How have I only just realised how great low-carb is?!

tanyakay87

I have been dieting and detoxing and praying and starving and binge eating for about 8 years now.. And I have just come to the realisation that low-carb is absolutely heaven-sent. I don't know why I have over-looked this so much in the past! I can eat MAYONNAISE! What diet lets you eat mayonnaise? It started off as Paleo but I found it was way too expensive for me, and it seemed crazy trying to buy separate food for me and my daughter. I have saved £13 this week on groceries by going low-carb, and I have lost 2.3 KG / 5.07 LBS in just one week! Okay I know most of that is water but seriously I'm on such a high! I even ate Doritos and still managed to lose weight. I'm eating between 40-50g of carbs a day just to lose weight, and then when I hit my target, I can up that to 150g for maintenance, which is a ton of food. I can mix my diet up so much too with this which is what I like about it. I am eating tons of meat, vegetables, fruits, high-fat dairy etc. and the best part is I can "cheat" and not put on weight, I'm even baking a caramel chocolate cake with low-carbs! Who couldn't love this lifestyle?!

Just wanted to show my low-carb appreciation!! (Also I'm looking for new friends please, I didn't log on for a really long time and I seem to lost most of mine :sad: )

Louise3180

That's quite interesting, I am considering low-carb myself to boost weight-loss as if I don't see early results I tend to give up. Were you a big carb-eater before? They are currently over 50% of my daily intake, not sure how easily I could reduce them...

Healthymom_5

Good for you!!
I'm trying low carb for now, in order to get my blood sugars down as I lose the weight. Hoping it helps - so far the weight is coming off nicely!! I can't help but cringe when I see the high fat percent on my nutrition stats, though! Hope it keeps working for you!

SingingSingleTracker

I have been dieting and detoxing and praying and starving and binge eating for about 8 years now.. And I have just come to the realisation that low-carb is absolutely heaven-sent. I don't know why I have over-looked this so much in the past! I can eat MAYONNAISE! What diet lets you eat mayonnaise? It started off as Paleo but I found it was way too expensive for me, and it seemed crazy trying to buy separate food for me and my daughter. I have saved £13 this week on groceries by going low-carb, and I have lost 2.3 KG / 5.07 LBS in just one week! Okay I know most of that is water but seriously I'm on such a high! I even ate Doritos and still managed to lose weight. I'm eating between 40-50g of carbs a day just to lose weight, and then when I hit my target, I can up that to 150g for maintenance, which is a ton of food. I can mix my diet up so much too with this which is what I like about it. I am eating tons of meat, vegetables, fruits, high-fat dairy etc. and the best part is I can "cheat" and not put on weight, I'm even baking a caramel chocolate cake with low-carbs! Who couldn't love this lifestyle?!

Just wanted to show my low-carb appreciation!! (Also I'm looking for new friends please, I didn't log on for a really long time and I seem to lost most of mine :sad: )

Unfortunately, my guess is that you will be skipping from diet to diet until you really do take the time to get the CICO figured out. The only thing special about low carb is that it lowers the number of calories going in (just like any other diet). That's it. Nothing more exciting about it than that.

The truth medicine to lose and maintain is found here:

http://www.acaloriecounter.com/blog/why-am-i-not-losing-weight/

Calories in vs. calories out trumps all "fad" diets.

fitby44

So fantastic that you know what works for you. It took me a long time to figure out that a lower carb diet is the way for me to go too. Even years ago when I lost weight and got to goal with Weight Watchers, I went over my old journals and my best losses were weeks when I didn't have many simple carbs even though I was only allowed 250 calories a day of selections of my choice. The graham crackers and animal crackers I ate did not help my weight loss.

Keep doing what works for you. Everyone is different.

valentine142

I too have been one to bounce around from diet to diet. I had lost a lot of weight when I was a teenager but gained it all back plus more in my early 20"s. I've tried "low-cal" and weight watchers before (multiple times). I've paid for the nutri-system diet too... Nothing worked, I felt that I was starving myself and never really felt satisfied with my meals. A few weeks ago, my boss introduced me to a miracle eating plan! A plan where I'm never hungry, Most meals are easy to prepare (You still have one homemade meal per day), I can still snack AND I don't have to exercise! This all sounded too good to be true. I figured I didn't have anything to lose except for the weight so I gave it a shot. In my first week I lost 9.6 lbs and 6 inches! I was beyond amazed, It's been almost 2 weeks and I've already lost a full pant size! I feel great, I'm never hungry and I'm not having food cravings! I only eat about 40-45 carbs per day and I intake a lot of protein, this eating plan puts your body into a state of ketosis (your body's fat burning state). This has worked for me so far. I'd say if low-carb is working for you like it's working for me, keep it up! Best of luck to you on your weight loss journey!

