HI Ladies! I just found you all here, discussing this and it's hitting home with me right now. I'm toying with the idea of upping my carbs, after a long road of <25 carbs/day. This worked in the beginning. But not any more. I've really mentally struggled with all of the stalls and even gains while adhering strictly to my woe, that I end up derailing and taking weeks to get back on track. It's been a big roller coaster ride. I think my biggest issue is I just keep doing the same things over and over, but expect different results.

I've spent some time reading "The Primal Blueprint", "The Sugar Impact Diet", and researching some others that advocate a slightly higher carb level (between 50 and 100 grams per day for weight loss).

My issue with raising carbs, is that my cravings come back with a vengeance very quickly, and my willpower is non-existent. I discovered this while trying to climb the OWL ladder on Atkins. So, my logic was to just avoid the cravings and potential slips off of my WOE by staying VLC while still in weight loss mode. It worked, for a while. But not any more. This is wreaking havoc on my emotional relationship with myself, and my ability to be successful....ugh. There's a whole lot of stuff happening in my head, if you're interested it's all spelled out in my journal.

I've also been reading a lot about long term VLC eventually raising BG and having the opposite effects we want, for SOME people. There is currently another thread discussing this that I find interesting. I have been LCing for nearly 4 years, VLC for the majority of that time (when I wasn't face-down in some popcorn or something....), and I have a girlfriend who has been LC for 8 years, and stayed VLC because of cravings and willpower issues like me, who has experienced some weight gain and BS problems. She is DILIGENT though - she doesn't cheat. And she closely monitors her blood sugars because she is diabetic (though not on any meds any longer - but she'd like to keep it that way!). After raising her carbs up to around 60 per day she's starting to re-lose the 15 lbs she put back on, and her blood sugars are stabilizing again. So maybe there's weight to this for SOME PEOPLE??

Sorry for the long post! At this point, while I'd love to lose another 30 lbs or so, I'd just be happy with myself if I could adhere to a plan long term that didn't leave me feeling either deprived or extremely disappointed with my own inability to find my groove and stick to it because of a lack of results