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Does it seem like your waist, hips and thighs expand every time you eat carbs? If so you could be suffering  from something called Carbohydrate intolerance disorder which affects tens of millions of people around the world from all ages and all walks of life and it can make eating your favorite carbohydrate based foods a nightmare.

Let’s see if any of this scenario sounds familiar. You and your friends are sitting down for a nice dinner and you start out with a healthy salad which you know is good for you but it’s not really going to fill you up. So you move on to another healthy entrée ,for example, a piece of fish or some shrimp and then all of a sudden you wish you could smother it in butter, but you really want to stick to your diet. Then it happens, fresh bread is brought over to the table and the delicious scent is starting to tickle your taste buds. Then your friend orders a huge pasta and asks you to share it; the smell is irresistible and its begging you to take a bite, so finally your will power seems to be depleted and you decide that you are just going to have one tiny bite.

When you do that things start to look and feel different and your carb cravings start to go into overdrive. That first bite is then followed by another and another and before you know it you have taken 10 or 20 bites or have nearly gone through the whole dish.

Later the bloating arrives, your belly bulges and your face gets puffy. It seems as if your entire body is just blowing up in front of your eyes, your clothes start to feel too tight and within hours you feel lousy and your energy levels seems as if they have taken a serious hit. You then get moody, irritable and sleepy. You long for an afternoon nap and by the time the evening arrives you are too tired to do anything.

The truth is you probably feel much older than you really are. You start to crave even more carbs because your blood sugar levels are way out of control.

What started as a temporary discomfort after a meal has now turned into a vicious cycle and this is when the extra weight starts to pack on around your belly, hips and thighs. Eventually this leads to something much worse, long term feelings of shame and embarrassment about your weight and the overall way that you look.

This is a typical scenario that I have been through numerous times but it’s not all doom and gloom and there are ways that you can change your eating habits gradually. One of the ways I have changed my life is by going on a low carb diet.

Do you want to lose weight and improve your health?Maybe you have diabetes or are overweight. In any of these cases then a low carb diet could be just right for you.

When we think of weight loss we often think of calories, eating less calories and burning more is equal to weight loss. Theoretically that is true, but there is a very fundamental problem with that –IT IGNORES HUNGER! and obviously no one wants to stick with a diet when you are hungry all of the time.

The truth is some people are able to process carbs much better than others and it seems like no matter what they eat they don’t gain weight. If you are in this category then consider yourself lucky. If you aren’t then the basic idea is to make small changes to your diet and form a eating habit which is sustainable in the long term by eating the right food more often and in smaller quantities.

Low carb diets have been around for a very long time and there is a substantial amount of scientific evidence that supports the long term health benefits and effectiveness of low carb diets. Some low carb diets allow you to eat all you want whenever you feel hungry while others restrict calories. This will usually depend on your current weight and your long term weight loss or fitness goals.

So what exactly is a low carb diet?

Well, Low carb diets basically restrict food that are high in sugar content such as pasta and bread but you will be happy to know that these foods can easily be substituted with other less sugary foods that also taste great. The main objective is to control your blood sugar which in turn stabilizes the levels of insulin (fat storing hormone). The result is increased fat burning and a feeling of satisfaction.

A low carb diet may not be right for everyone and it is important to consult your physician especially if you are taking medication for diabetes, have high blood pressure or are breast feeding. If you are not in any of these categories, then you should be good to go.