Hi I'm Maria....I did South Beach Diet after the birth of my third child, Liam, and lost all of my baby weight! But then I gained it back again when my husband deployed last year and I decided NOT to cook and eat McDonald's and processed food all the time. Now he's home and I need to lose about 25 lb. to be at my "healthy weight"....and so I'm low carb again. I'm on Phase Two of South Beach....and basically this is how my husband and I are going to eat.....low carb and if we do eat carbs trying to eat the best kind we can.

I actually went through "withdrawal" when I cut the carbs down in my diet....it was THAT bad!!! When I did South Beach the first time my withdrawal was mild-moderate headaches. This time I got winded from walking up my stairs, and felt very weak....and had migraines!

I'm so glad I found this group because I can use all of the recipes, support, and encouragement I can get! I hope I can be the same for you!!

Hello! I ate low carb in 2006 before getting pregnant with my daughter. I fell off the wagon hard; I went from 155 a few months prior to getting pregnant, to 220 the day I delivered. Since then I mostly counted calories, but I do best on low carb. I started back up again a few months ago as I was approaching my goal weight. Low carb is definitely getting me there faster!

evening....so glad to see this group. i am getting so tired of people saying how you shouldn't follow low carb for this or that reason. i am diabetic so i have to if i want to live. i have been doing low carb since 06 when i was DX. than i quit smoking and gain 30. than between 07 and 2010, Dh lost 2 jobs and we moved 3 times. so now that we are settled and happy campers again. i revisted my nutritionist and we set a plan in motion.
have a good night

Hey Gang! This is one of my FB blogs that I "liked" . If you haven't already, check out Jimmy Moore, the founder of livin' la vida low carb and author of a couple of books. He has hundreds of interviews and podcasts, so good!!! You can check him out at :

http://livinlavidalowcarb.com/blog/

Hi Everyone! I just joined this group today. This is my second week on Atkins Induction, but I have been restricting calories for about a month now and I have lost 9lbs so far. I have a serious carb addiction that I am trying to break free from and that is why I chose Atkins. I have a significant amount of weight to lose so I guess I will be doing induction beyond the two weeks. My diary is open, feel free to critique and/or friend me.

This group is awesome!!

My name is Felicia. I've been living on-and off of low carb since 2003. I'm type II diabetic, no meds, just controlling my diabetes with food and exercise. I love this WOE and have found substitutes for just about all of my favorite foods!

I just realized I didn't introduce myself! I'm Pam. I've been a nurse for 21 years, overweight for a lot longer, and an Atkins lifestyle addict since 2001. I did jump off the Atkins thing once diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis because of what my, then, dr said to do. But I quickly ballooned back up to 280lb due to a combination of carbs and prednisone(steroid therapy). Skip to 2008 when I had gastric bypass, which worked for about 80lb, but then I started gaining again. I finally realized it was a carbohydrate intolerance that was causing this problem and back to Old Faithful I am and have been happy for the past year on Atkins

I've done years of research on diets and eating habits, mostly because of a combination of my own health and curiosity but also because as a nurse I like to be able to teach my patients. Even if you're not low carb, my motto is "Protein, Protein, Protein!".
I began compiling a list of low carb recipes after having to search all over all the time (I love to cook) and I've posted the URL in other posts here. It's also on my profile, but here it is again: http://blog.pittsburgh-diet-guru.com.
If anyone has recipe ideas they'd like me to add there, please please please(!) send them to me

like everyone else, have done atkins in the past,it workd....then life happend. I am an addict of carbs and was raised with a mom who was a baker and owned a bakery. So a donut to me.....is like a big lovey hug from my mama lol. she always smelled like a dang donut!!
I now have came to the relization that thru ALLLLL the diets i have attempted,low carb works for ME. I get alot of critics saying it is bad for my health,but i eat better now then i ever did! and am dropping inches and pounds!
BEFORE: coffee with lots of sugar and lots of flavored creamers
then bloodsugar would crash down and i would shove whatever i could in my face to stop the icky feeling. usually a cookie, a pb jelly sandwich or something like that.
2 litter of pepsi, water only drank when i had hiccups!!
dinner....was a carb overload of pastas, or a burger or fast food pizza.
oh and any candy,donut,cookie that anyone brought into work....i ate :blushing:
So, as u can see,my eating now is much better!! with or with out the healthy fats i consume....it is HEALTHIER then my past way of life. so i have made the change and have decided to low carb it as a lifestyle. My bloodsugar no longer goes up and down,no more seeing spots or getting dizzy and panicked and sweaty. I no longer have constant upset tummy and no longer have overwhelming sugar cravings!! My children also eat better now cuz mom isnt running for donuts!

