My god, I'm getting thinner. My good and bad experiences with low carb dieting.

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

It’s now been about two weeks since my husband and I started on a low carb diet. (Sort of Atkins, since we eat the accepted Induction foods (mostly, more on that later), but don’t really measure our food to make sure we stay under 20g of carbs.)

The Good:

  1. I’m honestly losing weight. I can see it. I’ve tested my urine to see if I’m metabolising fat and I am, but even so, I CAN SEE IT. The scale shows it. I can almost start to tell it in the clothes I wear.

  2. I don’t have to go hungry. And I don’t feel the urge to snack as much (though that’s not entirely gone away).

  3. Russell Stover Sugar-Free chocolates. They’re made with Splenda, and if you subtract the sugar alcohols from the total carbs to come up with your net carbs, it’s usually anywhere from 0-2 (anything higher I stay away from, but leaves plenty of choices). These aren’t really on Atkin’s Induction, but as long as I’m losing weight, I’ll keep buying these. Carbolite’s bars are also good, but they’re more expensive.

  4. The numbness in my left leg is starting to go away. When I lay on my back or stomach, the top of my thigh starts to go numb. It’s not as bad now. I suspected it might be a weight issue as the doctor ruled out anything with bloodwork and an x-ray (though not an MRI or CT scan, whichever is the one)

  5. I don’t crave breads, pastas or chips/crackers. I love carbs. I really do. Hamburger Helpers are my favorite dinners. I can eat Wheat Thins and Cheez-Its by the boxfuls. I can eat a can of Pringles in a sitting. See where my weight came about?

The Bad:

  1. No such thing as fast food. There’s almost nothing that can be prepared quickly. Protein shakes and bars are disgusting to me, so eating requires full preparation. Cooking extra and eating leftovers is about the only way to make sure we don’t have to cook at every single meal.

  2. My god, the dishes! Since everything is cooked, dishes get used at a rate that boggles my mind. A dishwasher is definitely on the list of must-buys this summer.

  3. Most food now has a short shelf life. We have to go to the grocery store more often, since vegetables don’t last as long. I rarely get food out of the cabinets or pantry. It usually comes from the refrigerator.

  4. Limited variety. Next week, we’ll be adding in some more carbs in the form of some acceptable crispbreads, berries and nuts, but right now, the endless repetition of salad, meat, eggs and cheese gets tiring.

  5. Long-term effects of this type of diet are still unknown. I believe in the science behind the diet, but I’m also not ready to give up completely on the fat = clogged arteries theory either. When I’ve lost my weight, I plan to have a full checkup and then 6-12 months later, I want to make sure my cholesterol levels are still low. If cholesterol only drops because weight drops (my cholesterol isn’t high right now, btw) but then shoots up because of a diet higher in fat than is recommended, I want to know about it in enough time to do something about it.

Well, that’s my take on the diet. Anyone else want to share their low carb dieting experiences?

2

I’m going to try this one more time…I keep getting told I’m not registered, or not allowed.

I’m doing a modified Atkins too. This weekend will be two weeks, and I’ve lost 12 pounds so far. I don’t crave the carbs anymore except once in a blue moon, and I’m hardly ever hungry. I eat veggies, except for carrots and corn, and I do eat fruits - I’ve figured out that it’s the refined sugars that kill me, not the natural ones. My H, when he does it, stays below 5 carbs a day - if I do that I turn into the raging psycho bitch from hell, so I keep it around 15.

The biggest motivator that I’ve had so far is the contest that I’m having with my family. We pay $10 a week, and have an official weigh-in date. Our first goal is 15 pounds (we’re all roughly the same height and weight, and with the exception of my mil, the same age). If you don’t make the goal, you have to pay $100. We do this three times, and at the end split the money based on how you did. We have a real motivating factor for this contest - we’re al going to Hawaii in June and don’t want to go to the beach looking the way we do now.

3

Wow! A new Doper posts in my thread! And a DFW Doper at that! Welcome to the Boards, and good luck with your diet.

4

DeadlyAccurate
I’m glad you’re keeping in touch with your doctor with this diet. I’ve also read that the long-term effects aren’t nailed down yet.
A friend of mine just started a low-carb diet, I’ll keep you posted as to how he does.

smalltowngirl, that is definitely an incentive! :eek: Sounds like you have a great family.

Welcome to the Boards! If you have any more log-in in problems email Tubadiva, she’ll be glad to help.

5

I quit smoking 6 weeks ago, and started the low carb thing Saturday to get rid of the pounds I’ve put on from the constant snacking I’ve done since I quit.

