DP thinks low carb is a fad diet - help please!

[Nowwhatsthis]

I've got two DC, after the birth of both I've found myself overweight. Both times I've gone on to a low carb high fat diet and lost loads of weight.

I've tried a lot of diets in my life and LCHF is the only on that's worked for me.

A few years ago my marriage broke down, I was stressed out, didn't focus on what I was eating and gained a lot of weight.

After divorce etc I met my lovely DP, I was already overweight when I met him but the endless dating / wining / dining we've been enjoying have meant me not pulling my socks up and sorting my diet out.


Anyway, DP likes to eat "healthy" and going to the gym. He thinks that if I want to lose weight I should do this to, which I've tried but it doesn't work for me.

I've said I'm gonna do the LCHF and tried to explain that I've done this is the past and that it's worked for me but every time I mention it he starts mansplaining to me why LCHF is an unhealthy, fad diet that doesn't work.

I need some ammunition now to really get him on board. Please can somebody help me explain it to him? Maybe by using YouTube links.

His main concerns are:

• Fat is bad for you
  
• Carbs are an important part of diet and should be enjoyed in moderation
  
• If you don't eat carbs you lose muscle and not fat

[sooperdooper]

Well any diet that you do short term to lose lots of weight before returning to your standard way of eating is a fad diet

If you ate low carb all the time that would just be your diet but I can see his point if all you'll do is low carb/high fat for a short period and then go back to bad eating habits where you'll put the weight back on - yoyo dieting is very bad for you

[WorknameJimEllis]

But it is a fad

[Ginger782]

What kind of carbs does he believe are important OP? Bread, pasta and cereals? Or sweet potato and rolled oats? Because the first three can easily (and probably should be) cut from everyone's diet and made a "sometimes" food. Whether people agree or not may depend on what he is suggesting carbs-wise?

[MoominFlaps]

It is. I've done it before and I know it works but realistically any diet which cuts out entire food groups isn't conducive to a healthy relationship with food.

[Nowwhatsthis]

sooperdooper Both times I've lost weight doing LCHF I've done it for 2+ years. First time until I got pregnant and second time until marriage breakdown. That's not short term.

[WorknameJimEllis]

Sorry meant to say, it's fab if it works, but it clearly DOESNT work for you because you always put the weight back on.

Doing what you've always done will give you what you're always got.

It's relatively easy to drop weight in the short term. It's that sustainable long term loss and maintenance that's the bastard.

[Nowwhatsthis]

Ginger782 He is suggesting brown bread, weetabix, porridge etc.

Only NO carbs work for me.

[Nowwhatsthis]

WorknameJimEllis So I should just give up then? Because nothing works anyway?

[stitchglitched]

If you know it works for you just get on and do it. You don't need his approval!

[sooperdooper]

If it works for you and you want to do it you don't need his permission, it's up to you how you eat.

But I can see his point too - what happens after you've lost the weight, how do you try to maintain it, tbh I do think 2 years losing and gaining a lot of weight is short term, whatever the reasons for it

[takemetomars]

If it works for you, do it. Agree to disagree about it though as he is unlikely to be swayed by any argument that you present.
He is right about carbs IF you are weight lifting at the gym, they are essential for energy when doing strength work. If this is not your thing then it is less important.

[Chewbecca]

I'm with your DP.

Your diet works for you but that doesn't mean it is not a 'fad' or that it is healthy.

[Loopytiles]

You don't need to justify your dietary choices to him, at all. His body, his choice: your body, your choice.

[Loopytiles]

You should just assume he will not be "on board".

[Polkadotties]

I have PCOS and the only way of dieting that helps me lose weight is LCHF. I put on weight if I eat a traditional high carb low fat diet.
If it works for you then do it, don't listen to him.

[Nowwhatsthis]

Ok, I feel like I'm getting a lot of replies from people who are not familiar with LCHF at all.

1. The first time I gain weight again was due to pregnancy! I did not feel I had enough info at the time to go through pregnancy in ketosis so purposely came off the diet!
   

1. Second time was due to comfort eating.
   

Yes, you might see it as a failure but I do not. It was definitely working for me, please don't call it yo yo dieting.

And I know I don't need his permission, but it would make it easier at meal times if he had a better understanding of the subject.

[squishee]

It is a fad, because it's not sustainable. Otherwise you would never need to "diet" ever again. But it's still your choice.

[MoominFlaps]

I feel like I'm getting a lot of replies from people who are not familiar with LCHF at all.

Totally familiar with it actually, I ate that way for 2 years.

[PawsandWhiskers]

Not quite the same as I have also been diagnosed with diabetes as well as being overweight... but my doctor has agreed to me going on a low carb diet rather than putting me on medication ... so the idea of low carving is being recognised more in the NHS.

Would recommend Dr Robert Lustig's book Fat Chance.

[MoominFlaps]

Op you should read a book called "have your cake and your skinny jeans too". It's ace. I think a lot of people (including me) who have battled with their weight for years have got into the habit of having an unhealthy relationship with food/feeling guilty all the time for eating but yet continuing to eat and gain weight.

This book taught me how to get back in control of my own thought process when it came to eating. Sounds ridiculously simple but I just wasn't able to eat according to my appetite - I realised I was just eating for the sake of eating, terrified of ever feeling hungry.

Now my portion sizes are half what they were, I eat when hungry and best of all I haven't cut anything out and I'm still losing weight. If I want a pizza or some chocolate I'll have some.

[MoominFlaps]

And I don't eat low fat, I only eat full fat dairy products as can't stand the low fat stuff.

[TitsalinaBumSquash]

I've done very strict LCHF and lost all my pregnancy weight (4 stone!) and then went on holiday over Christmas and ate unlimited buffet 3 times a day and put 2 stone of it back on!
I'm back at eating LCHF now and have already lost half a stone in just over a week, I'm still eating a lot of food and enjoying it, I'm not as strict and I'm still having a glass of
Wine at the weekends, I've just cut out bread/pasta/white potatoes and rice.
I'm still drinking coffee, Diet Coke (I know this is bad!) and I'm still eating fruit and any veg (bar white potatoes)

I already feel so much healthier and it is sustainable as it's not restrictive, it's not counting or weighing, it's good, tasty food.

This morning I had steak with spinach and cheese omelette and a coffee, I didn't miss toast or cereal.

[Nowwhatsthis]

Thanks Moomim for being constructive. I'll look into getting that book.

DP believes in low fat, and I really do not believe it is healthy to restrict the intake of healthy fat. So if I eat "healthy" like him I'll end up eating high protein, low fat, medium carb. This is something I know is bad for my body.

I'd be happy with moderate carbs (i.e. sweet potatoes, high carb veg and berries) as long as I get to eat fat.

I think his "healthy" diet is far more restrictive than LCHF and his diet would also leave me with cravings which LCHFdoes not.

[MoominFlaps]

I just think, the vast majority of consistently slim people I know don't follow any sort of special diet, they just eat according to their appetite. My best friend has always been slim - she eats carbs, sugar, high fat everything etc etc. The difference is she stops eating when she's had enough. Before I changed my mindset I would carry on eating, paying no attention to how full I was.

[CiliatedEpithelium]

I am a huge fan of the Paleo diet and I do this with 5:2 and it gets it off a treat so I agree with you OP. I wouldn't bother even having the 'diet' conversation with him. You would be wasting your time. Let the results speak for themselves. We are still here as a species and there was no cakes biscuits and bread in prehistory and yet somehow here we are. You could explain that to him if him if you were hell bent?