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

IndyAmby

Carbs are nutrients too! I am all for cutting simple carbs, but maintaining a normal (not low) complex carb program as part of a total calorie reduction plan along with methods to increase metabolism (exercise, occasional calorie boosts) is probably healthier. Rapid weight loss is exciting, but not likely to ever be long-term. The body quickly reacts to it and lowers the rate at which you burn calories and unfortunately that's probably what's going on with your weight now after multiple cycles of fad diets.

Carb restriction does, indeed, lead to ketosis...which can, in some people, lead to kidney and liver damage. If your breath becomes 'bad' (trust your friends or family on this) your body is likely trying to get rid of excess ketones. It will also do that through your urine. If you have a history of kidney or liver issues, I recommend not following low-carb diets.

ladymiseryali

Carbs are nutrients too! I am all for cutting simple carbs, but maintaining a normal (not low) complex carb program as part of a total calorie reduction plan along with methods to increase metabolism (exercise, occasional calorie boosts) is probably healthier. Rapid weight loss is exciting, but not likely to ever be long-term. The body quickly reacts to it and lowers the rate at which you burn calories and unfortunately that's probably what's going on with your weight now after multiple cycles of fad diets.

Carb restriction does, indeed, lead to ketosis...which can, in some people, lead to kidney and liver damage. If your breath becomes 'bad' (trust your friends or family on this) your body is likely trying to get rid of excess ketones. It will also do that through your urine. If you have a history of kidney or liver issues, I recommend not following low-carb diets.

You are aware that we do eat SOME carbs, right? We just eat significantly less of it. I agree that if you have liver/kidney issues, you should probably discuss changes in diets with your doctor, but the majority of us who are doing this do not have those issues. PLUS, with this diet, we are encouraged to drink a lot of water, which helps stave off any issues with the kidneys. I drink 30-50 cups of water a day.

parkscs

Carbs are nutrients too! I am all for cutting simple carbs, but maintaining a normal (not low) complex carb program as part of a total calorie reduction plan along with methods to increase metabolism (exercise, occasional calorie boosts) is probably healthier. Rapid weight loss is exciting, but not likely to ever be long-term. The body quickly reacts to it and lowers the rate at which you burn calories and unfortunately that's probably what's going on with your weight now after multiple cycles of fad diets.

Carb restriction does, indeed, lead to ketosis...which can, in some people, lead to kidney and liver damage. If your breath becomes 'bad' (trust your friends or family on this) your body is likely trying to get rid of excess ketones. It will also do that through your urine. If you have a history of kidney or liver issues, I recommend not following low-carb diets.

Sorry but that's largely nonsense. Any time someone concludes something is "probably healthier" without any reasons as to how or why screams "I'm just repeating what I've been told without any actual knowledge about the subject." But if you want to talk about what's truly healthy, dropping the fat and reaching a healthy weight/body fat percentage is one of the absolute best things you can do for your health, with staying active competing for the top spot as well. If a low carb diet allows you achieve those goals, it's one of the best things for your health. What's not healthy is staying overweight and worrying about possible consequences of particular macronutrient distributions, if you were to lose weight. That's not to say people should lose weight by any means necessary, but the "concerns" you're raising are largely myths and for someone to avoid a tool that could help them improve their health because of such misinformation would be a damn shame.

As for your notion that it will impede long-term success, there's no evidence that I'm aware of that low carb diets lower your metabolism as you're suggesting - actually, some older studies suggested low carb diets offer a metabolic advantage, but new (better) studies seem to show there's no real metabolic advantage either way. But the notion that your body will "react" to a low carb diet and lower the rate you burn calories... again, you offer no evidence, just conclusory statements that aren't backed by the evidence. Put simply, following a low carb diet in and of itself does not reduce your metabolism, at least not beyond the expected reductions from staying in a caloric deficit and dropping weight. If you knew a bit about low carb diets, you'd realize the weight loss is from glycogen depletion, and that a simple carb refeed will put that weight back on. Depleting and refilling glycogen stores is not going to cause "metabolic damage." As for liver and kidney damage, I can only speculate that you're thinking of studies that suggested if you're already predisposed to kidney problems, a high protein intake can exacerbate those problems - but that's a protein intake issue and not a low carb issue. Even then, many low carb diets are moderate protein diets (frequently lower in protein than the general fitness and IIFYM recommendations) and can hardly be said to be the only diets out there with a moderate/high protein intake.

Personally I don't know why people go on so much about low carb diets when they aren't really that familiar with them. They certainly aren't for everyone and personally I almost never recommend them to people, but the stream of misinformation and fear mongering are mind boggling to me. Seems to me you could just say they're very restrictive and ill-suited for most people, and then leave it at that. That certainly seems a lot easier than making up stuff like they'll kill your metabolism and destroy your kidneys.

