How can people stand being on low-carb diets?

I have learned to adjust to this way of eating. At first, my body rebeled with it, but I now have adjusted quite nicely. I eat it in the morning to have the energy for the day but, avoid it after 5 so it isn't stored fat.

Doesn't matter what time you stop eating, unless you are prone to heartburn before bedtime. Your body doesn't shut down when you sleep, it keeps on processing the stuff you ate.

Now, if you just prefer eating earlier, that's cool. Just wanted to clear up that there isn't a cut off time for your body to process.

Insulin is the hormone that regulates storage of excess calories into fat, and it also prevents your fat stores from being used for energy. Insulin is elevated when you eat carbs. So, in order to access your fat deposits, you need to have a low level of insulin in your system. If you eat a so called conventional, balanced diet, fat burning will likely occur only at night (when your insulin levels drop sufficiently). If you go low carb, your body can use fat for energy all day long because your insulin will never spike very high. That's why low carb works so well. And it works especially well for people with so called "insulin sensitivity".

I'm not sure what you mean by "so called conventional balanced diet" But a diet containing a moderate amount of fiber rich carbs along with regular exercise will do the same thing.

There is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all answer. The degree to which insulin blocks using carbs for energy varies widely. Not all marathoners are skinny. But the most elite marathoners are because their systems are more efficient at converting carbs to usable energy. Yet other people who eat moderately and exercise a lot still can't lose the fat without cutting carb intake. It is not just the quantity of calories.
Low carb high fat is also what endocrinologists recommend for type 2 diabetics. T2's produce plenty of insulin but they have become insulin resistant. I know of many who are no longer clinically diabetic because they follow a low carb high fat food plan. I was pre-diabetic before starting the low carb high fat. I also had high cholesterol and triglycerides. But not any longer. A1C is normal as is blood glucose. Cholesterol and triglycerides are well below the max as well, a 30% drop in 8 months without pharmaceuticals. But plenty of eggs, cheese and sausage. :bigsmile:
Adjusting to low carb high fat was pretty easy for me. And seeing the health benefits just motivates me to stay on it.

Some of the side effects of low carb, such as fatigue are due to loss of electrolytes. As you deplete your glycogen stores in your muscles and liver, you will lose a lot of water. With water, there go the electrolytes, so you need to step up your potassium and sodium. This is for ketogenic (50 g or below) diets. Low carb is by far the quickest and least painful way to lose weight, IMO.

This is true...along with magnesium.

I can stay on low carb because I don't ever want to get back to prediabetic blood glucose levels. I don't feel deprived.
Whenever I have bread, pasta, or any sort of potato I get what I call carb induced narcolepsy which tells me I should not be eating those foods.
Everyone is different. We share what works for us. If what someone else does helps, do it. Share it with someone else. But because one thing doesn't work, does that mean one should upset at those for whom something does work?
Some people can lose weight eating pizza everyday. I can't. So what?

To each it's own but yeh no thanks for me! I have to make sure I eat enough carbs sometimes more than I need when running longer distances.

I like a lot of carb foods and don't want to break what I've done by binging because I denied myself those foods. I'm not just talking about the "Bad Carbs" here.

I tried "low" carb (<200) last year, cutting out the "Bad Carbs". I barely made it into week 2 before scarfing down a *kitten*-ton of carbs. It sucked. I hated it, myself, everyone in the galaxy.

When a person takes baked goods out of the diet like bread, cake, doughnuts, bagels, and buns, it's REALLY hard to go over on your carbs without fruit. So while I do have "low carb" days, I don't do it intentionally; I only do it because there's nothing left I can eat that gives me a LOT of the "carb" macro. Most of the healthy foods you're going to eat are either fats, protein, or low cal carbs. Just turns out that way.

I did not read any of the responses but I am lower carb. I feel better then I have ever have in my life. I don't have the ummm, stomach issues that I used to have.

I do not feel deprived at all. There is so much variety to what I "can" eat so I'm always thinking of new things.

One size does not fit all for everyone is my conclusion.

