low carb help

Could use everyone’s opinion on low carb..I’ve tried low carb and lost weight but seem to fall off the wagon..do you think its something a person can do long term or is it just me..thank you

Low carb.
1. Stay within your calorie goals.
2. Stay within your carb goals.

low calories
1. stay within your calorie goals

which do you think is least likely to fail??

keep it simple.

Why are we not friends yet?!?! Great post!

are you familiar with the link between red meat and colon cancer?
http://www.health.harvard.edu/fhg/updates/Red-meat-and-colon-cancer.shtml

Very, I've studied them extensively. Although I'll be the first to admit we cannot discount them entirely, there are problems with the studies to some extent - those being that they almost universally include processed meats with red meat (not all, but over 90% of them do) and they have yet to properly study free-range/grass-fed red meat eaters compared to those eating regular red meat. That and the article you linked to was about a study on very high red-meat intake.

I'm sure you'll agree there's a big difference in quality of meat from a factory-farmed/grain-fed/hormone-injected bovine than from one that's free-range and all-natural. It bears testing but unfortunately the statistical sample group is too small (and too difficult to recruit, I think) to accurately test.

They're also all observational/epidemiological studies, which cannot show causation - only correlation. But again, they're worth paying attention to.

I do enjoy the Mormon/7th-Day Adventist studies that show meat does not affect cancer levels in the Mormon population, however. Doing some more reading they apparently believe in eating meat in moderation.

As such my own personal belief (and that's all it can be at this point) is that unprocessed red-meat is fine to eat in moderate amounts, as is fowl and fish. But all meats/fowl/fish are far healthiest if we avoid factory-farmed/processed varieties.

... and that being said I think it's important we stop hijacking this nice man's thread I'm happy to continue a polite discussion via messages though...

Since people tend to get sensitive about this topic...this is just MY experience.

I was on the atkins diet for two years straight during my developmental years, this is NOT how the diet is supposed to go (but was set up by my doctor!). Unfortunately It cause me to have a lot of insulin issues once I was taken off of it. I also did not research (I was a kid) that you have to watch your sat fat and trans fat levels or guess what? The pancreas will go and you'll have heart issues.

So I would not say to not go low carb, I would say research the heck out of it before hand. After losing 150 pounds with diabetes and PCOS, my doctor has stated that she would still not be comfortable with me living no-carb. Instead I have switched to eliminating white carbs. I aim for 160 a day, try to keep them whole grain (Been failing lately, I can admit that) and combine them with protein to slow the release of sugar into the blood.

If you do not have a problem with insulin, you do not NEED to live no carb. I don't see why you would want to. Tumors may feed on glucose, but it's also been 'proven' that meat causes the same cancers, and has a lot of evidence showing that red meat effects your heart health.

The real winner for the average person is finding the proper balance. You can't allow yourself to be scared by every study because guess what? The sun causes cancer.
http://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancercauses/

Anything that can change the life cycle of a cell can cause cancer.
"What is a carcinogen?

Cancer is caused by changes in a cell's DNA – its genetic "blueprint." Some of these changes may be inherited from our parents, while others may be caused by outside exposures, which are often referred to as environmental factors. Environmental factors can include a wide range of exposures, such as:

Lifestyle factors (nutrition, tobacco use, physical activity, etc.)
Naturally occurring exposures (ultraviolet light, radon gas, infectious agents, etc.)
Medical treatments (chemotherapy, radiation, immune system-suppressing drugs, etc.)
Workplace exposures
Household exposures
Pollution
" From the cancer.org.

If you are still curious about a no carb lifestyle, contact your doctor.
Listening to stories from people is not the same as tailoring your diet to your body.

</end my opinoin>

This!

I've chosen to eat Paleo -- for me, in terms of carbs, that means I don't eat wheat (or any source of processed sugar or sweetener), along with handful of other sources of carbs (e.g. I avoid white potato but will eat sweet potato occassionally).

