LOSE IT!

I LOVE EATING LOW CARB! I WILL NEVER LOOK BACK.

IRMA KROEZE SWITCHED TO EATING LOW CARB TO IMPROVE HER HEALTH. HER WEIGHT LOSS WAS A PLEASANT SIDE EFFECT!

- AS TOLD TO LUCINDA DORDLEY

The thing to remember is you need to be committed. You simply can’t do it in half measures and expect to see results immediatel­y.

‘ Ihad health issues such as acid reflux and high blood pressure, so my doctor put me on a handful of pills a day. But my blood test results worried me, and that prompted me to start eating low carb.

It’s improved my health exponentia­lly. I feel better than ever. And my pants are falling down! I was astonished, as I really didn’t do this to lose weight.

Starting to eat low carb was easy for me. Except for cutting down on carbs, on the whole I usually ate this way anyway. I’d always been told off about the meat and fat I ate, so I felt such relief – a feeling of ‘Oh, at last!’

It is so important to understand the science behind the diet as this makes it clear why certain types of food are included and others, excluded. It helps you see why you shouldn’t cheat. I’ve never cheated because I’m never hungry!

There’s been a lot of backlash from people who have been unsuccessf­ul eating low carb, but you’ll find so many testimonia­ls from those who have had a positive experience. The thing to remember is that you need to be committed. You simply can’t do it in half measures and expect to see results immediatel­y.

I have always loved cooking, especially preparing dishes that reflect my traditiona­l Afrikaans upbringing. This passion has been bolstered by the low-carb lifestyle. Dishes like bobotie are simple to prepare, easy to convert

and always a hit when I host dinner parties. My guests are shocked to find that low-carb food is not typical diet food – it is real food that is filling. A lot of people think that it can’t be that simple, but it is.

Another frequent criticism of low carb is that it’s expensive. In all honesty, my grocery bill has decreased since I started. A big chunk of those savings is from using lard instead of butter or oil for frying. Simple changes like that make such a big difference.

Many of my friends and family still believe that this is an unhealthy way to eat. They wonder how one person can consume so much fat and not keel over from a heart attack. But it’s rooted in the latest scientific research! This healthyfat low-carb diet feeds the body exactly what it needs to thrive: healthy fats and protein. Everybody laughs at me when I say this, but in The Vegetarian Myth: Food, Justice, and Sustainabi­lity, Lierre Keith says that vegetarian-based diets are among the unhealthie­st diets around. Human bodies aren’t made to digest plant matter alone, and certain plants and legumes inhibit some functions. Soya products are often recommende­d as a replacemen­t for meat, but soya beans are said to stop our bodies from absorbing essential nutrients.

I really hate veggies. I’ve always eaten them because I was taught that I have to. The low-carb lifestyle encourages the kind of food I love to eat, and allows me to eat until I feel satisfied – without guilt. It’s also easy to incorporat­e it into the South African lifestyle.

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