I just joined up with Curves last week. Things are still new for me. I am curious as to how many of you are doing the Curves diet called "The Heavin Formula". It is low carb, but the big difference I can see with this approach to LCing compared to other LC approaches is that they believe that eventually (when you are at your goal weight) you really only need to 'diet' (ugh ...there's that word) for maybe 2 -3 days a month. I'm not sure if I'm understanding everything their booklet says re: LCing, your "prevailing metabolism while dieting / eating, stimulating / suppressing starvation hormones, etc, etc ...I'd like to have input from all of you as to what this approach is really all about, what it's success rate is like for you (or those you know), if you've found all that this approach claims is pretty well on track, etc. I know the ads are spectacular promoting this WOE / WOL, but what does the 'average' person experience? Any info is appreciated ...I'd like to get as educated as much as possible before trying something like this.

Sorry i know nothing about it...but why would you want to do anything but low carb? Is it not working for you?

Hi Baconbabe:

This Heavin Formula is a Low Carb plan that I am curious about. There are many similarities between Heavin Formula to other LC plans like Atkins, Protein Power, etc. However, it has some theories that differ from these 'mainline' eating plans that make me wonder how effective it compared to the mainliners. Hence my asking the LC 'family' what they know about Heavin. I posted my intial question with the General Excercise forum as well to see if it would draw another group of people to possibly help me with my quest & only one person has replied. She didn't know anything about this Heavin Formula either, but my post has caused her to look into it at her local 'Curves for Women' gym & she is willing to experiment with it. I haven't tried it yet ...but I am interested in doing so. I've got my mind 'programmed' to start this 'new' plan on Monday ....I just wanted some added information.

If anyone is able to help me in my quest for info re: the Heavin Formula (person experience on it's effectiveness, etc), I'd be most appreciative of your help.

What exactly are the differences? I'm just curious..I'm following atkins..what will you be doing differently?

Hi there,

I started Curves and the Heavin low-carb plan Wednesday. I've lost the 4 lbs. of water weight that I had gained last weekend when I went out of town.

His plan starts out (phase 1)with 1 or 2 weeks of under 20 g carbs a day, or 1200 calories with a max of 60 carbs per day. After the initial week or two, it moves up a little, (phase 2) either calories or carbs. That is similar enough with other plans. You stay on this until you reach goal OR hit a plateau. Here is were he diverges. Maybe other ones do this, but I have read several books, and haven't seen it.

I'm very intrigued with his plan to reset the number of calories you start gaining weight on. Did that make sense? It's kind of difficult, maybe because I haven't done it yet. You have to watch things day by day.

I will be updating my journal, probably tonight, and will tell what I am doing, although it may be a while before I move into phase 3. We'll see! That is when the experiment begins!

I want to try this because I was looking at eating less than I'm comfortable with, to MAINTAIN, because my metabolism is slowed.

Have to go for now.

Amy

You count carbs OR you count calories?? I still don't understand at all sorry

Yes, you can choose to follow either a low-calorie (which still limits carbs to 60) or a low-carb plan. He probably realized that some of his Curves people wouldn't take to a traditional low-carb plan so he made an allowance for that. Remember, this was for an exercise studio primarily, he wasn't just writing a low-carb book.

I'm eating <20 g carbs a day, and staying at 1500 calories, because I have found I don't lose above that. I sure wish there were some Heavin experts here. They don't have a forum. I will go to the first meeting at Curves that discusses his plan and report any info I get in my journal. I guess for now, Schwarz and I are the guinea pigs!

Amy

I have been going to Curves for 6 mos now and I decided to try the diet as well I started Monday and I have lost 7 lbs so far...I too had posted a message about anyone that had actually done it all the way to the end...

Good Luck !!!

Welcome to our thread, Mjsturg1 ! You may be able to help us a little more as we struggle through understanding what we've gotten ourselves into here.

You said you had also posted a thread re: Heavin Formula. Did you get much response from the LC family? Any information you can direct us to or even 'copy & paste' onto this thread?

How exciting that you just started you the HF plan just this past Monday & have already lost 7 lbs. I don't expect to loose that fast since I'm hypothyroid. But, hey...any amount will do for me.

Are you going to do phase I for 1 or 2 weeks? I'll need to do it for 2 since I have a long way to go before I am a healthy weight.

I am a little unsure about this 'Prevailing Metabolism" stuff. If I haven't been watching out what I've been eating for the last while, my metobolism should be raised enough that I could go right to starting the diet, right? (see pg 73 in book).

I sure like the throught of his statement of being able to eat reasonably well for most of my month and only have to restrict myself for a few days per month. Like he says ...its a reasonable hope & means to control my weight. But it almost sounds too good to be true.

Mjsturg1, are there other women in your Curves group doing this WOE with you? How are they doing? Could you share with us bits of their testimony of how their journey is going? Pitfalls? Adjustments to the plan they made to help them on their way? etc, etc.

Amy ...do Curves have special meetings for all those who want to do the diet? I hadn't heard of that. I'll inquire at my place when I go on Monday.

