Hi Sno,

Wondered why you hadn't posted for a while. We have two old Dell computers that we just upgraded -- cost quite a bit but they work great now.

I haven't been following the CTL diet this week. Things got messed up over the weekend and I ended up having two cheat days. So this week I'm just eating basic low carb until Sat. I also added Chia seeds this week, 1 tsp. in the morning and 1 tsp. at dinner. They seem to keep me feeling full longer.

We are just getting homegrown corn on the cob at our farmer's market. I plan on having it on the 4th -- luckily that's my cheat day. Our blueberries and strawberries look great too. The market should have some good tomatoes soon too. These are my favorites so following the CTL diet may have to go on hold for a while!! Haven't read the McDonald book. What's this crash thing all about?

Good luck with your modem.

Abby

Hi abby:

yeah--I have been sorta off plan for the last week. Lyle mcdonald is a guy who has written a lot about carb cycling and he has a plan that he outlines in a book called the Rapid Fat loss handbook that I was reading in another thread--Favorite Lyle McDonald Book.

Anyway he has a plan which is basically a crash to lose as much weight as quickly as possible is based upon low carb with re-feeds and is supposed to keep the metabolism running. so I ordered it. I feel ready for some rapid weight loss--but it is supposed to be very hard--we'll see if I can do it.

You can read about it on McDonalds website, bodycomposition.com. It was kinda expensive but there is a money back guarantee so I decided to go for it. If it helps me lose, it is worth it!

Have a great weekend! I think I will have some blueberries too!

Sno

Hi Sno,

I looked at the website. Sounds interesting and I like the carb cycling approach. Since I'm having health issues (hair loss and low white blood cells), I need to take it easy on the dieting until I get some answers. Rapid weight loss can put a lot of stress on the body but hopefully he addresses this in his book. Please let me know what you find out.

Abby

Hi Abby:

just checking in to see how you are feeling--hope everything is okay!

I have been following the rapid fat loss plan and it is a doozy. The cool thing is that there are two free meals each week which really helps. It is a true crash diet for sure-I have lost 9.5 lbs in the last six days! I imagine that will slow down a lot now--I was overdoing it in the eating department right before the plan.

My plan is to do this for 4 weeks--then I go on vacation. Then I will see where I am at my weight and what I want to do. I find this surprisingly easy--it is low cal, low carb and low fat but my appetite has greatly reduced. On my free meals it is amazing to see how much my stomach has shrunk. I really cant eat that much.

Anyway hope your health is okay and talk to you soon!

Sno

Hi Sno,

Wow, you must be really happy. I'd love to hear more about how the diet works. Can you give me some details. What are you eating (or not eating)? You say it's a doozy -- how come?

I'm still hanging in there -- eating LC with HC on the cheat day -- no sweets though. Still need to see the doc and will reassess everything then. I feel fine but still losing some hair. Thanks for asking.

Take care,
Abby

Hi Abby:

I eat 100-113 grams of lean protein a day including 2-3 servings of low-fat cheese(it is supposed to be non-fat but I couldnt find any thank goodness), unlimited non-starchy veggies, and all fat is in the form of fish oil which you take 3 caps 3 times a day. It comes out to around 800 cals a day. Then 2 free meals a week--not gorge just a regular meal with a regular desssert and then stop.

It is good-I wish I hadnt gained 10 lbs the month before going on this plan but hey what can you do?

take care

Sno

Hi Sno,

How's it going with the new diet? I've been taking fish oil for years. I started at 2 caps 3x a day for arthritis and now only take 1 cap 2x for maintenance. Maybe I should go back to the higher dose. I just got my husband to start at 6 a day and he is already feeling less back pain and I'm hoping it will lower his blood pressure. My BP is great. I think it's a great thing to add to any diet.

I've been off course for a while now but am starting to feel better and am restarting today. I've been a little depressed about health issues and when this happens I end up eating to try and feel better. I know it's a mistake but as they say "s_it happens." I try not let myself gain more than 10 lbs. Right now I'm 178 so it's time to put the breaks on again. I'm going back to basic LC to get started.

Wish me luck and keep me posted.

Abby

Hi Abby:

good to hear from you. I sure know what it is like to eat to compensate for other stuff. The sad thing is that it works temporarily. But it hurts to gain weight in the long run. The good thing is to catch it before it gets too far. Sounds like you are doing that.

I am liking this plan so far. I am down 11.5 lbs--tomorrow will be two weeks. The things I like are the simplicity of the plan, I am not hungry most of the time, and the cheat meals are very satisfying. Because I am eating so little, the large meal is very filling--I end up feeling very stuffed. And it isnt that pleasant so it makes it so I am not craving as much. Then if I do crave I know I will have a cheat meal in a short period of time so I can have that whatever then.

