Going from low carb to another diet?

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Will I gain weight? I want to switch from low carb to something more like weight watchers...but I don't want to go backwards.
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  • VeroM1234
    VeroM1234 Posts: 84 Member
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    I dont know but here's my story

    I did weight watchers : Lost 10 pounds in 4 months..

    I stopped and did the 1200 cal here : Lost 0 in 1 month

    Started the low carb diet on Monday : Lost 4.4 pounds in 4 days...

    In my mind, weight watchers doesnt really restrict you on carbs, it does a little yes...but stilll...I think it could be dangerous :(

    What you could do for example is add 5g of carbs a week and see how your body reacts, then add 5 more, then 5 more etc...

    Good luck
  • jennyrowell
    jennyrowell Posts: 24 Member
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    Just MY opinion, you might at first just till your body adjusts. Then it should level off. Don't be discouraged if it takes a couple of weeks of small gains..Just hang in there! Weight Watchers is great! I did it and lost 60 pounds!! Then I just decided I wanted to count calories instead of points...And I am losing that way as well!! Good Luck!
  • VickieMW
    VickieMW Posts: 285 Member
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    I guess I have tried every diet out there and learned that the only thing that does work for me is low carb. If I eat sugar or "white" starchie things, I gain weight. I personnally prefer be able to eat unlimited fat and eat Atkins bars & shakes when I NEED sugar. I also eat unlimited fruit but that is when I am not trying to lose weight. You just have to learn what works for you!

    Best of luck! :flowerforyou:
  • pattyproulx
    pattyproulx Posts: 603 Member
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    Yes, you will very likely gain weight (like 3-5 lbs within the first couple days).
    It's all water though, but you will also likely see a bit of a bloat.

    Water binds to carb so you're going to get that by upping your carbs.
  • pattyproulx
    pattyproulx Posts: 603 Member
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    I dont know but here's my story

    I did weight watchers : Lost 10 pounds in 4 months..

    I stopped and did the 1200 cal here : Lost 0 in 1 month

    Started the low carb diet on Monday : Lost 4.4 pounds in 4 days...

    In my mind, weight watchers doesnt really restrict you on carbs, it does a little yes...but stilll...I think it could be dangerous :(

    What you could do for example is add 5g of carbs a week and see how your body reacts, then add 5 more, then 5 more etc...

    Good luck

    Congrats on the switch to low-carb though. Just a bit of a heads up, along the lines of my last post, you likely won't continue to lose at 4.4lbs a week. You see an early dip because you lose a lot of water weight and bloat originally.

    You will continue to lose fat though as well, and likely fairly quickly; just don't get too disappointed if it doesn't keep dropping as fat as it is now.
  • joejccva71
    joejccva71 Posts: 2,985 Member
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    Here's the problem with doing low carb diets:

    1. They work, but they work because you are eating in a major caloric deficit.

    2. Are you planning on doing a low carb diet forever? If so, great although eventually your body will respond to the lack of energy and you will feel exhausted by just walking down the street. Maybe not right away, but it will catch up with you.

    3. Once you lose that weight by doing a low carb diet, and then start eating normal...you will gain that weight back in a matter of a few months.

    If you look to lose 1-2 lbs per week by just eating in a CALORIC DEFICIT then you will keep the weight off. You dont have to eat super clean either.

    WATCH YOUR CALORIC INTAKE, and eat your macro's every single day.

    There are people that do keto diets which can be dangerous but there is a system that they use to bring back carbs slowly back into their diets so they keep the weight off. You'd have to research keto diets. I don't recommend them, but they work fast if done right.

