deksgrl wrote: »

What's my secret.... well, I don't feel like I have been at this long enough to have visible enough results or to say I will succeed at this. However, that said.... I think I will succeed because I felt terrible before and I was amazed when I started eating this way and I felt terrific. And the one day I really slipped and ate a lot of carbs, I felt awful again.

I'm kinda this way too.
I lost weight by eating high quality carbs (pre- south beach, but very much south beach style). And I felt GREAT. I kept eating that way for 13 or 14 years, and maintained (+-5). And felt great. When menopause hit, I noticed that my old carbage cravings returned, and that I was giving in to them a bit.

I played around with things for a while, and nothing seemed to have me feeling "right".

I decided to re-commit to eating only high quality carbs, really eating them, the vegetables, and I tweaked back the overall total number of carbs. I'd done lots of reading on menopause and insulin resistance etc. But it hadn't really sunk in, not really, until a few months ago.

I'm feeling like me again.
It's funny, I had been doing this right for a while, and hadn't thought about it much, when I saw deksgrl's post about going low carb (we knew each other from another group here) and I thought: oh, yeah, hey, I feel like me again! When did that happen? Which got me to focus even more.

To put things in perspective:

about 12 years ago I stupidly decided to change birth control methods. I knew that BCPs didn't work well with my body, but stupidly listened when my (former) OBGYN suggested I try Mirena. "No systemic hormones" she said "all localized" she said. My rational brain couldn't see how that could be the case, especially given the listed side effects, but I did it.
Later, I was feeling HORRIBLE. I knew it wasn't for me (and wasn't "localized"). I called her and told her to get it out, or I'd do it myself. ha.

Four days later I CRASHED. HARD. It was like post partum depression and exhaustion. It was STUNNING.
I'd never felt like that before in my life. I was weepy, bitchy, twitchy, anxious, and I couldn't sleep. Nearly ran hubs out of the house. I quickly realized that I had no progesterone. Mirena provided the artificial stuff, so my body apparently stopped making it and it probably added too much, which then threw off my estrogen. I took out the Mirena and I was left with raging estrogen and no progesterone. oh joy. I got bio-identical progesterone and slowly balanced myself.

In late fall and in spring I told hubs that menopause had me feeling "post-Mirena" like. A few weeks after tweaking my carbs down, and their quality UP, I felt human.

TL;DR: I feel good eating my way. I feel bad eating SAD.

Dragonwolf wrote: »

wabmester wrote: »

At a family gathering over the weekend, there was a lot of interest in my weight loss. I love talking about the mechanisms involved, but surprisingly there wasn't much interest in that topic.

Anyway, somebody asked me (from across the room): "What's your secret? Are you running marathons?"

All I could say was "Low carb!" (In this particular instance, I also added "Just like your husband!" To which she responded sadly "He doesn't do that anymore.")

This got me thinking. The people I talked to had a variety of knowledge and experience, including current and former low-carbers. Most of them expressed interest, but ALL of them expressed skepticism or recalled their failed experiences.

For me, the "secret" was probably a combination of my doc recommending statins and my decision to go cold turkey on grains and sugary crap. Those two factors had the most influence on my success, and I'm starting to realize how few people succeed at this.

What's your secret?

In my experience, the majority of people who fail did so because they did something wrong. Most people jump into low carb without getting even basic "101" education about it. As a result, they layer low carb on top of their existing low fat, low salt lifestyles, and (predictably, to anyone who understands how low carb works) end up feeling like crap by day 5 and dealing with cravings from hell. Their "I felt like crap" would have been transient, and would have been mitigated (or eliminated altogether) if they'd taken a little time to learn and troubleshoot instead of just giving up. (Having people like Dr. Oz say crap like "I tried low carb, I didn't last a day without feeling like crap!" doesn't help matters.)

My "secret," then, is educate yourself before diving in head first. Otherwise, you risk diving into the shallow end...

Barring that, the trick that allowed me to drop carbs without much of a struggle was to drop grains. Going Primal forced me to change my mindset about what constitutes a meal and that meals didn't require bread or pasta or whatever. Prior to that, I couldn't "figure out" how to get my carbs below 200g or so and struggled with meal ideas, because I was stuck in the old formula.

