Low Carb Diet?

[magsmay]

I'm currently doing Weight Watchers online and have lost 7lbs in two weeks but am finding the pro points hard work and am constantly hungry. I've done a list of foods I love, and eat regularly and it seems a Low Carb diet where I can eat cheese, lean meat and fish and salad properly dressed with oil and vinegar would suit me -I hate sweet things never eat biscuits or cake so would not miss these things. I've looked at the Atkins diet -seems too good to be true -anyone tried it? - has anyone any other recommendations for low carb diets -I need to lose another stone to be at the top end of my healthy weight range but ideally 2 stone to be bang in the middle -Thanks!

[RATTER15]

Be careful with low carb diets, they can lead to problems if you dont do it correctly, I looked into it and decided it isnt a good way to lose weight so I just decided to just eat a lot more sensibly, more fish and meat, less potatoes, fatty and sweet things, the weight is coming off quite nicely, remember the faster you lose it the more likely you will put it back on, and chose a sensible diet that you can incorporate into your lifestyle for the foreseeable future, not just until you have lost the desired weight. Good luck.

[DangerUXD]

I tried it and it worked well but after a fortnight I'd have crawled naked over broken glass for a bread roll! Reduced carb diets can work if you like meat fish, dairy etc but you can't be too strict with the carbs or your body will just rebel and you'll find yourself toasting loaf at midnight! Atkins is too strict, what I found good is a sort of variation, Ie all the Atkins stuff, beans, peas, salad and fruit. In a nutshell, no spuds or bread of any kind.

[pastafreak]

If you are going to do a low carb diet,an important point to remember is you need to replace the carbs with more fat. This is what your body will use for fuel. It is not unhealthy. Do some research-there is enough written-both scientific papers and books.
Use butter on your veg-this also helps the body to absorb more nutrients from them. Use olive oil,eat some of the fat that is naturally[i on your meat,eat avocados,oily fish,cut out processed foods completely. [i]Don't] eat low fat/low salt rubbish...it's the worst you can eat.
I've been eating low carb for 2 years...lost 1.5 stone,and have kept it
off...never hungry.
I did the Harcombe Diet...a variation on Atkins that also tackles the things that cause us to over eat....candida,hypoglaecemia,and food intolerances ( mainly wheat ).

[JoolsTwo]

I'm with Slimming World and find that good - I've managed to lose 3.5lbs with them and don't find I get hungry with it. You can do that online too if you don't want to go to the sessions.

[pastafreak]

The thing with carbs is that they cause the body to release insulin-the hormone that makes us hold on to fat...when what you want to do is burn that fat for energy.

[Old_Geezer]

I'd advise against staying on faddy diets too long. Better by far to get the habit of healthy eating.

I know some swaer by low carbs but for me carbs fill me up for longer and prevent feeling hungry all the time and wanting to pick at or eat unsuitable snacks and the like.

Not wishing to undermine the advice you got from WW, I'd advise keeping to a daily limit but choosing for yourself how much 'filling stuff' and how much 'unlimited because it has low energy stuff' you include.

Remember after losing the weight you need to be eating properly in order to keep it off with little effort. It won't happen if you don't build the foundations of a good diet from the start.

[TopKat]

Go for it! No one can keep dieting if they feel hungry all the time but with low carb you won't have that problem and you'll be able to keep going. As Pastafreak says, it's the carbs in your diet that make you produce insulin which is the fat storage hormone and which also controls your blood sugar levels to rise and fall, making you hungry. I've lost weight and feel much healthier on a low carb diet and really recommend it. Atkins is a good place to start and you should find it much easier to stick with than weight watchers. There's lots of low carb advice on the internet for free. Just remember not to be afraid of eating fat as your body will need this when you cut out the carbs! Good luck!

[magsmay]

Thank you everyone for your posts. Having done a bit of research I think a low carb diet will suit my lifestyle. I can't stand low fat replacements, and would rather not have anything than try low-fat cheese or spread. Doing without bread is going to be a challenge (LOL at dangerUXD) but I suppose there are alternatives. Mmm just the thought of being able to have a knob of butter on my broccoli and poached salmon sounds great -and my favourite -chicken breast stuffed with garlic cream cheese and wrapped in pancetta is good to go ( now most will realise why I have 2 stone to lose lol!). Thanks again for your advice and support -I will keep you updated.

