High protein/low carbs - anyone do this?

Yes, absolutely, I have tried this, and have found that it's the only way I can lose weight.

I don't adhere to any extremes either, but when I do choose to eat this way, I drastically cut back on all bread, rice, pasta, potatoes, and avoid all junk foods (chocolate, chips, cakes, cookies, etc). I focus on the "good" carbs, and I eat lots of veggies, some fruit, as well as 1 or 2 servings of plain yogurt per day. Then I consciously make decisions on what other carbs I choose to eat, and try to limit to no more than 1 serving per day. For example, if I have oatmeal for breakfast, then I won't have any rice with dinner (just meat and veggies), or if I am planning to have a small baked potato with my dinner, then I won't eat other carbs at breadfast or lunch - I'll have eggs and fruit at breakfast, and a salad with chicken or tuna at lunch, and yogurt for snack. I have gotten ideas from all sorts of diet books (Zone, Atkins, Dukan, 17-Day, South Beach, etc), but do not follow any one particular plan. I guess I just live my life.

Good luck, and let me know what you decide to do, and how it works out for you...

It is not easy. It is even harder when everyone around you is enjoying your favorite foods. But it will pay off. You'll be losing weight I've lost 51lbs eating a high protein low carb low fat diet along with intense daily workouts. You can do it!!!

Increasing protein is extremely hard on your kidneys and liver. If you want to lose weight, increase your fiber. By fiber, I'm not talking about eating more cereal, I'm talking about eating TONS of veggies and fruit. Eat huge volumes of veggies. If you saw how huge my salad is at night, you'd think it was a freaking miracle that I could eat so much! But veggies have hardly any calories at all. Your body wants to feel full, so stuff it full of veggies. It takes more calories to burn them and the weight will come off of you much quicker. You still have to eat protein, but I actually eat a fairly low protein diet, with a huge fiber content. Good luck. I've lost 66 pounds doing this, I feel qualified to give this advice... ;-) The reason my ticker says 4 pounds lost, is because now I"m trying to get down to a racing weight. I'm a triathlete.

I usually feel better on lower carbs -- I try to keep it around 100-150g/day and get them from veggies and brown rice. If I try to go lower that 100g -- or if I head into the afternoon with only 50g or so under my belt -- I definitely feel a lack of energy. Supposedly this feeling goes away after a week or so but I have never stuck it out that long. Just something to keep in mind, depending on how low you want to go.

I'm doing this myself. I can say that NO carbs has always been a big mistake for me, so like the other poster, I am eating carbs but the ones found in fruits/veggies/yogurts etc. I also eat "low fat" foods which always have some form of carb in them but I am avoiding pastas, breads, cereals, sugary desserts etc. When I do have them, it is never after 4pm and like she also mentioned, it is only once a day. So if I have cereal for breakfast, that is it for the day. I'd have a lettuce wrap or tuna for lunch and chicken/fish/meat for dinner with lots of veggies.

Like you I am a carb junkie and this is an area I need to exercise some self control in!

I've recently finished reading the new atkins for a new you book and it totally makes sense in why I haven't lost weight and why I have a hard time losing the weight I think that you should read that book even if you don't follow it completely it will help and inform you on things you wouldn't have realized before well at least for me it did. any way there are some great ideas for weight loss. in it. I personally think I would never have realized that certain things that I eat have so many carbs in them. Good Luck.

For me, eating clean is the only way to go. If it came from a plant, eat it, if it didnt, dont. I love high protein low carb the best. Lots of lean fresh meats and TONS of veggies.
Yes, it will help you lose weight. I would just make sure you eat lots of veggies to help move all of the protein.

Yea i have been doing this since saturday, having a protein shake for breakfast and lunch and then having chicken vegetables and salad for dinner. it definitely works have lost 8.2 pounds since changing this around.

I have done this approach in the past and have seen great results. But alas, when I get stressed, I go for carbs. I am once again going high protein/low carb. I try to stick to between 60-80g of net carbs per day and eat a lot of fiber... because if you don't do it right, you can become VERY constipated... which happened to me so bad a few years back I had to "clean" my system out with some magnesium citrate. And veggies are your friend. SPINACH has saved me during these diets because they help with the BM thing (at least for me). Also I love cheese, but try to limit it to once a day so I don't over indulge in it (or else I'd eat 5 Cracker Barrel blocks!) With meats I watch the sodium content. Fish seems to be the best and is high in protein and low in calories with no carbs, I love chicken too. I'll have red meat occasionally, but only if I'm out eating.

In the morning I have a protein shake with fruit in it... I use the Alive! Apple Cinnamon soy protein and chop an apple up with it in the blender. Sometimes I use the EAS Vanilla Whey Protein depending on my mood and I mix them both with unsweetened almond milk.

The only warning I have for you is that you have to kind of stick to this... because if you start binge eating on carbs every day you'll see weight come back... So one day a week I eat breads, rice, or pasta, or even cake/cookies and the rest of the week I don't. It's not hard for me anymore because I've done it before, but it does suck when everybody around you eats a bunch of those delicious things... Then again if I'm losing weight I'm happy and don't need them.

I must question your advice that "increasing protein is extremely hard on your kidneys and liver."

This is an extremely broad statement. A very high unbalanced long term exclusive protein diet has been shown in some limited studies to overwork the kidneys yes, but for weight loss, a proper diet with more protein than carbs will win every time. And of course, there is nothing wrong with eating lots of veggies, though I'd be more careful with the fruit due to fructose. You will lose weight eating lots of vegetable because you will be calorie deficit but you will lose more muscle mass without protein and therefore affect your metabolism reducing your overall fat burn. Protein is even more important if your overall weight loss plan includes exercise.

High Protein/Low Carb is the only way the scale moves for me. I struggle with a degenerative thyroid disorder which makes weight loss even more difficult...but not impossible! I've adjusted my settings on here a few times, trying to hit the magical combination of numbers. Not easy. No carbs is not realistic, nor is it healthy as per my doctor. It's all about conscious, healthy choices. I sometimes have difficulty getting in all my protein, so I am protein powder shopping this weekend. That being said, I also have days that I go way over (the days I really think and plan what I eat). Weight loss is different for everyone, just keep tweaking until it feels right for you.

Ok, well I'm going to get shouted over by all the omg you need less than 100g of carbs. Lol, just read several studies, around 200g of healthy carbs ( almost entirely veggie and some fruit) is shown to be very effective for weight loss. MFP is low on protein, mine is set to 40C/30F/30P and it is working just fine thank you. Workouts at the level most folks here do them requires some carbs fo fuel so 60g a day and extreme workouts isn't really helpful, lol. I am GF so avoiding most of the carb pitfalls are pretty simple. Sweet treats are usually a square or two of dark chocolate with some cookies thrown in now and then . Results 10 lbs a month for the last 4 months, passed the 40lb mark a few days ago, I lost a bunch before starting on MFP, hit a plateau, found MFP and it's been going down since. Weigh less now than I have in 30+ years, so no fad diets or shakes or any of that stuff for me, just old fashioned healthy, clean eating I can do for the next 30 years

I knew it! I JUST KNEW alcohol was important to a proper diet!

I recently just changed my parameters to 50% protein, 20% carbs (carbs are my biggest issue!) and 30% fat. Not sure how well I will do at this but I'm going to attempt to learn by watching the numbers and seeing how my body responds.

low carbing and carb cycling are key to low BF%

Everyone I know that has cut down on carbs and upped their protein has lost weight. Quite a bit slower without added exercise, but still have weight loss. Of course, you still want carbs, just the good ones. You might be eating the right amount of protein already.