IndyAmby

Nice. You read what you wanted to hear into that.

I said that "rapid weight loss" is not likely to ever be long-term. By "rapid weight loss", I meant ANY plan that causes a loss of more than 1-2 lbs per week....not necessarily just low carb options.

I also didn't say that everyone will suffer kidney or liver issues. I said "in some people". I personally have a history of large, obstructive kidney stones requiring medical intervention. Going on a plan that increases my risk of forming stones is an unnecessary risk for me, and might be for some others, as well. I was sharing personal knowledge and not "repeating what I've been told".

I have had success with calorie reduction plans that do not restrict specific macronutrients. I regained due to blatently disregarding what led to that previous success, but that does not negate it. I don't wish to argue or provide my personal resume. Do what you want. I gave my .02.

fitmek

The best I've ever felt in my life is when I follow the Zone menus and lifestyle. It's hard to keep up with, which is why I struggle to always eat that way, but when I set my mind to it, I feel amazing and the weight literally melts off. It's lower carb (the carbs you do eat are mostly complex) and I love it. I have recently started monitoring which types of carbs I'm putting into my body again. The more bread/cereal/oatmeal I eat, the hungrier I am and the easier it is to jump ship. :-/

parkscs

Nice. You read what you wanted to hear into that.

I said that "rapid weight loss" is not likely to ever be long-term. By "rapid weight loss", I meant ANY plan that causes a loss of more than 1-2 lbs per week....not necessarily just low carb options.

I also didn't say that everyone will suffer kidney or liver issues. I said "in some people". I personally have a history of large, obstructive kidney stones requiring medical intervention. Going on a plan that increases my risk of forming stones is an unnecessary risk for me, and might be for some others, as well. I was sharing personal knowledge and not "repeating what I've been told".

I have had success with calorie reduction plans that do not restrict specific macronutrients. I regained due to blatently disregarding what led to that previous success, but that does not negate it. I don't wish to argue or provide my personal resume. Do what you want. I gave my .02.

Even with a pre-disposition to kidney problems like you have, the problems you would have with a typical low carb diet aren't due to the lack of carbs but rather would be due to a relatively high protein intake. But again that's only because of protein intake and a predisposition to kidney issues, and moreover protein intake is completely adjustable even with carbs restricted. It would be akin to someone with diabetes criticizing a balanced diet as unhealthy because the balanced diet includes more sugar than the diabetic should eat; it makes no sense, because you're broadly criticizing a diet based on a specific medical issue you happen to have.

As for "rapid weight loss", long-term success is not tied to your rate of loss but rather what you do in the future. Even then, why are you assuming a low carb diet results in rapid fat loss? That's controlled by your caloric deficit. And when you follow up a sentence about carb restriction being unhealthy with a sentence about rapid fat loss, I'm not sure what we're expected to think other than you're implying the low carb diet is causing the rapid fat loss, but the science doesn't seem to support any sort of metabolic advantage to low carb diets. Again, you're broadly criticizing a diet based on a specific issue some people could possibly have (i.e., rapid weight loss to the point they lose significant LBM).

As for regaining despite not restricting macronutrients, I'd simply point out that how you lose weight generally has nothing to do with your long-term success. Most people fail in the long-term, but there are success stories from flexible dieters, weight watchers, low carbers, weight loss surgery recipients and on and on. It's not specific to low carb diets and thus isn't really a valid criticism of low carb diets as a means for losing weight.

In any event, I'm not trying to attack you; I'm just saying if you're going to criticize a nutrition plan, offer up valid criticisms that are specific to that method of losing weight and not just all weight loss generally or all diets with even a moderate protein intake.

Sabine_Stroehm

Nice. You read what you wanted to hear into that.

I said that "rapid weight loss" is not likely to ever be long-term. By "rapid weight loss", I meant ANY plan that causes a loss of more than 1-2 lbs per week....not necessarily just low carb options.

I also didn't say that everyone will suffer kidney or liver issues. I said "in some people". I personally have a history of large, obstructive kidney stones requiring medical intervention. Going on a plan that increases my risk of forming stones is an unnecessary risk for me, and might be for some others, as well. I was sharing personal knowledge and not "repeating what I've been told".

I have had success with calorie reduction plans that do not restrict specific macronutrients. I regained due to blatently disregarding what led to that previous success, but that does not negate it. I don't wish to argue or provide my personal resume. Do what you want. I gave my .02.

And a diet rich in whole grains like wheat will ultimately disable or kill some people. It's a matter of perspective and knowing YOUR body. cheers

abear007

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?

