What I just LOVE are the people who ask if we've got some medical condition that requires us to restrict our carbs, as if that's the only acceptable reason.

This is my favorite one and it comes up EVERY EFFING TIME.

Grains make me feel like *kitten*. I don't need a note from my doctor or a pubmed study to justify why I don't eat them. Drives me up the wall.

It's a lifestyle choice, so what?

Me too! Donuts are like poison to me...give me the worst heartburn but I can eat bacon and spicy food all day long and it does not bother me a bit!

Did you have to say donut? Haha! Now I want a fresh out of the oven glazed donut. Mmmm.... But I won't.

I like this thread. It says a lot of things that I have been thinking. I have lost four pounds in the last three days on the Atkins diet. I will keep it up until I lose twenty. It's nice to know there are other like minded people.

I think the problem here is not that one program is better than the other but since this is a community and since a community comes in all shapes and sizes the discussions turn into a debate rather then "hey if low carbing isn't working for you try this..." or instead of getting into a slue of proving points why a certain plan is better than another try pointing out the benefits of each program... I often float between paleo and low carb with even some high fat inuit style eating.

People will find a million reasons to "fit" into societies traps that a balanced diet is key but look around you and I bet most of the people are fat and getting fatter because they refuse to listen to those who have had success. I do not know one person as of yet who has success at keeping off body doing weight watchers or jenny craig... Sorry but its the truth I think some people want sympathy when they post they are struggling then you look at their diet its OMG!!! No wonder your fat!

Primal+low carb and your lean for life!

They think we all believe that low-carb diets don't create caloric deficits, but instead work magically and allow unlimited caloric intake.

As a low-carber under the guidance of medical providers, thank goodness I go to the right resources! LOL!

Hi! I'm not new to MFP. I'm a member of the Atkins Support Group here, and now I'm happy to have found this group, too!
Just wanted to pipe in and say that I'm one of those just doing Atkins to lose weight. I didn't have any health problems, besides being insulin-resistant, when I started, and I don't now. In fact, I feel 100x better. I lost 67 pounds over 9 months. Got pregnant, and had humongous food cravings. I went to the official Atkins site, and they said I needed to up to Maintenance phase. Having skipped climbing the ladder, I went out of control with my eating over Christmas and New Years. I miscarried, and got a little hormonal and depressed, and begin eating every sugary or carby thing in the house. (My husband says he thought I was going to chew through the wood cabinets after I ate all the chips in the house--lol, he's not wrong!). Anyway, I'm officially back on Phase I as of yesterday, and very happy to join your group! I have to lose the lb's I put on in my hormonal stupor, and then another 30 or so pounds to goal!

Hi all! I'm new here and have been poking around a bit the past few days. I'd like to add to this thread in a more positive way. There was a long span where I too thought low-carb Atkins type diets were simply unhealthy gimmicks to reduce calories. Most, if not all, of us were probably anti-low carb at some point in the past... we've all grown up with high-carb, low-fat dogma pushed on us since the government got a hold of us in grade school. At least that was the case for me. A lot of deprogramming needs to occur before someone is willing to be open to the ideas of high fat, low-carb.

From what I've seen here this low-carb community is actually quite active and supportive. You guys should be thankful for that!

As for the anti-low-carb members, just let them be. Engage them if you feel like it or ignore them. As long as you can articulate a reasonable argument you'll impact a lot of the lurkers out there.

As long as you can articulate a reasonable argument you'll impact a lot of the lurkers out there.

+1

Yeah that's the only reason I bother sometimes. But its funny because once you start arguing with someone, you start getting personal attacks from all directions by the other members, and I just wonder if the lurkers can see through the nonsense and personal attacks or whether they pretty much agree with the majority in the thread.

I agree with all of you! So glad I found this group! Whew....We have to stick together!

I have just joined this group, I am so glad I have found it!
Is this the only Low carb one?
I am also a member of the Active Low Carber forum which is brilliant, I really suggest you have a look at it, I tend to use MFP for logging everything and ALC for learning about LC and finding recipes etc!
It really is annoying having the negativity to deal with but at least we know this group won't judge anyone.
LC is the only thing (apart from meds) that gets my blood pressure back to normal levels, that's a good enough reason for me to stay Low Carb!

