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Here's something for the Coffee Room. Has anyone here tried the low carb diet? I've been using this diet, WITHOUT CHEATING, since Mar.1. It really works, but it seems strange because of all the calories involved. Any opinions?

Yes, I have tried it in the past, and it works -for a while. I am not sure why either. Make sure you drink ALL of the water you are supposed to; this diet is said to be heck on the liver and kidneys. It is also not the best if you want to retain a high level of energy.

When it stops working, the trick is not to go completely back to your old habits. When you decide to stop the diet, reintroduce carbs back in to your diet a little at a time. Pay close attention to the quality of the carbs. Unrefined better than refined, fresh preferred to processed, high roughage preferred to low roughage. Cut back on the amount of fat you consume as you can - the low carb diet (as I recall) allows unlimited amounts of fat which will do nothing good for your long term health. Eat more chicken, more fish, less steak, less bacon, more low fat stuff whenever you find you like it. Keep up the gallon of water a day, it can't hurt, might help, and keeps you full.

The trick is to come up with a broad mix of stuff you eat that emphasises the better of available choices. You can stick with this sort of eating forever. You will be not only slimmer, but healthier for it.

I have also used the low carb thing, and it worked. I also had energy issues (during induction) and digestive issues as well. (no carbs = no fiber)

Since then I have tried (not too well lately) to stay with a more balanced diet which i feel much better doing.

Good Luck, Skinny!

Rich,
I'm HARDLY skinny! :rolleyes: I lasted weighed myself on April 2, and I'd lost 19 pounds in 33 days. I've actually been USING my treadmill, too. I did start this with a consultation with my doctor......also my piano student. As far as energy goes, I'm feeling lots better, and have had no problems with "the plumbing".

I'm skeptical of the ketosis diets or any diet that produces a slingshot metabolic effect. What I have been doing is keeping a log book of everything I eat. Just by noting the stuff on a daily basis I find myself eliminating stuff that isn't good for me. I also try to eliminate unnecessary sugars & carbs, especially late in the day. But my chief objective is to have sufficient energy to sustain intense workouts, and to do that I need to increase my calorie and protein intake with good, healthy foods. The net effect is a slow weight loss of only 1 lb. per week. The basic guidelines are: eat, sleep train. But my low blood sugar problem is gone and I have more energy than I used to.

T2

Hello, speaking of low carbs, what works for me is eliminating sugar and any sugary tasting foods, which include diet cokes, pineapples, dates, etc. I eat whites occasionally and use brown rice and whole wheat more regularly. My weight-loss is slow, but I feel more balanced overall.

A website that I read often is www.radiantrecovery.com It deals with the topic of sugar sensitivity, and I see myself in many of the posts in their bulletin board. Check it out.

I did a study on the Atkins diet

Are you refering to the Atkins diet?

If I should go on a diet
(which I probably won't!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Then I would choose the atkins diet.

Eldon,

I'd have serious concerns about a diet centered around so much protein that omits the more nutritious complex carbohydrates like whole grains, fruit and chocolate.

Nancy,
Thanks for caring. But sometimes, out of desperation, it's nice to find a diet that you can actually live with. Being a meat lover, this is very appealing to me. Last night for dinner I had 2 boneless chicken breasts, a salad with lettuce, radishes, celery, onions, a chopped egg and zero carbs/calories dressing. And steamed cauliflower, too. mmmmmmm.......Now doesn't that sound yummy?

I agree with both Nancy AND Eldon. The low carb diet is seriously bad for your health. But it works and it works fast. My husband and I did it two years ago. I lost about 15 pounds and weighed the least I had since 10th grade. My husband lost 30 pounds. It only took a month or so. And we've kept almost all of it off by watching the amount of bread and pasta we eat (my two favorites ).

Here's the kicker: I'm a vegetarian. I do eat seafood. I tried to get as a creative as I could (being a somewhat accomplished homechef). So I encourage people to be creative, too. Throw nuts and jicama on your salads. Eat lots of leafy greens. Throw arugula into a frittata, swiss chard into soup. Eat avocado a LOT (another fave). Discover new cheeses (I love montrachet and goat gouda now). Eat broccoli and asparagus. Find new uses for pesto (sauteed with vegetables). Substitute spaghetti squash for spaghetti. Don't bread your eggplant in eggplant parmesan (just brush a little olive oil and stick in in the broiler).

But ... in the end, even I got bored and tired of dieting. Now I exercise. My new motto: I work out to pig out!

penny

Low Carb diets work as well as any others, but I find it harder to maintain than a low calorie diet. Until we start looking at obesity as a health problem, instead a lack of will power, we will see little progress. We have found medical solutions for birth control, veneral disease, and high blood pressure, all of which could be controled by changes in behavior. Look at Oprah Winfrey. With all her resources she cannot maintain a proper weight. Would anyone call her a person with a lack of will? Mother Nature has programmed us to store energy for those days of famine, which never come any more. Our society pushes junky greasy food at us from all sides. The French seem to eat well without becoming obese. They eat only at meal time and eat very slow and eat fresh simply prepared food and lots of bread. As McDonalds has increased over there, however, so have their waistlines. The typical American diet is bad. Do any of you think that there may be a correlation between Nationwide decreased smoking and increased obesity?

Our local newspaper did an article about a lot of the popular diet plans out there.
A nutritionist who was interviewed said the only good thing about the low carb/high protein diets is that people usually get bored with them before any permanent damage is done to vital organs.

The only healthy way to lose weight is to decrease intake, including proper portions of ALL food groups and increase excercise.

I tried the lo carb diet for a while, and my cholesteral went through the roof.

I've been a Weight Watcher for over a year, and have lost 65 pounds. Have never felt better, and cholesteral is going down. However, I'll will admit I'm not exercising like I should. That will change when I move into my new flat neighborhood in the next couple of months.

I have been on a diet all of my life. While playing sports in High School I got down to a good size. I have lost hundreds of pounds and gained them all back plus a few more. This problem aint gonna be solved by dieting alone. There is going to have to be medical intervention, as well a changing societal attitudes. Take birth controlm for instance. We have had the solution all the time. Stop having sex! It just has not worked. Millions of dollers in medical research were spent to come up with birth control pills. We have to eat to live and each time we take a bite it is like the addict taking another hit. Weight watcherws is a good program. I have joined and dropped out many times. In fact I am a lifetime member who is 80 pounds overweight.

The Weight Watchers I've seen usually gain it all back. I've seen 'em try to sustain workouts, but they burn up their muscle, get exhausted and drop out. Then they re-gain all the fat, only this time their metabolism is even lower than before. It's a viscious cycle, but it makes for repeat customers.

I have an alternate self-reinforcing cycle to suggest, one that I've seen produce long-term results and peak fitness: Take in lots of good feul, workout like a fiend, build muscle, increase your base metabolic rate, burn fat.

You simply cannot sustain anything more than a sedentary lifestyle on 2000 calories per day. Conversely, I know a whole room full of women at the health club I go to that are burning fat on 3600 calories per day.

From yesterday's NY Times magazine (registration required)
What if It\'s All Been a Big Fat Lie?

Apparently, late research, just like that prior to the 70's, supports the view that high protein-low carb diets are more natural and healthier than the high carb-low fat regime that nutritionists have pounded us with the last three decades. I'm having a double cheeseburger for lunch (no bun.)

And then there's this good news: Got Beer? (imagine foam mustache?