[magsmay]

@Pastafreak -thank you for the info and I'm going to Google the Harcombe diet.

[Ric.ror]

I joined WW last week and I have left all the literature at someones house so have not followed at all yet - I am hoping that the sensible eating I have tried to follow will do the trick on Saturday - till I can get on track next week
I am hoping its not all 'Low Carb' and 'Low GI' as I kind of believe in high fibre low fat being the best way to weight loss - along with moving myself more

[pastafreak]

Low carb is not Low carb is not 'faddy',nor is it new.
It was first decribed as a way to lose weight back in the 1850's by Wlliam Banting-a rather corpulent business man who went on to write a pamphlet about his sucessful regime. Low carb dieting was known as 'Banting' for quite a while after.

[ladybirder]

It has been proven to be a fallacy that the quicker you lose it the quicker you put it back on again. You can lose very slowly but still put it back on very quickly.
Best advice is eat what you like but about a third less of it than you have been doing.

[pastafreak]

If you eat a third less(in most cases) you will not be eating enough. 'Calories in/calories out' is pretty much a fallacy. There are other things-primarily hormones-that control whether we get fat-and how much.

[NOX]

My daughter eats somewhat low carb because she's diabetic and she finds it very easy and she's keeping a nice constant weight as she's eating plenty of fish, cheese, lean meat, veggies etc. She feels very well and as Pasta said it's certiannly not a fad diet. There is an online lowcarb shop which delivers next day.

http://www.lowcarbmegastore.com/

[TopKat]

Just another little thought for those who believe that the way to lose weight is to eat less and exercise more - if that's really true, then why are we fatter now than ever before? If "eat less, do more" really worked, why are we fatter and fatter? Do you really think every overweight person is greedy? I'm not, but I got fat. My best friend isn't, but she got fat. Our grandparents weren't as fat as we are and they didn't think that fatty food were bad for you or that you had to sweat in a gym to be fit. They didn't drink lots of fizzy drinks either - each one containing 7 or 8 teaspoons of sugar! And they didn't obsess about the fat in their meat or drink skimmed milk instead of full fat. Given that we're getting fatter as a nation, not slimmer - don't you think it's possible that the dietary messages we grew up with might be wrong?? That they're making the obesity problem worse?? Just a thought!

[joko]

problem with atkins is - many people do it wrong!

there was a lot of scaremongering in this country by people who didnt undertsand it - and the effect seems to have lingered

they dont read the book and believe the whole diet is the induction phase - which is very very strict and pretty hard to stick to - you cannot 'cheat', you cannot just have a piece of chocolate or a bit of toast - because you will ruin it... its not like other diets

its only meant to be done for 2 weeks, then you move through the 4 phases until you are on the lifetime diet, which is much less strict and you can eat some carbs and sugar etc

i did it and it works very well and fast - but being a veggie its too hard to stick to for long ...

so i use it to lose weight fast - get to the weight i want to be - then move onto something more manageable that i can maintain long term...

then if i put it back on again, i just do another 2 weeks or so.

[joko]

ther are a few other similar diets that use the principles of atkins but in diffrent formats - such as the 5-2 diet, etc

[Old_Geezer]

To be honest TopKat, whist there are other factors at play, it is just common sense that taking in more energy than we use is the basis of what is stored as fat.

Generally western civilisations are showing this with more sedentary work/play and higher calorie foodstuffs.

Not every fat person is greedy but they are getting that ratio wrong. And probably find themselves having to cope with cravings those who are lucky enough to be naturally slim, don't have to cope with.

Your grandparents would have had hard toil and more meager, healthier diets.

That is not to say that the diet industry don't have an incentive to sell and make profit, but there is good advice out there too. And indeed our bodies all react in their own way to what we eat, but the basic principles hold true.

BTW IMO any diet that cuts out or seriously reduces one aspect of what we eat (excepting that which is known to be overeaten and bad for us) qualifies as faddy. Particulary if the advice is not to make it a lifetime change.