Starting low carb 'idiot proof' diet today

[stilllovingmysleep]

Hi all, starting India and Neris' idiot proof low carb diet today. Anyone want to join me for support? Essentially it's an Atkins style low carb diet. I've done it twice in the past and it works really well.

I just finished 30 days of whole 30 which worked well and completely got rid of my sugar cravings etc. It was also excellent in terms of making healthy food choices. But the weight loss was minimal so I'm now taking it a step further and doing a purely low carb version.

Please do join me if you're starting today.

[stilllovingmysleep]

by the way it's the Pig 2 Twig diet (I think it has 2 names as the book was republished).

[Artistic]

Can you explain a bit? I'd love to join but want to be realistic!

[MrsHenryWinter]

I'll join you, except that I know nothing about it.

I've done Whole30 in the past and I lost weight but I found the no dairy impossible to maintain. I need to lose weight and I think low carb will suit me and my family a bit better.

[stilllovingmysleep]

Good morning Artistic. It's a version of Atkins diet based on this book. The only reason I'm choosing this and not Atkins is that I have the books at home & they're quite fun to read (there is the basic book that I've linked and also a recipes book). In fact I'm not sure there are any differences to the Atkins diet (others who are experts in low carb may enlighten us on this!)

Basically this means 2 weeks of:
minimal carbs just coming from vegetables
no fruit / no grains / no potatoes
eggs are good
lots of green veg / meat / fish
OK to eat fat including nuts / cheese and good quality oils
of course no sugar

I did this a few years ago and found it fantastic as I didn't feel hungry at all & lost weight easily. I've just finished doing 30 days of whole30 so I'm already in semi low-carb eating mode and want to take it a step further.

[stilllovingmysleep]

Great MrsHenry

Have you ever done low carb before?

For the first 2 weeks it's also very low dairy but cheese is ok (though I will miss yoghurt & milk)

[Artistic]

Oh dear, this is really difficult for me as am not a meat eater. I do have eggs and fish but can't really eat only that & veg! No diary not able to imagine that either. Have you started?!

[stilllovingmysleep]

Yes I'm on day 3. I mostly eat fish / eggs / lots of salad / cheese / nuts. Not so much meat. So far it's been fine. have you ever done a low carb diet before artistic?

There's actually a great book called the low carb vegetarian which I recommend.

[Artistic]

Hi stilllovingmysleep! I did NO carb for 2 months and lost a huge amount of weight! It was incredible! Nearly a kilo a week. But I got put off all the food due to intense repetition! :(

Let me see this book for vegetarians. Good luck to you, hope I join...

[stilllovingmysleep]

have a look artistic, this is the book

Good to hear you did a very low carb diet but when you say no carbs do you mean you also weren't eating vegetables?
Yes I agree the repetition can be tedious but the pluses for me are that I don't get hungry on low carb, don't have cravings & also lose quickly which gives me some momentum.

How did you cope after you stopped the diet? Did you find that you put back on the weight quickly or did you manage to keep it off?

[Artistic]

So by no carbs I meant no grains mainly. I did have veg (what else could I eat anyways? )

The good news I that I returned to a very normal diet (but no white flour, only brown, and very low sugar) after 10 weeks ( fell ill and lost all focus on weight), but didn't put any weight back on. Unfortunately I hadn't reached my target weight so still have about 5kg to go. But all that weight is pregnancy/bf weight so perhaps that's why it didn't come back..

Ideally I want to stay low carb(grain) on an ongoing basis where I eat more veg/protein as it just seems to keep me more healthy, active and energetic.

The book looks good, might just buy it. Thank you for suggesting...

Will get back to you if am joining.

[dwinnol]

I started this on Monday. The only thing I'm doing differently this time is that I haven't weighed. I got a bit obsessive last time jumping in the scales all the time so I thought I'd just go by how my clothes feel this time.

[stilllovingmysleep]

Dwinnol very good idea not to weigh yourself. Best to wait until the 2 weeks end.