Yesterday I had about 1100 cals for my cheat meal and with my other two regular meals I came out around 1600 cals--which is slightly below my maintenance anyway. I lost one lb this am. so I think the whole cheat meal thing is a good thing and I think it helps me to lose faster and stay on the plan. McDonald wants them to be at dinner because it is harder to go back on plan when you have a cheat meal earlier. that makes sense to me too.

Anyway--eat lotsa veggies--that is supposed to be the one thing that people dont do enough of on low carb. And take care--keep me posted on your health.

Tamara

I just read this book as well as some other carb and calorie cycling books. The other ones seem to have an aspect of bodybuilding. I work out intensively 3 days a week with a trainer but I am not a body builder. Joel's book sounded pretty good. Did everyone give up on it or is there another place here any info is?

I always like to research new diets especially ones that change up your metabolism. I stayed on Atkins for a half a year with no change. I tried upping the fats and all the other junk that made me feel awful.

Anyone been on this long enough to have any results??

Thanks

Lisa

Hi Lisa -- I've been LCing for many years and wanted to try carb cycling. Are you asking about the McDonald book or the Cheat to Lose diet? Tamara is on the McDonald diet. I did the Cheat to Lose diet for about 6 weeks. It was uncomplicated and pretty easy to follow. It was fun to have the cheat day to look forward to but as the weeks went by I was finding it harder and harder to recover from it. My system is very sensitive to sugar and starches. It would take a few days after each cheat day to lose the water gain. In the end, I did lose 2-3 pounds and an inch off the waist and hips. Then the availability of delicious fresh corn and fruits made it really hard for me to concentrate on dieting. So, now I'm just trying to maintain my weight until summer is over. I may try the McDonald diet or give CTL another go.

Hey Tamara -- Sorry, I haven't been on the boards laterly. As stated, I'm just hanging in there for now. How are things with you?

Abby

Hi Abby,

I read the Cheat to Lose book. I heard about a few carb/calorie cycling books. This one sounds a little simpler. I am going to try it this weekend and talked DH into it too. That will make it much easier for me. He just have those 10 lbs at the end to get rid of so he doesn't really care what diet he does. I think he's just happy that I read the book and just told him about it. LOL.

I am not sure what to think except everything I have read about tricking your metabolism into not getting comfy as to what is coming can do wonders but it is also scary. Like eating a bowl of cereal. I don't even remember what that is like. But I really don't want to get carried away on cheat day but he really puts in the book to eat what you want and eat until you are full and that part brings the leptin up. I have been reading a bunch on the hormone that they started talking about a few years ago.

I guess I am going to take a chance because Atkins did a bunch for me but I think my body gets too used to it. I tried CAD but that was too much. Even balancing it, I was eating fast and doing IF at the same time so I stopped it and I am doing Atkins now really.

So I am going to try the first 3 weeks and see what happens. If I lose one pound than it's a miracle diet for me. LOL. That's what it has been like for me for awhile.

Lisa

Lisa,

Good luck to you and your DH (does that mean darling husband?) with CTL. The book does say the cheat day is meant to be whatever you want but you might want to be careful with too much junk food. That was my problem when I did the diet. Now I would stick to quality high carbs (whole grains, brown rice, yams, etc.) for the most part. I have not had cereal for ages either and don't crave it. Like so many high carb foods, cereal and milk have so much unhealthy stuff them. Candy and ice cream are my biggest problems. I feel sick every time I eat sugar which I've read is a sign that I have an addiction to it. So, next time I will have to be more careful on the cheat days to not overdo it.

I, like you, had great success with Atkins and then things came to a halt. I've been at about the same weight for almost four years now doing LC most of the time. I am hoping to find something that will break this stall. And, like you, I would be happy with just a little movement.

Best of luck to you and keep posting.

Abby

Hi Abby,

I stalled for a few months and changed. Then I didn't lose weight so I am changing to this after half a year. Did you think maybe since Atkins made you stall for 4 years, it might not be the one for you? Not that I would know. I just couldn't do the same thing for 4 years with no results. If you gain some weight on this diet, you can learn what you can tolerate and what you can't. Like you said you ate junk and it made you sick. You would want to stay away from that kind of food. The cereal I am talking about are the ones listed on the higher GL/GI days like Bran cereals with fat free milk. I don't think they are that sweet but it could be a nice change. Hard to eat low fat but easy if you know that you will soon be eating low carb/higher fat in a few days.

Well it might not work but I will try it out over the weekend with DH (yes, means darling husband.) I didn't know all of those terms like SIL, son in law or sister in law. They are confusing. Once I know someone I just say Jeff and they know who I am talking about.