Mom2ATM

My sister has cut out white/refined starchy foods like white breads and pastas and has done amazing so far, last i knew she waas down nearly 30lbs, my body reacts horribly to those types of foods as well, so i dont eat them if i can help it, i instead opt for whole grains and fruits for my carbs.

Daniel_Damti

I know its amazing i also started a no card diet recently

valentine142

*Update* I had my 2nd weigh-in (17 days in) and I'm down another 8.4lbs, 18 lbs total in 17 days, also down 9 inches. I feel great and energized! And since cutting the carbs has put my body in ketosis I never feel hungry! I love this diet! I've also started cooking more for myself and have found that although this diet limits some food I used to enjoy, there are loads of different options that I'm growing to love!

esphixiet

CICO is an awfully simplistic approach to a very complex subject. Bottom line CICO works. However, taking into consideration the variety of personal experiences where low-carb has *saved peoples lives*, it's awfully critical of you to dismiss OP's discovery.
When I low carb I experience a significant decrease in mood swings, hunger pangs and obsessive thoughts because my body doesn't like the blood-sugar roller coaster eating too many carbs has to offer.

Good for you, OP, for finding something that works for you!!!

Unfortunately, my guess is that you will be skipping from diet to diet until you really do take the time to get the CICO figured out. The only thing special about low carb is that it lowers the number of calories going in (just like any other diet). That's it. Nothing more exciting about it than that.

The truth medicine to lose and maintain is found here:

http://www.acaloriecounter.com/blog/why-am-i-not-losing-weight/

Calories in vs. calories out trumps all "fad" diets.

jgood21

Low carb is AMAZING! I counted calories for about 2 years before I switched to low carb. When I counted calories, I STRUGGLED to lose the little weight that I did lose...after switching to low carb, the weight literally melted off! I've been low carb for about two years now. I will never do another "diet" ever again. I truly believe that low carb is the answer when you are trying to lose fat.

DarinGettingFitNow

Hi, I'm anti-fad diet, but I'll say this:

When I went to medical school, we reviewed the atkins diet, and it definitely works. The key, though, is actually following the diet - you really must limit your carb intake to the recommended levels to put your body into ketosis. It's also not recommended for people who are extreme exercisers (marathoners, bodybuilders).

If you "just" want to limit starches, then you'll have to do calories in-calories out... but those things are pretty calorie-laden, so cutting back will put you on good ground.

Do whatever is working for you, as long as you're being responsible and taking care of yourself! :-D

(edited to correct ridiculous spelling mistakes)

hyg99

I have found I've drifted into lower carbs almost accidentally. I used to have sandwiches every day at work but when started calorie counting, I opted for salads or leftovers from our tea the night before. Whilst on holiday last week, I had 2 weeks of eating more bread and felt incredibly bloated and windy... on return, the bread is gone and I feel loads better. I've lost over 4 stone since January.

jctackett

I'm trying Carbohydrate Addict's. 4 carbs or less for breakfast and lunch, and whatever for dinner (as long as it's eaten within one hour). I FEEL good, but've only lost 7 lbs in a month

blmbmj

I totally agree. Low Carbing (under 30 carb grams/day) has enabled me to lose 40 pounds in 3 months, TOTALLY ELIMINATE the pain from my Osteoarthritic knees; have more energy and breathe better than any other plan I have ever been on.

PLUS, I can live with it for life--it is not restricting once you adapt to the new way of cooking/eating.

I love low-carb eating, and even dietitians now recommend it. http://www.lowcarbdietitian.com/

icrushit

Yeah, loving the low carb too, although I do wonder how quickly some of that water weight will go back on once I relax the carb intake a little, as I see myself maintaining my weight on a moderate carb/ protein/ fat diet when I lose the unwanted pounds I wish to. I was a big carb eater before, usually decent complex carbs, so I imagine on moderate carb I will regain about half the water weight I lost. Ah, something to worry about down the line

By the way, I don't see how CICO (calories in, calories out) invalidates a low carb approach, as the way I see it low carb is simply a good way to maintain a calorie deficit as most peoples calorie intakes will drop by cutting out a decent portion of carbs, most of which are filler foods anyway in my opinion (added sugar, bread, and also grains to an extent). Also, dismissing low carb as a fad is a tad facetious in my opinion, as it is simply one of three very basic diet types (high carb/moderate protein/low fat, moderate carb/moderate protein/moderate fat, and low carb/moderate protein/high fat), and hardly a fad.

Also my personal opinion and experience after dabbling in low carb for almost 2 months now (with all the progress indicated in my below ticker), is that controlling the balance between carbs and fat in your diet (your bodies 2 main energy sources), is a very effective way of moderating and maintaining your intake without suffering from deprivation and requiring copious amounts of willpower to make it through each day without slipping.