    I personally do carb cycling and intermittent fasting so I can build muscle and lose fat while eating at a slight deficit.
  • VeganGal84
    VeganGal84 Posts: 938 Member
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    I switched from a life of misery and suffering on South Beach to a life of "everything in moderation" and enjoying food again with Weight Watchers... I did gain a couple of pounds back initially, but then it started to come off again.

    note to low-carbers: For me, it was a life of misery and suffering. I'm not everyone, and I'm not an expert, so if you love low-carbing, that's great! :-) It just wasn't for me at all. I know that it can be done in a healthy and successful way, but it was terrible for me. (And that was before I went vegan. Actually, that was part of the reason that I went vegan!)
  • Punkedpoetess
    Punkedpoetess Posts: 633 Member
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    Like Vegangal, I have also tried South Beach before. I have been on South Beach on two different occasions and was miserable both times. Also did Atkins years ago in college and it was not for me. When I let carbs back in, I gained a little at first, but then started losing again and that was with WW. WW and myfitnesspal are the only things I have found that work for me. Nothing against low carbers, I know it works good for some people. Personally for me, moderation is the key for me being successful. I personally do better when good complex carbs are a part of my life and I limit refined carbs and processed sugars.
  • freerange
    freerange Posts: 1,722 Member
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    Here's the problem with doing low carb diets:

    1. They work, but they work because you are eating in a major caloric deficit.

    2. Are you planning on doing a low carb diet forever? If so, great although eventually your body will respond to the lack of energy and you will feel exhausted by just walking down the street. Maybe not right away, but it will catch up with you.

    3. Once you lose that weight by doing a low carb diet, and then start eating normal...you will gain that weight back in a matter of a few months.

    If you look to lose 1-2 lbs per week by just eating in a CALORIC DEFICIT then you will keep the weight off. You dont have to eat super clean either.

    WATCH YOUR CALORIC INTAKE, and eat your macro's every single day.

    There are people that do keto diets which can be dangerous but there is a system that they use to bring back carbs slowly back into their diets so they keep the weight off. You'd have to research keto diets. I don't recommend them, but they work fast if done right.

    I personally do carb cycling and intermittent fasting so I can build muscle and lose fat while eating at a slight deficit.

    Really? LOL so if you eat low carb, and go back to the way you were eating you will gain weight? Now there is a shocker, BUT I really like this, if you just count calories you will keep the weight off? So let me see if I have this right, if you just count calories you will magically never stop counting calories, but if you count carbs, somehow that will make you stop counting carbs and get fat again? Brilliant!
  • cheesesandwich
    cheesesandwich Posts: 79 Member
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    Here's the problem with doing low carb diets:

    1. They work, but they work because you are eating in a major caloric deficit.

    2. Are you planning on doing a low carb diet forever? If so, great although eventually your body will respond to the lack of energy and you will feel exhausted by just walking down the street. Maybe not right away, but it will catch up with you.

    3. Once you lose that weight by doing a low carb diet, and then start eating normal...you will gain that weight back in a matter of a few months.

    If you look to lose 1-2 lbs per week by just eating in a CALORIC DEFICIT then you will keep the weight off. You dont have to eat super clean either.

    WATCH YOUR CALORIC INTAKE, and eat your macro's every single day.

    There are people that do keto diets which can be dangerous but there is a system that they use to bring back carbs slowly back into their diets so they keep the weight off. You'd have to research keto diets. I don't recommend them, but they work fast if done right.

    I personally do carb cycling and intermittent fasting so I can build muscle and lose fat while eating at a slight deficit.

    ....well except that low carb diets don't inherently cause major caloric deficits, and if you temporarily adopt ANY new way of eating that helps you lose weight and then go back to your old lifestyle you'll gain weight back, and I'm pretty sure there are thousands of low carb-ers who have been eating that way for years without trouble walking down the street, and the posts on this site alone are evidence enough that just sticking to a caloric deficit isn't the key to weight loss for everyone, and there's plenty of evidence that keto diets aren't dangerous.

