whole grain mystery...are people really this different?

Very possible. Each person's body works a little differently. I have Celiac disease so if I eat wheat I feel like I'm dying of dysentery. Maybe your sister has an intolerance to grains? Or perhaps she has insulin issues and the carbs cause her blood sugar to spike and then fall to rapidly leaving her craving more? Several factors could be at play here but yes...people can really be that different.

It’s not only possible, but it’s pretty normal. It’s why there’s no one way to lose weight. If everybody’s body worked the same then there would be one main weight loss plan and anyone that followed it would be losing weight. But everyone if different, both in how their body actually processes stuff and how they react mentally to it (e.g. trigger foods).

I personally do better when I have sugary carbs in my diet. Yes, I know exactly how crazy that sounds. But I lose weight easier and more consistently when I allow room in my daily macros for things like cupcakes and Pop Tarts. I seriously wish I was joking about this, but it’s actually completely true. I also am just happier in general and am more likely to make healthier choices the rest of the time if I know that I have those treats worked in already. My friends and I actually joke about my Cupcake Diet and I’m on a first name basis with the staff at the local cupcake bakery I love. Though, I am actually concerned about when I get to my goal weight and I want to try to really shape my body rather than just lose, because I know that sometimes sugar can be a hindrance. But I’m hoping I’ll still be able to make it work.

But my mother-in-law rarely does sugary carbs, and tends to keep carbs a minimum overall. She does way better with weight loss that way. When she has a higher than usual amount of carbs, she sees temporary gain on her scale where I’ll tend to see a loss. She’s lost a lot of weight and continues to lose by doing this and she doesn’t find it difficult to maintain on an ongoing basis without really having to think about it. She doesn’t have celiacs and grains/wheat don’t cause her any discomfort at all, it’s just not her preferred way of eating/losing weight.

It’s why I hate when people come on here and push one diet style over another as being better. Maybe it was better for the person pushing it, but that doesn’t mean it’s the right choice for the person they’re telling it to.

Unfortunately, it’s really only through trial and error will a person find what truly is best for them. Thankfully, you’ve already learned that not having carbs makes you feel crappy, so a low carb style diet isn’t in your game plans. That’s a good place to start. Now it will just be refining from there to figure out what works best in the long run from a long list of ways to eat like net calories (e.g. base number and eat back exercise), TDEE/Road Map (e.g. -20% of TDEE), 5:2, IF, IIFYM, clean eating, etc.

So support your sister’s need to not eat carby stuff, but enjoy it in your eating plan. It’s just the different ways you guys happen to be, nothing right or wrong about either way.