Now I’m not sure if it’s the time passed or the diet, but I am not craving nicotine nearly as much. It has been replaced by a craving for carbos. I’m not a fan of diet soda, so I crave a nice ice cold can of Sprite the most. As most smokers know, the Nic craving hits hard right after a meal. As luck would have it, my Carbo craving kicks in right after I eat (My body tells me “Gee, thanks for the food…Now give me something I can EAT!”

That, and I can’t have a beer. Beer and cigarettes go together like Peanut Butter and Jelly.

Maybe the scientists will have to look into which is stronger, the craving for Nicotine, or the craving for Carbos. (Well, I know Nicotine is, but I am wondering if the carbo craving somehow offsets the Nico one).

6

Okay, I know you were looking for low-carb dieters, but I’m on a low-sodium, low-fat high-carb diet because of high blood pressure and high cholesterol, and I just want to warn you not to get too jazzed. In the first two weeks I dropped 10 pounds like it was nothing. It was a great way to start, and it definitely made me very enthusiastic, as you are, too. But you’re losing the weight because you’re eating fewer calories, not because the low-carb diet is something magical. If it’s working for you, great! I don’t mean to discourage you in the least, and I hope that this is the right diet for you and that you’ll enjoy long-term benefits.

A cautionary tale: After losing 15 pounds and getting my blood pressure down below 140/90, I made some Poor Choices at a holiday party, and like that I’d gained five pounds and my blood pressure was right back where it started. It took a month but I’ve finally taken the weight back off, and I’m working on the next 5. And my blood pressure is down to 120/80! I hope to lose another 5 to 10 pounds, so I have a little margin of error, and then try maintain that healthy weight.

Good luck! It’s hard not to cheat, especially when you think, “Oh, it’s just this once,” but don’t give in!

7

What are you eating, NurseCarmen? Is it too low in fat? If you have no prohibitions against pork, you might try fixing your carb cravings with a couple of slices of bacon or a few cooked pepperonis (yeah, I know it’s 0 carbs, but the salty fat sometimes satisfies). Beef jerky or some of those sugar-free candies I mentioned earlier might also help (be sure to check the carb counts. Some beef jerky has 5g/serving, others have less than 1).

8

Actually, Podkayne, even if it’s fewer calories that is causing me to lose the weight (and I’m entirely convinced it is), that’s fine. The problem with low fat diets is that I never felt like I was eating anything. Nutri/Systems (low fat) is working for my coworker, and if that sort of diet would work for me, I would definitely do it. I think it’s the really high carb foods (like sweets, crackers, white bread and chips) that have hurt me the most, but I agree with the principle of the diet: if your body doesn’t get carbs to burn for energy, it has to choose between your fat or your muscle. If you give your body plenty of protein, it will have to choose your fat.

Anyway, best of luck to you and everyone on our diet goals.

9

I think the long term effects are pretty well known. Atkins came up with this 30 years ago, and there are people who have been following it for that long(you never really get off of it, you just increase your carbs until you stop losing weight). No ill effects. I have been on it off and on for the past year or two. My biggest problem is the expense…Pasta, potatos and bread are all much cheaper than meat. And there just isnt any ribeye in the vending machines here at work when I have to work late. But when I stay on it, I lose weight, have more energy and feel better.

10

Um, that should be “(and I’m not entirely convinced it is).”

11

I lost 45 pounds on the low carb diet (with no excercise btw) in 6 months. Then I stopped. I gained 45 pounds in three months. This is totally my fault- I didn’t use the gradual maintenence diet like you’re supposed to. I’m actually thinking about trying it agin now that I’ve gained some insight into my eating habits- I am such a comfort eater.

On a side note- I’ve always hated the shape of my face. Big chipmunk cheeks, no chin. When I attended the wedding I lost the weight for, my family couldn’t get over the fact that I had cheekbones and a jawline. Looking at the pictures from the wedding, my father and I both agree that my cheeks and jaw are really weird looking- not just because we aren’t used to my face looking like that but because they are really wide and not very attractive. So at least now I’m more comfortable with my face. :slight_smile:

12

Actually, I’m eating lots more calories than I was before, and still losing weight. I have a friend who insists that low fat is where it goes, and for her and others, that may be true. BUT, look at what she now eats on a typical day:

1 side salad, sans dressing
1 can of soup
probably about a gallon of water

It’s not that she’s restricting fat intake, she’s restricted her carbs down to about 20 and her caloric intake drastically. I can’t think of anyone who wouldn’t lose weight on that diet.

