Switching from low cal to low carb

Hi guys...

I've been on a low calorie diet for about 5 monthes now, and I've lost 15 pounds.  Now I just have five teeny tiny pounds to go, but I'm stuck.  I want to try South Beach for a while, but am not quite sure...

For phase one, should I eat more calories then I am now... just low carb?  Will this cause me to gain weight?  I think I'm undereating a bit now, just because I got so frustrated and kept reducing and reducing my cals... I thought that low carbing it would be a good way to increase my calories without gaining.  

What do you guys think?  Any opinions are very much appreciated... 

Personally I don't think it's a good idea. Eliminating a food group is unhealthy, although South Beach is a lot better than Atkins. I don't think it's going to be a miracle diet. If you eat more than you burn you will gain, no matter what food makes up those calories.

Yeah.  Low carb is pretty controversial I guess.  I'm just looking for a good way to break this plateau, and a lot of my diet-savy friends recommended low carbing for a while...

Yes it is controversial, though I personally wouldn't call it unhealthy.

Hate to tell you, but all the research on the topic implies that low carb works because it is low cal. The increased fat and protein results in a reduced appetite, and the lack of refined sugars reduce caloric intake.

I would recommend upping your calories to maintenence level for a couple weeks. Afterwards, many find that a normal calorie deficit will restart weight loss.

In my opinion, a low carb diet makes the most sense from an evolutionary standpoint. Homo sapiens flourished on a hunter-gatherer lifestyle for around 190,000 years - refined sugars and carbs were not invented yet. Humans did not start eating refined sugars and carbs until recently.* Recently = about the past 10,000 years. This new diet change has wreaked havoc on our bodies since we haven't had enough time to adapt.

I agree with that1grrl- if you read The Primal Blueprint it talks about how humans survived and we strong and lean from just eating veggies and fruit and nuts and protiens. I have been eating low carb, and I get plenty of good carbs from all the veggies I eat. I never go into ketosis because I never restrict how many carbs I eat- just the types.

The only real elimination that happens with south beach is during phase 1.  No sugars, no carbs.  Lots of protein, some dairy, healthy fats, and unlimited qty of veggies. That lasts only two weeks, then you reintroduce healthy forms such as whole grains, and fruit. (If you only have less than 10lbs to lose, then you skip phase one)

I actually really like some of the ideas of south beach for people who are really triggered by sugar/carb or have insulin resistance.  I have combined some of the basics with calorie counting and feel like it has been a way for me to learn how to eat healthier with less processed food overall.  Also I don't get insane cravings like I used to largely due to the elimination of sugar (I have insulin resistance).

But I still eat around 1600 calories a day.  It is not some instant weight loss miracle.  You still only lose .5-2lb a week.  They advertise than you can lose 8-15lbs in phase one, but that is really aimed at larger people and is mostly water weight. 

Calories in calories out still stands on it's own.  Remember those last 5 are usually the hardest.  I would just make sure you are getting enough calories and exercise and have patience.  A lot of people cycle their calories (eat more one day, less the next, but the total for the week still comes out the same), or change up the exercise routine to get through the final five. 

:)

Diets tend to fail because such drastic measures are taken and are not kept up. If you go low carb to loose 5 pounds, are you going to stay low carb? If you stop the low carb and go back to low calorie, its possible you could gain that 5 back.  Your boby may be happy where its at.

I'm drawling from my personal experiences here. If I do low carb, I can do it for a few weeks before it burns me out. I miss a lot of things I like. For me, long term success comes when I can eat healthy things I like without feeling guilty or avoiding them. I don't outright avoid anything, but I am very aware of serving sizes and will limit myself accordingly. Low calorie works for me because I can have at least a little bit of something I love. Low carb, to me, means trying to live without things I love. How long can you honestly last without things you love?

Thanks guys... I'm trying to stick to that old school hunter and gatherer thing that1girl mentioned... I usually eat a lot of fruits/nuts/grains/veggies.  Defintely it's the way to go for my skin...

But for 2 weeks I'm going to try and kick the fruits and grains, and focus on veggies, eggs, nuts and tofu (I'm a veg).  I'm going to increase my calories, but not by too much, and hopefully the low-carbness will stop me from gaining.  (I read you can eat more calorie on a low carb diet without gaining). 

Hopefully, it'll break the plateau, and I'll lose those last horrible, horrible five pounds!!!  (I'll let you guys know if you like...)

I switched from a low fat/high carb diet to a moderate fat/lower carb diet, keeping the calories the same. I didn't lose or gain any weight on the scale, but visibly grew "thicker". So i switched back and higher amounts of carbs is what my body prefers to function on. I still eat a ton of protein, but instead of doing 30-40% fat I stick to around 20%.

Ezzied - that's interesting that the foods you eat seemed to affect where the weight came off.  I find that too -- people say that a calorie is a calorie... but I find that if I eat most of my calories in fibre vs fat, the weight comes off my mid section much easier.  If I just eat low cal, but not healthy it comes off random places...

The one thing that you should have checked prior to going low carb is kidney function. I was, and really still am, a staunch supporter of low carb. However, for those of us with some impairment in kidney function eating a high protein diet can cause untold amounts of damage. Remember your kidneys handle the extra protein, potassium and phoshorus so just make sure that everything checks out in those areas. I lost the first half of my weight going low carb and had a ton of energy and it came off fast. Unfortunately for anyone with kidney impairment high amounts of protein, potassium and phosphorus are not happy and are never recommended. However, if you are perfectly fine in that area you won't cause damage by going low carb. As previously mentioned refined sugars are not natural to us as humans.