Low Carbers Only

AprilOneFourFour

I hated Atkins, but it didn't suit my preferred food habits. Too fatty and not enough fibre - or at least the way I did it. I've moved on to 17dd and am on day twenty-ish now. I just like it and think it's the right way for me to eat most of the time, plus a bit of red wine. My husband took it up because I looked so much better and he LOVES it - says he no longer feels slumpy in the day and wants to go exercise most evenings. I think we're set to use this as our typical eating plan. I notice that when logging my foods, I'm still eating quite alot of carbs, so it is only a lower carb diet in a way that Atkins isn't. We've both lost very healthily on it. I do like cooking and wonder if it would be difficult if I didn't. Good luck whatever you choose.

suttercm

I've been doing low carb for the last year due to Diabetes and have lost 60 lbs. I try to stay under 100 grams per day on a 1200 cal diet. Have cut out potatoes, rice and pasta completely. Generally use steamed cauliflower in place. I don't tolerate many fruits except berries (blue berries, raspberries, strawberries). Many root vegetables (carrots, beets) have alot of carbs in them so generally limit them too. Like someone else who replied, I also supplement with Adkins bars.

jules0516

I lost 20 pounds on my own planned out version of low carbs..I kept it off until I got pregnant with my last child..only gained back the 20 I'd lost...Have been considering doing it again as I have more than 20 to lose. What I was doing was easy for me and it worked. Counting calories or low carbs..everyone has to figure out what works for them without worrying about others opinions.

colcoblue

The reason I am doing low carb is because I'm obese and borderline diabetic. I have tried every conceivable diet over the past 30 years and they all fail if you don't change your lifestyle to eating healthy every day for the rest of your life. Having said that, I'm sure many of you will be asking yourselves "if she know's that, how come she's obese"? The answer is that knowing it and doing it are two very different things.
I am and always have been an emotional eater, so even though I know what I should do, I let my emotions get the better of me and that's something I have to work on together with changing my diet.lifestyle.
I have the support of my amazing husband (who also needs to lose weight) who introduced me to this site and together we are counting calories. I have found that since starting the daily food log I am more aware of what I am eating and although I still find it a bind (measuring etc), it's been a great help mentally. I can't wait to get past the craving stage (usually takes about 2 weeks) as I'm in my 1st week.

pachamb

Another Primal eater here to : ) I have been following the paleo lifestyle since january have lost 50 pounds. Love the food I eat I have massive amounts of energy! I work out every day as well and have gained muscle I have lost inches pant sizes in no time at all. BUT>>> It has been said PALEO IS A LIFE STYLE NOT A DIET along with all other low carb "diets". I personally will never go back to eating beans and bread and all that processed food but if that something you can't live with out then all these "low carb fails" will probably become your reality as well. I would defiantly recommend giving it a try for a month see how you do see if it for you see if you could eat this way.... well forever.

Good Luck
Grok on

marksdailyapple.com
paloeonabudget.com (they have good recipes)
paleodietlifestyles.com
robbwolf.com/what-is-the-paleo-diet/ (how i got my start)

jakidb

My oldest dtr went on Atkins when she was in high school. In two mos she loss 40lbs and for the most part has kept the weight off. What I can say is that if you read the book and follow the book exactly, there is great sucess and minimal to no health issues that follow. Contrary to popular belief, although for the most part it is a high protein diet, the book eventually incorporates the remaining foods that are necessary for proper nutrition.

saxmaniac

I lost 50+ pounds with moderately-low carb, about 120 net carbs a day (About 150 counting fiber). Most of those carbs come from fruits and vegetables. I will eat grains and starches, but only in very small amounts. Unless it's beer.

The first thing I did was cut out breakfast cereal entirely. I was starting out each day with 120+ carbs of "whole grain" "healthy" cereal. Stupid.

Like the others, this is not a "diet" phase - this is how I want to eat forever.

SirBen81

it works. I've done it. Not much to tell except that I ate a lot of fish, nuts, bacon, sausage, and cheese. I enjoy those foods, and I'm not a big bread eater so it wasn't hard for me.

However, there was a period of 3-4 days during the beginning where I went through a carb withdawl. During this I craved bread and felt a little low on energy, but it passed and the energy came back. Bacon and peanut butter are your friend during this time.

Burlesque12

I would recommend 17Day Diet. I did it & still use it as a guide. It starts off low carb and good carbs only (fruit & veggies), then slowly adds good carbs (eg lgumes) then adds more carbs (sweets)...in phases. All the while keeping protein lean & includes probiotics & greek yogurts. Its very healthy, wont mess up your metabolism & it works!!!