^^ yes!

I've always been an advocate of lower carb eating on MFP and the attacks never stop, pretty much from the same sources all the time. I tend to engage them because I find debate fun and their comebacks entertaining at times. It never takes long for the discussion to degrade into personal attacks from the other camps though.

As far as diet failure, well I was one of those guys. Lost 105lbs on Atkins in 2003-2004 and kept it off until 2007 when I started making horrible eating decisions while working in a very stressful and toxic work environment. I failed to catch the weight gain early and next thing you know I'm almost 100lbs heavier again. Started out doing calorie/portion restriction in 2011 because of a bet to lose weight with a friend and lost weight, but was miserable the whole time. After about 2 months I started looking at Atkins again and reading up on it, and also watched FatHead. The light went off just like the first time I read the Atkins book cover to cover in one sitting in 2003.

Since that time I've been branching into a lower carb Paleo/Primal diet and have influenced quite a few people to do the same, which they are loving. I think that I may go back to a more traditional form of Atkins to loose the last 40lbs I want to drop (20 would be fine, 40 a longer term goal) and use Primal to maintain it. I think being more strict on carbs will also help my wife further, who appears to have thyroid issues (working with a doctor now on that).

Though I suppose that doesn't matter really, all that natural high fat, low carb food is going to kill me anyway...at least according to a lot of the people out there :laugh:

What I don't particularly get is that there are actually a lot of countries whose diet is naturally low carb - and the carbs they eat are found in natural sources. Do these countries have weight issues? Not particularly. Britain and America etc where carbs, processed foods and high sugar is so interwoven into the eating mindset that people are no longer able to _understand_ what a balanced meal is - these are the countries who consistently top the world obesity polls.

Portion control and calorie control is important but I have found that most people do not binge on meat or eggs. They binge on carbs or sweet things because these foods create cravings and the bloaty feeling they give can be a comfort. It's also no small coincidence that rates of IBS have been rising over the last few decades as our diets have become more and more laden with carbs and sweets.

If people lose weights through calorie control or high carb, good for them. The point isn't to find the ultimate diet for everyone - it is to find the solution that works for the individual, so that they can live life for longer and remain healthier.

I think that people are too addicted to processed/refined sugars and wheat products and they get visceral that we should disagree that it's a good idea to not eat things made in a "plant"...:huh:

Even the "low carb friends" web site has a it of strange behavior for low carbers. I was told that a recipe I posted was full of fat. :laugh: Really? Wow.

People are crabby cause they're not eating and their weight loss is stalling.


Good thread, I enjoyed reading everyone's responses. :flowerforyou:

I think that people are too addicted to processed/refined sugars and wheat products and they get visceral that we should disagree that it's a good idea to not eat things made in a "plant"...:huh:

Even the "low carb friends" web site has a it of strange behavior for low carbers. I was told that a recipe I posted was full of fat. :laugh: Really? Wow.

People are crabby cause they're not eating and their weight loss is stalling.


Good thread, I enjoyed reading everyone's responses. :flowerforyou:

You would have loved my garlic-herb compound butter that I used to sautee chicken breasts tonight... there was some fat alright! LOL!!!!!

Stick with it Ashielovsdas. I lost 30lbs with Atkins 11-12 yrs ago and my daughter, conceived by our first IVF cycle turns 11 this month!focus on your goal and ignore the critics. It really can work wonders.

Thank you for this thread and this group. I tried many different things before. But the LC lifestyle/Atkins intrigued me. So I bought the book and read it. I have been doing low carb since October and have lost 16.5lbs so far. It's coming off slowly due to some of the meds I take have the side effect of weight gain. Which is one of the main reasons I got this heavy. But the weight is coming off and my NSV is the 15 inches that I have lost total. I love how I feel now that I am living LC. I drink more water now. My skin looks better and I feel great. I finally got clearance from my doctor to start back exercising after a recent injury. So I started back 2 weeks ago and have the energy to do it. I wouldn't have been able to do that before. I also ran all of this by my doctor before I started and he was 100% behind me. He even called me about a month after I started to see how I was doing. So going LC can't be that bad if my doctor supports it!