    If this were real life this would be an appropriate time to pull out that "whatever" sign from Clueless.
  • JujiBean
    JujiBean Posts: 187
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    [/quote]
    [/quote]
    Really? LOL so if you eat low carb, and go back to the way you were eating you will gain weight? Now there is a shocker, BUT I really like this, if you just count calories you will keep the weight off? So let me see if I have this right, if you just count calories you will magically never stop counting calories, but if you count carbs, somehow that will make you stop counting carbs and get fat again? Brilliant!
    [/quote]

    Love You Logic! :happy:
  • joejccva71
    joejccva71 Posts: 2,985 Member
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    Here's the problem with doing low carb diets:

    1. They work, but they work because you are eating in a major caloric deficit.

    2. Are you planning on doing a low carb diet forever? If so, great although eventually your body will respond to the lack of energy and you will feel exhausted by just walking down the street. Maybe not right away, but it will catch up with you.

    3. Once you lose that weight by doing a low carb diet, and then start eating normal...you will gain that weight back in a matter of a few months.

    If you look to lose 1-2 lbs per week by just eating in a CALORIC DEFICIT then you will keep the weight off. You dont have to eat super clean either.

    WATCH YOUR CALORIC INTAKE, and eat your macro's every single day.

    There are people that do keto diets which can be dangerous but there is a system that they use to bring back carbs slowly back into their diets so they keep the weight off. You'd have to research keto diets. I don't recommend them, but they work fast if done right.

    I personally do carb cycling and intermittent fasting so I can build muscle and lose fat while eating at a slight deficit.

    ....well except that low carb diets don't inherently cause major caloric deficits, and if you temporarily adopt ANY new way of eating that helps you lose weight and then go back to your old lifestyle you'll gain weight back, and I'm pretty sure there are thousands of low carb-ers who have been eating that way for years without trouble walking down the street, and the posts on this site alone are evidence enough that just sticking to a caloric deficit isn't the key to weight loss for everyone, and there's plenty of evidence that keto diets aren't dangerous.

    If this were real life this would be an appropriate time to pull out that "whatever" sign from Clueless.

    People that are generally on low carb diets eat less than 100g of carbs per day EVERY day. This obviously lowers the calorie intake daily to the point of where people are severely undereating. And while this can cause fast weight loss for people short term, it is not a healthy long term solution for keeping the weight off.

    It's like the people who want fast results and do the "Dr. Oz HcG drops" and eat 500 calories a day which is so incredibly stupid that it's amusing.

    I said keto diets can be dangeous if you don't know what you are doing.

    Also no matter what way you slice it unless you have hypothyrodism, it's calories in versus calories out.

    You cannot under any circumstances eat at a calorie surplus over what you BURN each day and expect to lose weight. I don't care if you run 20 miles a day. If you calculate your ACTIVITY in a 24 hour period each day and eat a surplus beyond THAT activity level...YOU WILL GAIN WEIGHT.

    Eat a surplus = GAIN weight.
    Eat a deficit = LOSE weight.

    Anyone that says otherwise is an idiot wrapped in a moron. Period. End of story.
  • joejccva71
    joejccva71 Posts: 2,985 Member
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    Really? LOL so if you eat low carb, and go back to the way you were eating you will gain weight? Now there is a shocker, BUT I really like this, if you just count calories you will keep the weight off? So let me see if I have this right, if you just count calories you will magically never stop counting calories, but if you count carbs, somehow that will make you stop counting carbs and get fat again? Brilliant!

    Love You Logic! :happy:

    It's amazing how you completely twisted my words around into making your point.

    I said that generally if you go with low carb diets you are eating at a major deficit. Do you consider eating over a 100g of carbs per day a low carb diet? Most low carbers eat less than 80g of carbs a day. Thats a pretty big deficit in calories.

    If you lose your weight then you start eating your carbs normally again, you will gain the weight back because you are now eating a surplus once again.

    Does that make sense?
  • cheesesandwich
    cheesesandwich Posts: 79 Member
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    Here's the problem with doing low carb diets:

    1. They work, but they work because you are eating in a major caloric deficit.

    2. Are you planning on doing a low carb diet forever? If so, great although eventually your body will respond to the lack of energy and you will feel exhausted by just walking down the street. Maybe not right away, but it will catch up with you.

    3. Once you lose that weight by doing a low carb diet, and then start eating normal...you will gain that weight back in a matter of a few months.

