I started a new way of eating (Ketogenic diet) in May and have been very happy with my food options and the weight loss and other surprise benefits I've had. My carb goal is set at 20g but I average more like 25. I allow some room and try to cap it at no more than 30. This works for me because the appetite control it provides helps me to eat less so that I can attain the calorie deficit needed to lose the weight I'm trying to lose.
There is no one "best way". Everyone has a unique balance that provides just the right benefits and flexibility that is right for them, that allows them to be consistent to achieve their goals. Not everyone has weight loss as a goal either. There are so many possible health benefits to be gained by reducing carbs and our group has some fine examples that I'm sure you will hear from in your post.
The best way for you will be the one that you can stick with long term. Not for a month, not for 6 months... That doesn't mean you won't start out with one plan and tweak it as you go though. I'm sure, at some point I may let carbs go back up a bit, but I have no plan to eat beyond 50g again because I believe the ketones are very beneficial for me and I credit them for improvement of my ADHD symptoms, even beyond what my Adderall provides. I would like to see a day that I no longer need that medication just to function as a productive adult.
I would suggest you start with a "cold turkey" method of cutting out anything that causes you to overeat it. If you have that at all. I think most of us had something we kind of binged on... I certainly did. Just eliminating it entirely and cutting carbs to the lowest you can tolerate for a jump start of appetite control is a great way to start. Try it for a month and see what it feels like to be a fat burner. If after a month at Keto levels isn't a benefit to you, then slowly, week by week add some healthy carbs until you find your perfect diet recipe.
Just jump right in and we will be here to cheer you on as you work through the details.

LinCharpentier wrote: »

I'm new at low carbing I'm finding if you can stick with it it's very good. But then I get fed up of eggs for breakfast every morning. This morning I had a chunk of cheese. And seems like all I needed but what happens on days where I don't meet my calorie needs. I know i'm counting carbs and not calories. But it's hard when all over you look and they say 1200 calories. Anyway good luck to you. and lets help each other on this journey.

See you lighter
Linda

Linda, just remember that you do NOT have to eat only breakfast foods in the morning. I've had burgers for breakfast or leftovers from dinner. Any food you want to eat on plan can be eaten at any time on this plan...

http://keto-calculator.ankerl.com/

Check this site for a better indicator on calories. Almost no one needs to be restricted to 1,200 calories.

I went very LCHF for a ketogenic diet too. I did it to address my prediabetes, and help my arthritis pain. It has helped a great deal. It also cut my appetite and my cravings for carbs so I was able to eat at a deficit and lose about 30-35 lbs over the last three and a half months. I'm at a normal BMI and losing more slowly now, but I'm still happy with this way of eating.

Yesterday was Canadian Thanksgiving, and I had Turkey with a bit of gravy, green beans with onions, mushrooms and bacon, salad, and a turnip and carrot casserole. For dessert I had ( a few too many pieces of) crustless sugar free cheese cake with whipped cream. I skipped the stuffing and mashed potatoes but still had a heaping plate full. Today my weight is the same and I feel good, although not hungry in the slightest. LOL I love this way of eating.

This is copied and pasted from my profile:

About Me:

I've tried losing weight before too many times to count. I joined MyFitnessPal about 5-6 week into making my lifestyle change and I'm so glad I did! It's been a great tool! By using it, I've been able to figure out my macros and my numbers. Even though it took me some time to figure out, I now know how much protein, fat, carbs, etc. I need on a daily basis to consistently hit my goals. I even know how much of these I need on a per meal basis. Before I joined MFP, I felt as though I were heading in the right direction with my attempts at weight loss but once joining MFP, I felt as though I had been aiming a dart at a dart board, but trying to hit the target while blindfolded. I was aiming and throwing the darts all right, but I was hitting the wall 6 feet away. Now I hit the target every time. It may not always be a bulls-eye, but at least the dart always hits the dart board now, even if it's only the very edge of the dart board. lol

Why I want to get in shape

I decided to make a lifestyle change at the end of August / Beginning of September 2014 for health-related reasons. I weighed 300 pounds at that time and was more than just simply overweight. I was morbidly obese and then some!

For the better part of 2014, I had been experiencing neuropathy in my feet. For me it presented as numbness and/or very intense pain (burning), often both at the same time. The burning pain was so intense that it felt as though someone had taken my socks and shoes off and was roasting my feet over an open flame. This lasted for 8-9 months of the year.

