I voted for all the above, but my real reason wasn't listed as an option--- to maintain at my goal and not crave sweets and starches. I am still working on it.

I have a family history of heart disease, high blood pressure, late onset diabetes. I have been a nurse for 40+ yrs and a health nut all my life I guess. I have done all kinds of diets, including 80% raw foods at one time. It took a long time for me to admit that carbs is my problem and then a while to get the courage to actually limit them. I was so amazed to find out how satisfying the food was when I went on higher protein and fats and cut the carbs down. I expect to continue limiting carbs for the rest of my life. A lot of chronic health problems disappear when I do. I can make myself sick very quickly by binging on carbs.

All of the above! I feel much healthier LCing, I don't get that drugged, bloated feeling like I get after eating a big white doorstep fishfinger sandwich with ketchup :)
I eat much less, I know when I'm full - I dont keep on eating simply because I think Im still hungry. I don't wake up at 6am with a raging hunger for a sandwich, I dont crave sweets, chocolate and chips. I eat cleaner, I feel healthier, I'm getting thinner and lighter too!
Yeah sometime's its not easy - I like the odd cocktail but then again, I dont want to jeopardise the hard work I've already done, and I don't want the drugged bloated feeling either!

This thread is such a treasure!

I actually get this question a lot now. I guess I am one of those statistical abnormalities that managed to lose weight on a high carb/low fat diet - 85 pounds on Weight Watchers. However, I binged and starved and binged and starved to get my weight down... this is no way to live! And I knew the willpower was going to run out eventually.

Once I got my sugar addiction under control with the help of Overeater's Anonymous, I took a second look at my low-carb books. I was overwhelmed with the scientific evidence that illustrates that a low-carb lifestyle is the superior choice - period. I knew I could lose weight doing low-fat, but was I healthy? NO! I was constantly looking for my next "low-point" fix. My compulsion to overeat was just as strong as my compulsion to starve myself in order to prepare for the next binge - there is no moderating sugar and refined carbs for me.

I was so used to counting WW points that I tried to modify the program to be lower carb... and it worked. But why bother? I know that I can be at optimal health and weight working Protein Power so why not? :lol: Also I am so sick and tired of the Weight Watcher mentality that stresses low-point frankenfoods over good fats and proteins just because they are more calorically dense. It's enough to make me tear out my hair!

The short version - I choose my low-carb lifestyle because I believe it to be a healthy plan based on whole foods that our ancestors ate for millions of years. It is a plan based on eating sanely and NOT starving or searching for a food fix every 30 minutes. I can eat the foods that I love, I can be creative in the kitchen, I can eat at nice restaurants without anxiety, and enjoy the fellowhip; I love the other LCers out there - the majority of whom are interested in healthy living.

:rheart: Paris

Funny, I was just thinking about this today. I was living a basically "healthy" lifestyle, following a low-fat diet, the Canadian Food Guide, and was slowly gaining weight over time. And whenever I had some trauma (surgery, car accident) and couldn't eat, I would quickly gain weight. A doctor said I was basically a survivor - that didn't make me feel any better.

Then I started hearing about some success stories, some people here and there, then a woman in our office building and finally a friend of mine said he tried it and was having success so I read up on it. I've never thought any other "diet" was worth checking out, but I sure believe in this WOL.

Reasons- Tired of being overweight. DH & I figured we were carrying an extra 140 lb person between us. That another adult human being. Not anymore. Now it's shrinking to a heathly child (I've lost 35 & DH has lost 5)

Diabetes - I didn't get the warning signs that came up 3 years ago when a younger sibling was diagnosed. You know the knid of justification ' She had gestational Diabetes, that's what triggered it in her '. Dad was diagnosed at 62 and Mom possibly had gestation diabetes for 4 of her 5 pregnacies. No risk at all.

Snoring- was told over 8 years ago that my snoring would improve if I lost some weight. Now after all these years of not sleeping properly, it has.

Energy - I watched a friend who has some severe health problems (not weight related) lose weight and gain energy, positive attitude etc from LCing. Wow, what a difference. There is no more sitting at my desk at lunch 'cause I can't drag my butt out of my chair. I have to go for a walk, so much energy to burn.

