Originally posted by storch
snip
culero, carb addicts? damn if that don't sound like anti cuban cuisine 
it's a foregone conclusion that from here on out my favorite foods are going the way of the dodo where I'm concerned. I may just go full japanese and start eating bait, anything is better than eating the nutrisystems sauce covered cardboard. I just ordered the book, thanks for the suggestion.
Welcome. I dunno squat about cubano cuisine, but its DAMN sure anti-meskin
The basic routine according to my read and experience is to go "cold-turkey" on the carbs for a few weeks, to break the cycle. Then you add back in a little as you see the weight loss occur, eventually arriving at a balance that combined with your metabolism and lifestyle yields stability at the weight you want.
At first, you're eating like one piece of toast with breakfast, and about that much carb in whatever form you want as a "reward" at the end of the day, nada in between (I went with a coffee cup of ice cream after supper, YMMV). The good side is you replace the food bulk with veggies, meat, eggs, etc - no need to be hungry at all. I found it tolerable, all you have to deal with is carb craving, which isn't that hard (you can combat it with chewing jerky, for instance). Later, you'll be able to eat reasonable amounts of carbs at all mealtimes (just avoid the snacks).
The really interesting aspect is the theory behind it. It seems that carbs are the easiest thing for the body to convert to sugar (muscle energy fuel). If you deny your body that, its forced to work the digestive system harder to fuel your muscles by converting fat, a more complex operation. Thus, you burn fat as you ingest it, preventing it from being stored (your body's natural famine strategy). The way these folks present it, it really makes sense.
