okay after almost 45 years of messing around with low carb (pretty much every plan) high carb, and high fat and low fat and low calorie and losing and gaining 1000 times, i think/pray/hope i am finally finding what works for me.

i have cut out all the junk, even the low cal/low carb junk, and am eating only healthy whole foods. my appetite is way down, and i feel better than i have felt in a long while. here is an example of my daily food from yesterdays menu.

breakfast:
1 low carb whole wheat tortilla
1 T peanut butter
1 cup coffee w/ 2 T half and half

snack:
1 mozzarella stick

lunch:
2 lc ww tortillas
3 oz shredded cheese
5 very thin slices deli pastrami
1 c coffee w/ 1/2 and 1/2

dinner:
3 scrambled eggs w/ 1 T cream cheese
3 slices bacon
1/2 c. green beans

1/2 c. full fat yogurt
1/4 c. raspberries
1 T flax seed
1 T chopped pecans

this is:
123 g. fat
57 g. healthy carbs
79 g protein
calorie intake 1590

this is with being very sick this past week and taking cold medicine and cough drops with sugar in it. i have been averaging 2.5 lbs. loss per week. normally i also eat a salad with lunch every day too, just have not felt like eating any this week. i guess i am learning to listen to my body and what works for me.

thank you all for being here with me. i feel like this is a very balanced way of eating, and a way of eating that i can do for the rest of my life. but it helps so much to have support and see what others are doing. thank you, diana

We have to do what works for us as an individual. All bodies are different. If what you are doing works for you then stick w/ it. A lot of folks here don't have to worry at all about calories, but I do (probably my age). It takes some time to figure out our bodies. Good luck on your journey.

well this was interesting:

http://healthandfitness.sympatico.m...arbs.htm?isfa=1

http://healthandfitness.sympatico.msn.ca/Home/

Diana, good luck on your journey. I like the name "low crap diet".
Best- Annabel

lanny, read the first article and it was very interesting. i too do not do well when really low carbing. depression really kicks in and no matter what i eat, i am always hungry and/or repulsed by food.

i am more and more convinced that i am on the right road for me. as i read other posts here, what i am probably doing is a form of g.i. diet. but my hunger and craving level is WAY down and i feel GOOD. even with being sick the past 2 weeks, my energy level is still quite good. and i lost another 2 lbs this week. so i feel quite hopeful. thank you ALL for your support and caring, diana

seems like you are doing the south beach diet (which is a good plan).

with your meal plan seems those extra pounds you want to loose will definitively go away!!! bonne chance!!!

After reading your post I HAD to contact you and say I feel like I've "met" a kindred spririt. I do not want to eat fake foods, artificial sweeteners, etc. How are you doing since this post? I would love to keep connected. I am a member of SparkPeople.com and log my foods, etc. there. Like you, I've tried everything. Back in the late 1990's I joined LA WeightLoss and took off about 40 lbs.--then started selling Pampered Chef (and tasted everything I demonstrated) plus quit going to the gym, etc. and gained it mostly back. Now I'm a fulltime caregiver to my MIL and that adds to my stress. I have about 40 lbs. to lose to feel healthy. PLEASE email me back if you're interested in "buddying up." Debbie

Your diet is very similar to what I eat on maintenance but those LC tortillas will make me gain if I eat more than one a day.....but they are just so good. If you don't lose, you may need to limit those.

Hello - I'm new but just wanted to respond to your thread.

I'm doing much the same - cutting out crap. All processed food in my house (besides cheese and any organic stuff with less than 4 ingredients) has been tossed. No HFCS, preservatives, vegetable oils, refined or added sugar or refined flour. I've been making most of my food myself, down to my salad dressing. Very little eating out, no fast food, no soda.

As a result, I've been eating a drastically reduced amount of carbs and no sugar besides what comes in my food in its natural state.

During a typical day I'll have:

Breakfast- a kefir smoothie containing kefir made from raw goat's milk (which I ferment at home - the kefir grains use up most of the lactose in the fermentation process and hence the carbs), an egg yolk, a half a banana, a few berries, and 1T coconut oil. black coffee.

lunch - organic chicken or turkey on half a ww pita (made from ww, water, and molasses), with spinach, raw milk cheese, tomato, and a little mayo.

mid-afternoon- another smoothie with pineapple or a peach instead of the berries and banana

dinner - meat and veggies of some sort

on some nights 2T of ice cream I make myself from cream, vanilla, eggs, maple syrup, and unsweetened cocoa powder (if I want chocolate ice cream)

I've lost 8 lbs in the past 2 months, I no longer crave sugar during the day, and am not hungry to the point of being grumpy.

my energy is better than its ever been, and my mental processing is much clearer.

Im so happy to have found a thread I can relate to. Im also doing LC, my own way. I just dont like the way I feel when I drop my carbs down really low. I love the LC WOE, I love that I dont have to count calories or "points" for the foods Im eating. I generally try to eat whole foods, keeping my carbs down as low as possible but not going over 75. Since I exercise pretty regular I thought that was good for me. My weight loss isnt dramatic week to week its okay for me. Its not completely about loosing weight (although that is important too) its more about having a different relationship with food and feeling comfortable with what Im doing. I hate the feeling of being hungry. You know, having that gnawing feeling in the pit of your stomach because you need to eat something but you have no calories or "points" left for the day. Which is why I have failed on so many other diets. I just feel much more relaxed about my eating approach. I hope that this thread will continue. Id love to have a place that I can check in.

I've also found that sticking to whole foods works best for me. Unfortunately, since I'm a vegetarian, a lot of veggie protein is processed . So unless I want to be eating tofu all day, I have to incorporate some processed stuff like veggie crumble, veggie burgers, etc. I do try to limit these, though.

Tam

You should patent the name of your diet!

I've started low carb dieting (again) this week. I've done so many different programs that I should be an expert at this by now . I know that low carb works for me physically, but mentally, I haven't been able to make the commitment. I started the Insulin Resistance Diet, which I chose because of its flexibility. Even with following the program, I know that I can't have flour. Out of all the carbs out there, flour seems to be my largest nemisis.

In the end, everyone has to find the program that not only lets them lose weight, but fits into their life style. If it doesn't, then a major lifestyle change is needed in order to succeed. Good luck.

I list my plan as Sugar Busters, but the real name is the no white diet, if its white, I dont eat it, no sugar, no flour. feel great, but I did drop my weight by doing atkins. Now I am just trying to mantain. all is good.

It's been a while since you started this thread, Innovis. (Great title by the way.) How are you doing? It is still working for you?