This weekend was all about (way too much) delicious food. As previouly mentioned, on Saturday the girls went to Moxies for Ang and Jen’s birthday bashes, and I consumed thrice my body weight in nachos and flatbread. Then on Sunday Adele had a houseful of friends over to celebrate Craig’s belated birthday. I think she bought out Safeway to get all the food she did for the party. Of course there were many healthy choices: greasy sausage rolls, chips, mile-high submarine sandwiches, pizza, guacamole. And there was Ice Cream Cake (it deserves proper noun status, since it has the power to make me weak in the knees every time I get offered a piece). In other words it was a Carb-Fest weekend.

Of all the food categories (fat, carb, protein) my favourite has always been the good ol’ CARB. From freshly baked buns to gooey cinnamon buns to potato chip…my middle has always been CARB.

Amanda Carb Brown.

Perhaps this is why I have always had a jiggly bum and cellulite on my thighs, even when I was a twiggy teenager. Too much bread!

A few years back I tried going on the Atkins diet to lose weight. For two weeks all I ate was eggs, cheese, luncheon meats, and those little Atkins brand chocolate bars (which give you diarrhea if you eat more than eight per day, just so you know). I did lose weight, and my appetite was much easier to control, but I found that cutting carbs completely is NO WAY TO LIVE. I felt irritable, I had the raunchiest breath ever (from all the ketones in your system) and all I could think about was bread.

I quit Atkins and never looked back.

Since those days I have developed a moderate approach to eating and try to neither overindulge nor deprive myself. It doesn’t always work (this weekend was one of those instances of “oops, I am so full that my maternity pants are tight”) but for the most part I try to find a balance.