Amen, sista!

That being said, however, this is a LOW CARB support board. It's never pretended to be anything else.

Ladybug29, I am glad that low-fat works for you. I would *NEVER* try to convince you to switch to low-carb. You sound like you're doing great with what you are doing. If I had had the same results, I probably would have stuck with low-fat.

For me, I've tried 'em all, and low-carb worked the best. I had gained all my weight back and then some by the time Al Roker had his surgery. I thought about getting the bypass. I even made calls. It turns out that it's very expensive -- out of my league. And it may be risky, too. Whatever. I decided that if I was going to try it again, I would try to do it the SIMPLEST and the EASIEST way that I could do it, some way that would not require constant decision-making on my part, something that would not become the focus on my life, but rather, just a small but necessary part of it.

Low-carbing fit that bill best of all, so I went back to low-carb. I took it seriously this time -- no on and off again dieting, no carb binges. I just kissed carbs goodbye and tried not to dwell on it. No low-carb cookbooks, no weighing myself every day, no goal weight, just eating what I knew I could eat.

I don't count carbs. I don't measure portions. I DO read labels at the store (a source of frustration, lately). I never go hungry.

It sounds like you have sound as much satisfaction with what you do as I have, so keep on doing what you are doing, no matter what. Sticking to it is more important than how you do it. Stay committed.

__________________
**************
"And so, in my State of the—my State of the Union—or state—my speech to the nation, whatever you want to call it, speech to the nation—I asked Americans to give 4,000 years—4,000 hours over the next—the rest of your life—of service to America. That's what I asked—4,000 hours."

I do notice, the older i am getting, the slower the weight drops. I have pondered the lc bandwagon....thus i am here....i guess waiting for the other shoe to drop alongside of getting ideas to help modify my plan.
My mom is morbidly obese, has been all of my life. She was put on south beach by her cardiologist. She did quite well and dropped 35 pounds in a short amount of time. She then decided she wanted her certain favorite foods and jumped off the lc wagon. She has gained the weight back and then some and her heart is in very bad shape...not to mention my dad ill with emphysema can't afford another pound gained...
Watching her health and her struggle with her dwindling will power is frustrating. I do not want to be like that. And yet, I do want to enjoy certain foods in life. I may end up having to kiss that goodbye in due time.
My sister did atkins for a bit over a year and lost 94 pounds. She then began obsessing over it and minimizing her menu to water in the morning, coffee with splenda and for lunch tuna salad and dinner..jello. She abused laxatives and became very ill. She now has gained control back, after losing her teeth (splurge and purge) and getting rid of her husband...she has put on 34 pounds and looks better....but she is no longer doing low carb because she said it didn't help her with her obsession. She said she thought of carbs, calories and fat and it just made her crumble....and yet all of her kids are obese....

so i sit here and watch my family and fear becoming either one.........i am just being cautious.....i know me best...and am taking this step with caution, education and will power....
I do know that it is leading to low carb for me...just a matter of time...

Sorry if I offended you, ladybug, but sometimes you get the urge to bite back. Since I have long since given up responding to the criticism of others in the moment, I made the post in an effort to blow off a little steam, and hopefully provide a giggle to my fellow low carbers. You need to understand that in this group of people you will be subject to a lot of "low fat doesn't work", as we are having success with low carb. And having starved and failed at low fat, at least in my case. Good luck with whatever works for you.

Well, low fat DOES work for some people. Because this really is about the people, not the food. I think low-carbing is a better way to go, for me, maybe even for most people, but *nothing* works if you don't stick to it. For those of us that have been around a while, we have usually experimented with a lot of different diets and know which ones worked well for us personally and which didn't. It's a very fortunate person that strikes gold with their first diet and stays with it.

Ladybug, if you're thinking of switching to low-carb because you miss certain foods, just be advised, you'll miss a lot of foods on Atkins as well, especially in the first few months. Learning how to cook and shop and figure out what is edible takes time and can be frustrating, especially with all the new crap on the supermarket shelves. Carb cravings will attack you from time to time, especially at first. There is no perfect diet.

__________________
**************
"And so, in my State of the—my State of the Union—or state—my speech to the nation, whatever you want to call it, speech to the nation—I asked Americans to give 4,000 years—4,000 hours over the next—the rest of your life—of service to America. That's what I asked—4,000 hours."

I lost 40 pounds on low-fat (specifically, Weight Watchers) but was always hungry and always eating stuff that tasted like cardboard in an effort to fill up! I also ate lot of whole grains (which I truly did enjoy) but still - same end result - HUNGRY!