My typical day:

1 egg, cooked any way
2 sausages
stir-fry mongolian buffet, no rice, usually soy sauce, and I almost always eat calamari, scallops and that fake crab stuff, onions, squash, etc.
snack of some sort of fruit, usually grapes, cantelope, or watermelon, usually about 3-4 pieces
chicken salad, with real mayo
grapes
soup - creme of avacado (heavy cream, avacado, water, and some - very little - salt)
bacon double cheesburger with jalapenos, sans bread
2-3 diet cherry cokes
about a gallon of water

I exercise twice a week with a personal trainer for about an hour, and I walk the stairs at work twice a day. Before you say, well, obviously it’s the exercise - I’ve had this same exercise routine for the last 9 months without losing a thing - I’ve gained, and it ain’t from muscle, let me tell you. And now I’m losing about a pound a day. The only thing I’ve changed is my diet. This is way more than I ever used to eat, but I’m convinced that I was eating at least 60 carbs a day.

I know at some point I’ll top out - I’ve stalled once already, but you know what? The day after I didn’t lose weight, the next day I lost twice as much. I’ll agree that you have to be very careful with your health - I went to the dr. and had all the work done to make sure that I would not hurt myself, and I plan on continuing checkups over the next six months.

13

There were a lot of us on this diet at work. Of course once we went off we all gained it back, except one guy. He didn’t stay on it continuously like we did. One thing that we all noticed is that over time we experienced a lack of energy. This was like 9-10 months into the diet. I’m still not sure this is the way to go even though now it’s getting more approval from doctors and such. Sensible eating and exercise may be the key. I don’t know but it’s what I’m trying this week.

14

I’d love to try a low carb diet, 'cause, like the OP, I know carbs are my downfall–I love bread, crackers, bagels, pasta…the works. The only problem is this: preparation. I’m at school, and we’re not given a very good choice of meats. Half the time, the available meat is fried, or prepared in a way that makes it absolutely unpalatable to me. I don’t have a kitchen of my own, either.

Thus, when I take it into my head to diet, I just eat less. I don’t eat anything that’s fried, and I try for things that have a good calories-to-bulk ratio, like salad, or vegetables. I think it works about as well.

15

I’ve had an exercise routine for seven years and have done nothing but put on fat in addition to the muscle I’ve gained. Nothing is more frustrating than seeing skinny people around you who wouldn’t know a leg lift from a butterfly press while you get bigger and bigger and did more and more exercise.

Thanks for the warning about the energy loss, ultress. I’ll keep a lookout for it. I should reach my weight loss goal in 6 months at this rate, so hopefully by then I’ll have attained a carb level that allows me to maintain my weight and still gives me energy.

Good grief, smalltowngirl, if that’s all your friend eats in a day, she isn’t just restricting her carbs; she starving herself.

16

My son went on modified atkins - basically lived on bunless burgers for a year - and lost 110 lbs. Doctors says maybe not so healthy, but hey, he’s sure doing well.

17

Oh, wanted to add: my coworker’s (the one on the low fat diet) mother eats a low carb diet (not diet in the lose weight sense) and even in her sixties, teaches aerobics and is very thin. She tends to eat bacon and eggs for breakfast, chicken and salad for lunch, and her and her husband go out for dinner every night. She still eats high carb foods like cornbread and beans & rice. It’s just the quantities she monitors.

My BIL also eats low carb, but I think it’s more a dislike of pastas and breads. He’s skinny as a rail.

18

I think the key, and I’ve been told this ten million times but it never sunk in, is that you have to change your lifestyle, not your diet. DeadlyAccurate, you’re right - once we reach our goals, or decide that we’ve had enough, the key is finding the right carb level.

You’re also right about my friend - I’ve tried telling her this, but she’s one that doesn’t listen. Someday I’ll have to write in Teemings about her - she’d make a great book all by herself. I think that this may be all that she admits to eating - obviously she shouldn’t have a weight problem - but she and I weigh about the same thing.

I have 31 more pounds to go to reach my long-term goal for this contest, but 41 for my ideal.

19

I just wanted to mention that it would be very unusual for you (or anyone) to keep up the same rate of weight loss until you reach goal. I lost 60 lbs on the Atkins plan in 1999, and the first 30 lbs came off very quickly and easily (about 3 months); the last 30 took a look more than twice as long. I used to be very active on a low-carb newsgroup, and this experience was very common. So please don’t get frustrated if your weight loss slows down or even come to a standstill for a few weeks. For most people, weight gain is a little bit at a time over a long period, and the loss can be the same way.

Good Luck on LC - I’ve been very happy with Atkins. I totally agree about the downside of having to cook a lot more - it’s a pain in the ass.

My cholesterol was pretty good before the weight loss (less than 200), but since then my overall number has gone down, and my ration of good-to-bad has skyrocketed. My internest said he’s almost never seen a ratio as good.

I regained about 10 lbs in the last year (it was a rough one - lots of stress) and am back on induction as of this week. I just wish people would stop bringing cookies into the office, dammit! :wink:

20

The whole idea of the Atkins diet boggles my mind. Carrots are bad and bacon is good? Aye Carumba!