Low carb diets, what do you think of them?

Dawn_Kyle

Has anyone tried the low carb diet? if so what worked and what didn't?

Dawn_Kyle

Has anyone tried the low carb diet? if so what worked and what didn't?

judy_al

Hey! Yes I have done the low carb (Dr. Atkins) it works very well - i lost 80 lbs on it - and just recently changed to counting calories - to give my body a change and take in my fruits.

I will go back on it in a couple of months - would go on the Atkins web site for more details on it it will explain how the diet works and what foods to eat.

Good luck!

VballLeash

I haven't but what I hear is you will loose weight initially but then when you add carbs back in you will gain it back and sometimes more. I know a couple of people that cut them out for 2 weeks and then brought them back in slowly, good carbs of course! Hope this helped. Good luck!

~Leash

bj2007

Yes, several years ago I lost 50 lbs on it ---- almost effortlessly. Felt good, cholestrol went down and only gained about 10 pounds back. However, three years later I developed gout which I have since found out is one of the possible side effects of the Atkins. I found I couldn't keep the gout from coming back even with diet changes suggested. So I am now on a preventative medicine. During the battle with gout and the medication prescribed as I fought each attack, I gained back most of the weight.

Believe me gout is something you do not want to have to deal with. It is caused by excess protein which causes crystals to settle in your joints, usually in your feet.

:noway:

GTOgirl1969

It worked very well for me ( I lost thirty lbs. in a little under a month and a half), but it was impossible to stick with. More accurately, it was hell on earth!:devil:

FluffnStuff

Well there is LOW carb (about 0-25% ratio) and then there is LOWER carb(25%-50%).
Depending on your body you could get results from either.
Traditional American diets consist of between 50%-70% carbs (according to Food Guide Pyramid).

I think a big thing is WHAT makes up those "carbs," fruits, veggies, whole grains, etc are WAY better then processed carbs

IMHO.

joonieB

I did South Beach 3 years ago. It was very "successful". I lost 35 lbs in 12 weeks. HOWEVER, for many reasons I wish I hadn't done a low carb diet.

1. Weight that comes off quickly comes back on quickly. I ended up gaining 30 lbs back, over a period of 2 years. I had to quit the diet, which leads to #2

2. I couldn't sustain this diet. It was too different from what "regular" people get to eat. Severely cutting out carbs was something that didn't come naturally for me, and whenever I ate something heavy on carbs I felt incredibly guilty--I much prefer counting calories. By counting calories I can have the odd piece of birthday cake or pie and as long as I can "work the numbers" I am not cheating.

3. My body DID NOT LIKE the low carb diet. I lost 1/3 of my hair--thankfully it grew back. My nails were flimsy like paper, and no matter how much added fiber I took in, things really took a turn for the worse in my digestive system. Please excuse my bluntness but, anal fissures anyone? Certainly more painful than my "natural" childbirth. MISERABLE!

To recap--quick weight loss, lots of undesireable side effects. Slow and steady wins the race. I have now lost 20 lbs and that is good enough for me. I didn't want to get down too low, just to eventually swing back up again. I know the weight/lifestyle I'm living currently is sustainable. Very important.

mncardiojunkie

I love my low carb life style...it's a health food freak diet. I'm extremely creative with substitutes now. I've done this since 1999. Nothing processed, no dyes, I cook gourmet now. I'm getting better at this. My brother has also been on this since 1999 and he's lost 50 pounds and hasn't gained back an oz. He will occasionally eat Mexican food or Chinese food and go back to the lifestyle the next day. That's hard, cause once you start with the high carbs, it's hard to eliminate them again. You get the cravings.

I eat mostly vegetables and some chicken and sometimes a steak or crab.

I guess that I would suggest the old Atkins diet...Not the Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution. They encourage you to eat their processed food bars and shakes. NOT GOOD. That was never part of the Atkins diet.

Want some free information????
Here's the diet that I'm on. http://www.veronicaatkinsfoundation.org/

What ever you decide, I wish you the very best of success and happiness!:flowerforyou:

Marie


AND NO I CUT OUT NO FOOD GROUPS. When did sugar become it's own food group?

Sapporo

It was horrible when I did a high protein, low carb diet. My short term memory was shot and I was a total airhead. Your brain needs carbs and if you are exercising you'll need them.
What I was on was about 200g of protein per day, one citrus fruit and one green salad. A so called nutritionist did that to me, I went about 2 weeks on it and told her she sucks.

Georg

I find it very hard to limit my breads, fruit, sugars = carbs.
For that reason, I keep my carb calories to 30% of my total. If I don't eat them, I don't crave them. :ohwell:
I get my carbs from vegetables, occasional whole grains & a pasta splurge once in a while. I find it much easier to follow than just calorie counting, especially with MFP.
It seems to work for me, & I don't feel deprived at all. I feel much more energetic & less moody. I feel more full & less hungry.
It seems so many food plans have resorted to food substitutes & energy supplements that they just don't seem so healthy anymore.
Good luck.

azinkon

I have some medical issues that pushed me in that direction on advice from my doctors. It helped my particular problems and I lost weight un-intentionally while on the diet. I think the typical american diet is full o f a lot of extra carbs that could actually be replaced pretty easily.

My suggestion, buy a low carb cookbook or two. Try and eat lower on the glycemic index rather than go by diet books and rules. The low carb cookbooks were a good way to figure out food that tasted good but was healthy at the same time.

Consider lower on the glycemic index, rather than just no carbs cold turkey. A lot easier to follow and a lot less to give up.

bj2007

Interesting about the hair loss -- I developed some type of scalp and skin condition and lost a lot of hair also. I never thought of Atkins causing it --- I thought it was stress. I was on the job market following grad school. But it went away when I started adding carbs back in.


And, I agree, counting calories is much, much easier.

Especially with MFP.

SHBoss1673

medically there is nothing bad about a low carb diet. The term low carb (as stated before) can be a little misleading though. You can go lower then normal, or ketonic. Ketosis is when you basically eliminate carbs (or very close to it) and rely on protein and fats for your energy. This is a very difficult diet to stick to and has some drawbacks, but if you want to rid yourself of a carb addiction, then it might work.

Things to note about ketosis:

-you have to watch your hydration levels very closely.
-you may have issues with highly strenuous anaerobic activity lasting longer then a few minutes.
-doctors sometimes disagree about the amount of stress it puts on your liver and kidneys.
-when you change from normal carbs to ketosis, your body chemistry changes, you lose a lot of weight initially, but that's not fat loss, it's a change in how your body stores energy and water.
-when you falter or revert back to normal carbs, expect to gain anywhere from 5 to 20 lbs back, as the body begins storing glycogen again.
-possibility of drastically changed ph levels, which can leetch calcium from bones, which can lead to osteoperosis later in life if you don't suppliment with extra calcium in your diet.

There are some benefits as well:
-better blood pressure
-lower cholesterol
-generally healthier heart function
-can be very beneficial to diabetics
-studies have shown a ketogenic diet including foods high in omega 3 and 6 fatty acids can reduce or even eliminate epileptic episodes
-many claim that ketogenic diets reduce the feeling of hunger.

Dawn_Kyle

Thank you for all that info, it helps to know what will happen, I did decide to do low cal and low carb combo.

Thanks again for the info

Dawn

bj2007

Good luck - let us know how it goes!