I don't mind long ones either, as long as the content is good and the writer uses paragraphs!

Same for me.

If the post is long it can be intimidating, but if it is well-written and interesting, I will read it with pleasure.

However, if it is all in caps with no punctuation and no paragraphs...

2 much shrt hnd drvs me nts! (It hurt just to type that)

You know...I've heard that there are support groups to help people get over writing like that....

There's no help for me. I'm too far gone. *sigh*

Don't look at me Yaberhoo, it took me a while to catch on to the EASY ones... I kept thinking people were sad when they typed WOE.

LOL! I don't mind the occasional WOE/WOL stuff. It's when they start dropping all the vowels or use numbers (i.e. ate = 8). Of course, this from the person who started the infamous "eople" episode.

I DON'T ENJOY THE ALL CAPS MESSAGES.

When you write enormous posts, you have to assume that some people won't read all the way through. It's like writing technical documentation - when I have to do that, I tend to write wacky things, or use wacky examples (usually involving squirrels or sci-fi references), because then people are more inclined to keep reading.

My husband likes to argue politics online but he does tend to write enormous, optic-nerve-numbing posts. They are incredibly informative and usually pleasant to read, but sometimes the sheer size just makes people skip 'em. So if you want to be persuasive, I think it pays to be concise.

I tend to only browse through long posts. I would much prefer to read four shorts posts than one long one.

Before anyone says you just don't want to apply yourself, are looking for the easy way out, etc.

Content is the main factor in whether a looooong post is going to be read, for me anyway. If it's a full page of dead-horse-beating as opposed to a story about someone's struggles, I'll skip it. My loss, sometimes, I'm sure... because there's maybe some good info in there. When it comes to feelings, it's sometimes necessary to ramble a bit. I find, personally, that I learn more about people when they let it all go and ramble a bit.

I realize some people are passionate and/or a tad bit overzealous about how they eat. Again, I have to wonder WHY people feel the need to hammer out a longwinded lecture admonishing people for not "DOING IT RIGHT"!

I don't get the appeal, personally, of trying to make yourself responsible for "saving" anyone by trying to make SURE they know YOU HAVE THE ANSWERS. Going from thread to thread to preach the Gospel of Your Way, going, IMO, a bit far in warning newcomers about potential pitfalls, to the point of scaring some of them off... then declaring they just want to take the easy way out, weren't dedicated enough, or JUST WON'T LISTEN!!! <sigh> Is it just being overly concerned? Codependent? Ego-driven? I honestly want to know.

<end manifesto>

You said it well, PotatoFree...'nuff said...lol

I appreciate the longer posts as well-but maybe the solution is to, if you find yourself writing a disseration, post it to your personal journal or website, and just post the url. save the server space!

You say that what works for one person may not work for another. Makes it sound like we are all entirely different organisms needing vastly different substrates for existence.

I will go out on a limb here, and say that we are all the same species and have the same metabolic pathways running along in our bodies. And some form of low carb IS the right way to feed our bodies without abusing our metabolic pathways. So PLEASE don't tell me that low carb doesn't work for you, because it sure as heck WILL! And it is likely to take a LONG TIME to undo that which is the result of a long period of nutritional abuse.

I'll stop before my post gets too long...

I agree with Tom Sawyer here, the only variation I see is the amount of carbs one can handle. In my case my carbs have to be kept very low with no grains, legumes, sugar etc. I even can have a reaction to sugar alcohols. However, I am older and have a long history of screwed up eating. Nyah Levi

I agree 100% with Tom Sawyer and Bluesmoke.

The reasons (in my humble opinion) why some people seem to take low carb like ducks to water while some seem to struggle are twofold:

1) as Tom said, the more nutritional abuse your body has had to deal with, the slower and longer the habituation to a new, proper way of nutrition will be.

2) Fear of fat. In my mind, avoiding saturated fats while lowcarbing is almost a ticket to failure. Of course, the goal is not to FORCE DOWN fat, but rather to go with fats you like and in the quantities necessary for you to kill cravings and feel full.