[BIWI]

Can I just point out that vegetables are also carbs! If you talk about a no carb diet, you mean a diet that is only protein and fat.

Stillloving/Artistic Rose Elliott has also written a recipe book to go with her vegetarian low carb diet, and there are some lovely recipes in there.

[stilllovingmysleep]

Yes vegetables are definitely carbs. One of the lovely things about the IPD (and any low carb diets) is that I very quickly find myself really increasing my vegetable intake which is great.

[BIWI]

I know! And all those who slag low carbing off as being unhealthy, eh?!

[stilllovingmysleep]

Well I've always disagreed with that view. I have never eaten as healthily as when I'm low-carbing.
I'm rereading 'why we get fat' by Gary Taubes, by the way, to inspire me further: such a great book.
And it's interesting that within 3 days I've already lost 4.5 pounds, while I had lost nothing on 30 days of Whole30! Doesn't mean the weight loss will continue at this rate, but interesting nonetheless.

[SheriffCallie]

Glad I found this thread. This diet is what I've been doing for the past week and am finding it pretty ok. Missing choc and fruit but managing to avoid and it's getting easier. I'm avoiding grains, bread, fruit, sugar and eating eggs, meat/fish, nuts and seeds and dairy, and fats and oils.
I had been reading threads on the low carb boot camp and getting disheartened, thinking I probably wouldn't lose if I wasn't doing it as intensively, so it's reassuring to read on here the results are good.
I never needed to lose any weight until after DC2. Interestingly, he was CMPA and so I cut out dairy, losing the baby lbs very quickly. But due to his sleep dodging, I discovered (excessive) sugar and carbs as a means of coping, so have piled it on, and more.
I don't own any scales, considering investing in some, but my jeans feel looser today so that might be all the indication I need that things are going ok.
Will use the threads on here to stay motivated:)

[BIWI]

Welcome!

Using clothes as a way of measuring progress is great, and sometimes more reliable than the scales anyway!

[SheriffCallie]

Cool. BIWI, can I check re the water thing? I know tea/coffee/soda doesn't count in your water intake but what about things like herbal teas? I've just had 3 cups of fennel tea (just kept re-filling the cup on top of the teabag), do I need to need to still drink the full water requirement or will the fennel tea count for a little?

[BIWI]

I would have thought it should count!

[reup]

May I ask why you think you didn't lose weight on whole 30? A couple of friends did this recently and lost quite a bit.

[raisedbyguineapigs]

I've been doing this for 4 weeks now. Found the first 3 weeks great. lost loads of weight ( well, 8lb in 2 weeks. Then I got my period and craved carbs and had some leftover pizza. I didn't really miss the carbs and I don't really miss the bread, rice and pasta but I miss the ice cream and cake! I was thinking of switching to Paleo as you can have sweet potatoes and can bake with honey but I might stick this out a bit longer, as I think by the end, you can have the occasional treat! I hope I can stick to it. I might do another week of really strict.

[raisedbyguineapigs]

Is everyone doing the organic meat and veg thing? I have been going free-range, but I just can't afford to do organic everything. Even just organic meat is extortionate. Especially when it makes up so much of the diet.

[WestCoastDreamin]

I've doing a bit of thread-jumping, just trying to find one that fits!

I've been counting calories for a week but went LCHF last wednesday and so far so good, 6lbs down and feeling motivated. No cravings as yet, and I had a night out with a meal and managed only 2 g&T and 2 dry white wines which is significantly less wine than I would usually have in a week!

I've just made courgette spaghetti 'carbonara' for brunch though and it was so minging! I've actually just scarfed some fridge raiders instead... I dunno, maybe the courgette spaghettis was past its best, yuck!

I've got about 29kg to lose in total - 26.4kg to target!

[ClopySow]

What's the deal with coffee on this one? I noticed it's only decaf, though it doesn't seem to be on other low carb diets. That's the bit i'd struggle with.