    If you look to lose 1-2 lbs per week by just eating in a CALORIC DEFICIT then you will keep the weight off. You dont have to eat super clean either.

    WATCH YOUR CALORIC INTAKE, and eat your macro's every single day.

    There are people that do keto diets which can be dangerous but there is a system that they use to bring back carbs slowly back into their diets so they keep the weight off. You'd have to research keto diets. I don't recommend them, but they work fast if done right.

    I personally do carb cycling and intermittent fasting so I can build muscle and lose fat while eating at a slight deficit.

    ....well except that low carb diets don't inherently cause major caloric deficits, and if you temporarily adopt ANY new way of eating that helps you lose weight and then go back to your old lifestyle you'll gain weight back, and I'm pretty sure there are thousands of low carb-ers who have been eating that way for years without trouble walking down the street, and the posts on this site alone are evidence enough that just sticking to a caloric deficit isn't the key to weight loss for everyone, and there's plenty of evidence that keto diets aren't dangerous.

    If this were real life this would be an appropriate time to pull out that "whatever" sign from Clueless.

    People that are generally on low carb diets eat less than 100g of carbs per day EVERY day. This obviously lowers the calorie intake daily to the point of where people are severely undereating. And while this can cause fast weight loss for people short term, it is not a healthy long term solution for keeping the weight off.

    It's like the people who want fast results and do the "Dr. Oz HcG drops" and eat 500 calories a day which is so incredibly stupid that it's amusing.

    I said keto diets can be dangeous if you don't know what you are doing.

    Also no matter what way you slice it unless you have hypothyrodism, it's calories in versus calories out.

    You cannot under any circumstances eat at a calorie surplus over what you BURN each day and expect to lose weight. I don't care if you run 20 miles a day. If you calculate your ACTIVITY in a 24 hour period each day and eat a surplus beyond THAT activity level...YOU WILL GAIN WEIGHT.

    Eat a surplus = GAIN weight.
    Eat a deficit = LOSE weight.

    Anyone that says otherwise is an idiot wrapped in a moron. Period. End of story.

    Nice use of insults, thanks for that. Nobody said you can eat a surplus of calories and continue to lose weight. What I actually said was that simply watching calories doesn't result in significant weight loss for everyone - you can reference the HUNDREDS of confused threads on this board for evidence of that.

    Furthermore, I don't even know where you got the idea that eating under 100g of carbs means you also can't eat enough calories. That's not even remotely true. I eat low carb and meet my 1200 cal minimum + exercise calories every single day.
  • joejccva71
    joejccva71 Posts: 2,985 Member
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    Alot of people I know that go with low carb diets don't compensate with higher fat and protein macro's so they end up eating a huge deficit. Thats what I meant. I realize some folks are smart enough to compensate and eat more fats and proteins.

    Also what you said in your first response was that people just sticking with caloric deficits can't lose weight as this "board is proof of that". Then, above you said something about watching calories.

    And what I said was:

    If you know what you burn in a 24 hour period (calories burn), and you eat at a 500-1000 calorie deficit you will lose weight. The problem with new people on this site/forum is that they really don't know what they are burning, and they are afraid to eat or they severely undereat which can have adverse effects.

    If you stick with 500-1000 calories under your maintenance, you will drop the weight the proper way which is 1-2lbs per week.

    Thats all I was saying. Then you and someone else got in a twist and started saying about how it's not just about caloric deficit...when IT IS.
  • sh0ck
    sh0ck Posts: 168 Member
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    Here's the problem with doing low carb diets:

    1. They work, but they work because you are eating in a major caloric deficit.

    Not necessarily. Low carb does not necessarily imply low calories. I believe, according to the Atkins diet at least, you can pretty much eat whatever, whenever you want as long asd you stay under 20 carbs (at least during the induction phase).
    2. Are you planning on doing a low carb diet forever? If so, great although eventually your body will respond to the lack of energy and you will feel exhausted by just walking down the street. Maybe not right away, but it will catch up with you.