Baconbabe ...I don't know if any of us were able to help your curiosity out any, but the book "Permanent Results without Permanent Dieting" is easily available at any Curves for Women gym near you. I don't know how much the book is because a friend of mine lent me hers. It can't be too much ...$10ish maybe? I think the biggest difference between this weight loss method compared to the mainline LC methods is that Heavin doesn't suggest a 'maintenance diet' at the end of the journey. He feels that you should only need to diet for a few days every month to keep your weight down. Also, which is different from other LC books I've read, is that through his little tests he gets you to take, you can determine if you are carbohydrate intolerant or calorie sensitive. This is how you can determine your best method of loosing weight & he offers weight loss methods for both types of body chemistries. (boy ...I hope I don't sound too confusing. It's best that you read it for yourself).

Anyway, I sure hope we can hear from other HF'ers out there to find out how they are doing.

Bye for now.

Welcome, Mjsturg1!

Your the resident expert with 5 full days on the plan! 7 lbs is great! How were you eating before that? I've lost 4 since Wed, but I was bloated from a wild weekend. I expected to lose that much by just getting back into ketosis.

Schwarz, they told me that they meet once a month to discuss the eating plan, give tips, etc. They had just met, so I guess it will be a month before I can see what's up with that. I don't know how helpful it will be, but I'll be sure to let you know!

You explained things very well, I also suggest other interested peoples read the book, it is only $10.

The biggest problem I'm having is eating a lower percentage of fat than protein. I finally did it today, but it was tough! And I ate more than I really wanted. (But only 1236 calories-I can't bear the thought of eating another bite. I still have to down 2 scoops of vanilla whey protein shake ) I'm going to go through the book again to see if there is a reason for that. So far, that has been the hardest part for me. I wonder if it is really so necessary.

I have been feeling great!

Amy

Is that the Weight Loss Shake that Heavin talks about in his book or is that just any ol' vanilla whey protein you picked up off the shelf?

Just wondering if any of you gals opted for the Curves Complete multivitamin or the Curves Integrated for joint support, or the Curves Essential calcium suppliment? Are Curves brand products expensive? Did you ever get the impression that a person is bound for failure if you don't use their brand of products? Hmmm....things could get rather costly, eh?
Are you able to figure out (or did anyone tell you other than what Heavin says in his book) if these products really are better formulated than other brands? I haven't asked too many questions about the diet program or the supplements at my gym yet for fear of the 'attack-the-unsuspecting-victim' salesperson approach. I was hoping to find answers to these kind of questions via the LC forum.

I've been going to Curves for 3 weeks now (the minute one opened in my neighbourhood); I got the book that's been mentioned for free as part of a promotion. I read through it and thought the best aspect of it was the part about readjusting your metabolism.

I know I have a big problem with that because there seems to be a very fine line where if I'm eating too little... I manage to gain weight. I haven't started following the book yet, but I probably will soon as I seem to have plateaued again.

I didn't realize that some of the centres hold meetings about the eating part of it, I should ask and see if that will be starting up in mine soon.

Glad to join in with this group!

Sandra

Schwarz, I just buy whatever is available, I think the brand is EAS, from Wal-Mart. Not my favorite stuff. The staff at Curves have not mentioned the supplements to me yet. I asked about the shake mixes and the only thing the girl said was that she had heard the vanilla was better than the chocolate. I kind of watch, if many people recommend a particular brand, I would be more inclined to buy it, otherwise, I just try to get a name brand. I'm guessing there are some that are better than others, but that's not a journey I care to travel right now.

Sandra, welcome aboard! Not sure if the meetings are at all locations or not. Certainly would be nice if they were! Let us know what you find out.

ps, I couldn't bring myself to down those scoops. I opted for 10 almonds, instead. I'll have to change my journal...

Amy

I am proud of myself for actually sticking to this diet, I had tryed twice before and last about 4 days and quit. I don't use any of the Curves supplements but have heard that the liquid vitamins they sell are superb (pricey though) . I just take a plain old vitamin.
I had problem getting my calories up but yesterday I had 1200 and about 30 total carbs and still lost 1.5 lbs...for a total of 8.5 so far. (I had a lite beer and one vanilla wafer)

I need to figure out how to post my fit day journal???


I worked out 3x this week too !!

So glad you're joining us, Sandra. It's nice to have a few of us try this thing together ...it's more exciting to experiment with a bunch of other ladies.

Did any of you read the thread on Curves? It has to do more with the exercise than the dieting part of the program. I put in a request on that thread asking if any of them could help us out with info on the Heavin program. Maybe some of them have tried it out together with the exercise routine. We'll see what kind of response comes out of that. I've asked that anyone who has any info on the diet to please put their reply into this thread so that we can keep the diet issues a little more separate from the exercise issues.

If you haven't already looked into that thread about Curves gym, here's the shortcut:
http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthre...30&pagenumber=1

Mjsturg1: looking at your profile, I noticed you've read Atkins & CAD. Had you tried those programs too? When you say you've tried twice before, does that mean you've tried these diets before the Heavin one & they didn't work for you? It may be too early to tell yet, but do you find the Heavin Formula easier to follow? ...more in tune with your chemistry? ...more results? ...whatever.... compared to the programs you followed before? Or do you just find there's more hope for success knowing that Heavin's theory assures us that we won't need to be on maintenance for the rest of our life? Just curious.
Congrads on getting down in your weight!

I plan to start this Monday ...the countdown is on. I'm trying to get things out of (& into) my house this weekend so that I have a fighting chance at all of this.