They sell a 4-pound TUB of Twizzlers now–”a low-fat snack!”

Once upon a time in a life that seems so very long ago when I was completely out of my mind thinking the recommended high-carb, low-fat diet was gonna do anything good in regards to my weight and health, I relished the thought of finding foods that were labeled “low-fat” or “fat-free” thinking that somehow these things were healthy for me. I’d proudly turn to the nutritional information label on the back of a product and zoom right in to only one bit of information on that packaging–the fat grams. If it was 1g or less fat per serving, then I bought it and ate whatever it was with pride that I was making a healthier choice that would help me lose weight.

What a dope I was to ever believe the low-fat diet was right for me!

But like most Americans, when all you’ve ever heard your entire life is to cut the fat, cut the fat, and oh by the way, cut the fat, the insatiable pull this message can play on your psyche is virtually impossible to overcome. That’s what happened to me especially in 1999 when I lost 170 pounds eating a high-carb, low-fat diet. Yes, that’s right! I was very successful eating a diet low in total fat and high in carbohydrates. Well, that is if you define “success” merely in pounds lost.

Unfortunately, that way of eating may have led to weight loss, but I didn’t feel right eating that way. It just seemed so unnatural eating fat-free this and low-fat that. I was constantly hungry because I thought that’s the way you are supposed to live eating healthy. Can anybody relate? Plus, this hunger along with an intense feeling of deprivation having to settle for rice cakes, fat-free cheese, and skim milk made me irritable, angry at the world, and thoroughly disgusted with life. It was a sad, yet very predictable and all-too-common state of affairs that I’d been through before.

The only saving grace for me at the time were all of the great fat-free and low-fat products that were at my disposal. While the marshmallow-based circus peanuts and Jelly Belly jelly beans were two low-fat snacks I LOVED to consume on my low-fat diet, there was one that beat them all–TWIZZLERS! Yep, the red twist licorice was a staple in my low-fat dieting days. I could literally eat a whole bag and wouldn’t think twice about it–after all, it was low-fat ya know!

At the time, I didn’t know about or care what a carbohydrate was although I probably should have. Little did I know all those Twizzlers I was eating were actually making my low-fat hunger pangs even WORSE because I was feeding the monster that can never be satisfied with more sugar and carbs. But I was none the wiser because low-fat was where it was at for me at the time. I was deeply entrenched in low-fat living and avoided any and all fat that I could.

How many people do the exact same thing even to this day thinking that’s what makes them healthy? I would be willing to guess it’s a whole lot more than we even realize. This is one of those unintended consequences of scaring people half to death about eating fat that our brilliant government health leaders, those so-called health “experts” and their willing accomplices in the media so conveniently abdicate their personal responsibility for causing–making people fat-phobic has created more obesity and more health problems than ever before!

That constant message of cutting the fat in our diets is what drove me to Twizzlers. What would seem so unconscionable now stuffing my mouth with red licorice and those shoestring-styled version (my former fave!) was just a regular part of my low-fat diet at the time. No, people like Dr. Dean Ornish don’t advocate eating these kinds of foods as part of his low-fat diet plan, but reality is reality. When you push an idea like “low-fat is healthy,” the food manufacturers are gonna take advantage of it. That’s why we have some pretty amazing health claims showing up on food products even to this day.

Christine and I were in Super Walmart the other day and saw that huge 4-pound tub of Twizzlers on the shelf. HOLY COW! That’s a lot of Twizzlers and back in the day I probably would have bought three or four tubs of this stuff. Why? Well, it’s right there on the label–”As Always, A Low-Fat Snack.” See for yourself:

What’s bad is I bought into that! Raise your hand if you’ve done it too (and if your hand isn’t up, then you’re lying!). :p But it’s nothing more than a marketing ploy by the makers of Twizzlers who try to say this product is a health food. You know, as much as Dr. Ornish tries to bemoan low-carb staples like meat, cheese, and pork rinds as not being health foods, I’ve never ONCE heard him dismiss foods like marshmallows, Coca-Cola, or Twizzlers as unhealthy. These high-sugar/high-carb foods are REGULARLY promoted as good for low-fat diets and they’re all fake foods. At least those low-carb foods are REAL FOOD!

You’ve heard the story about my low-fat diet attempt in 1999: I lost 170 pounds in nine months eating that way, but it only took one moment for me to rebel against it. That moment was a visit to McDonald’s to get Christine some French fries (her favorite even to this day–I know, it’s disgusting!). I couldn’t believe she put that temptation out there for me, but I told her I was gonna have a Big Mac meal Supersized with a Coke “just this one time.” What happened after that was predictable from a mile away–all the weight came pouring back on me and more in just a matter of four months!

When I started on the Atkins diet in 2004, once again I was back to reading labels. But this time around fat was not my concern and it still isn’t. Not even saturated fat which I now realize is extremely healthy for you in the absence of carbohydrate in your diet. Today I look specifically for sugar grams and total carbohydrates. Let’s take a look at that nutritional label on those Twizzlers for a moment to see the shocking content of this former low-fat sweet treat:

It’s a little hard to see, but the serving size is three Twizzlers which have 15g of sugar and 29g of total carbohydrate. Sure, that’s only 120 calories and a half a gram of fat, but that’s not a very good or healthy food to be eating no matter what kind of diet you are on! That’s what is so wrong with those ridiculous 100-calorie pack foods that are so prominently marketed these days. Most of them are LOADED with high levels of both sugar and total carbohydrates. They can be “naturally fat-free” or “low-calorie” all day long, but if the carb counts are high they just aren’t gonna be good for you. I can’t say it any simpler than that.

Do I miss my Twizzlers today? Uh, NO! I now realize what a nutritionally bankrupt food product this is and I’m not tempted in the least at the very sight of them anymore. This is a very big deal since I used to eat them like they were going out of style when I livin’ la vida low-fat. Thank God I came to my senses and now realize that it’s the carbohydrates, not the fats, that will keep me from attaining the weight and health that I so desperately desire to have for the rest of my life.

What former low-fat foods did you used to snack on regularly during your low-fat dieting days that you now wouldn’t touch with a ten-foot pole on your healthy low-carb lifestyle? Share your story in the comments section below.

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