You're so right! I do value free speech after all. I had forgotten that she did post in the war zone, also.
I think I need to switch to decaf!

Actually, this was originally posted in Introduce Yourself. A little birdie moved it here to War Zone .

Nice introduction, I'd say .... .


Doreen

There's also this, though....



A drive-by mooning doesn't, IMO, constitute "debate".

Kind of makes me want to go to a veggie site and say meat is tasty and good for you.

They always get fed though. Trolls must be the fatest group of beings in the universe.

whoah! i can't believe i got 2 full pages of replies from one small comment i didnt mean to offend anyone, i realize this is a low-carb forum. i have nothing against it if, if it works for you, more power to you. based on just people i have talked to it is unhealthy to do when you excercise frequently because carbs give you energy to workout. also, i have spoken to people that have tried low-carb and have not made this long term because of side effects, eg: hair loss. and after they did go off low-carb all the weight they lost came right back, plus some, after they added carbs back into their diet (whole wheat or non) low carb doesnt seem like just dieting to me, it sounds like a lifestyle, one that a person would have to follow forever, in order not to regain. it seems to me like low-carb is another one of those diet trends that provides quick but not long term results. in my opinion, if you want to lose weight do it the old fashioned way.

-and im not 12 thank you, your what 85? since when does age matter on a forum anyways...is my opinion going to less valid if i was younger? anyhow...

i believe in counting calories (based on height and weight) and getting regular excercise (5-6 times a week) i have done this for 2 months and have lost 12 pounds, no restriction of carbs necessary. also, how can low-carb work for vegetarians like myself, when i despise red meat?

in conclusion, i fully support those of you that choose low carb, and i am sorry if i have offended anyone, those were not my intentions.

Maybe it's because I've been at it so long, but LC eating feels normal.

FOr breakfast I had the most delicious eggs with ham, bacon, onions, mushrooms, swiss cheese, fried in delicious butter and bacon fat.
I didn't eat till late, and when I did I had peas, carrots, chicken (LOTS of chicken :yum and a ton of broccoli.
Just 5 mins ago I had a fudgy brownie (2 carbs and as good as any made with sugar and flour) with a bit of whipped cream, almonds, and low carb milk.

People always talk about eating "regular" but to me, this feels regular. I can eat anything I want, because anything can be made low carb. If I want fruit and yogurt, yep. Cereal, yep. Brownies and milk? Yep. The good news is, most of what I REALLY want is stuff like tons of chicken and broccoli... or egg omelets loaded with veggies and cheese. Ya know, real food. I just want a smattering of the sweet stuff. It feels normal and regular to me.
Except unlike regular eating, I don't gain weight instantly like alice in wonderland, and I don't feel ravenous, and I don't get hypoglycemia, etc.

I think a litmus test for a "normal way of eating" is if you have to eat a whole lot of fake food as meal staples. On LC I eat food as it is. I don't have to eat fake meat and fake cheese and all other crazy crap that people eat on "regular" lower fat diets.

The only fake foods I eat are foods that are already heavily processed to begin with (example, instead of store brownies and fudge I make my own with dark chocolate, and various artificial sweeteners/flours). In this case, I'm replacing bad processed food with better processed food. Ironically, in my brownies I'm keeping all the nutritionally redeeming things (dark choco and butter and eggs) and only replacing the stuff that is ungodly unnatural and unhealthy (sugar and flour). If I were doing a "regular diet" odds are I would keep that sugar and flour, but replace those beautiful eggs and chocolate and butter with something less healthy like applesauce and egg whites and cocoa powder (not as healthy).

Bottom line? This is the better way to eat.

Yes, in order for it to work it has to be a way of life. That's true of anything you do to lose weight.
The body always gains weight back plus some if diets are discontinued (it's an anti starvation response - you are more sensitive to blood sugar spikes and creating fat and making new fat cells and all that fun stuff after weight loss).

Seeing as this is the better way than low fat or eating less cals of junk, and the foods we eat on LC are usually those with the most nutrients, and seeing as it has to be a way of life anyway...
I think LC is the best choice.
There's more than Atkins, not everyone needs to eat that low anyway... plenty of LC plans allow for slightly higher carb fare more regularly (like fruits).

If someone can't make a LC plan work at all, odds are they aren't ready to make any plan work.

As for vegetarianism and LC, we have plenty of LC vegetarians. There is even a subforum for the veggies.

