings at night. As long as there are natural sugars in your diet there are no risk in eliminating added sugars, as for taking sugar completely out of your diet it’s almost impossible as there would be limited food choices. Food that have Natural sugars provide many nutrients such as, fiber, antioxidants and many other healthy components. The beautiful thing about sugar is that it has many alternatives from strawberries to gelato you can find sweet in almost anything.

Fats

Might as well keep it going right, as sugar leads to fat, fat leads to with prayer my ass. Fatty foods are the American staple, we want things quick fast and now(wink) which means most of the foods we consume have a high amount of fat content. Me myself I am not a fast food eater I love a good home cooked meal but I was also brought up on southern foods so home cooked meals for me mean fried chicken, greens, macaroni and cheese, sweet potatoes and cornbread on the side (yes this will all fit on one plate) but even with my southern upbringing I still found ways to cut back and not compromise on flavor. There are many benefits to cutting back on fats as we all know many health risk are caused by fatty diets such as high cholesterol and an array of heart problems but what about the healthy fats.

We’re constantly taught about the bad side of fatty foods but what about the good side, the benefits of healthy fats, do we even know what healthy fats are? Healthy fats come from plant based oils such as avocados, olive oil, nuts, almonds and everyone’s favorite Salmon. Plant based oils are really starting to be a great replacement for fat, they provide the same nutrients of fat the body needs in a much more healthier way. Fats get a bad rep mostly because of the fast food industry which are the Kings and Queens of fatty foods but we can’t forget about the benefits that we can get from those home cooked meals and being able to implement healthy fats while still having flavor.

As you can see it’s almost impossible to cut out food groups, which is why I never cut out any food groups in my healthy lifestyle. Cutting out food groups comes with the good and bad. With risk of nausea, lack of nutrition, bad breath, and heart disease, all of this can easily be avoided by knowing your PMM’s(portion, moderation, modification) . I eat within my southern lifestyle and within this lifestyle I eat whatever my heart desire while eating in Portion, Moderation and choosing healthy Modifications. Let’s take the meal I mentioned in the fat section and use our PMM’s to turn it into something healthy but still packed with flavor.

Let’s bake the chicken instead of frying, season your chicken as you normally would (not just salt and pepper). Being mindful of portions we’re only supposed to eat a piece of meat no bigger than the size of the palm of our hand. I usually buy 4 fresh chicken wings (or breast if I really want to go all the way healthy) or buy in bulk and freeze the rest in portions for another meal, that way I know I will only be cooking enough for two days (2wings a day). I modified the meal by baking the chicken instead of frying, using brown sugar for the sweet potatoes instead of white cane sugar, using smoked turkey parts for the greens instead of pork ham hocks and praying about the macaroni and cheese and the corn bread because I can’t bring myself to make any modifications to either of those dishes. This type of meal is usually served on Sunday and won’t be repeated for a few more Sunday’s (yes just a few), so I can eat this way within moderation after eating healthy throughout the week.

Whether cutting out or cutting back you have to remember your PMM’s so I say do it with the food you love.