Its also my personal belief that if more people understood the power of this dietary lever, they would probably have the most valuable tool they could have, to maintain any weight loss, as well as to manipulate their weight should/ when they need to. Also, I say that as someone who lost 70lbs the high carb/ moderate protein/ low fat way, and kept it off for about 7 years. Somehow I think I shall be keeping the regained 38lbs of that 70lbs loss off, once I lose it this time

slliwlt

I am just starting low-carb (again!) I lost a ton of weight doing low carb several years ago.... I had more energy and felt better than I had ever felt before, or since.... Makes me wonder why I ever quit... I think I just got lazy and would cheat a little here and there, and then just forgot about it all together.
I just restarted and am so excited! (Isn't that silly? haha) My goal is to be down 40 lbs by my 40th birthday (that's in May so it's totally do-able!)
I joined 2 groups on here, both are low-carb groups, and got some advice to read a book on 'carb-cycling' If anybody else has any great tips or words of advice-I'd love to hear them!

bigislandgrrl

I'm trying Carbohydrate Addict's. 4 carbs or less for breakfast and lunch, and whatever for dinner (as long as it's eaten within one hour). I FEEL good, but've only lost 7 lbs in a month

Perhaps its that "whatever" for dinner thats holding you back...

SnuggleSmacks

When I was low-carbing, I did lose some weight, but I was starving all the time. I would eat two large portions of meat, and two servings of steamed veggies and a salad every meal, and still be hungry. And the meats weren't all lean, and I was using butter on my veggies, and oil on my salad, so it wasn't a lack of fats. I found it very unsustainable for that reason.

xmichaelyx

Low carb works for me because eating carbs makes me hungry, while eating protein and fat makes me feel full.

CupcakeCrusoe

Good on you. I dabbled in paleo earlier this year. It was good, I liked it, energy was up... but for me it was not sustainable. I didn't want to always be that girl at the party who couldn't have the cake because "she only ate peanut butter and bacon." (almond butter by the way, not peanut butter) I didn't end up liking all the restrictions it posed (don't drink beer! what?!)

You do what works for you. Paleo/low carb didn't work for me, and now I'm doing moderation and loving my life.

Mr_Bad_Example

Who couldn't love this lifestyle?!

Me.

I'm prefer a balanced diet myself. But I'm weird like that.

Kat5343

It really gets irritating when I hear people refer to low-carb as a fad diet... low-carb is not a diet.. it is a way of life. My doctor recommended it to me when I was diagnosed with PCOS.. then about 2 years later I was also diagnosed with Hashimoto's thyroiditis. Literally, low-carb is the ONLY way I have been able to lose weight.

Really, the only thing I miss is potatoes and sometimes a dinner roll or a breadstick.. but allowing myself a meal with a potato or a roll will not make or break my goals. The beauty about the low-carb lifestyle is if you fail, start right back tomorrow..

Good luck!

_Zardoz_

I have been dieting and detoxing and praying and starving and binge eating for about 8 years now.. And I have just come to the realisation that low-carb is absolutely heaven-sent. I don't know why I have over-looked this so much in the past! I can eat MAYONNAISE! What diet lets you eat mayonnaise? It started off as Paleo but I found it was way too expensive for me, and it seemed crazy trying to buy separate food for me and my daughter. I have saved £13 this week on groceries by going low-carb, and I have lost 2.3 KG / 5.07 LBS in just one week! Okay I know most of that is water but seriously I'm on such a high! I even ate Doritos and still managed to lose weight. I'm eating between 40-50g of carbs a day just to lose weight, and then when I hit my target, I can up that to 150g for maintenance, which is a ton of food. I can mix my diet up so much too with this which is what I like about it. I am eating tons of meat, vegetables, fruits, high-fat dairy etc. and the best part is I can "cheat" and not put on weight, I'm even baking a caramel chocolate cake with low-carbs! Who couldn't love this lifestyle?!

Just wanted to show my low-carb appreciation!! (Also I'm looking for new friends please, I didn't log on for a really long time and I seem to lost most of mine :sad: )

So you've been jumping from fad to fad for 8 years. So now why do you think the outcome of this fad will be any different?