This is a great point. I just saw a thread where someone said they "tried" atkins but "failed" because they like vegetables and "vegetables aren't allowed" on atkins. dafuq? Clearly she just dove into "bacon" and didn't take time to read up on the plan she was supposedly doing.

And, yes, it does require a bit of a paradigm shift. We've been amazingly brainwashed, these last years, to assume that bread, pasta, cereal are the center of every meal. It's not a meal without grains we're basically taught and told.

Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »

Dragonwolf wrote: »

wabmester wrote: »

At a family gathering over the weekend, there was a lot of interest in my weight loss. I love talking about the mechanisms involved, but surprisingly there wasn't much interest in that topic.

Anyway, somebody asked me (from across the room): "What's your secret? Are you running marathons?"

All I could say was "Low carb!" (In this particular instance, I also added "Just like your husband!" To which she responded sadly "He doesn't do that anymore.")

This got me thinking. The people I talked to had a variety of knowledge and experience, including current and former low-carbers. Most of them expressed interest, but ALL of them expressed skepticism or recalled their failed experiences.

For me, the "secret" was probably a combination of my doc recommending statins and my decision to go cold turkey on grains and sugary crap. Those two factors had the most influence on my success, and I'm starting to realize how few people succeed at this.

What's your secret?

In my experience, the majority of people who fail did so because they did something wrong. Most people jump into low carb without getting even basic "101" education about it. As a result, they layer low carb on top of their existing low fat, low salt lifestyles, and (predictably, to anyone who understands how low carb works) end up feeling like crap by day 5 and dealing with cravings from hell. Their "I felt like crap" would have been transient, and would have been mitigated (or eliminated altogether) if they'd taken a little time to learn and troubleshoot instead of just giving up. (Having people like Dr. Oz say crap like "I tried low carb, I didn't last a day without feeling like crap!" doesn't help matters.)

My "secret," then, is educate yourself before diving in head first. Otherwise, you risk diving into the shallow end...

Barring that, the trick that allowed me to drop carbs without much of a struggle was to drop grains. Going Primal forced me to change my mindset about what constitutes a meal and that meals didn't require bread or pasta or whatever. Prior to that, I couldn't "figure out" how to get my carbs below 200g or so and struggled with meal ideas, because I was stuck in the old formula.

This is a great point. I just saw a thread where someone said they "tried" atkins but "failed" because they like vegetables and "vegetables aren't allowed" on atkins. dafuq? Clearly she just dove into "bacon" and didn't take time to read up on the plan she was supposedly doing.

And, yes, it does require a bit of a paradigm shift. We've been amazingly brainwashed, these last years, to assume that bread, pasta, cereal are the center of every meal. It's not a meal without grains we're basically taught and told.

Ugh! People.

Mami1976D wrote: »

I suddenly realized I'd been eating like Cookie Monster for over a year, downing donuts, cookies, cakes, chocolates....

I call my old diet the Hummingbird diet, because I'm pretty certain I was eating my weight in sugar and starch every day. ;-)

Starting in Junior High, I'd eat snickerdoodles and Sprite for breakfast, have a pocket full of Skittles so I'd have a steady stream of sugar all freakin' day, and eat crap or PBJ for lunch. Dinner was the only meal where I'd eat real food, and we were definitely a meat and potatoes family, though there was usually a veggie.

For me, the turning point was deciding to talk to a chiropractor several (completely unrelated) friends recommended. Turns out I've been reacting to more foods than I realize, which is why gluten-free wasn't enough to keep me healthy (I was still eating a ton of processed foods as well). My diet is crazily restrictive for now until my system starts to heal, but it'll be worth it.

AngInCanada wrote: »

My secret was letting go of the denial. I KNEW that grains and carbs made me crave sugar and bready things like no tomorrow but I didn't want to believe it. I just kept telling myself I could just calorie count or choose smaller portions or......excuse after excuse. Even when I wasn't "dieting' per say but just tracking, I could EASILY eat 3,000 calories and still be hungry throughout the day.