Real Name: Trudei
Height: 5'3"
HW: 248
CW: 174.6
UGW: 145
Location: Florida
Age: 41
Sex: F
Children: 3
Married for 20 years

I have done low carb in the past with wonderful success. I lost the weight I have so far doing many different diets, but I am back at my weight loss center - its diet is basically low carb . I found this group while reading posts in another thread. Excited to read what others have to say and hope to learn lots.

Hi everyone!!! I've done low-carb about 5-6 times in the last 10 years. My weight has fluctuated around 40lbs during that time. I've done low cal and low fat diets and while they have also worked for me I prefer a low carb diet in the end. It also helps that there is science to back it up. This makes it easier for connecting the dots for maintaining the motivation. Knowledge is power.

Speaking of knowledge, I first stared with the Atkins books for my guidelines and then the Gary Taubes books to ground me in the science of why and how. Because of this I have been able to maintain my weight loss at its longest. The addition of MFP to my tool chest has also been highly beneficial.

I also do IF which has really been a weight loss multiplier for me. Using MFP I have been able to track my food intake and exercise. Using the reporting and blogging features I have been able to identify where I have loss and gained weight.

I tend to refer to the the low carb lifestyle as the being on the dark side. The best part of being on a low carb diet is that you don't starve!!! Try that on a low cal diet!!!!

Welcome to all and congrats on your weight loss!!!! Keep up the good work!!! I leave you with this:

Do what ever works best for you. Going back to eating the way you use to before any diet will always bring you back to where you started. This is true for any diet.

Hey, just came across this group and thought it was perfect! Thanks for setting it up!

I've only been on a low carb diet for a few weeks, so far things are going well except when I go to my parents house. My mum makes curries and rice most nights, indian food is pretty hard carb, but been trying to modify best I can.

Overall I quite like being low carb, quite easy and manage to keep my cals low as a result.

Thanks!

Hi there! I'm Lisa! I am so happy to have found this group. I have been eating low carb strictly since January 2011. I love eating this way and losing weight. Sometimes I feel guilty, like I've been cheating to lose weight, as silly as that sounds. But, watching carbs (and fat) and upping the protein sure makes losing weight much easier, IMHO. Plus, it's fun to find new recipes and adapt my lifestyle to this way of eating.

I've struggled with obesity for many years. By 2005 (my "before" pic in my avatar) my weight had reached around 330 lbs.. I was miserable, sick and tired all the time. At the end of 2005, I went through a very difficult trial which left me very hurt and disappointed. This pushed me to start the South Beach Diet, as I went on a three week vacation as a therapy, of sorts. By utilizing the website, I lost almost 60 lbs. by the summer of '06. Unfortunately, like so many times before, I started eating out of control again and rocketed back to over 300 lbs.. I yo-yoed for the next 5 years and my medical issues were starting to multiply. I was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes, had high BP, was borderline hypertensive, had 4 laser surgeries on my right eye probably due to retinopathy, among other things. I was sick with colds and bronchitis all the time and called in sick to work a lot.

With little hope and motivation left and entertaining the idea of having gastric by-pass surgery, at the urging of one of my hubbies co-workers, I went to a Medi-Weight-loss Center on January 25, 2011. I weighed in at 304 lbs.. I started a journey and have never looked back. I remember my first meal, It was a 3 oz. turkey burger and a few dill pickles. I remember
during grace, I prayed the Lord would help this little meal to satisfy me and asked for His help to be able to stick to this way of eating. He has answered that prayer. I am almost at the 100 lb. mark and anticipate reaching it by Jan. 25, 2012, my 1 year anniversary after joining Medi WL. There have been so many changes already, and I have about 50 more lbs. to go. The main thing I love being able to buy clothes that fit my body, not hide it. I'm looking forward to being able to share with so many fellow low-carbers in this group.

Congratulations to all of you and your success and hard work! Looking forward to sharing together with you! )

Real Name: Clarissa
Height: 5'1"
HW: 227
CW: 174
UGW: 125
Location: San Antonio, TX
Age: 26
Sex: F
Children: none


Low Carb Lifestyle: I started Medifast June 2011. It stimulates a ketogenic metabolism
My weaknesses are: dried fruit

My strengths are: My career in health promotion and behavior sceince. it keeps me grounded.

My body just feels better with limited carbs. 80-85 a day.