Low-carb diet

If you have lots of weight to lose then I say just use good ol calorie reduction. Not too low but enough for a 1-2 pound weekly loss. Low carb diets are difficult for most people to adhere to and many people gain all the weight lost back within a few weeks of returning to a "normal" diet. I dobt recommend them for MOST people but usually it takes the person actually trying it to realize that it's not the best approach to weight loss. Good luck and I hope you choose a HEALTHY and BALANCED approach instead.

I am having success with mine. I limit myself to one serving of grains and the rest of the carbs are veggies. Lost 10 lbs in bout 2.5 weeks now

Hi ! I was told by a friend to do 100g of carbs because I wanted to do a low carb diet. I get off the diet sometimes ( when I don't pre-plan my meals ). So, it's working so far. I've lost quite a few pounds. You'll be hungry at first, but then your appetite will adjust. I love it

Low Carb diets def work but I think its better to just keep Carbs to a sensible level and make sure any Carbs you do take in are complex ones. The trouble when people do a low carb diet to the extreme is when they go back to normal they gain a fair few pounds strait back. This is because when you go low carb it makes you Ketogenic and you lose Water weight and your glycogen stores get depleted. Then once you start to intake carbs again you immedietely gain the water/glycogen weight back.

I think the best advice , is to to try make a lifestyle change that you can maintain in the future rather than doing a specific diet as these diets are what is responsible for people yo-yoing in there weight.

Just stick to a complex carbs and always try to make sure you take some protein with them, and don't avoid fats as these are vital too as these are required for hormones etc.

I was losing weight quite effectively by eating 4-5 meals a day and excercising. I have been trying intermittent fasting for a week and the results from this so far have been mind blowing for me and my energy levels are out of this world. Basically what I am doing is fasting for 16 hours and only taking in fluids (calorie free fluids) and then I eat my calorie allowance for the day in the 8 hours left. My bodyfat has droped by 2.5% in a week doing this. I am hoping this method will help me get to 12.5 soon so I can start buffing up lol.

Hope that helps

Peace

I have been doing lower carb (under 100g net per day) for a little over 2 months. It was what I needed to do to lose weight. I followed what MFP suggested for 2 months and only lost 7 pounds...I reduced my carbs and lost 8lbs the first MONTH, 6 pounds the second month. This is the third month, and I am not sure what my loss will be.

I still eat real food, I still eat out with my family, but I am more aware of my choices.

I am a type 2 diabetic as well but do not limit my carb intake whatsoever... It is more important to eat the right kind of carbs... The more complex carb that take longer to break down are what a tend to stick with... I am currently eating 300-320 grams of carbs a day and am still losing weight... I could never go low carb just wouldn't work for me... My A1c have averaged 5.3 (down from my highs of 10.0 in 2009) Best of Luck....

I am a type 2 diabetic as well but do not limit my carb intake whatsoever... It is more important to eat the right kind of carbs... The more complex carb that take longer to break down are what a tend to stick with... I am currently eating 300-320 grams of carbs a day and am still losing weight... I could never go low carb just wouldn't work for me... My A1c have averaged 5.3 (down from my highs of 10.0 in 2009) Best of Luck....

Your massive weight loss would have given your those improvements. Perhaps you are not type 2 anymore it resolved with weight loss?

YES, low carb works! However, it can be difficult. Living without bread, the carb I miss the most, sucks but it is very worth it. I stick to 25 net carbs or less per day and not only has it resulted in weight loss (just low cal was not) but my blood pressure and cholesterol are normal for the first time in years, without medications, as well. And, my diabetes is finally under control. It takes a lot of discipline and adjustment and honestly can be inconvenient but it works. Just as with any eating plan though, if you go off of it the weight will come back. Do some research, try it for a month, and see for yourself how it works. There are some low carb message boards on MFP to explore that might be helpful in aiding your decision. No matter what you do good luck!

I am a type 2 diabetic as well but do not limit my carb intake whatsoever... It is more important to eat the right kind of carbs... The more complex carb that take longer to break down are what a tend to stick with... I am currently eating 300-320 grams of carbs a day and am still losing weight... I could never go low carb just wouldn't work for me... My A1c have averaged 5.3 (down from my highs of 10.0 in 2009) Best of Luck....

Your massive weight loss would have given your those improvements. Perhaps you are not type 2 anymore it resolved with weight loss?

Yes my weightloss has improved my heath overall but there is no getting rid of diabetes.... Once you are diagnosed a Full blown Type 1 or 2 Diabetic you have it for life.... The benefit of recognizing you having this disease and doing everything you can to stabilize the damage already done will prolong the long term side effects that diabetes will cause.. The common misconception especially for type 2 diabetics (being that it is commonly weight related) is lose the weight and your cured.. That is not true, when you become a diabetic you burn up over half the receptors that regulate your blood sugar the object at that point is to protect the ones you have left and by doing so you can prolong the need for insulin and needles. I am and will be on Metformin for the rest of my life and hopefully with proper diet and exercise I can maintain my A1c and keep my diabetes at bay. There is always the chance the somewhere down the road this may not work anymore and I may have to go to shots/insulin to regulate my blood sugars.....

bump

My husband and I started low carb about 6 weeks ago- I've lost 10 lbs and he's lost 20. Both of us are happy with the low carb approach and find it fairly easy to stick with the plan even when going out to eat with family and friends. We chose to severely restrict carbs at first ( like Atkins induction phase) but are not quite as restrictive now. The first 2 days we're hard because of the carb cravings, but once I hit ketosis it has been easy to stick with the plan. Here's what I like about low carb.

I feel GOOD. For many years I have felt tired during the day, and I especially got tired and cranky when I felt hungry- usually just 2-3 hours after the last meal or snack. Now I have much more energy and I can easily go 6-8hrs between meals, for example if I have and early lunch and then a late dinner. I have a good appetite, but I don't have the almost incessant hunger between meals.

Since I have more energy, I've been getting a lot more exercise. That helps with weight loss, but also improves my overall sense of well being.

Low carb is easy- I don't need to count calories or avoid second helpings on low carb foods. When I do log my food intake the biggest problem is that I can easily be below 1200 calories if I don't toss in some peanut butter on celery or a deviled egg for a snack. I don't try to eat really low calorie, but if I only eat when I'm hungry I may only eat 500-600 cal with breakfast and lunch- toss in an hour long workout and a lot of walking and I really need to eat a big dinner to get to a reasonable calorie level.

I can cheat in moderation without a problem. In general I stay at a pretty low carb level so I'm solidly in ketosis. If I eat a lot of carbs at one meal for the 4th of July or on my birthday I am back in ketosis the next morning I like staying in ketosis because then I avoid the hunger between meals

We plan to continue with the low carb program. The key to maintaining weight loss is to SLOWLY increase your carbs as you approach your goal weight. Since we both have more than 30 lbs to lose, we'll stay at pretty low carb levels for a while to lose weight faster.

Low carb banana pancakes:
1 young banana (if there are any brown spots the pancake won't hold together as well, but it is sweeter) mashed
4 egg whites
vanilla to taste
2 tablespoons splenda (like mine sweet!)
Cinnamine

Mix together and cook like a pancake. Top with fat free cool whip (yum!)

Delicious!

Bless the heart of whoever first posted this! I eat it almost every day!