Mentally - A much more focused mind that is starting to retain new ideas again. I had just about given up learning anything 'cause it just wasn't sticking. This is the best unexpected side effect.

I could go on for hours. LCing is the WOL for me.

I started LC back in 1999 to loose the ugly weight. It worked. Lost 60 lbs, stayed on a long trip, lost my way, gained some back.

I went back and forth LCing and sliding.

Then I got a new doctor who diagnosed me with autoimmune thyroiditis.

He suggested the Zone--and a change in meds.

After about 6 months, he told me carbs were poison to me in particular. Thus a "Atkins" "Protein Power" solution for me.

I listened, finally.

This is it for life.

It's no longer about the weight.

It's about health.

I responded with all of the above, even though I do not have diabetes, but my mother does and if I continued down the obese path I was on, I know I would have developed it eventually. Now that I've been successful with the LC way, I've turned my mom on to South Beach. Isn't LCing GRAND!?

I have PCOS-Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome and this is the eating most recomended for this condition. :)

Well ...I actually found this forum before I found DANDR. I was looking on line for diet information..as I need to lose weight. I found this place and started reading. The next day I had The Good Book and was reading my way to a happier healthier me!I have been on Atkins for almost 3 months and have been able to give up 3 different inhalers, and almost daily use of antihistamines!

Neat thread. I've been on and off the wagon for a few years--this time I mean to make it stick. Originally I got interested in LC because I wanted to lose weight and look better, and (as a secondary goal) feel healthier. But seeing it as a cosmetic thing made it hard to stay motivated.

I never stopped believing in LC, but I fell off the wagon a number of times, for weeks or months at a stretch, regaining the weight. I was LC "in theory" for a while...

Then a couple months ago I finally got myself a blood glucose meter, suspecting I had a problem, maybe reactive hypoglycemia. Took my fasting BG a couple days, and holy smokes, I'm prediabetic. Between 105 and 115 almost every morning. That scared me. I ate some carby meals where my post-meal BG shot up to the 150s. That's when I started getting serious about this. (Well, that and wanting to lose weight for my wedding. :o)

It's been two months now (with three days off, the weekend we got married). I'm down 15 pounds. My fasting glucose is rock-steady every morning in the 80s or occasionally low 90s. My post-meal readings are excellent. As far as I can tell, I'm staving off diabetes, and I am so glad I caught this in time.

Some mornings I feel motivated by the scale moving. Sometimes I feel motivated by the optimal blood sugar readings I'm getting. Some days my pants feel loose or I catch myself starting to like what I see in the mirror. I have a ways to go yet, but this time I really feel I can stick with this.

I chose Low Carb because it worked. I had dieted low fat years ago and did loose weight but it was really hard and slow. I like the Low Carb because it works for my body type, it is easy, it includes most of the foods I like and provides LC options for the foods I 'can't' have.

I chose it cause I saw my dh have so much energy AND watched him drop 60 lbs.Started for some reasons, kept going till it became a WOL for others :)

I had a very high CRP (C-reactive protein) test, and looked into lowereing it by losing some weight.I chose this WOL after analyzing my "heart healthy" diet, that was keeping me fatter than I had ever been. I was eating mostly carbs, and Atkins had just gotten some positive research reports, so I looked into low carb. I really liked the CALP plan: lots of flexibility, I could still eat carbs once a day, and no counting anything. I started in July 2003, and have lost 50 pounds. I know this is my WOL forever. My lipid tests, and CRP, all improved too!

I've always been healthy and active. Even at my highest weight, I felt great and was active. However, I didn't feel good about myself anymore. I wanted to be the sexy person I had grown up being. When I started reading about Atkins.. I remembered often saying "I could live on Bread and Pepsi". and realized, it wasn't so much my activity level as what I was eating. If I cut out a few things, I could live with this program and actually reform my body.... Here I am - happier and healthier than ever.

I definately started it to lose weight too.... but my main reason was because I was bored with the plain flavorless bodybuilding-type diet that I used to follow. Atkins gave me a way to lose weight while enjoying the taste of my food.