From about July - September, perhaps a little longer, I was also experiencing dull headaches on a daily basis. The pain was only about a 2 on a scale of 1-10, but the headaches were happening EVERY day, ALL day long no matter how many courses of pills I took to make them go away. I have since learned that I get a headache when my blood sugar goes too high and I get a headache when my blood sugar goes too low.

For me things came to a head at the end of August 2014. I'd lost my Step-Father a couple of months before (late June) and was still grieving over that. I was miserable. I was physically uncomfortable in my own body and dealing with multiple types of pain - not only the headaches and the foot pain - but also Carpal Tunnel Syndrome in both wrists which at this point tended to register at about an 8 on the 1-10 scale and knee pain due in part to my weight.

I knew I had a serious decision to make to commit to making a change regarding whether I wanted to live with constant pain every day for the rest of my life with the possibility of things getting worse - going from pre-diabetic to diabetic even to the extreme of losing my feet or worse. The thought of potentially losing my feet terrified me and helped me make this important decision.

To say that I was unenthusiastic about starting YET ANOTHER DIET is a huge understatement! I was reluctant in the extreme, yet I knew I had to make a change if I didn't want to be in pain all the time.

At first, I tried to follow the diet espoused by the American Diabetic Association but I didn't do to well. My results were minimal and I was frustrated because of that. Yet I couldn't figure out why their recipes and sample diet menus told you it was okay to eat things KNOWN to spike your blood sugar like: breads, potatoes, pastas, fruit, etc.

So I kept looking and searching and that's when I came across the Ketogenic (Low Carb High Fat) Diet. I didn't know what it was. I'd never even heard of it before. But I'm good at research so research it thoroughly I did and I am so glad I did! I discovered that it was NOT a "fad" diet and that it had been around for about 100 years.

At first, it sounded rather extreme to me: no sugar, potatoes, bread, pasta, grain or starchy vegetables like peas, corn or sweet potatoes. Could I do this? I wasn't sure. It was a daunting challenge. I thought there was a good chance I would fail - after all, I'd failed so many times before trying to following much simpler types of diets. But I had to do SOMETHING and this was my something.

So I started following a Ketogenic Lifestyle. The first two weeks were the most difficult because of the double whammy of going through carb withdrawal and sugar withdrawal at the same time but then something AMAZING happened: my body finally dropped into nutritional ketosis and THE PAIN WENT AWAY!!!!

I couldn't believe. I was was astounded, delighted, amazed! In two-and-a-half-weeks, the headaches disappeared completely. After 5-6 weeks, so did the foot-pain. After two months I realized the pain I had been experiencing from Carpal Tunnel Syndrome had dropped from an 8 on a 1-10 pain scale on a daily basis and was instead registering anywhere from 0.5 - 2 - which is to say barely noticeable pain!

Even better, the weight came off easily, simply, in leaps and bounds. And as it did, the pain in my knees lessened too. I'd gone to a knee doctor before for the pain and he told me that every pound of weight you eliminate is the equivalent of taking three (3) pounds of weight off of your knees!

I'd never before had such an easy time following a diet. I'd never before had so much fun dieting. Fun? Dieting? YEAH! I know it sounds like an oxymoron, but I was not only having FUN dieting I was ENJOYING it too!

You see, in discovering the Ketogenic Diet, I'd also finally discovered what was missing from ALL the previous diets that I'd ever tried: FAT (i.e. flavor)! I'd been overweight my entire life and I'd tried so many diets I lost count. I usually managed to stick to whatever diet I was trying for 2-3 months and then I'd fall off the wagon with a resounding THUD! because by this time I was usually so bored taste-wise by the monotony of what I could and couldn't eat that I didn't want to eat anything I could have.

The food I eat following a Ketogenic lifestyle actually tastes good. It's satisfying and full of flavor in a way that food on other diets lacked. Better yet, the food keeps me full for HOURS on end! Fat is wonderful stuff truly (and yes, I realized what a bizarre statement this probably seems to you); however, the truth is that you body needs HEALTHY fat in order to burn fat. It really is as simple as that.

Another interesting thing happened once I started this lifestyle change. After a few weeks, my sense of "sweet" completely reset. Things I had eaten prior to starting LCHF were now far too sweet for me. For example, I now find milk-chocolate sickeningly sweet and can longer eat it. Now I prefer chocolates that have a much higher cacao % usually in the 60-80% range. And yes, I really can eat chocolate (in moderation) on this diet! Foods I had never considered to be "sweet" before were now noticeably sweet to me: cashews, red, orange and yellow bell peppers, celery, onions, heavy whipping cream, carrots, and tomatoes to name just a few.