In other words, any way of eating someone doesn't like or agree with can be denigrated as a "fad" which is really not saying anything other than "I don't agree with your diet so I'll just demean your efforts it by calling it a fad".

If it works for her, then THAT is what matters.

lawandfitness

Just wanted to add to this thread.

I started a paleo type diet with some exercise in November 2012. After 4 months on this plan I had lost 40 pounds. I was doing well and then I switched jobs. As I started getting more comfortable at my new job, I reverted back to my old eating habits. In just over a year, I gained back 27 pounds from the 40 I had lost. At the end of April 2014, I decided to give low carb a try.

Low carb has worked wonders for me. In the last 4 months I have lost 50 pounds and I never feel deprived. I still make and eat extremely delicious food and it keeps me satisfied longer. This is because I eat more fat. I do not feel as hungry as I used to and my intake of food has decreased. I am mindful of ensuring my body gets enough calories per day. I also work out and do not feel fatigued during my workout.

People have commented on the health concerns surrounding low carb, such as cholesterol, and liver and kidney function. After being strict the last 4 months I decided to go to my doctor for a physical. Prior to my diet I had fatty liver disease and kidney stones. Since losing the weight and eating this way, all my levels are excellent - the best my doc has seen in the last 10 years. The fat around my liver is completely gone, so I no longer have fatty liver disease. In terms of my kidneys, I developed kidney stones during pregnancy. Although my kidney stones are still there, I have not had one flare up since starting this way of eating like I have had previously.

Lastly, I am so sick of people calling this a fad diet. The truth is any diet can be considered a "fad" unless you are willing to make a lifestyle change. CICO could be a fad if you eat like crap once you stop counting cals. At the end of the day, you have to recognize that you have not had a healthy relationship with food in the past, and you have to be conscious of what you eat in the future. Any diet can be a “fad” unless you make it lifestyle change.

mangogirl272727

We're always trying to demonize some food component, when the studies actually show that diets made up of different macronutrient compositions don't really make any difference if the calories are the same from one to another. There is growing evidence that we each have a preference for certain food textures and tastes, so it seems that some people will respond to some diets better than others, but this is merely a question of how hard or easy it will be for people to maintain these changes. (ie meat lovers may do well on a keto diet, etc.)

Actual DATA is a beautiful thing.
http://www.nejm.org/doi/pdf/10.1056/NEJMoa0804748

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.

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.

I unfortunately wasn't tracking anything but carbs, but I would eat things like steak and oven fried chicken a lot. Lots of grilled meats, not lean ones. When we went out, I would eat 2 racks of ribs without sauce, and two servings of steamed veggies. Lots of cheese and other full-fat dairy also. It got very expensive to eat out. I had no problem giving up bread or rice/grains, but the potatoes were killing me. Oddly, I hardly ever eat potatoes now, but I do eat a lot of bread. I've been considering giving this another go, since it was so easy to lose weight before, but I'm not sure I can currently afford the expense of all that meat.

lawandfitness

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.

I unfortunately wasn't tracking anything but carbs, but I would eat things like steak and oven fried chicken a lot. Lots of grilled meats, not lean ones. When we went out, I would eat 2 racks of ribs without sauce, and two servings of steamed veggies. Lots of cheese and other full-fat dairy also. It got very expensive to eat out. I had no problem giving up bread or rice/grains, but the potatoes were killing me. Oddly, I hardly ever eat potatoes now, but I do eat a lot of bread. I've been considering giving this another go, since it was so easy to lose weight before, but I'm not sure I can currently afford the expense of all that meat.

You can get fat from other sources besides meat. Eggs and tuna are very affordable, and sometimes a simple romaine salad with a couple of slices of bacon crumbled into bacon bits will suffice. I make a ranch salad with bacon and cheddar cheese and it's amazing and cheap. Also, certain veggies have a higher carb content, so you should stick with ones that are lower in carbs like mushrooms and zucchini. I still eat a wide variety of veggies, but I ensure that whatever accompanies my veggies is low in carbs. You can make low carb affordable, you just have to look up recipes and think beyond just eating meat. If you want any recipes or tips, feel free to message me.

Fallen8905

This is why I am low carb...

'Low-Carb Solutions

Insulin promotes fat storage, so women with PCOS often have trouble losing weight. A diet high in carbohydrates exacerbates the problem, because the body releases insulin in response to any type of sugar or starch. Consequently, the Office of Women's Health recommends a PCOS diet featuring few processed foods or added sugars. A study published in the Journal of Nutrition and Metabolism in 2005 found that women with PCOS who ate fewer than 20 grams of carbohydrates per day had significant decreases in insulin, testosterone and body weight'.

stacibuk

When I did low-carb, I nearly died. Then I did low carb for breakfast and lunch and then ate carbs in the evening. I lost a lot of weight. Like alb per day. I got really thin. Then I stopped, and put it all back on. I also found I was so thirsty though. I'm now never ever doing low carb ever again.

stealthq

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.

