I've never read Sugar Buster so I couldn't compare the two approachs. I choose Montignac because it's very popular here in Quebec and very well known. Also there are plenty of ressources available in the form of several books, cookbooks, and even some Montignac products. His chocolate is YUMMY.

One thing I know when you compare it to other programs, is that Sommersize (Susanne Somers's) is so very similar to Montignac, on so many details, I often wonder if there is some plagiarism involved on her part.

Despite different approaches, all the low carbs programs agree on one thing however : cut out refined carbohydrates.

What is different about Montignac's approach however is he doesn't restrict carbs quite as much as let's say Atkins. What he does advocate however is that all carbs must be unrefined, low on the glycemic index and eaten with little or no fat. So his meals are either protein/fat or carbos/low-fat. Non starchy vegetables can be eaten with either type of meals. I think the rationale is that fat needs the presence of insulin to be stored, therefore anytime you eat carb meals you should avoid fat. Whatever. Maybe it works that way. I'm open to the idea.


I think that his approach is lower fat that Atkins because he has taken a more conservative approach to the whole fat issue in order, I assume, to generate less criticism. Atkins as you know is considered the bad boy of the diet gurus.

So Montignac, I believe, is good for people who want a relatively simple approach that doesn't involve endless counting, that is proven to work and that won't raise the hair off your more conservative doctor. It favors a lower carb/no junk/healthy food/ good fat diet and discourages the consumption of artifical ingredients and limits highly saturated fats. A nice middle of the road approach IMO.

Thank you Angeline.
That was very helpful information. I think there is little difference between Montignac and Sugar Busters but I do like the idea of Montignac's phase 1 for weight loss. I think I will try this to see if I can reach my goal weight in a more reasonable amount of time. I also like the fact that I can enjoy a glass of wine with my meal. A good dry French Bordeaux adds a nice touch to the evening meal.

Quincy.

You forgot chocolate !

Ah Yes!
How could I forget the chocolate!

What a diet........... wine and chocolate.

Hi there

I'm on the Montignac Method, and have been for nearly 5 months.

I've lost about 25 lbs and counting - following the "diet" fairly well. This is a sensible eating plan that is a change for life, not just a diet to get me where I want to be, to then revert to old habits. My roommate is a pharmaceutical biologist, and has warned me off the Atkins diet for some time.

What I like best about the Montignac Method is that it seems to incapsulate many old wives tails about "good eating practices" that I have heard over the years and explains them scientifically.

It certainly took a while to get in the montignac GI way of looking at foods. Some foods you think are good for you are really bad and vice versa.

Good things - high cocoa solid chocolate... red wine late / after a meal... cheese... has anyone ever tried the nut based "I Scream" - fructose sweeted / nut paste type fake ice cream? It's so good!

The most difficult adjustments for me where cutting out bread, potatoes and pasta - the standard "filler" foods. Plus the hidden horrors of high fructose corn syrup! No more ketchup for me!

I would recommend it to ANYONE. Just read the books - it is not a simple plan to quickly sum up in a post on a forum.

Hi Sprang, welcome to this forum.

I started out doing Montignac but have sort of switched to Atkins after being "corrupted" by this forum

I switched because I had stopped loosing weight with Montignac. Mind you I am not loosing weight with Atkins either. I seem to be quite stuck.

I still like the method however, and would like to go back to it for maintenance.....if only i could loose this damn weight !

The only thing I have started to doubt is the concept of making your carb meals lowfat. I have never seen that repeated anywhere else, in any method, so I have started to doubt its validity. Anyway, it makes composing your meals harder.

Furthermore his method needs to be updated to depend more on glygemic load rather than just GI. Cooked carrots for example have a high GI but a relatively small amount of carbs, so the glygemic load remains small if you compare it to let's say a baked potato.

Also fructose seem to be very frowned upon by everyone, so I am in a quandary about its usage. I finally decided it can't be that bad so long as it's used in small quantities. Sometimes I use Splenda, but I'm not comfortable with using something chemical, so I vacillate a lot.