When I made that decision in 2014 to commit to a drastic lifestyle change, the last thing I wanted to do was to go on yet another diet. In fact, I had completely resigned myself to never being able to enjoy food again because I thought I would never be able to eat tasty food. Looking back, I was so wrong it's laughable!! Especially given my WICKED sweet tooth...

Oh yes, I have a HUGE sweet tooth! But in adopting a Ketogenic Lifestyle, I have learned how to cook healthy goodies - that is sweet treats which are made with healthy flours and healthy fats and which taste so good that when I eat them, the taste alone makes my mouth, taste buds and tummy do happy dances of joy!

It has been quite a culinary journey along the way to say the least! I have learned how to "Ketofy" many favorite family recipes and have found many quite passable substitutes for things I now avoid eating like pasta (hello Shiritaki noodles!!). And although I can no longer go to the store and buy regular bread, I have since found some really decent tasting low carb bread which I usually purchase from reputable companies (LC Foods, Healthwise Bakery, Thin-Slim Foods,etc.).

So it's not so much about denying myself certain foods as it is about finding good "work-arounds" which are decent alternatives. If I have a craving for pancakes, or chocolate chip cookies, or candy, or ice cream, I have some...BUT...I make them at home from healthy flours, healthy fats, and healthy ingredients. I believe the easiest way to get over a craving is to indulge it in such a way that it won't sabotage my long-term goals. lol

At the time I write this, I've been following a Ketogenic Lifestyle for over a year now (it was a year on 09/01/2015 to be exact) and in that year I have successfully eliminated 120 pounds. Currently, I'm a little over 2/3rds of the way to my final weight-loss goal - I've eliminated 123 pounds. I knew the goal I'd set for myself of losing somewhere between 165-175 pounds was extreme, some would perhaps even say unrealistic. I didn't know if I would ever make it but I sure seem to be well on my way to actually achieving that goal. As you can imagine, I am so please with the progress I've made so far!

ladipoet wrote: »

...........So I started following a Ketogenic Lifestyle. The first two weeks were the most difficult because of the double whammy of going through carb withdrawal and sugar withdrawal at the same time but then something AMAZING happened: my body finally dropped into nutritional ketosis and THE PAIN WENT AWAY!!!!

I couldn't believe. I was was astounded, delighted, amazed! In two-and-a-half-weeks, the headaches disappeared completely. After 5-6 weeks, so did the foot-pain. After two months I realized the pain I had been experiencing from Carpal Tunnel Syndrome had dropped from an 8 on a 1-10 pain scale on a daily basis and was instead registering anywhere from 0.5 - 2 - which is to say barely noticeable pain! ............

.............Another interesting thing happened once I started this lifestyle change. After a few weeks, my sense of "sweet" completely reset. Things I had eaten prior to starting LCHF were now far too sweet for me. For example, I now find milk-chocolate sickeningly sweet and can longer eat it. Now I prefer chocolates that have a much higher cacao % usually in the 60-80% range. And yes, I really can eat chocolate (in moderation) on this diet! Foods I had never considered to be "sweet" before were now noticeably sweet to me: cashews, red, orange and yellow bell peppers, celery, onions, heavy whipping cream, carrots, and tomatoes to name just a few..........

This part of your story closely mirrors mine. I actually accidentally wound up very LCHF when I was only looking for a pain management by diet to avoid starting Enbrel injections for pain manage. So far there have not been any negative side effects but many positive ones. I started 1 Oct 2014

Knit or miss
Thank you for sending me to the site. But there saying 25 carbs a day that sounds awfully low to me. On a good day I get near 50. Oh well going to do the best I can all I can do.

Lady poet
What a good story. So much if she can I can story. And you did it for all the right reasons. And congrats on the big 123 lb loss.

I'm going to work a this. Today should be an easier day. boiled a bunch of eggs for devilled eggs. Cooked a turkey over night. So have the right foods at hand.

See you lighter
Linda

Thanks Carly was a smidge below the 50 yesterday i think. I'm doing fine today had 2 boiled eggs turned into devilled eggs. 2 turkey morning snack, Lunch 1 1/2 cup of cabbage and chard fried and added 3 oz of turkey so the making of a good day. Only thing I wish I could turn the scale around lol.

See you lighter
Linda