This has worked very well for me and I no longer have the carb-related intense hunger/cravings that I did before. Even if I forget or don't get a chance to eat for a signficant portion of the day -- I'll feel a gradually increasing hunger rather than desperate urgency to EAT NOW.

Because avoiding wheat and sugar has smoothed my appetite I am better able to stick to my own goals and plans for what to eat and when to eat it and THAT has been the key to my success to this point.

I am glad I do it, now I can regulate them in my diet and use them for a purpose (beast out). They are the best.

Diabetics eat low carb.
They do it long term.
Patients who suffer from seizures / epilepsy find treatment in low carb; as well as those battling cancer and Alzheimers.

And before someone who thinks they know all their is to know about nutrition wants to come and bash low carb saying NO dont do it - Google those three things.

One must understand the difference between good carbs and bad cards and why their body shouldn't have bad carbs. You also need to find out what your carb threshold is.

I have PCOS which causes insulin resistance. Eating 20-30 net carbs a day is the only way I have been able to lose weight.

So, can people follow it long term? Yes, and many do.

I thought diabetics ate Low GI? I also have PCOS, and do low GI and find it much more sustainable than low carb I do try to limit myself to one serve of bread a day, but it's lovely, grainy bread and very filling

They do, but low GI is also considered low carb. Their are different levels of low carb. Different people can handle different amounts. And different types of diabetics have different meal plans.

I thought diabetics ate Low GI? I also have PCOS, and do low GI and find it much more sustainable than low carb I do try to limit myself to one serve of bread a day, but it's lovely, grainy bread and very filling

They do, but low GI is also considered low carb. Their are different levels of low carb. Different people can handle different amounts. And different types of diabetics have different meal plans.

Actually, as both a diabetic and a medical professional I must stress that low-GI is NOT necessarily low-carb. If I ate 100 net grams of lower GI carbohydrate (whether pumpernickel bread or berries) it would have the same net impact on my HbA1c test as 100g of pure glucose.

Sure the glucose would spike me higher (and for me 100g of glucose would put me in the hospital), but the lower-GI carbohydrate would spike me much, much longer. The overall impact to my true glycemic control is the same.

When it comes to treating diabetes, the best diet is a VLCKD (very-low-carbohydrate ketogenic diet), and can include some lower-GI foods ... but MUST limit overall carbohydrate totals regardless of their glycemic index or load.

I'm on a low carb diet, avoiding flour, potatoes, sugar and white rice with very small portions of brown rice and oats every now and again and loads of veggies; and I found the easiest way to adapt was by cutting things out slowly e.g sugar for a month, then flour for a month and so on until I was used to it. I didn't have any success losing weight through calorie deficit because I take medication that really messes up my insulin production so my doctor suggested I try cutting down on foods high in sugars/carbs and I finally seem to have found something that works and I never feel hungry. I do miss carby things sometimes but I think it'll be a lot easier in the summer with grilled meats and salad etc but my main motivation is just how unhappy I am being overweight and having no energy and it's so nice finally getting the weight off and feeling so much better. I've totally lost the taste for sugar after going cold turkey.
There are loads of websites and blogs out there for people doing paleo, low carb etc with some great recipe ideas!
However you approach this, best of luck and always keep a goal in mind!

I do 30-35% carbs. 6 days 30%, 1 day upto 35% if I want it. Lost my last 50lbs this way so it's doable. Maybe try 30%carbs, 35% fat, 35% protein. See how you go... Definitely wouldn't go above 40% carbs for weight loss. Eating under calorie goal worked for a while, but then I had to swap over. I actually love this way of eating now and it dies feel like a lifestyle. 89.4lbs down as of this morning :-)

Eta... I have friends who've done this, got to goal and maintained for over a year, so I don't believe all the you'll gain it back hype, unless you go ridiculously low carb. I also have a friend who's lost 150lbs by this method!

Zara