Anyway, I am rambling. Welcome to this forum but let me warn you, if you start reading it extensively you might get as confused as I am ! But it's sure is nice to talk with someone who even knows what Montignac is all about

Hi Angeline!

Sorry to hear that Montignac wasn't working for you.

As far as glycemic load versus GI index is concerned, I agree to some extent. The book I first read, Eat Yourself Slim... and Stay Slim, the European version, does touch on the glycemic load theory, and to a certain extent, the phase 2 of the diet concentrates more on that, with the whole substition "eat a little bit of bad after a whole load of good"! But it is a potential mindfield.

I'm still in phase 1 of the diet, so most of the foods I eat all have a very low GI - i don't eat either cooked carrots or potatoes. It's in phase 2 when you can use "compensation" where the load of the food becomes more important.

As far as fructose is concerned - its low in the old GI index, and used sparingly, seems fine. However it can raise trigylceride levels, so may not work for some people. (Maybe that's why people don't like it?). As far as any chemical sweetners are concerned, I stay well clear of them. My take on the whole Montignac thing is that everything you eat should be as fresh and natural as possible (without becoming obsessive about it!) as the whole theory is balancing the blood sugar / insulin / digestion process as much as possible - chemicals tend to mess that up.

To be honest, to avoid any meal construction confusion, I bought the book "Micheal Montignac, Recipes and Menus" - North American adaption. I tend to stick to the recipes in there for lunch / dinner and it takes out the confusing low fat / high carb / good carb / bad carb decisions. I've been using it for about 5 months, and haven't exhausted my choices yet. It has some fantastic recipes for things like creme brulee and chocolate mousse - it certainly doesn't feel like a diet. The main concessions I make towards low fat carb meals is just picking the types of fat carefully as well (olive oils / sunflower / fish oils - all used sparingly - Forman Grill is great for that too!)

My final random note - have a sprinkle of brewer's yeast on your breakfast - it helps to reduce the bodies glucose intolerance

But I appear to be ranting now Or rather, sound like a montignac marketing rep!

Welcome to the forum. I have dipped in and out of Montignac, but I feel really good with it and it allows a very balanced diet unless Atkins which I have done in the past. The problem with the Atkins plan is once the weight is off and the one starts to relax a little, the weight goes back on and quickly.

The good carbs before bad carbs actually seems to work because I have not gained weight with those little cheats.

Like any diet, it is not worth becoming obsessional about, there will be stalls and weight plateaux, but most of it is down to common sense. I don't want to have potential problems in the future because I have eaten a diet consisting of huge amounts of saturated fat. Surely it can't be good for you in the long run especially to the exclusion of most fruits and vegetables.

Happy dieting!

I there

Thanks for your welcome to the forum

Your note about the Atkins plan and stopping / putting wait back on is one of the reasons why I keep to the Montignac plan rather than Atkins.

I had a 2 week lapse, when my mum and sister were visiting me in SF (from the UK!) and I we were eating out all the time, and I wasn't eating well I didn't put a single ounce back on! I put this down to the fact that my body is getting back into the "proper" insulin release pattern - which is the basis of Montignac.

I'm actually finding this forum not as much use as I was hoping when I started visiting. It appears that the majority of people are following Atkins, so advice is normally biased towards this plan, and the low carb tools do not have any mention of GI value or load of foods - just carb counts.... there is not a discription of the montignac plan in the "low-carb diet plan page". But I'm moaning now. It's a pity, because I've been looking for Montignac support and tips, but oh well!

Good luck with your dieting too!

Hi Spang,

I guess you are right this place isn't much use for the Montignac method, but that just means we need to make it a good place for it !

When I came here I was doing montignac, but the sheer volume of Atkins advice (and absence of Montignac) made me veer away from it.

I agree that Montignac seems much healthier than Atkins, more balanced and less of a focus on artifical ingredients. I should get back to it.

Maybe we just need to make this place more active

I'm finding Montignac really good for steady long term weight loss, but not fast weight loss. I have a friend who is doing Atkins and one of the side effects is his breath. Apparently it means he is in ketosis, but believe me, it is not pleasant.

