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

parkscs

No one will read this or listen to me but unless you have professional medical direction to do so, restricting one particular macronutrient (e.g. a low carb or low fat diet) is not a balanced or sustainable way to improve your body composition.

The way to lose fat is to burn more calories than you consume. That's it. If you only start losing weight after embarking upon the low carb path, it's because that's the first approach you've tried that reduced your calories consumed. You could do the same thing with a low protein or low fat diet.

With a low carb diet you'll have low energy levels, and your weight will drop deceptively fast at first as you deplete your muscles' reserves of glycogen and lose water. You will then find that you only lose weight at a rate depending on how much of a caloric deficit you have.

The reason many people think low fat and/or low carb diets are the key to losing weight is because most foods with carbohydrates and fat taste very good, and are easy to eat a lot of, and too much of, pulling you into caloric surplus territory. But, with even less discipline than is required for a low carb diet you can have a balanced diet and still lose weight.

Best of luck to you.

Since when is balance across macronutrients in and of itself meaningful in any way? You don't need balanced quantities of each, but rather you need sufficient amounts of the various nutrients and those amounts vary quite a bit across the board. As for low energy, I suspect you're just repeating what you've heard but generally speaking not everyone has low energy on a low carb diet, particularly when it's done correctly and for a sufficiently lengthy period of time. You then go on to acknowledge the satiating nature of a low carb diet and how that can help you achieve a caloric deficit, but then for some reason dismiss it. That high satiation is one of the primary advantages to low carb diets and that alone is a reason for people with big appetites to at least consider cutting back carbs on a cut. That's particularly true since your bit about low energy is a falsity, macronutrient balance is meaningless and the notion that your specific macros on a cut have to be "sustainable indefinitely" is BS.

There are downsides to these diets, namely they're very restrictive and you may need to adjust your carb intake somewhat depending on your exercise routine, but the disadvantages you listed are either myths or they simply aren't accurate.

Lord007

Some people are genetically "coded" to be insulin resistant, like me. I have a blood panel performed by my doctor quarterly and genetic testing for insulin resistance is included in that 10 page report.
For folks with that same genetic trait, that means eating low carb helps me to lose weight and stay healthy. Sound like you may have the same gene. You might ask your physician about confirming that.

stuart160

OP if you get a chance check out the Dukan Diet materials. It's essentially a low carb low sugar with high protein and I have lost 60 lbs with it in 5 months and feel great. I get my protein from lean meats and low fat dairy and eat vegetables and don't have issues with low energy or hunger.

Mikkimeow

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

I have lost all faith in humanity.

sheenarama

I totally want Mac&Cheese after reading this.

k8blujay2

And

tanyakay87

Wow! So many opinions!

To the haters - Thank you for taking the time out to share your thoughts. I know it's just concerns that you have and it's nice people still look out for one another.

To the lovers - Thank you for your support and all your information you've given on this! I am steadily losing a kilo a week and this is honestly the first time in years that the scales have actually moved. I have my confidence back and I'm doing really well. And it's because I have support from you guys, so thank you!!

meshashesha2012

bait must be low carb

tabicatinthehat

Low carb "works" for me every time I try it, but I have never been able to maintain that way of life.

ladymiseryali

As someone who has been on keto for over a year, I agree! Don't listen to the low-carb haters. They do this to ANYONE who DARES to eat differently than they do.

Sabine_Stroehm

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.

Fascinating. I find the opposite. I'm not particularly low carb at all, but if I eat meat and veg I'm pretty well satisfied. When I eat BREAD I find that I'm starving all the time.

Sabine_Stroehm

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

It's NOT a fad diet. I was going to comment on this as well.

bradsbaby1996

Low carb is a truly amazing lifestyle! The 29th of this month will be my 11 month anniversary of low carb living. I have lost 110 pounds and completely reversed all my health problems including major depression, sleep apnea, and fibromyalgia!
The only time low carb is a fad diet is when a person makes it one. OP, this will work if you stay committed and let it work!

bradsbaby1996

Oh btw, I went from a size 20 to a size 4 and am maintening there! I have also dropped my bmi from 40.1 to 23!

bybyadipocytes

it is amazing, isn't it? sugar is the worst. I eat 50% of my cals in fat. I don't do red meat or pork, instead I eat lots of eggs, coconut oil, nuts, etc.

best I've ever looked. congrats for finding what works for you!

Iknewyouweretrouble

I AM a carb, so i get extremely grumpy on this diet and quit. and there are more calories in fat (and in alcohol) than carbs, so for CICO I go low fat instead. but I'm glad to hear you are able to stick with it!

lighteningjeanne855

Please don't think that "low carb" means to reduce the amount of WHEAT you eat.
Go to youTube to hear Dr. Davis, a cardiologist,
talk about his findings in the book, 'Wheat Belly',
or read the wheatbellyblog.com.

Before you scoff, go check out my recommendations!

abear007

Low carb is a truly amazing lifestyle! The 29th of this month will be my 11 month anniversary of low carb living. I have lost 110 pounds and completely reversed all my health problems including major depression, sleep apnea, and fibromyalgia!

Hey, hey - keep it down. The low-carb haters will just declare this all in your head, not something real.

sparacka

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.

This is contrary to almost every other post in this thread and to the concepts of low-carb diets in general...how much fat were you eating? Honestly curious.

sparacka

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

Exactement!!! 33 pounds lost in just over two months, eating delicious, varied foods, cooking things up daily in the kitchen and not feeling like I'm going to gnaw off my own arm. When I first got into ketosis, it almost felt like I was living in an alternate reality...everything seemed clearer, sharper...I'm in this for the long haul and count the mental health benefits right up there with the physical health benefits.