    Proof? I haven't heard of this happening nor have I read it anywhere. I would like to see somewhere where this happens.

    3. Once you lose that weight by doing a low carb diet, and then start eating normal...you will gain that weight back in a matter of a few months.

    Sure, if you go back to eating UTTER CRAP then you will gain all the weight back. There is nothing that stops people from going from low carb to "healthy portions" to maintain or even keep losing.

    If you look to lose 1-2 lbs per week by just eating in a CALORIC DEFICIT then you will keep the weight off. You dont have to eat super clean either.

    Sure, the weight will come off but your overall health will go to hell if you eat whatever (bad things) you want at a caloric defiicit.
  • zudleymarie
    zudleymarie Posts: 100 Member
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    There are many of us who are insulin resistant that have tried counting calories and not been low carb and been unbelievably frustrated due to a lack of weight loss. When we would find out that our body does not process carbs and sugar like other normal people, we had to adjust to a lower carb diet just because of a stupid pancreas.
  • cheesesandwich
    cheesesandwich Posts: 79 Member
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    Alot of people I know that go with low carb diets don't compensate with higher fat and protein macro's so they end up eating a huge deficit. Thats what I meant. I realize some folks are smart enough to compensate and eat more fats and proteins.

    Also what you said in your first response was that people just sticking with caloric deficits can't lose weight as this "board is proof of that". Then, above you said something about watching calories.

    And what I said was:

    If you know what you burn in a 24 hour period (calories burn), and you eat at a 500-1000 calorie deficit you will lose weight. The problem with new people on this site/forum is that they really don't know what they are burning, and they are afraid to eat or they severely undereat which can have adverse effects.

    If you stick with 500-1000 calories under your maintenance, you will drop the weight the proper way which is 1-2lbs per week.

    Thats all I was saying. Then you and someone else got in a twist and started saying about how it's not just about caloric deficit...when IT IS.

    Come onnn. Are we really going to mince words? Generally when people are "watching calories", they're watching them to keep the calorie count low. I thought that was generally understood, sorry for not spelling it out for you. I also didn't say this board is absolute proof, I said it's evidence that it doesn't work for everyone.

    More importantly, you should probably keep in mind that just because some people you know don't know how to get a proper balance of fats and proteins in with their low carb diets, that doesn't mean that ALL low carb diets are extremely low in calories. Think before you make blanket statements.
  • joejccva71
    joejccva71 Posts: 2,985 Member
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    Come onnn. Are we really going to mince words? Generally when people are "watching calories", they're watching them to keep the calorie count low. I thought that was generally understood, sorry for not spelling it out for you. I also didn't say this board is absolute proof, I said it's evidence that it doesn't work for everyone.

    Just keeping the calorie count low without KNOWING what your maintenance is or how many calories you burn each day is a recipe for disaster for alot of folks. Would you agree or disagree with this?
  • TK421NotAtPost
    TK421NotAtPost Posts: 512 Member
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    ....well except that low carb diets don't inherently cause major caloric deficits, and if you temporarily adopt ANY new way of eating that helps you lose weight and then go back to your old lifestyle you'll gain weight back, and I'm pretty sure there are thousands of low carb-ers who have been eating that way for years without trouble walking down the street, and the posts on this site alone are evidence enough that just sticking to a caloric deficit isn't the key to weight loss for everyone, and there's plenty of evidence that keto diets aren't dangerous.

    If this were real life this would be an appropriate time to pull out that "whatever" sign from Clueless.

    Not sure what you mean by inherent calorie deficits, but there is some evidence to suggest that low carb, especially high protein, has a very potent satiating effect and reduces the tendency to overeat and underestimate calories consumed. That is part of the reason why Paleo/Primal folks are able to maintain lower calorie levels while rarely ever being hungry. If you look at it that way, then I would say that low carb diets are in fact, a tool for folks to help maintain a daily caloric deficit. But yeah, food is food and if you overconsume...it doesn't matter if you're vegan, paleo, neandertal, atkins... you can pretty much kiss your deficit good-bye.