Doesnt seem much point in putting a comment like this on a low carb forum really does there! Especially when an awful lot of us have been following this way of eating for years with and without a lot of physical activity

here here i am doing Eat fat Get Thin by Barry Groves and having up to 60 carbs a day and i lost 3lb this week also going down in clothes sizes ...Low carbing rocks! ..love Dee x

They are not the only source of energy. Many of us are heavy duty exercisers who do just fine with a low carb plan. Once my body adjusted to low carb, I didn't notice a problem with the energy level in my workouts. You should check out the exercise forum, I think you would be impressed.




So, you haven't read a book on it, just talked to people? You really should sit down and read something on it. Unfortunately, many people do look at this as a quick fix diet and not a life long plan. You are right, it is a lifestyle and most of us on this forum are planning on following it for life. I know I am and I have been lowcarbing for years.



What? Low fat? That is unhealthy. Read some studies. You can find several in the Media section of this site. As you pointed out above, this is not a "diet" in the sense you can use it to lose weight and then go back to eating the way you did before. It is a committment.



I tried that and I lost 4 pounds in 4 months. I was doing weights and cardio for at least 45 minutes to an hour a day 5 days a week while consuming around 1000 calories. My body cannot handle large amounts of carbs, no matter how much I exercise. My doctor suggested Atkins for me and it has worked well. Plus I AM a vegetarian and that hasn't been a problem at all. It might take a little more effort, but it is not that hard. There are several vegetarians on this forum. We even have a subsection of this forum devoted to vegetarians.



That is great, but then exactly what were your intentions? I appreciate you coming back and posting again, but I am unsure about what you are trying to accomplish. Just coming here and saying that you talked to some people, and it seems unhealthy without reading anything on low carb plans and trying one yourself isn't going to get you very far here.

To get a more balanced perspective, wednesday, you might check out our excercise forum where we have lots of folks doing fairly strenuous excercise on a controlled carb plan, including running marathons.
Oh...and England's Rugby team won the world cup a few years ago with the whole team on a controlled carb plan.



You'll find similar problems with hair loss on most Weight Watchers forums. It's a temporary side effect of an emotional or physical stress on the body.



So when they went back to eating in the manner that caused them to gain weight in the first place, it caused them to gain weight again. And this really surprises anyone?



Congratulations! You caught on to something that many people miss. In order to maintain weight loss (on any program, not just low carb), the dietary and exercise changes must be permanent ones. There is no weight loss program on the planet in which one can return to their former bad eating and activity habits and not regain weight. The nice thing about low carbing is that I can maintain carb restriction for life without too much trouble. This really doesn't seem like dieting to me anymore after the amount of time I've been doing it; like Wooo, it's become 'normal' eating for me and I don't have to walk around tired, crabby and hungry all the time. Can you say the same about calorie restricting and exercising 5 days a week?



If it works for you, great. The vast majority of folks here have already tried that plan...repeatedly...and not had such great results.

Hey, I am for "whatever works for you." I do low carb mainly because I find it easier than counting total calories. I can "guestimate" carb counts easier than calories. In addition, I low carb because protein does not leave me famished like a meal full of carbs does. I need something to fill me up but not leave me hungry. If I ate a large amount of carbs like donuts, bread, rice or potatoes I might feel full after I finish the meal but an hour later I feel like I am starving. That is what carbs do to me. But if I eat meat I can feel full much longer and don't get hungry between meals. It's really that simple for me anyway. The "old fashioned way" doesn't work for me because I am unable to do vigorous exercise for various reasons and because foods that are full of carbs trigger binge eating with me. Meat does not do that. As Dr. Phil asks, "How's that workin' for you?" I'd have to say that low carb is working pretty good for me. I have lost over 20 pounds in the last 2 months.

-wednesday, can you post a link to a diet that continues to work once you stop? I need to get on that diet now.

I love it---that was funny!

im not saying going back to your fat ass ways. im saying once you INTRODUCE carbs back into your life (little or a lot) the weight will come back on.

and for the person who was restricting cals to 1000 a day, the reason you were losing weight so slowly was probably due to the lack of calories in your diet. 1000 cals forces your body to go into starvation mode and therby slows your metabolism down. i eat 1700 cals a day, 50 g of fat, and 200 carbs. i watch everything to a certain extent, but i can still enjoy my favorite foods. you can eat greasy bacon and its all fine and dandy but uh oh have a apple and your in trouble? makes no sense to me...
but again, everyone is entitled to their opinion, no need to get all riled up about it and making immature remarks. i have tried low carb in the past and it made me want to puke considering i hate meat and cheese. but these were only my thoughts, and i just wanted to share them to let everyone know that i have lost quite a bit of weight from no low-carbing just everything in moderation.