Hello everyone,

I've said hello many years ago but abandoned the low carb plan. Since then, I have tried yet again to be vegan, vegetarian, pescetarian or even just eating white meat. Being vegan, even trying my hardest to do it the alleged 'right way', left me very weak, low energy and like I had dead eyes. Eating fish helped but it was not enough so I will go back to eating meat now (including red meat).

After nearly 20 years of bulimia and a recent quite bad relapse, I'm taking the advice from The Diet Cure by Julia Ross and also The IBS Low-Starch Diet by Carol Sinclair. I have had many years of therapy and nearly kicked bulimia out of my life before so I know I can do it. I think low-carbing is the final piece of the puzzle in my recovery.

I ate half an organic beef steak for dinner yesterday for the first time in MANY years and it was very hard to do, the taste and texture was horrible! But I will persist.

Wish me luck in my new journey

Hi and welcome Maria.

I was raised as a little sugar addict and later struggled with anxiety and depression, then anorexia once I moved out of the house. I realize in retrospect that I was basically abusing starvation as self-medication, plus it was so much easier to just eat little-to-nothing than try to "moderate" as everyone tells you to. Low-carb finally moderated my moods and my weight. That's a very long story made short - I always had ups and downs, but it was one of the final puzzle pieces for me.

My final puzzle piece was getting rid of gluten. That was after I was already eating LC for about a decade. Getting rid of most of it via LC helped a lot, but I had arthritis appear at about your age (I'm 45 now), connected some dots, and another long story short, it definitely does bad things to my joints, my gut, and my brain.

Anyway, pardon my lengthy novel there. Welcome aboard and don't give up. Keep tweaking, keep doing your best, and if you have a bad day, just jump back in right where you were.

Re beef: I consider myself a good cook, but I'm very "hit or miss" with steak. I usually stick with ground beef (you call it "mince", right?) or eye of round (the least expensive at our stores here in Canada) cooked in my pressure cooker or slow cooker in liquid. The texture and flavour is wonderful. Chili is my favorite thing to do with ground beef, but you can be creative - curries, meatballs in sauce, spaghetti sauce over zucchini or shirataki noodles, etc.

Wishing you much luck and good health.

Thank you! Your reply gives me so much hope. I'm hoping eating meat and cutting out my ravenous consumption of coffee, tea, sugar, artificial sweeteners and gluten (and to some extent, starch) will moderate my moods as well. My goal is to finally get off the Prozac and Lamotrigine that I have been on for way too many years.

Also, thanks for the tip about the mince, I'll definitely try that

Welcome Maria.

I'd like to second the point about mince, it's very versatile and is quick and easy enough to cook that even a kitchen novice like me can manage it! My preferred mince-based meal is with some canned tomatoes, mushrooms, zoodles, beef stock for flavour and some sour cream to top it all off.

There are plenty of recipes both here and elsewhere, such as dietdoctor.com or ketohub.io. Take the time you need to figure out what your body seems to really appreciate the most, and the mind will likely follow.

One other suggestion I would make is that since you're on some medications, you'll probably want to maintain regular visits with your doctor as you go, so that you can track your progress together with a view to possibly reducing or eliminating those meds if/when it becomes apparent that they're no longer needed. I remember helping a lady in RL a couple of years ago who was able to do exactly that with her own cocktail of meds, so it can be done.

Good luck!

Hello Grav, thank you. That's definitely a good idea to disguise the flavour like that. I've got a lot to learn but it will be fun learning new ways of cooking.

Ideally I would be monitored on my meds but the NHS is a bit of a mess to say the least. I don't think my doctors think diet plays any role in my mood - or that they wouldn't think that I'm still having disordered eating by avoiding sugar, starches and caffeine. They would probably discourage it and say 'you need lots of pasta, rice, bread and to have sugar and caffeine in moderation.

You are probably right on regarding doctoring.

I dont talk diet with doctors because I know I know more at this point. At appointments I just focus on where I am as that us all they care about, not how the state was created.

Perhaps when you feel a change, you can see your doc for a lower dose or trial without it.

Some years ago, I was put on Zoloft for severe depression. My doctor left the practise and I was left missing the next couple appointments as they squeezed me into an already full scedule. I walked away without an appointment and weaned myself off the medication.(Im not recommending walking away.)

In the years since, I found low carb and Sunshine and recently vitamin D3. Last winter was a breeze and this year Im looking forward to winter for the first time in my life.

Vit D. Jumping from 2000 units a day to 5000 over the summer and 10,000 by Oct 1 thru March seems to have been the best. SAD gone.

Give your body time to adjust to change. This is not a fix that works over night or in a week. Though some times it is.

Hello, Maria. And welcome back to you!

If you enjoy cooking, check out lots of recipes at the (free) Diet Doctor website. They have a nice presentation.

While I don't have your challenges, I am (as of today) re-launching. Cooking adds to the pleasure of pursuing the goal. In your case, sauces and soups are useful in disguising the less palatable (for you) qualities of meat.

Best wishes!

If it helps, I weaned myself off Welbutrin (it wasn't working) with chelated magnesium. Which is a good mineral to supplement, anyway. Really helped.

I found low carb addressed both the physical and emotional aspects of my own eating disorder. Good luck!