How many attempts at low carb before you succeeded
 

I tried low carbing a year ago but did not succeed, I gave up and went back to my old eating habits.. I am doing so much better this time, most in part to this website... I am just curious... how many other people have to try it more than once before they succeed and make it a lifestyle...

Hi :)

This is my first time around LCing, and although I haven't reached my goal yet by a long shot, I am succeeding nontheless. This WOE has shown me that "dieting" doesn't have to equal deprivation and denial. I'm giving myself until June of 2003 to shed all the extra pounds, but the health benefits that I've already gained from LCing is worth more than money can buy!!

:heart::rose:

Only time and for a lifetime! :thup: :thup:


Bonnie

Hello everyone,

I originally started doing Atkins on the 1st Dec, 2001 but that only lasted for 10 days.

I re-started on the 1st Jan, 2002. Apart from a couple of small cheats & a 3-day-break (from LC), I've been doing pretty good. This forum has played a HUGE part in helping me stay on this WOL :thup:

Bebe :wave:

I can't vote because I can't think of it as "times" any more. My whole life has been a strange and wondrous experiment in body image problems and weight loss attempts. I guess I see it all as "one time"--one lifetime, that is!

Sliding off the WOE last autumn for a month was a crucial part of my success. I learned so much! So for me, "mistakes" are part of the single time through, as well...even if that mistake lasted a year or two or ten.

I went on Stillman's or something like that (a 60 g carb diet) when I was 12, at my mother's urging (my puberty weight gain freaked her out but good)...that was in, oh, 1967 or so? Not that I understood a thing back then, except that my mother seemed to hate my body, for reasons that still perplex me.

I didn't vote either. In one sense, I have been on LC since the mid-sixties. I didn't think of it as LC though, didn't know anything about LC at the time. Before Bulbar Polio (at age 21), I weighed 180#. After polio, about 85#. Then I gained back up to 160 # and my lungs were hurting. The doctor warned me how dangerous excess weight was to my polio-damaged respiratory system.

So I cleared the house of the ice cream and candies, macaroni and cheese, etc. When the members of our family wanted a treat, we went out and bought just what we could eat at that time. We also began walking and then got into mountain hiking.
And I lost weight. I'd gain some from time to time and just get stricter about not eating the fast-acting carbs and about getting exercise. So, without knowing about LC, I went pretty much LC.

Then five years ago we moved and were living in a travel trailer. I started gaining and found it was harder to take the weight off than before. I'm taking it off now, but I have cut out all fast-acting carbs except for small amounts of some fruits.

Dandi

This is my second time LCing. I started in March and lost about 13 pounds then started having horrible leg cramps. I got concerned it might have something to do with LC so went off and went back on weight watchers. I just can't do that diet. I have to have more structure, something that says "You can not have this". I have done some research and found I probably need more magnesium so I am going to try again. During the month I was off I gained back 4 pounds so I have to do something and quick.

Hi,
I tried low-carbing about two years ago, but instead of following the Atkin's plan, I did it "my way"! No wonder I failed!

I didn't eat veggies, relied on diet pepsi instead of water for my fluids, and concentrated on the snack bars and deserts that could be made on this WOL instead of the healthy meal plan that is the core of low-carbing.

This time I've gone by the book, and stayed away from the goodies that were my downfall the first time. I eat more vegies now than I've ever eaten in my life. Even my thin younger sister who is a vegatarian thinks low-carbing is great. :-)

This is an easy lifestyle for me; I like the food choices, and I really like the steady weight loss and the way I feel these days. There are three other women at my church who have been low-carbing for the past year and they all look great, and have improved health-wise (blood pressure, reflux, joint problems, etc).

Thanks for an interesting poll!
Phyllis (aka Cat Lady)

I tried Atkins several years ago (BC...before children), lost 30 lbs. in 3 months and quit when I hit my first stall. Without this board, I didn't know that it was perfectly normal not to keep losing at a quick pace until you got to your goal. This time around, I was more or less forced into low carbing because of my diabetes, but I'm sure glad I did. Without it, I'd probably be on insulin by now instead of medication free and healthier than I have been in 20 years!