I've maintained that weight loss now for 2 years doing low carb. I'm SO much more satisfied! Real foods, not "pretend" mayo or salad dressings - ugh.

But - to each his own.

I do, however, highly recommend reading the Atkins New Diet Revolution book - it's what turned the tide for me - UNDERSTANDING what those high-glycemic foods do to your bod is enough to make you NOT want to eat them! For me anyway!

Char

__________________
Veni, vidi, velcro. I came, I saw, I stuck around.

Save the Earth - it's the only planet with CHOCOLATE!

Ladybug,

I just know that when I was watching my fat intake, I was hungry all the time, craving all the time and NOT losing any weight. I've been on LC for two years now and intend to eat this way the rest of my life. I have found replacements for almost everything. And when you change your mindset over to "I DON'T" eat that (like sugar for instance) and ditch the "I CAN'T" eat that thinking, it gets MUCH easier. And studies are showing that CONTROLLED carb is turning out to be MUCH healthier than low fat. I lowered my blood pressure without the use of medication whatsoever, simply by getting rid of all things processed. I make homemade LC muffins, pancakes, pizzas, cake.......etc., you name it, I've found almost a substitute for just about ANYTHING. Sure, it's hard work and you have to cook most of it from scratch, but the payoff is soooooooo worth it. And studies are showing also, that people are controlling diabetes and heart disease and cancer just by eating healthy, LC foods. I have NEVER in my life had so much energy as I do now. And I now have the energy to exercise more than I ever have in my life. I have a more positive attitude about life in general. And best of all...........I have my self esteem back.

If low fat works for you and gets you to lose weight, that's GREAT. BUT, have you had your cholesterol checked lately? What about other health issues. And down the road, lowfat MAY cause you to look old before you should. Our bodies NEED healthy fats. It uses it to repair cell damage, which is ESSENTIAL for the prevention of some cancers. Our hormones need fats to be transported around the body and through the blood-brain barrier. Certain nutrients need fats to get through to the brain.

I prefer to opt for a diet that will meet my body's needs. But that's just me.

__________________

ladybug- i feel compelled to point out that both the scenarios you mention here are not about low-carb at all. anytime you lose weight with ANY eating plan, you slide back into your old habits, you will also slide back into your old weight. it works the same with low fat, or whatever plan. and what you descibe about your sister is NOT a reccomended low-carb plan. it's an eating disorder. low-carb does not fix eating disorders.

this doesn't change the decision you have about whether or not low-carb is right for you. low fat may be what you decide you want to do, or it may not. whatever, more power to you. but please don't equate these situations with low carb, because they aren't related in my opinion.

__________________

EatSmart Nutritional Scale Review

Alot of times, when manufacturers remove/reduce fat from a product, sugar is added to make the food more palatable. Example: salad dressings. The reverse may also be true, although I can't think of an example right this second.

Personally, I just think "to each, his own....it's a free country". I also believe that foods, (whether lower in fat, OR lower in carbs) are more healthful when they are in their natural form. The more processing that takes place, the more chemicals and preservatives can be added (and usually are). And what "diet" out there doesn't include green salad and baked chicken breast? There are some things we can all agree on! Being fit and healthy are the main ones. Just my 2 cents.

__________________

this is sooo funny!

__________________
In the cookies of life, we are the chocolate chips.

Goddess,

I spoke of my sisters disorder because before low carb was ever a thought to her, she lost weight on low fat with no ill effects. When she began her low carb venture, she began to obsess. I do not blame the low carb woe for her behaviors or illness...but it contributed to it in a minute way. She obsessed over calories, carbs and thought she had found the perfect diet. She began having kidney problems, tooth decay etc....Now she is fine...back to a healthy woe for her...however in her reflection, she believes low carb caused her obsessive behavior and outlook on food. That was the point I was trying to make. I am not saying that all those followers of low carb are prone to fall victim to an eating disorder, not everyone is mentally built like my sister (thank god). However watching it with my mother and sister, their two styles and behaviors whilst on and off, I noticed a change in their mental health. Depression coursed fervently through my mother, for more than one reason...and in my sister, again for more than one reason.
On the flip side, I know a woman that dropped 98 pounds doing atkins and she is maintaining fine. She said she has more energy and feels sharper than ever before.
I believe the key is this....What ever woe you decide to follow, one must be of stable mental health before any other persuit to alter their life style.....