Jack3r

I have been on the Paleo diet since February 7'th, started at 331lb, and today im down to 286.6lbs. Around 30-50grams of carbs a day, but from certain veggies etc within my diet. I will admit, going from high carb lifestyle to almost no carbs at all, if rough. Be prepared for it, but in the end, I can say I have really NEVER felt better then I do now! Im very glad I was introduced into this low carb lifestyle. Give it a try for 30 days and see how it turns out for you!

Edit: Only just recently started using MFP, so thats why my weight loss meter is so low compared to what I said i lost. ^^;

frizico

The other 'atkins'-esque diet out there right now is 'Dukan" - it is low carb, low fat, low/no sugar with 4 phases, with the 3rd to ensure that your body adjusts to the introduction of starchy foods without gaining it all back, kinda like a reset. The key to the 3rd phase, called Consolidation, lasts 5 days for every pound lost.

I'm currently on Dukan, and will be on 'Cruise', the 2nd phase, until October, hopefully losing 70+ pounds. That means I'll be on 'Consolidation' for almost a YEAR. In this year you pick up the habits of healthy eating. You're also allowed to eat 'celebration' meals' twice a week. The 4th phase is the rest of your life, where there are a few maintenance rules to keep your weight in check, but otherwise, that's it. I think its a really smart program and I'm looking forward to consolidating my new weight over a long period so that I know it won't come back.

Of course, it's not all about diet. Being active plays a huge role in any successful weight loss strategy.

AshCakes88

I did atkins for a few months. It's very difficult but you will lose the weight. I lost about 25lbs in a short period of time. The problem is once you get off atkins and go back to eating carbs, it slowly creeps back... Well at least for me.

BrittaneyHG

http://www.idealprotein.com/ca/home

celebrity328

The last 5-6 weeks now I have been forced by medical issues to go on a "low carb diet" I started out with 40-60g of carbs per day then worked my way down to less then 20g carbs per day (ketogenic diet). I have insulin resistance and found that fruit was causing insulin spikes and I was having sugar crashes etc. This would then cause me to feel like crap and have dramatic mood swings, you name it etc.

On this "diet" I have lost 30 pounds in 5-6 weeks, not exping any sugar spikes or "insulin comas" as I call them

Ketogenic/paleo/caveman diets share alot in common and I reccommend looking into which one best fits your needs. The atkins induction is a keto diet (from what I gathered) but instead of adding carbs into the mix you just stay in induction stage

I hope this is helpful and wish you and your husband the best !

acs4162

One thing people don't realize when doing low carb is that there is a several pound "bloat" that you will lose when first introducing the diet. If you eat carbs, you will gain that "bloat" back in a day or two of bingeing on carbs. Then when you cut carbs out again, you'll lose the bloat again. You could gain and lose the same 3-8 lbs repeatedly if you don't stick to the diet.

This isn't true for everyone. I've been on low carb for some time now. I am very strict during the week, but on the weekend (Both days) I drown myself in carbs! Ice cream, Mcdonald's cookies, potatoes.. whatever I want. I have yet to gain back anything. The key is to cycle your carbs so that your body can take it when you introduce them into your diet in higher than usual amounts.

What is carb cycling? I eat Paleo, but from time to time I do enjoy some foods off my diet (potatoes, cream in coffee, frozen yogurt, rice and one time some bread that my stomach didn't like.) I kind of do what you mentioned above, I eat really well during the week and then have a few non-Paleo foods on the weekend. Is that 'carb-cycling'?

BirchBayLady

I lost 60 pounds on MediFast. A year later, I have gained 20 of it back. I am here trying to learn how to continue to lose while eating normally. I just about went insane on the powder diet.

acs4162

As a diabetic, I did low carb for a while to lower my glucose numbers and to try and lose weight. However, for me it did not work. One, it made my stomach feel SO gross. And TMI, but it made it harder to go to the bathroom. Of course, these are my experiences, and I know plenty of people who have had success. I still try and limit my carb intake, but not to the extremes I have in the past. Mostly because it makes me a cranky pants.

Maybe try eating more vegetables?

Yes! More leafy greens! I had the same TMI experience you mentioned above, and leafy greens REALLY helped!!! I know of some people that have gone low carb and didn't up their veggie intake (mostly eat just meat and cheese) and they had the same TMI experience, too. Just a suggestion.

anima_gemella

I am following the primal/caveman type diet..so far, so good.

same

HonkyTonks

Sure you don't want to hear a Low Carb Epic Fail story? I know one...