This is my first time doing LC. My intention is that this will be the only time as it's become not just a WOE but a WOL for me. My only regret is that I didn't learn about it years ago!

I can't say that the journey has been without bumps in the road for me, but all of them have been overcome and I attribute much of my success to having become involved in this forum.

I CAN succeed and improve both my physical and mental health with my new eating and exercise habits.

Marlaine

I've been low carbing since the end of July, 2000. I lost 40 pounds and was doing really well. However, in June, 2001 I decided to go off OWL and basically onto Maintenance so I could eat a bit of fruit over the summer (summer is eight months long, isn't it? :eek:) I didn't gain more than a couple of pounds, but I also didn't manage to really get back to OWL until last Friday (sheesh!).

I had been halfheartedly trying to get back to losing for the last couple of months, with no success. Suddenly last Thursday something clicked and I just decided it was time to go back to eating exactly the way I did when I was losing two pounds a week and get rid of the other 65 pounds I need to lose. I didn't want to wait until Monday, so I started Friday and have since resisted all the things that were keeping me from losing, like Margaritas (LC, of course), too many nuts, and too much food in general, even though all of it was low carb.

So to answer the original question, I think this counts as my first time going LC and I am in it for life. I love this WOE.

Karla

2nd time is a charm...
 

I was CALP for 8 months about 2 years ago...

...and I lost about 60lbs. I failed to educate myself about LCing and never took the time to learn to LC cook. Therefore I became bored as hell and fell of the wagon. I gained back 60+30 more in the blink of an eye.

This time around things are very different. In 5 months I've lost 78lbs, I've learned to cook and I'm scouting out new meal ideas all the time and, frankly, there's just no other way for me now.

I feel great. I'm happy. I'm totally motivated.

Oh, and most importantly, I use this forum every day. IT is an essential element in my LC life.

Donald

Gettin' rid of all the carb-laden foods in the house
 

Dandi, I did the same thing when I started Atkins a month ago. I cleared out everything in the pantry and the fridge/freezer.....and gave away literally a shopping cart full of food to one of the waitresses at work. It was a wake-up call for me to realize that just about everything I had in the pantry and fridge listed sugar or corn syrup as one of the ingredients. Except for a disasterous encounter with maltitol, I've been doing really well so far. As long as I stay away from artificial sweeteners, I don't get cravings for more sweets. The best thing about this WOL is that it has taught me to listen to my body and working with it instead of working against it. I don't think I've ever done that before.

:heart::rose:

Poll
 

The first time I tried it kind of half heartedly. I lost a little weight and became bored with the whole thing.

Then I saw my step mother lose about 40 pounds in two months while I was still a whale and I freaked out! I went right back on it and lost 80 pounds. I lost 40 really fast ( the first 2 months) and lost the next 40 or so really slowly over the 8 months that followed reaching my goal weight of 125 pounds and a size 6 for the first time in my life since I was a teenager.

I had a terribly hard pregnancy last year - ended up on bed rest as I was unable to walk at all - and of course gained it all back.

So here I am again - but happy as I know I am well on my way to being there again!!!

Donald, I can relate to your first time experience... it is alot more work eating this way in an age of convinience foods.... and without the support of other low carbers it is very difficult sometimes to keep going... to be able to read others peoples experiences really helps... especially to know what you are going through is normal.. stalls and plateaus work them selves out ... that is something I did not know the first time around.. I thought it did not work for me... this forum is a big part of my success.

And then I fell into the other trap... from family and friends.. at meals would say... oh this one time wont hurt ya, have some.. and then of course there is another time and another time.... and eventually you are eating carby foods again.. well this time is totally different.. no more just this one time.... a friend at dinner the other night told me I was a pain in the ass and just eat it the way it is - I was taking the breading off a blooming onion!!! Well sorry but not interested in eating it with the breading on.. I learned to say NO THANK YOU and I Will not eat it that way to the people around me.. no giving in! :thup:

There is definatly not going to be a third time or lost count for me.. this time is it.. the lifestyle is here to stay!