Hello! I am Margot and I am a noob, although not a noob to the dieting dilemma. You said other comments welcome and so I go for it, hoping I am not overstepping, and if I do, just let me know.
I do have opinions on the carbs factor, as well as more philosophical ones on dieting, addictions etc.
I think this carbs addiction idea that is so rampant today especially in US has truth in it, but it's a bit of an exageration.
Carbs are vicious pied pipers only when they're very refined and/or when eaten alone, but when those carbs are whole grains, or just good old white wheat eaten in moderate quantities and associated with foods rich of fibers (vegetables and beans), they become quite tame. Think in terms of avoiding a blood sugar spike on the lines of old dear GI diet, and looking at the meal as one unit that may include some bad guys and some buffers. We all know this, and even think that it's true, but execute it inconsistently, and that's why more radical ideas of throwing it all away come along, as it seems the only way, but it's not imo. So finding mods on that line of thinking could be a "moderate" way to go about it all. Something like, if I eat pasta or pizza, it has to be with lots of vegetables, I can eat bread but not at the beginning of a meal, or I can have the carby snack but together with an apple. You find your own angle, making sure the rules you establish are clear in a green/red way because we know that that works.
It is really easy to downplay the relevance of the buffers, because like I said, this is something we have known for a long time and it didn't make anyone thin. But my personal experience says otherwise, if I check in my past the periods when I wasn't hooked on food, they are all periods when I (maybe unconsciously and due to environmental factors) was extremely consistent and not half-assed in marrying the carbs with the buffers. For a period, I was all about whole rice cooked longly in the pressure cooker like they do in macrobiotics, maybe together with barley or spelt and red rice or quinoa millet etc. It was a pseudo-vegan moment, I went on eating dairies but my typical meals were whole grains and veggies or even whole grains alone, and it was a time I was in super-shape without even trying to. Another time, I had spent the winter in Thailand and eaten lots of white rice, but always together with luscious vegetables and curries and huge salads, also because I wasn't the one cutting the vegetables, they even sold peeled pineapple on the street who would refuse it? again best shape of all. So I know it's a thing for me. I do not have personal examples of periods when I felt good and ate a lot of proteins with carbs, because proteins are not too popular with me, I have to remind myself to eat them, but my MIL, who's a gorgeous norwegian lady in super-shape, has always eaten a lot of meat and fish (nordic people tend to, it's the climate) accompanied with potatoes or very dark bread and steamed vegetables or salad and I know it works very well for her.
I might also add that in France and Italy everyone is thin a part from me
![Laughing :lol:](./images/smilies/icon_lol.gif)
and carbs are eaten with abandon, but never in isolated manner. And I don't think the biology of french and italians is all that better than the americans, if ever you should have the advantage of coming from a lot dna crossings, which is biologically a stronger overall makeup.
I am really convinced that it's not necessary to throw the baby with the water, I've gone the keto route and I was miserable. If you really want to go really very scientific about it, you can buy yourself one of those little things that monitor blood sugar (they're kind of cheap) and explore what foods and combinations and what habits get your blood sugar to rise and find your way around the concept.
I'll spare you the more philosophical reasonings, as I've been already longwinded enough!
Glad to have the privilege to be talking with a long-time Nos-er!