I do not think that low carb is a real bad plan. I think the limited foods are something to be desired but then again, when most people hear 'low carb' they think of induction. The overall plan is healthy. Sugar is too much a beast these days. Eating whole grains and fruits are essential and also satisfy the pallet.
Supersize me was a good movie....and the real issue these days is the overall number of obese families in America. For those focused on low carb, low fat, vegan and what ever else, kudos to all for trying to change their ways and become healthier people.
I have watched your progress on here...and I say hats off to you. I admire your determination and will power..and wished everyone had that...including myself.

I now eat whole grains and fruit. I just make sure my fruit choices are low-glycemic. I also will eat barley/oatmeal/buckwheat whole grain "porridge", which is VERY high carb, but VERY low glycemic. I haven't had any dire effects from it. I throw strawberries, stevia and strawberry s/f syrup in it too. It' s REALLY satisfying and sticks to the ribs for a long, long time. It also does not spike any cravings in me. I think people get into trouble on LC when they, like you said, think of it in terms of INDUCTION only. Induction is for a short 2 weeks period, then you move on and can try all sorts of yummy, satisfying, filling dishes. I sooooooooooo don't feel deprived anymore and I was a choco-cola-chip-a-holic before LC. I still have chocolate (in the form of shakes or pudding), don't crave soda anymore and chips aren't even a blip on the radar screen. It's been a process of learning and adapting and creative cooking. I don't feel deprived at all. But then again, my issues weren't about food control as much as food choices. And the MAIN thing I think that has kept me going is that I truly believe I DESERVE to have a healthier body and mind. And when you tell yourself you are worth it............it gets easier.

__________________

I don't eat whole grains. They are totally unnecessary for human diet, and somewhat unnatural from a long-historical perspective. (They only became a feasible daily part of human diet after the advent of agriculture, some 10,000 years ago. That's recent.)

I do eat Maggie's flax meal cereal, though. I guess that's a grain thing, although it has no carbs. It's quite tasty.

I was quite surprised a few years ago to find out that starches in grains and potatoes actually have a higher glycemic index than table sugar. I always thought that simple sugars were the villains and "complex carbs" (that phrase from the good ol' days) were more stabilizing for blood sugar. Not true, as we now know.

That's actually quite consistent with what I was told as a kid growing up in the 60's. Everybody knew that bread, potatoes, and desserts made you fat. They didn't need the Atkins book to know that. In fact, it was quite a strange cultural flip-over when carbs became the "in" thing starting in the early 80's.

The history of "what's good for you and what ain't" is a real roller coaster, reeling from one side of the tracks to the other, up and down. And I'm just talking about the past few decades. When I eat low-carb food, I'm eating what my Dad ate to slim down. And, yet, this is treated as the newest fad. It seems that the conventional wisdom in this area ALWAYS is a fad.

Maybe we'll know someday what are the best foods to eat. In the meantime, I think it's presumptious to be too certain about these things.

__________________
**************
"And so, in my State of the—my State of the Union—or state—my speech to the nation, whatever you want to call it, speech to the nation—I asked Americans to give 4,000 years—4,000 hours over the next—the rest of your life—of service to America. That's what I asked—4,000 hours."

It is certainly presumptuous to be certain about what might be good for someone else, but I'm very certain about what's good for me.

Ladybug, the breakfast you describe would send my blood glucose levels skyward. It is exactly the sort of breakfast a nutritionist prescribed for me - and then accused me of "cheating" when her "diet" resulted in weight gain for me. (p.s. I wasn't cheating.)

Once I got the connection between what I ate and what my BGL's were, I had the key to my situation.

My cereal contains only one whole grain - flax. It's an unusual grain in that it is pretty much protein and fat. No measurable starch. I can't eat whole grains - wheat, rice, oats - without an alarming increase in my blood sugar.

For me, this is the ONLY way I can eat and continue to keep the diabetes gene from wrecking my organs. ... Oh yeah. I normalized my weight while I was at it.

__________________

And flax isn't a grain at all, really, in the true sense of the word........it's a seed. It's such a yummy, satisfying "cereal," especially if you enhance it with berries, s/f syrup and cream.........YUMMERS!!!!

Doc Insomnia wrote:We have the bizzarre FDA Food Pyramid to thank for that!!!

The carby porridge I have been eating is made with the "wholest" form of the grain, still contains all of its fiber and according to GI books, is VERY low on the scale. I use HULLED barley, not pearled, which is VERY tough and requires a long cooking time. So it's about the ONLY whole grain I will indulge in. I haven't had any for awhile...........it takes soooooooooo dang long to cook. And I think I've discovered recently that I am quite sensitive to WHEAT. Whenever I have had LC bread, I seem to get a headache, consistently, a couple of hours later. So I have been avoiding it now. It's a learning process. So, cross that one off the list.

__________________