Low Carb Diets

I am sooo tempted to go back to low carb diets. However, as a former Atkin's success, I know that you can gain the weight back if you are not EXTREMELY careful.

Right now, I am a little discouraged about the fact that I only lost 11 pounds this month. I usually lose more than that the first three weeks. I know that 11 pounds isn't bad, but since my over all goal was 115 lbs., it just seems so minor. So, I have been considering going back to a low carb diet for a few days, just to get my body going and then switching back to calorie counting.

Do any of you do this...the switch back and forth thing? Does it work for you? If so, how many days a month do you do low carb?

Smooches! - Shaylese

I find that all the stuff that you have to give up everything but that just doesent work for me and belive me I have done them all! lol I am just counting Cals and working out 2 hrs a day have lost 75 lbs since 4/21/09 I know that seems slow but I think I have learned a new way of living and eating so hopefully it will stay off.  So am just saying maybe slower is the ans. Anyway GL with which ever way you go :)

I think if you hit a plateau then sometimes you need to rock your body and do something a lil different, but I have done the carb addicts thing and I know I can't do it for the rest of my life.

I lost 13 in my first 4 weeks and in the grand scheme(my total left to lose is 138lbs) it seems very insignificant, but it's better than none at all.

Just my $.02

I did the Low Carb diet twice.  I lost weight both times.  I gained it all back plus some both times.  I lost 70 pounds and gained 90.... 

I have also been tempted to do it, but I KNOW it is not a way I can live with forever.  I have to do something I can live with from now on.  Low cal is my way to go.

Eleven pounds is 10% of the weight you want to lose.  It's  11 pounds that you will never have to wear again.  It is 44 pounds of pressure off your knees.  Don't underestimate that amount of weight.

Set a small goal to start with and work towards that.  I am thinking you have to start looking towards a future where you are slim and can live with good eating habits.

All of this is very true. I don't know why I am rushing. I guess I have some anxiety about not having another "fat" summer...lol. I really want to be at my goal or close to it by July.

Just remember that restrictive diets don't work in the long run because they aren't teaching you healthy habits.  This is why so many people who lose a lot of weight with weight watchers, jenny craig, nutrisystem, atkins, etc gain it back once they stop the program.

They still have no idea what they should be eating or how much food it should be.

Next time you are at the grocery store pick up a 10# bag of flour and a pound of butter and remind yourself you are not carrying that on your body!

11 pounds is awesome for a month. And very sensible.

I don't do well on low carb, I like my carbs way too much!

I strongly suggest uysing the analysis thingy this site has. You can see your % carbs and you can lower it a bit and see how it works. I had always heard the perfect set up is 40% calories from carbs, 30% from fat and 30% from protein. You could always lower carbs a bit and increase protein and see how it does - but like all said, it isn't a good idea to get into more bad habits like cutting some aspect of food - because you cant live the rest of your life that way, and thats what this is all about... life changes :) not just weight loss changes

67,

I don't know about the other diet types, but I have to disagree with you on WW being too restrictive (at least the version I was doing the last time...about 2 yrs ago).  I would eat anything, just had to count "points"  the points equaled calories, and add activity and water.  The points ended up a short cut to counting calories.

I strongly considered going back to WW, but when I found this site with all the same tools (except the points) and free!!!, I decided to save the $40 a month.   I do miss the clapping a little, but since I have all of you clapping for me on weigh in day, that is enough for me.

Original Post by texmom52:

67,

I don't know about the other diet types, but I have to disagree with you on WW being too restrictive (at least the version I was doing the last time...about 2 yrs ago).  I would eat anything, just had to count "points"  the points equaled calories, and add activity and water.  The points ended up a short cut to counting calories.

I strongly considered going back to WW, but when I found this site with all the same tools (except the points) and free!!!, I decided to save the $40 a month.   I do miss the clapping a little, but since I have all of you clapping for me on weigh in day, that is enough for me.

 It's not that I consider WW restrictive, but I think people are at risk when they stop doing it because they aren't really sure what to eat if they aren't being told how many points something is.  Sure, some restaurants or prepared meals in the grocery store might have that info, but a vast majority doesn't.

Can you lose weight with WW?  Absolutely.  But along the way, you'll still need to learn to eat normal portions and a balance of food.

Hey everybody... i am new here and am also new to the beck diet program...i have done them all, gained and loss, sat in alot of therapist's offices, and even went to an inpatient facility for eating disorders, although I am not anorexic but mostly a compulsive overeater....did some bulimia for a short period while in college..........But i have to tell you Judith's Beck's book is the toughest to follow because it asks so much from you...not about the food...all based on cognitive therapy and changing the way you think about the food.........give it a look...honestly, i think if you commit and really want to go on your last diet this will be it......IF you do what beck says and you don't rebel against what she asks of you, you will change the way you think about food and the way you eat.   It is so revealing and it calls us out on all our excuses and whining.  I will keep checking back with you and let you know my progress....if anyone else out there is doing beck let me know how its going for you....i could always use another positive influence..............good luck to all

(we need a blank stare emote)

67,

You CAN learn to eat normally with WW if you stick with it.  When you reach your goal weight you go on a maintenance plan for free for the rest of your life.  However, I just couldn't afford to keep it up for that many years/months and I quit.  When I quit I didn't do what I knew to do.

It was me that quit, not the program that let me down.  I knew what to do, I just lost the will to do it...I was happy to just eat whatever I wanted until I gained it all back plus some.

Foolish, foolish, foolish.

Original Post by texmom52:

You CAN learn to eat normally with WW if you stick with it. 

 I guess that's the key there...you CAN learn.  I used to coordinate employee services for my work, and I brought in a WW rep to lead a group of people. 

It's been 5 years since it ended, and the only person who at least maintained their current weight is a woman who attended the first meeting and then decided not to do it because they felt they could do it on their own.  Everyone else has gotten bigger (and it didn't help that my work also closed the on-site gym not too long after that).

Sustainable weight loss, as we are learning, has to come from a lifestyle change.  This can be learned via the tools on sites like this. It can also be enforced via lap band/gastric bypass, or a program like Jenny Craig, Nutrisystem, WW, etc that will either sell you the food to eat or tell you exactly what to eat.

Many people are perfectly willing to do that - be told to eat and when, but unless they take the time to learn and follow the science behind the program, they can fail once they stop.

So true.  And the truth is there is still the fear is there in me that I'll fail again and regain my weight plus.

I just have to take it day by day and trust. Trust that I can recommit every day.  and as one lady says in her testimony "Commit to recommit" if I fail.