I have trouble separating the two issues. I started low carbing because I needed to lose weight because my weight was a health problem. I didn't like the way I looked, but honestly and truly, that wasn't my primary motivation for beginning low carbing -- losing weight to improve my health and save my life was. My back and legs hurt all the time and I was reaching the point where walking to the corner was an effort. When I had to climb a flight of stairs, my heart started pounding in my chest and I worried that I would have a heart attack. My blood pressure was starting to go up, but I think that was mostly because of my weight and the fact that because of the weight I was getting less exercise, not because of the way I was eating. My cholesterol was borderline, but it wasn't high. For me, the weight was the health problem.

Now that I've lost some weight (about 120 pounds), I want to keep it off because I am enjoying having a body that once more works well and doesn't hurt all the time and I also like the way low carbing makes me feel. My moods have stabilized and I am generally an easier person for me and for other people to live with. I'd like to lose more weight, but even if I don't (and I may not -- my weight loss has slowed to an almost non-existent crawl), I can't imagine stopping low carbing. I never want to weigh over 350 pounds again.

I do like the fact that I look better and it is easier for me to find clothes. However, that doesn't compare with being able to once again do things with my husband and kids, instead of watching them go off while I have to sit down and wait for them because my back and legs hurt so much and I can't catch my breath. Anytime I think about going off low carbing, I remember what that felt like and that kills any inclination to eat any other way. I can't imagine a stronger incentive to continue low carbing than that.

To ask the question of which is more important -- health or weightloss -- you have to be in the privileged position of never having been morbidly obese yourself. Those of us who have been there know that the two things are inseparable.

[Finally peeking into "The War Zone" - it's not so awful!]

It's totally health for me, considering my weight loss has stalled for about 9 months. From the beginning, though, I've approached it with the attitude that I'm eating in a way that helps me feel at my best, and what happens to my weight is, in a sense, none of my business. It may be that I never weigh less than I do now (which is considerably overweight). Oh, well, I can live with it, as long as I'm healthy.

I have gained so many health benefits from this diet. The first thing that happened was my energy level shot up - that was after a week. My allergies are MUCH better. My joints are less stiff (and don't tell me my thumb joints hurt less because I've lost weight!). My teeth have improved. My skin is great - I can't tell you how many people comment on how youthful my skin is, and I never heard that before. Not only do I not have the grinding fatigue that I had before, but my energy levels are much more even throughout the day.

Now, if it would only fix my hot flashes...

For the first time in my life, I WANT to be healthy and fit. I care about how I look, but I try not to obsess about the pounds on the scale. I am active and have fallen in love with fitness and have evaluated my life and career and want to change paths at this point to become a personal trainer.

This has happened because of lc - it gave me the proper fuel for my body to start moving again. It gave me the confidence that I can do anything I set my mind to. I just completed a 60-km 2 day walk for Breast Cancer - something that I would NEVER have considered or attempted before lc.

And like others, I am not tired, I don't get SICK SICK like I used to - a cold is just a cold. I have energy, my skin is clearer, my moods are more stable. I just feel good. And when I stray a little, my body screams at me to behave - like our Thanksgiving this past weekend - I ate stuffing and gravy and pie - a decision to splurge - and I thought I was having a heart attack. I forgot what indigestion felt like. Eating clean lc makes me feel good, and when I feel good my life is better.

I would like to drop a couple more sizes, and I will see where lc and exercise takes me. My mother and I actually had a conversation about this very thing. My doctor is pleased with me - my blood pressure is great, I'm active - yet I'm just under 200 pounds when I should be more like 150. My mom said, even if you are healthier, don't you want to look better too? And I had to really think about it. Because if I am healthy and feel good and can keep up or beat anyone at any activity and keep setting new goals and challenges, how can I not be satisfied with who and what I am? The scales be damned! If I stay at 198 pounds while doing all this, then that is where I'm meant to be. A healthy 198 pound woman.

AJ
I agree with you 100%. I have been much smaller than I am now, and felt terrible. I have been larger and felt terrible. With me I have always been ruled by the scales, thats how I judged my self worth. Not anymore...I have decided to eat to live, and not live to eat, and if that means being 200 pounds, then thats ok with me. My blood pressure, BGC levels, cholesterol and mood swings are completely back to normal. Yes I do wear a much smaller size in clothes than I did 6 months ago, but the biggest changes have taken place inside of me...where they really count. Good Luck with all your dreams.

I started for weight loss, but I'd stick to it even if that didn't happen. It just feels like a much more sensible way to eat than I was doing before.

I started out with Atkins because I wanted to lose weight. I'd still like to lose another inch off my waist and a few from my belly, but even if my body stayed this shape for the rest of my life I'd still stick with low-carb for the way it makes me feel. No more headaches, no more moodiness, no more heartburn, no more acne, psoriasis lesions less flaky and itchy, arthritis improved (though not completely gone), shinier hair, more energy, and sleeping better.

I was never morbidly obese, yet I was VERY insulin resistant, prediabetic and unhealthy in various other ways... I didn't even know what those things were until I started researching this WOE, and was even more amazed that a simple dietary switch could change my life and problems I had accepted as normal aging for me. Anyway, my point is that it is possible to become extremely unhealthy without putting on a lot of weight, and there are many skinny Type 2's walking around. IR can be quite insidious!