I stay under 200 a day...aim for about 160, but it's all from fruits ...sometimes Triscuts (Ok a lot of Triscuts)
I can't do a no carb life myself...I do count it as the most unhealthy macro.
It does feel good to be able to pass up a bowl of pasta though cause my body goes 'we don't eat that.'

I try to eat carbs with every meal. I'm looking for a balanced diet, not a low-carb low-fat low-whatever phase. Carbs are good. Carbs are fuel. I shoot for 8 USDA servings a day and make them whole-grain or multigrain.

People probably don't exercise as much as you do that are on low carb diets, me thinks.

This is wrong. I exercise like a beast lol I lift heavy and never leave the gym without going to fail first. me thinks you don't know what your talking about

I am a firm believer that you should not eliminate any major food group. I mentioned on another thread I have always had success with carbs in my diet, even while trying to loose weight. I just cooked up two pasta containing dishes a bit ago and they also contain vegetables and/or pureed sauces made from vegetables. If you only eat the 1 cup serving size, there shouldn't be a problem! I have even eaten pasta and/or rice twice a day and still managed to loose six more pounds (seven inches) during month of September. Some people swear by the low carb approach, however. They just don't work for me! And I agree, I would be w/o energy if I didn't take in enough. I substitute teach while I am in graduate school and customarily work around smaller children whose energy I wish I had, so I'd be in trouble if I ran out during the day!

I am a firm believer that you should not eliminate any major food group. I mentioned on another thread I have always had success with carbs in my diet, even while trying to loose weight. I just cooked up two pasta containing dishes a bit ago and they also contain vegetables and/or pureed sauces made from vegetables. If you only eat the 1 cup serving size, there shouldn't be a problem! I have even eaten pasta and/or rice twice a day and still managed to loose six more pounds (seven inches) during month of September. Some people swear by the low carb approach, however. They just don't work for me! And I agree, I would be w/o energy if I didn't take in enough. I substitute teach while I am in graduate school and customarily work around smaller children whose energy I wish I had, so I'd be in trouble if I ran out during the day!

My son runs Cross Country and eats pasta (as do most of the other runners in the team) the night before a meet. These types of carbs stay with you longer. All about which carbs you are taking in.

I'm a Type 2 Diabetic so watching my carbs is essential. I was recently hospitalized and placed on Metformin, Humalog and Lantus. My blood glucose was 584 with an A1C of 13.9%. I was doing 4 injections of Humalog, 1 at each meal and 1 at bedtime, and 1 dose of Lantus at dinner. Needless to say this got old very quickly. The glycemic nurses all told me to have 4-5 servings of carbs (@ 15g per serving) PER MEAL! While this is great for a diabetic who is in shape to counteract the insulin doses, I needed to drop weight quickly and that many carbs per day wasn't going to let it happen even with exercise.

I went on a low-carb, med-fat, hi-protein diet (permitted by my doctor of course). Right now my macros are at 15/30/55 on a 1760 calorie diet (without exercise) which allows me a max of 79g of carbs per day. Even with this low number my blood glucose was still in the 130's, requiring me to inject insulin. I also wasn't seeing results in weight loss. So as an experiment I dropped my carb limit to 50g per day (I've read that going below 50g/day for an extended time can trigger starvation mode and make you gain weight). I saved the last 29g for diabetic needs if my glucose got too low. I also have made sure I walk at least 30 minutes/day. I've been no higher than 119 on my glucose readings and have even dipped down into the high 80's. If I'm below 120 I don't have to inject my Humalog. So now I've been FIVE DAYS with no Humalog injections. Now this may not work for other folks, but it works for my body which is what is important.

I will say it did take me about 1.5 weeks to start to feel more energy after going so low-carb. Now that I'm loading good fats and clean proteins and complex carbs I have more than enough energy. I also consume my carbs before lunch and ZERO after that, but that's because of my diabetes. You have to go with what works for your body. Just my 2¢.

Eat a ton of meat; red or white, it's alright.

No kidding!

Just came back from the store. Bags of frozen broccoli, steaks, and chicken boobs aren't too expensive. Yay veggies!