Hi all --

I'm curious how many of us started LCing as a result of Gary Taubes New York Times Magazine July 7 article "What if it's all been a Big Fat Lie," and how much weight we've lost as a result of it?

I woke up July 7 in a low fat world, but went to bed that night in the low carb world. Since then I've had potatoes twice, bread once, and pasta once. And have lost about 35 pounds. Not earth shattering, I'll admit, but I'm pretty happy about it.

Now I'm not trying to glorify Taubes -- there were good points in that article and points that were not so solid (read the Washington Post rebuttal a few months later). But I think it would be interesting if everyone who is LCing as a result of that article can write in with how much weight thet've lost -- the resulting sum could be very edifying!

Cheers --

I too started LC because of the Taubes article. It took me a month or so to make up my mind to do it, but I've never regretted it for a minute. I've lost 30+ lbs in the last three months and am now within 15 lbs of my goal weight.

I just got engaged, and I picked out my wedding dress last weekend. It's the kind of dress I'd never have worn if I hadn't gotten the weight off, and I look beautiful in it. I'll have to send Gary Taubes a picture and a thank-you note or something .

I read the Taubes article on July 7 and starting low carbing in July 8. I was desperate after a visit to the doctor the previous week, where my weight was above the upper limits of the doctor's scale (350 pounds). All the doctor could suggest was weight lost surgery and that had mortality statistics I could not accept (although I was seriously considering the idea). I had tried low fat diets and Weight Watchers many times and was unable to stick to them. I was always hungry and my willpower was not strong enough to overcome that for more than about a week. I just ended up gaining more weight trying to follow them.

Reading Taube's article was a revelation. I realized I got fat not just because of two pregnancies and my lack of willpower, but because I had changed the way I ate to try to match the USDA food pyramid and all the lowfat recommendations that came out over the past 20 years. I'm 45 and when I was younger I used to eat fewer carbohydrates and more fat/protein because that is the way we ate then. I used to eat much more like I have been eating since July 8!

Since July 8, I have gone from over 350 to 310, a loss of over 40 pounds (probably around 50 is my best guess), and I feel great. My blood pressure was border-line high and it came down into the normal range (127/76 at the last reading). I can now easily walk 3 miles in 50 minutes, an increase in both the distance and speed with which I walk.

I too read the Washington Post rebuttal. It did not deal adequately with what is most amazing about the Atkins way of eating -- I eat a lot less but I am not hungry! That's why I am able to lose weight.

I hope Taubes reads this thread!

WOW, y'all!

This is a wonderful thread that I hope many people will read. We're all so lucky to be living in the LC world rather than that low fat mess of a world we came from.

Since the article was published, I've found the reactions from others to be much less cautionary when I tell them I LCarb.

Continued success and good health to all!

Donald

P.S. Down 100lbs today!

Donald,

WAY TO GO!!!

Your success inspires the rest of us.

Good Job!!

BrewWa

That's really incredible, Donald!! You are certainly an inspiration to all of us!!

I did not read the article, but have heard lots of good reviews about it. I started LCing in April as a quick weight loss idea. Well, induction went ok, but over the next 9 months I was still fighting with the same 10 pounds!

I think I know the reason I had no success..probably portions and calories -- the things many people disregard, but for me I guess it's important. Also, this past month I've had no appetite at all, and it has taught me how to distinguish between actual hunger...and whatever else makes me eat.

Liz and Donald...you are an inspiration to me! I'm staying tuned for more of your success stories!

RW:

Wow! Between this and the pizza quiche thing, Donald, you are a GOD!

Cheers --

raharris is right on both counts -- I made a pizza quiche the other day and have eaten it for every meal since . Congratulations on the weight loss, too!

Let me point out that a lot of people probably started LCing after July don't even realize it was the Taubes article that influenced the media the way it did.... there was a pretty big ripple effect throughout the country in response to the article and many news stories and magazine pieces.

I was already LCing when I read it, but I'll still never forget when I heard (on this board) that there was a MAJOR article in the Sunday New York Times that was pro-LC. Someone posted the link and as I read it, I know that inside I was saying "Hallelujah!!!!".... I was so happy for all the people who were about to discover LCing!!!

So, for all you post-July LCers.... WE'RE GLAD YOU FOUND US!!!!

I read the article and it made so much sense and gave me so much hope that I went on this WOE on July 27th. Five months, no cheating, not hungry, no cravings and slow but steady weight loss. Bless his heart for writing that article.

Did you all see all the subsequent articles in the Times since then about low carbing? I caught one in the magazine section on recipes and one in the dining section about how Manhattan restaurants are adapting to all the people (including their staff) who are on Atkins.

I started because of the article too! I read it when it came out, and it sat in my brain stewing. In early august (after a vacation in France with LOTS of eating) I decided to give it a shot. I've had one bite of bread, no pasta, no potatoes, no rice (sigh) since then. My cheats (two of them since then) have been with tortilla chips and cheese enchiladas. I haven't missed the bread or pasta at all - a complete surprise!

so ... where do I find this famous pizza quiche recipe??

kiwi

Hi -- Here is the link --

Deep Dish Pizza Quiche

-- or follow the path to --

Active Low-Carber Forums > Main Low-Carb Diets Forums & Support > Kitchen: Low-Carb Recipes > Main dishes > Deep Dish Pizza Quiche

-- at last count Donald's recipe had produced 51 replies and had been viewed 2,836 times!

Cheers --

Thank you thank you thank you - sounds divine! I'll be making this one.

kiwi

What a great thread! I was thrilled to see that article, and the subsequent surge in new members on this forum! Wouldn't it be neat to write up a breif blurb on each of the "Taubes club" members and their successes, and submit it to the Times? I'm sure they'd find it interesting. RaHarris and/or Atlee, are you volunteering? Who knows: maybe they'll even write a follow-up story.