Vanity is a fun indulgence, but better health is what really keeps me in line.

When I first started Lcing about five years ago, I lost 22 lbs. In five weeks, which put me at 133. Since that time, I have gained about ten lbs, but I have been working out a lot and my waist size hasn’t changed. LCing allowed me to completely reshape my body.

I noticed other changes as well. For most of my adult life I have suffered from terrible heartburn. I would take antacids, bicarb, etc., every night before bed. Within 24 hours of starting a low carb diet, my heartburn disappeared, and I haven’t taken a single antacid for five years. I also used to suffer from chalazeon cysts, a chronic inflammation of the eyelids. This condition also completely disappeared. I understand from the Eades that these results come from better eicosanoid control. My results have been so phenomenal, why would I consider any other WOE?

I want to take issue with something It’s the Woo said. Usually, I agree with everything she says. I don’t think that sugar tells the body it’s feast time. I think another type of logic is operating. The body works on either resource rich mode or resource poor mode. When the body is getting its preferred nutrients from the environment, i.e., proteins and fats, it’s running on resource rich mode. Since there’s no problem with the supply of preferred nutrients, there’s no need to store anything, so the body merrily burns up all the fat and has a jolly good time doing it. When the proportion of carbohydrates in the diet starts to rise, the body says, “Whoa, I’m not getting my preferred nutrients anymore, so it’s time to store up.” So insulin takes over and converts those carbohydrates to fat, the preferred nutrient, and stores it as adipose tissue. The body burns carbohydrates so efficiently because it wants to get rid of the hateful stuff as soon as possible and not leave it around to do all its damage. When we return to resource rich conditions, there’s no need to keep those stores of fat around anymore, so we burn them up.

There’s another consequence to this idea. Rosedale makes a very suggestive comment when he points out that one of the functions of insulin is to control lifespan, the higher the insulin levels, the shorter the lifespan. Under resource rich conditions, we can protect our gene pool with relatively few individuals living long lives. Under prolonged resource poor conditions, when there’s not enough preferred nutrients to go around, the species’ survival strategy switches to more individuals with shorter lifespans to assure an adequate gene pool. So after 10,000 years of resource poor conditions, we have massive overpopulation and massive misery. The real job of economics, then, is how do we assure a resource rich environment for the world’s population.

I totally started this to lose weight. I didn't want to be 300 lbs. As I lose weight i do become more healthy but that was an after though. I don't think i would have stuck with it if i didn't see results. otherwise i'd still be doing a low fat diet. That's healthy to but i didn't lose weight.

I started low carbing recently in an attempt to improve my health. I have had many chronic problems such as arthritis, high blood pressure,asthma, anemia, skin problems, and the early stages of osteoperosis. Since starting i feel sooooooo much better, and my arthritis pain is pretty much gone, my asthma hasn't acted up at all in a month, my iron levels are good, my bp is down, and my acne and eczema are clearing! My weight is almost irrellavent to me at this point in my life, though losing is sure improving my self esteem as well!

I will stay on it even if I don't lose anymore. I love the improvements I have gained since I have been on it and I wouldn't trade them for anything. Peg

I started to lose weight because I was tired of being unhealthy. To me fat equeled unhealthy, and I didn't realize it was the metric ton of sugar I ate daily that was the true culprit.

I've been doing this for 3 1/2 weeks now and I feel great. I don't have any reason to stop, and even if I didn't lose any more weight, I could live with that, as long as my blood pressure, insulin levels, etc was normal and healthy.

thankyou for your replies I realise my question was a bit unclear, since weight loss is often associated with improved health, what I really meant to ask was whether your motivation for eating LC was to improve your outward appearance or your physical health. Some, I realise, do it for both, particularly those who are excessively overweight, but in most cases it's primarily for one or the other. Before reading your responses I generally thought people were unconcerned with their health, and were doing it out of vanity (like me ) Now I realise that isn't the case. I never knew there were so many health benefits to eating this way. Still, it's impressive that most of you would inconvenience yourselves to such an extent just for your health. But I have to ask, what about the initial sickness period (where you get headaches, nausea, constipation etc.) would you have beared through that if you didn't lose any weight? Personally, I couldn't. When I tried LCing my weight remained the same, but I did feel extremely sick, so I gave up. I probably would have felt better soon after but that wasn't enough, I needed the weight loss as well. The cons (sickness, dependency on pills, restrictiveness, boredom, the moral issues involved, and so on) greatly outweighed the potential pros (better moods, more energy, less headaches, more stable blood sugar levels, decreased susceptibility to various illness, better dental health, etc.) of LC when weight loss wasn't an advantage. That's why I asked this question, I wanted to know whether you felt the same way. Thanks again, its really appreciated

As my doctor recommened Atkins to improve my blood chemistry, my motivation was physical health. The only bad side-effect I experienced was a desire to eat carbs for a few days. I found that the ability to eat previously forbidden foods more than compensated for that.

What inconvenience? I don't find avoiding sugar and starch to be inconvenient in the least.


Probably. Hard to say.