I am in the same boat. Did low carb, lost some weight, gained it all back and then some. The plan that works for me best is to eat what I like just smaller amounts. I don't begrudge people who choose the low carb route, but whatever you choose to do it needs to be something you can stick with FOREVER. 6 months is probably not a long enough time to consider it a "success" story. I would only really be impressed to see people who have stuck with low carb for 5+ years and have kept off the weight.

LReneeWalker

I lost 60 pounds on MediFast. A year later, I have gained 20 of it back. I am here trying to learn how to continue to lose while eating normally. I just about went insane on the powder diet.

Ew I tried that... first off I was starving... and secondly that food was so gross!

ArynnOctavia

I've done Atkins a few times, and did lose quite a bit of weight on it each time, but it is hard to stick to, and often as soon as you go off of it, weight piles back on.

What I'm doing this time is low carb too, but not as strict as Atkins, and represents a way of eating that I can do forever without feeling restricted (unlike with Atkins). I do not limit fruits or veggies (even the starchy ones), but I HEAVILY limit processed foods such as breads, pastas, grains, and empty sugars. I have never heard of the caveman diet either, but from what people are saying about it, that sounds what like I'm doing.

The thing about any diet is you have to eat in a way you'd be willing to eat forever, or the weight will always come back when you go back to eating "normal." Now, I eat in a way that I'll be happy to eat for the rest of my life.

LReneeWalker

Thanks to everyone for your input! Hubby and I are headed for a major shopping spree today. Going to stock up on our low carb food and snacks. We are going to do this together, each at our own pace. I need it for my health and we both need it for weight loss! We dont plan for this to be a diet that we will go off of when we lose weight, rather a lifestyle change for the family.

Lotte34

Ive been low crbing for about 10 days, im 14 lb dwn

capnwo85

<----300g carbs daily, still drops weight.

gungho66

EAT RIGHT AND EXERCISE DRINK PLENTY OF WATER AND REST, ITS ALL ABOUT MAKING GOOD CHOICES, COMMON SENSE AND MODERATION

jonnysgirl1701

I'm on the Keto diet and its been amazing. In 2009-2010 I lost 150 pounds not eating bread but I also wasn't eating much of anything...so I was somewhat unhealthy I got pregnant and gained and gained and gained...now I am trying again but this time...I eat enough fat and protein to keep me healthy. I plan on switching over to paleo type diet once I am at goal weight but never going back to carbs. I consider them poison.

2Bgoddess

my diet is lowER carb...I keep it as close to 70g per day as I can. also low glycemic, low sodium, higher protein...wanna see?

my profile pic is of course my after, but this was me before:



ugh i give up...can't get the pic to show.

delilah47

I went on the Atkins diet about 10 years ago. The weight dropped off rapidly until I happened to start a medication which prevents you from going into ketosis. Anyway, I was on the meds for a few months, then started Atkins again. Within a week, I started having serious heart rhythm problems where my heart would go THUMP.. then it would be a full 10 seconds before it would start beating again. Then it would be very rapid. I went to the emergency room 3 times with that same problem. Each time I asked if it could be related to the Atkins diet and was told by the doctor that he didn't think so, but was not sure. The diagnosis was PAT, a type of tachycardia. Since going on the diet was the only time I had those problems, I quit trying with Atkins. Since then I have done some research and found some info on irregular heart rhythms while on a very low carb diet and I did find some similar cases, but not a lot. Here is a link where I posted asking others for more info after reading a few posts from people who had similar experiences. It is from an Atkins blog site.. mostly success stories you could also explore.

http://www.atkinsdietbulletinboard.com/forums/health-chat/82268-how-your-heartbeat-cardiac-arrhythmia.html

Chood5

Here's a fail story. I did Atkins back in 2003 to lose weight for my wedding. I lost about 50 pounds and I felt great. After the wedding I went back to eating like I used to and not only gained it all back but added a ton more on top of it. In fact, I ended up weighing 73 pounds heavier than my starting weight (so gained 123 pounds). I gained back the 58 lbs within about a year and half. And then it just kept coming.

I didn't exercise though when I was losing and I was in complete denial when the weight started to return.

If you felt great and lost the weight you wanted to lose, why did you start eating the way that made you 50lbs over weight in the first place? I don't think the diet failed... I think that is a personal failure.........

menudavaca

i have had low carb success -- been doing it since Nov 1 and have lost 77 pounds in six months

WOW , very impressive job