Can I really lose doing low carbs?? HELP! PLEASE!

it really depends on your body. I NEED carbs. you might not be very active and such, and it could work for you. Just know though, that carbs are your main energy source. Great things!

Definitely! I lost 60 pounds before on a low-carb diet. Just beware that if you don't keep it up, those carbs sneak up on you and you add them right back on.

I have PCOS so I started South Beach last Thursday. I weighed in today and I was down 6lbs. I have decided to keep going with it this week to see if it is what is making a difference for me. I can't wait to hear how everyone else did to know what to expect weight loss wise.

Ask your cardiologist. My mother asked hers and he said its the worst thing for a heart patient. He was very adamant about this.

I eat low carbs and the carbs I eat are always healthy carbs...I agree you need them for energy! I eat my carbs mostly during the day and my trainer said never after 3. So thats kind of what I follow...I'm down almost 10 lbs since I joined a couple of weeks ago. I'm also working out every day...or almost every day...so I'm replacing fat with muscle too. The more muscle you have the better your body will burn....lol...but none of it's fun. You just gotta do it. xoxo Good luck!!

As I see it, you can lose weight on any diet that results in you taking in fewer calories than your body burns every day, whether it's high carb or low carb. The eating plans are just gimmick, giving you a regimen to get you eating fewer calories. JMHO.

I did low carb for about 5 months and lost 70 pounds. The second I started following a "balanced diet" I gained it all back. Just another perspective. Doctor said I put my body in shock and was basically starving myself. When I started eating "normally" again, my body adjusted to the extreme.

Ask your cardiologist. My mother asked hers and he said its the worst thing for a heart patient. He was very adamant about this.

Our family doctor, who consulted my husband's cardiologist, suggested we both go on Atkins to drop our extra weight and to correct my husband's diabetes and high blood pressure. Too many doctors and nutritionists are spouting alot of "old school" science that has since been debunked. Low carb is not unhealthy. Low carb is not going to make your kidneys explode. Low carb is not going to give you a heart attack. It helps to control glucose/insulin so that your body can return to its former healthy state. The problem is people lose their weight and then return to an "unhealthy" eating pattern which still includes garbage. Weight gains are guaranteed.

Sorry to tell you La Jauna, but my mothers doctor is one of the top cardiologists in the country. I said that my mother was aheart patient. I would think that a specialist would know more about hisspecialty then a G.P. That is why they refer you to a specialist in the first place. My mother is a heart patient just like the poster. I said it is dangereous for heart patients, not anybody although it is up for debate whether this is healthy or not. Atkins is not healthy at all. Other low carb diets can be healthy especially for diabetics, but Atkins is too extreme.

They should really get rid of the term "low carb" and replace it with "controlled carb". Low carb has such a negative connotation.

I can't imagine there is any doctor in the country that would suggest cutting out sugar, starches, and white flour could possibly be anything but good. That is what most controlled carb diets are now based upon. Even Atkins isn't as severe as it once was. There is just too much evidence from studies from reputable sources (Duke, Harvard, etc) that have shown how it is healthier without those things.

If you limit or remove those, the weight will drop.

Before I ate "controlled carb" Atkins diet, my blood sugars were off the charts, my blood pressure was getting dangerously high, my cholesterol was out of whack and I had inflamed joints and stomach issues. I do not as many, misinformed people think eat 0 carbs. I am eating between 30-60 carbs per day and only at that level to promote weight loss. Once I am within 15-20 lbs of my goal I will start adding back healthy carbs until I start to stop losing weight and then I will know what my "critical carb limit" is to maintain my weight loss and health. Since I have been eating a "controlled carb" diet my blood sugars have stabilized in the 80-100 range fasting, my blood pressure is 117/ 75, my cholesterol panel is great for the first time in years, my inflammation ha virtually disappeared and my GERD had disappeared completely. This is only since January 1st. Call my a fanatic. Call me crazy. But I am living proof that eating healthy, controlled carb lifestyle is not unhealthy or dangerous. If anyone has pre-existing conditions...get your doctors permission. But make sure you are prepared with good literature that is based on present day science and not outdated dogma. JMHO. Please do not flame me.

Yes, low carb or controlled carb diets can be successful. Anyone that looks at current dietary research critically, without further prejudice, will see that more and more carbohydrates are linked to people with unhealthy conditions and obesity. Even popular diets like Weight Watchers have reformulated their points system recently to take into account carbs, and having a friend doing that now he says that carb rich foods have significantly higher points than other food. Coincidence? I think not.

I did Atkins for a year and lost over 100lbs. I kept it off for over 2 years after eating more "normally". Only after I went off the deep end and started eating a ton of processed, sugared crap did I gain the weight back and somewhere in my mind the desire for that stuff drowned out the call to stop eating it. I rarely had cravings while eating low carb (every couple of months maybe?) and was NEVER hungry. I had energy to spare and felt great all the time. And my cholesterol was great afterwards, blood pressure great and heart doing fine! You also take in enough protien that you will not loose muscle that you already have on a low carb diet. Low fat and calorie restricted diets tend to do that.

Another misconception that makes me angry is that people think Atkins and other diets that are similar (and really all going off the of the basis of Dr. Atkins approach) that it's all meat and cheese. In the Atkins book he SPECIFICALLY tells you to eat more vegtables, and there is nothing wrong with carbs, just what kind. You also add carbs back into your diet and he states in his book that if you exercise, your tolerance for carbs may be even higher than others and might be able to consume closer to 100g a day. That doesn't seem too bad. I'm a firm believer that Atkins was ahead of his time and not apprciated, but time will show him to be right.

Most people who hate the diet have never read the book and fully understand the approach. It makes sense. The media coverage of it has been sensational and fearful because it flies in the face of everything our medical/nutritional community has recommended forever. Who's to say THEY are right and have the answer (since when does the government ever have the answer LOL).

Also in case some don't know, Atkins was a cardiologist...just goes to show that an opinion of one doctor even if they are "top rated" (read, makes a ton of money for their hospital, not actual patient care...) doesn't mean that their opinion is always right or one shared by all in that field.


/rant off