I really wish you luck with this but after hanging around on MFP for 18 months I've seen stories like yours too many times. Good luck and if you would just like to eat a normal balanced diet i'll give you a link you could look at

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1175494-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants?hl=guide+to+sexypants&page=1#posts-18361594

Hornsby

I'm glad that you found a diet that creates a calorie deficit for you. Good luck moving forward

It's definitely not for everyone (I am one that would not love that diet *and I eat mayonnaise all the time), but I definitely believe in the mantra "whatever floats your boat".

abear007

Just wanted to show my low-carb appreciation!! (Also I'm looking for new friends please, I didn't log on for a really long time and I seem to lost most of mine :sad: )

The important thing is, finding what WORKS FOR YOU and what you can stick with, long term, because that's what it's going to take - lots of time and patience. "CICO" is a mind-numbingly trivial observation. Losing weight is about HOW you as an individual can actually get to expending more calories than you take in and if low-carb is how you can do it, then that's fantastic.

Mr_Bad_Example

"CICO" is a mind-numbingly trivial observation. Losing weight is about HOW you as an individual can actually get to expending more calories than you take in and if low-carb is how you can do it, then that's fantastic.

So trivial, and yet it works too.

Raaynn

Who couldn't love this lifestyle?!

Me.

I'm prefer a balanced diet myself. But I'm weird like that.

Well , since everyones body is different everyones balance is different. my body cant handle grains of any kind. my bloodsugar stays extremely elevated for 3 hours which leads to vision changes and other systemic issues. Balanced for me is no grains and lower sugar. there is no real "balanced" diet. there is only what works for you. if you take two women and feed them both a "balanced slice of pizza" veggies cheese sauce crust, you've got a usda balanced diet right there. one might gain 5 lbs over a month and the other might gain nothing. people who lead relatively sedentary lifestyles do not need 300 g of carbs like the stupid worthless usda says they do. carb consumption is why our nation is so fat. if we ate one meal a day like the Chinese the high carbs would be fine, but we eat 3 and snacks which is and has been a disaster for the past 10-15 years. kids are fat and growing wider at an alarming rate because they don't get out to play like they used to. their diets have not gotten worse, its the fact that they don't need those extra carbs anymore.

abear007

So trivial, and yet it works too.

Which is also trivial because it doesn't say anything useful in regards to "how" - which when it comes to people is what actually trying to loose excess weight is about - the how.

Raaynn

I have been dieting and detoxing and praying and starving and binge eating for about 8 years now.. And I have just come to the realisation that low-carb is absolutely heaven-sent. I don't know why I have over-looked this so much in the past! I can eat MAYONNAISE! What diet lets you eat mayonnaise? It started off as Paleo but I found it was way too expensive for me, and it seemed crazy trying to buy separate food for me and my daughter. I have saved £13 this week on groceries by going low-carb, and I have lost 2.3 KG / 5.07 LBS in just one week! Okay I know most of that is water but seriously I'm on such a high! I even ate Doritos and still managed to lose weight. I'm eating between 40-50g of carbs a day just to lose weight, and then when I hit my target, I can up that to 150g for maintenance, which is a ton of food. I can mix my diet up so much too with this which is what I like about it. I am eating tons of meat, vegetables, fruits, high-fat dairy etc. and the best part is I can "cheat" and not put on weight, I'm even baking a caramel chocolate cake with low-carbs! Who couldn't love this lifestyle?!

Just wanted to show my low-carb appreciation!! (Also I'm looking for new friends please, I didn't log on for a really long time and I seem to lost most of mine :sad: )

Unfortunately, my guess is that you will be skipping from diet to diet until you really do take the time to get the CICO figured out. The only thing special about low carb is that it lowers the number of calories going in (just like any other diet). That's it. Nothing more exciting about it than that.

The truth medicine to lose and maintain is found here:

http://www.acaloriecounter.com/blog/why-am-i-not-losing-weight/

Calories in vs. calories out trumps all "fad" diets.

really? last time I checked doctors were putting people on diets to regulate their blood sugars. people digest grains differently and that is a genetic factor you are ignoring. you can take two people with the same bmi, height , weight and have them eat the same diet and one will lose and one will gain. the same activities ect......... a lower carb diet is a balanced diet for many people. we have gigantic kids and they all have one thing in common..... massive carb consumption, not Fat, CARB consumption. we are the only "sedentary" country that recommends 250-300 g carbs a day. The Chinese as a whole tend to eat once, maybe twice a day. they burn what they eat and that's why high carbs are ok for them. we eat and eat and eat and eat some more. we do it because we are constantly hungry and food is always within our reach. Carbs are the culprit and study after study after study is proving it. many people eat so much in the way of carbs they would need to run a 5k everyday to break even calorie wise without being hungry. people need to stop looking at the fat content and more at the carbs.

Fallen8905

Can I just agree that low carb isn't a fad diet! I have pcos and I am on low carb and now its a way of life for me. I consider diets that you replace meals with silly milkshakes as fad diets because u going to live on shakes all your life... Nope so not a a sustainable lifestyle change x