One of the good things I have found with Montignac that you can have a little cheat if you eat or drink it straight after foods that have a very low GI. I try and drink plenty of water as well, sometimes hot water with a squeeze of lemon, or iced water and I think that helps a lot, especially if you do splurge out on something you shouldn't.

I stopped for a while because my mother was ill and then died 3 months ago and dieting just didn't seem to matter, but I am back on track now.

I know you both have Thanksgiving coming up in a few weeks, but try and keep away from the pumpkin pie as it is really, really high GI. Have a dessert you really love, but preferably not pie. Fresh or defrosted raspberries in cream might be nice.

I make up a diet raspberry jelly (Jell-O), and then when it is just starting to set, I whip it with a mixer. I also whip up some double (heavy) cream (or you can also use unsweetened evaporated milk) and add that to the jelly mix and whip it a bit more. The quantities aren't important but it's about 2/3rd jelly and 1/3 cream. Sometimes I also throw in a few raspberries.

You can do this with any diet flavoured Jell-O. I know strictly speaking that artificially sweetened foods aren't part of the Montignac plan, but believe me it certainly helps if you crave something sweet and creamy.

Juliette

Not to knock your recipe Juliette, but instead of jello, why don't you try my Rasberry Dream dessert that I posted earlier in this thread. It's probably somewhat similar to your recipe as it's a light mousse made of ricotta cheese, rasberries and egg whites, but so much better. It's very easy to make and quite delicious. Smooth, creamy with a hint of tartness. I got it from a Montignac recipe book.

Try it, you wouldn't be sorry. And no artificial ingredients either, unless you choose to substitute fake sugar for the fructuose.

juliette - for me, steady weight loss seems to be much more healthy long term than rapid weight loss

It seems like it is Juliette, Angeline and me as montignac people (you know you want to come back to the fold, angeline!)

As another desert option, Juliette - if you are a chocolate fan, there are some great chocolate mousse recipes in the montignac book too - give me a shout and L'll post them up.

Thanksgiving? Being English, and living in the US - I've never really celebrated it, or eaten pumpkin pie... so its easy for me to stay away! Christmas, on the other hand will be difficult...

I've been on a stall for the last few weeks - but nothing I'm freaking out about at all.

I've tried the raspberry desert that Angeline mentioned - its GOOD!

Hi, I'm new, and glad to have found this board. I've been on Montignac on and off since September -- with great success. Now my husband is on it too (Atkins was too much for him, the same problems I've been reading about in other messages). Here's the thing -- gas. Tremendous gas and heartburn, particularly at mid-day. I was on it for 2-3 weeks before it really became a problem, now it's steady, and it started for him almost as soon as it began. In all my life, this has never been a serious problem for me. I've read that the rapid introduction of fiber into my diet can cause it and blah blah blah, but I've been eating this way now for a couple of months and don't see it getting any better. Interestingly, the times I've cheated (like when I got married), I got the bad-sugar/carb woozy feeling, but the gas went right away. I'm rambling, but any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks Spang, you are right I do want to come back to the fold. When I first started, Montignac sounded (and still does) so right, while Atkins sounded unbalanced... too focused on substitutes and artifical foods.

One thing stuck me reading Gary Taubes's now famous NYT article was that when this whole fat-is-evil movement started, it had the effect of making an entire food group off-limit and efforts made to find substitutes. I see the same pattern with Atkins. One food group is demonized and attempts are made to replace the food, often with artificial unproven ingredients.

I keep wondering if that's not just falling into the same old trap we did with lowfat.

Anyway I'm rambling, this isn't where I wanted to go with this post

Bingo, that's a strange problem. Most of the time cutting down on carbs eliminates hearth burn and gas. Well I've never had heartburn but I do notice much less bloating and gas.

What you need to do is play a bit of detective work. I know it's stating the obvious but something you introduced into your diet is causing this problem. It would be helpful if you list what you typically eat in a day.

All I can tell you is that's it's not a typical reaction to Montignac as far as I know.