With keto, I barely ever feel hungry. I eat at meal times because I get a little tinge of "hmm maybe you should eat", but I don't have the crazy sugar swings where I'm left shaking and needing to grab something high in sugar just to feel ok. This is the first time in 15+ years that I don't feel hungry all of the time. I will admit, there are times when I just wish I could eat anything and be thin. But I've caved a couple of times in my 48 days and each time, it totally wasn't worth it. So I KNOW that this is a complete lifestyle change for me.

So I guess that's my secret. Just being real with myself.

This is totally me- word for word!

I've just started LC eating (Atkins induction) and really appreciate this thread. Very motivating to read, thanks for sharing. .

wabmester wrote: »

<snip>

For me, the "secret" was probably a combination of my doc recommending statins and my decision to go cold turkey on grains and sugary crap. Those two factors had the most influence on my success, and I'm starting to realize how few people succeed at this.

What's your secret?

Now, to answer your question. As others said, I don't have a secret, but rather I had a fear and a path that lead me to Low-carb/keto.

In that path was finding out specifics on how and what a Keto diet is. I have known about low carbs since the 80's. I just didn't know there was a specific guideline and a mechanism your body goes through. And that mechanism is very rigid. You can't one day eat 200 g's of carbs, then 25, then 100 or do it willy nilly. Once I found out the science, it was easy for me.

The fear was easy, cause when you are 331 pounds, weird bad things happen to your body that aren't pleasant. I would get certain numbness in my arms. Your doc and family, friends are on your case all the time telling you your gonna have a heart attack, cancer, diabetes, expensive medical expenses, etc ad infinitum...

Dan the Man from Michigan
It's Ketogenic or Bariatric! How I Found the Ketogenic Diet

At the age of 73 I finally just got sick and tired of being sick and tired. I took over my own health (still see doc but I do what I think is right). I'm doing much better, thank me (and God--not necessarily in that order).

I was determined not to break another New Year resolution of "gonna lose that baby weight this year" especially as I couldn't really blame the "babies" anymore (my youngest is 3). Began on my 42nd birthday on 5 January which was also my first day back to work after the Christmas break and managed to avoid all the treats that a day like that usually brings. Had been talking to a friend during the Christmas holidays about the "banting" diet which I had told her I could never do as I love my bread too much and couldn't imagine what I would cook if I had to avoid rice and potatoes and pasta. Did a little research, read what Tim Noakes had to say on the subject and then dived right in. Haven't looked back (except for the odd biscuit that usually made me feel like crap) and am now down 18.5kgs. My secret is an extremely supportive family. My husband and kids eat what I am eating 9 times out of 10 (my 8 year old loves cauli rice and cauli mash) and the M.I.L who on the occasions she cooks for us gives me a total breakdown of what she has put in her recipe and has even adjusted some of her recipes to take out the carbs (she also washes and irons while I am at work, and no you can't have her lol)

adelainie wrote: »

baconslave wrote: »

My secret?
I discovered I was lying to myself.
Once I stopped burying my head in the sand, and became self-aware, I realized I had no choice but to go low-carb, for the sake of my health and my family.

I have a med- lab science background and understand the mechanism of lchf very well... In theory.
Today I stepped on the scale and topped out higher than ever... Even than my 2 pregnancies. I've been telling myself that I'm special- my body works differently,and that I cannot do this because it makes me feel awful.
That's it. No more lies.
My dad has lost 50+ pounds doing lchf in the past 6 months. He has been very heavy, for years. If he can do this - I have no excuse.
I know the science works- and thanks to reading here- I know that I've probably never managed my sodium levels, in past attempts. This is probably not entirely appropriate for this thread but reading your stories helps me to find my motivation.

That's fine! Mission accomplished if it has helped you.

I'm a smart, educated woman, but I loved certain foods so much that I didn't want it to be true that I shouldn't/couldn't eat them. After all, my husband eats whatever he wants. And can moderate them. They obviously didn't love me though. And I'm incapable of moderating those foods. 100lb of extra weight ought have been enough evidence for me. But it wasn't.

After a very short time I learned that not only do I NOT NEED them, but I'm better without them. So much better. And if the naughty, sweets-loving part of myself needs attention, I discovered lower-carb solutions that taste great so I can occasionally treat myself. This WOE has everything that I NEED and that I WANT, healthy food that is delicious. I just needed that epiphany to break away from my destructive, and self-deceptive thought patterns.