Hardly. However, it's difficult to credit low-carb when the reasons for these improvements are just as likely to be a result of losing the weight and/or higher fat intake.

Sleep apnea in particular often improves just from losing weight.
Depression is known to improve just from increasing fat intake (no idea how commonly this happens).
I have never heard of just low-carb helping anyone with fibromyalgia - and this is significant because I happen to work in lupus (and, because the majority of patients initially diagnosed with lupus are actually fibromyalgia patients, also fibromyalgia) research.

ETA: This is not to say low-carb is bad. But it is not a 'miracle diet' either. Those who find they eat less on it and don't feel deprived should stay on it. Those that don't shouldn't feel they need to jump on the bandwagon in order to have success.

And BTW - you should still watch your calories on low carb. I know a couple of people who went low carb and gained weight fast because they LOVE meat and cream and eggs and cheese and veg and, and, and ... In fact, low carb really wasn't much of a change from their previous diet.

dlucio1

WOW. Im going to try that.

NeverCatchYourBreath

*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!

Ketosis: Unhealthy metabolic state. During ketosis, the body forms substances known as ketones, which can dull appetite and cause nausea and bad breath. Ketosis can be prevented by eating at least 100 grams of carbohydrates a day.

Ketones consist of acetone, acetoacetate or beta-hydroxybutyrate. Very high ketone levels can be toxic, making the blood more acid, and may damage such organs as the kidneys and liver. Ketosis is potentially a serious condition if keytone levels go too high.

pcknits

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.

NeverCatchYourBreath

Carbs are nutrients too! I am all for cutting simple carbs, but maintaining a normal (not low) complex carb program as part of a total calorie reduction plan along with methods to increase metabolism (exercise, occasional calorie boosts) is probably healthier. Rapid weight loss is exciting, but not likely to ever be long-term. The body quickly reacts to it and lowers the rate at which you burn calories and unfortunately that's probably what's going on with your weight now after multiple cycles of fad diets.

Carb restriction does, indeed, lead to ketosis...which can, in some people, lead to kidney and liver damage. If your breath becomes 'bad' (trust your friends or family on this) your body is likely trying to get rid of excess ketones. It will also do that through your urine. If you have a history of kidney or liver issues, I recommend not following low-carb diets.

Sorry but that's largely nonsense. Any time someone concludes something is "probably healthier" without any reasons as to how or why screams "I'm just repeating what I've been told without any actual knowledge about the subject." But if you want to talk about what's truly healthy, dropping the fat and reaching a healthy weight/body fat percentage is one of the absolute best things you can do for your health, with staying active competing for the top spot as well. If a low carb diet allows you achieve those goals, it's one of the best things for your health. What's not healthy is staying overweight and worrying about possible consequences of particular macronutrient distributions, if you were to lose weight. That's not to say people should lose weight by any means necessary, but the "concerns" you're raising are largely myths and for someone to avoid a tool that could help them improve their health because of such misinformation would be a damn shame.

.......(edited bc of length)..................

Personally I don't know why people go on so much about low carb diets when they aren't really that familiar with them. They certainly aren't for everyone and personally I almost never recommend them to people, but the stream of misinformation and fear mongering are mind boggling to me. Seems to me you could just say they're very restrictive and ill-suited for most people, and then leave it at that. That certainly seems a lot easier than making up stuff like they'll kill your metabolism and destroy your kidneys.

The entire last half of what she said above is true. Restricting carbs below a certain level absolutely can lead to ketosis and can cause liver and kidney damage as well as a sort of "diabetic coma" or even death if you allow it to continue for an extended period of time. Ketones create acidity in the blood (ketoacidosis) and can be toxic. Do some research on ketoacidosis, ketouria, and ketogenisis.

You should probably do your own research before calling someone else's "misinformation."

parkscs

The entire last half of what she said above is true. Restricting carbs below a certain level absolutely can lead to ketosis and can cause liver and kidney damage as well as a sort of "diabetic coma" or even death if you allow it to continue for an extended period of time. Ketones create acidity in the blood (ketoacidosis) and can be toxic. Do some research on ketoacidosis, ketouria, and ketogenisis.

You should probably do your own research before calling someone else's "misinformation."

If you don't understand the difference between dietary ketosis and ketoacidosis, you really shouldn't be posting on this topic.