http://lowcarbeating.com/low-carb-diet-support/blogs/robtann/ Atkins Diet and Low Carb Diet Support, research and free low carb diet recipes. Resources for low carbohydrate diet plans such as the atkins diet and the south beach diet. en Sat, 21 Nov 2009 20:09:17 GMT vBulletin 60 http://lowcarbeating.com/low-carb-diet-support/images/misc/rss.jpg http://lowcarbeating.com/low-carb-diet-support/blogs/robtann/ http://lowcarbeating.com/low-carb-diet-support/blogs/robtann/93-good-day.html Wed, 26 Mar 2008 20:05:24 GMT Today went well with the food... and I'm grateful for every good low-carb day after months of sugar and refined carb induced "fog".

What's amazing me the most is how fast my body responds to this way of eating - I guess that even through my 5 months of "carb hell" my body did not forget how well it felt and how well it ran on the years of low-carb fuel. This quick shift to more energy and a clearer mind is just helping me to cement my resolve to stay "clean" with the food. I guess I'm enjoying a honeymoon phase... :bounce: ]]> RobTann http://lowcarbeating.com/low-carb-diet-support/blogs/robtann/93-good-day.html http://lowcarbeating.com/low-carb-diet-support/blogs/robtann/90-introducing-myself.html Tue, 25 Mar 2008 02:37:14 GMT This is what I wrote to one of my email groups... for those of you who are interested in getting to know who I am... :D

Robert here, an American man living in Germany. I've joined this group as I am trying to recover from a 5-month spin into "carb hell" with an accompanying 35 lb. weight gain.

My story is really very simple. Life was going along fine, I was maintaining a slender/normal weight for around 2 years (I do a slightly modified version of Schwarzbein). My lifetime high was around 345 - I'm a 51 year old, 6'1" man - but I have fluctuated between 190 and 300 on a regular basis, with two very long, multi-year periods of stable, slender/normal weight. I have a very serious carb sensitivity and can only maintain a normal weight with a nutritionally balanced low-carb food plan with very moderate amounts of complex carbs and no "recreational food", LC or otherwise. As soon as I start adding too many of the "right carbs" - let's not even talk about adding the "wrong" ones! - I'm off on my descent into my personal carb addiction and rapid weight gain.

So what happened? I simply took my normal-weight life for granted and decided that I could handle eating one "thing". Has it ever stopped at one ever before in my life? No!! But I went for it... and once it became ok to eat those sort of things again they slowly took over my life. And it really all started with the naive decision to eat just one! Within a few weeks I was in total addictive mode. Thank goodness I didn't return to my bingeing mode of my early years... but just by letting go of low-carb living and eating everything I wanted in moderation my weight shot up 35 lbs. within 4 months and was continuing to climb. And that was with regular exercise! To be absolutely honest, if my weight would be able to stabilize at around 225-230 and still allow me to eat what I want, I would probably choose the overweight body and the absolute freedom with the food. But this is not what my body's metabolism does. If I go back to eating what I want in moderation, my body will not plateau until I am really obese again and am closing in on the 300 lb. mark. And I cannot and will not live with that: it is too painful on so many levels.

So today was Day 1 back on low-carb living. I do not weigh myself as low-carb cannot be a diet for me... as a diet means that I think that some day will come when I will be able to go back to a "full-carb" way of living and keep a healthy body and a normal weight. And this is NOT in the cards for me! So I see it as a lifestyle change; that's why the scale and counting days/weeks only reinforce the fact that I can return to some other way of eating at some point in the future. If I live nutritionally-balanced low-carb and avoid all "recreational foods" (even the LC ones) my body will return to a reasonable weight without my controlling its progress. In my 30s I could successfully eat low-carb goodies or alternate between "low carb" and "full carb" eating and still manage to maintain a reasonable weight. But this is absolutely impossible in my 50s.

So I am here - sad, depressed, frustrated, quite a bit heavier... but not giving up. A carb addiction/sensitivity/biochemical allergy does not go away after being in a thin body for a long enough time! It sits there in your genes and waits for you to start eating the "stuff" again! And I took the seriousness of my condition too lightly. I keep hoping that this will be the time where I learn the lesson that my family's genetics is trying to teach me.. but I am sooo grateful that I am willing to stop after gaining 35 lbs. and not after gaining 100 lbs.

Thanks for listening to this looong post! ]]> RobTann http://lowcarbeating.com/low-carb-diet-support/blogs/robtann/90-introducing-myself.html http://lowcarbeating.com/low-carb-diet-support/blogs/robtann/88-first-day-back-sooo-hard.html Mon, 24 Mar 2008 19:37:04 GMT Well, it's almost bedtime here in Germany and I made it through my first LC day back. I'm very proud of myself for pulling myself back from very serious active carb addiction.

On the positive side, I could feel my body saying "yeees" by the late afternoon - I know that this is the only way for me to get to and maintain a healthy, normal weight.

On the negative side: the cravings. I know that many people (ironically most of them are not carb addicts!) believe that these cravings are mental, but let me tell you: mine are physical! It's in the gut of my stomach pulling at me and not in my head. But I know that once I get through this and my blood sugar levels even out the cravings will lessen and eventually disappear. I just have to be patient - and I will be. No scale, no counting lbs.; just eating the right way and knowing that the right body will show up in its own time. ]]> RobTann http://lowcarbeating.com/low-carb-diet-support/blogs/robtann/88-first-day-back-sooo-hard.html http://lowcarbeating.com/low-carb-diet-support/blogs/robtann/86-starting-my-low-carb-motivational-blog.html Mon, 24 Mar 2008 07:29:51 GMT There doesn't seem to be much activity here, but that's not going to keep me from writing!

I'm an American living in Germany, where carbohydrate addiction and a low-carb lifestyle are non-existent concepts.

I'm coming off a 5 month gain of around 35 lbs. after almost 2 years of a stable, healthy low-carb lifestyle maintained weight.

So what happened? The day came along in October of last year when I simply said "it won't really hurt to have just one; I can handle it." I chose to forget that I have a refined carbohydrate "allergy/addiction/biochemical sensitivity" and thought that I could eat one and forget about it. And what was the result? Within 2-3 weeks the carb cravings had taken over my life and I couldn't live without my "fix". My days on plan kept my weight stable and my days off-plan sent my weight up. The days on-plan became fewer and fewer. Even without bingeing and even with regular exercise my weight climbed and climbed. When I was 30 I could get away with occasional "carb festivals" within a basically healthy plan of eating. But now, at 51, the path is soooo much narrower. The only way I was able to maintain a slender, healthy weight between the ages of 49 and 51 was by eating no sweets and refined carbs ever.

So what's the point? I'm miserable like this. I thought that if I had to choose between very carefully watching what I eat for the rest of my life and just letting my body have what it wants, I definitely would choose giving myself permission to eat "normally" and not be slender.

The real pisser about this is that it DOES NOT WORK if you are a carbohydrate-sensitive person. There is only addiction, craving and overweight or abstinence. There is no in-between for me. It took me about 2 months to become willing to see again that I was literally enslaved to those refined carbs and sugars and that they were controlling my life.

So here's a newly sobered me, 35 lbs. heavier, sad (and a bit angry!)about the metabolism which nature bestowed on me and my family. I'm ready to start my day with a healthy, balanced, low-carb breakfast and do the right thing for my body one day/meal at a time.

Let's see where I go from here. ]]> RobTann http://lowcarbeating.com/low-carb-diet-support/blogs/robtann/86-starting-my-low-carb-motivational-blog.html