You might not feel well after sweets if you eat too many or are diabetic or prediabetic. My DH was and lost weight and it went away. He has only a few lbs to lose but I would like to lose the rest of mine. I do go to a workout with a trainer 3 days per week but I think I will add that HIIT workout Joel was speaking of. It seems pretty easy compared to my workouts. I would just need to get over to the gym a couple more days. Luckily it is close to my house and i have more time right now. Anything that can help I am willing to do but Atkins started making me sick. I stalled and lowered the carbs and that meant veggies and upped the fat to a crazy amount and eeked out a few more pounds but it stopped or I stopped, who knows.

I did CAD and that didn't do anything weight-wise but got me back into eating 6 cups of veggies per day and I really like them again.

the one part of this diet that seem strange is the low carb part is really NO carbs and he says we can eat all the veggies on the list but they have carbs. I think the no low carb days will be hard for me to figure out how much to eat and there will be a lot of playing with it. i don't think I will be able to figure out if it is working for awhile since he doesn't spell it out and is a little vague. But I don't have much to lose. Atkins really works for a time but I am pretty sure I couldn't stay on it for years without losing weight. I think this diet seems like you have new things to look forward to.

i was thinking about getting the LC shake mix he was talking about, Metabolic Drive. i read some reviews on it and it seems like it is good because eating 5 times a day is really hard for me. I did a type of CAD and IF at the same time so I am used to not eating for 23 hours every day.

I know it is lunch time now so i am going to force myself to eat something especially if I am working out. I usually burn about 600 calories there 3 times per week. Doing the HIIT is going to be a lot more. But I guess at some point I have to make a radical change. i can see a difference with working out with a trainer rather than with myself. I don't push myself as hard, that's for sure!!

well, wish me luck. I am going to give it a try and if it doesn't work, induction always works for me. But then I have to find something else. I hope to not have to. It would be nice to find something I could stay on that would get my metabolism moving.

Have a great day!!!

Lisa

Lisa,

I don't think it was the Atkins diet that caused my weight loss to stop. I lost 40 lbs initially with Atkins over about 6-12 months. This was actually seven years ago when I was 50. I got to 180 and stalled. Then I lowered my calories and carbs even more trying to get things to move. I was simply guessing at what to do -- there wasn't as much info at that time out there. I stayed with this low carb/low calorie WOE with occasional splurges for the next six years because I was pretty happy in the 170-180 range and I felt much better physically (I had some health issues). I would say I've really been doing a no grains/no sugar diet rather than strictly following Atkins. So, I get a pretty wide variety of food.

I found this site about five months ago and am learning a lot. I realize now that I was probably not eating enough and not getting enough fat in my diet. Also, being older makes a big difference. I am currently getting blood work done to see if there are any thyroid or B12 issues. So, I'm experimenting, reading more books, and searching the web. I just got a book by Barry Sears (the Zone diet) called "Toxic Fat." He believes obesity is caused by inflammation and advises high intake of fish oil along with the Zone diet to lose weight. He sites a lot of what others say about good and bad oils and all the bad stuff in processed foods. I started taking fish oil many years ago because of arthritis and it did cure it. At this stage in my life, I'm more concerned about being healthy than losing weight -- but I'll take what I can get and will keep trying. I'll keep you posted.

Good luck to you and your DH -- I'm learning

Abby

Good luck to you too Abby. I hope your blood work comes back okay. That sounds interesting about the fish oil. I have been taking it for years. My mom has bone on bone arthritis in her hips so she can't really walk at 62. I hope to stave mine off for awhile longer but figure it's coming.

That's the best part of all of this dieting is researching new ones or tweaking old ones to make them work for you. Sometimes it's a pain. When I did Atkins and hit a stall I upped the fats, upped the calories, lowered the calories, gosh almost everything. But I wanted to try to find something a little more relaxed. When I did CAD it was relaxed but I didn't lose weight, I gained a few lbs.

I want to be healthy too. I quit smoking and drinking 2 years ago and took up exercise this year with a trainer. I brought my cholesterol numbers down to good numbers. My blood sugar to 65. I get my blood checked every 3 months since my parents have high blood pressure and cholesterol. My mom had 2 strokes at 61, the second one very debilitating.

So as you can see, being 40 right now isn't my concern as much as being in my 60s and being able to live independently. I think the health I get from exercise really changed how I feel compared to last year. Now I just want to find a diet I can live on and gets me to a healthy weight since I am overweight. I used to think looking good in a pair of jeans really important but now I just want to be the correct weight to be able to stay healthy.

Good luck with which ever diet works for you. I did look at the zone diet and it makes a lot of sense.

Lisa