Has anyone managed to sustain eating low-carb in the long term?

[Breakfastatlarrys]

I feel really good eating low carb and lose weight, but always end up eating carbs again (a lot!) and put the weight back on, feel sluggish and ill. Has anyone managed to eat low carb in the long term (and in winter) - and do you have any tips?
I’m willing to be pretty moderate about it ie still eat pulses etc just cut out rice, potatoes, bread, chips etc… I even allow myself treats in restaurants but still always seem to end up sliding back, and it’s not just a weight thing. My skin, sleep and so many things are better when I eat low carb.

Carbohydrates are the only fuel source for the Brain and the main energy source for the rest of your body. Why would you want to avoid or limit that?

Over 4 years now.
Just find food you like and stick to it.
Most people would say you can even have some bread when low carb, it depends on your personal definition of low carb.
Eat a lot of protein and healthy fats like nuts.

Your body very easily makes the needed brain fuel from protein and fat.

If you eat more protein than you need then it gets converted to sugar - nobody needs to eat any carbs.

There is no essential carb. There are only essential proteins and essential fats.

Wildly incorrect. Carbohydrates are not essential meaning you need to eat them. Your body makes all the carbs you need IF you are fat adapted.

I’ve been keto for 8 years OP. The only way it works is totally abstinence from anything resembling high carb food.

Yesterday myself and DH (who is also keto) fancied empanadas. So we made these ones with fat head dough and they were delicious. It can be done, with planning and alternatives.

@TheBabylonian that's not true. The body can do this, in an emergency situation, as a back up but not for long and not without side effects.

Every cell needs glucose for respiration. If you don't give your body glucose it has to go through a long winded process of making it, which has other implications.

I eat low carb for 13 days each fortnight. Then I have day off when I don’t count carbs (but don’t binge either - perhaps just a meal out or a bar of chocolate after dinner). I juggle the days off a bit so family birthday etc fall on days off. Works for me - and I have medical reasons for needing to keep carbs down.
(edited to correct typo)

Again wildly incorrect.

Its called nutritional ketosis and can be maintained indefinitely as long as you eat fat and protein and enough calories.

So wrong.

Krebs cycle works perfectly without glycolysis by using fatty acids instead. You need to brush up on your biochem.

Yes, me. Pretty much for 20 years now.

That said, I do have times when I fall off the wagon, but in the main - especially compared to the average British person - I eat a low carb diet.

I can't. I wish I could, I feel a lot better when I am not eating carbs, but I can't sustain it and then I end up bingeing and feeling phsyically and psychologically terrible. So I compromise. I can eat good sourdough - but it is expensive so that limits the quantity I can eat, I eat brown basmati rice, I eat dark chocolate, I eat seeded crackers, I eat soba noodles. It works much better for me. I do still sometimes chose cake and ice-cream and food that nourishes my soul rather than my body, but most of the time I am am bit more balanced and I am not swinging wildly in extremes.

Tips?

Read up about low carbing and the science behind it so you can refute some of the silly posts you'll get about it here and/or from your friends and family, so that you can understand the broader health benefits beyond weight loss. When I've found myself wavering about it, it's those additional benefits that have kept me focused. For me, the main one has been being able to control my IBS.

This also helps you to stop looking at things like pasta and rice as something essential! We have an Indian takeaway every Friday, and I never have rice with mine.

I do relax things sometimes, to include pulses/legumes.

And I don't stress about it if/when there are situations where eating carbs is unavoidable - e.g. when you've been invited out to dinner at a friend's, and they present you with a fully-loaded carbtastic meal! Just enjoy it, and then go back to the usual regime the next day.

I'm exactly the same. I'm addicted to carbs so eventually I do end up eating them but do maintain keto the majority of the time. I've simple developed a strategy for getting back into keto which involves a week of eating convenient keto food and a lot of meat to get over them hump. I eat considerably less meat and food generally on keto so it more then balances.

In terms of strategy for staying on. Buy fat head pastry, seriously low carb bread, learn some great couliflour rice recipes. Meal plan delicious food. Make it as convenient as possible with home made soup, stews and bulk cooking, eat tons of veggies.

After a while I lose my appetite and hspply live of one meal and a couple of snacks a day, that makes it easier as you have less time food prepping.

I agree with you. Hate all the low carb nonsense and diets that don’t work that are pushed on here. Carbs are not the enemy. Especially whole grains.

Just eat a healthy balanced diet without restricting any food groups unless you are allergic. Then you can eat this way forever and fuel your body properly. Without restriction or faddy diets that don’t work.

I’ve tried to do it twice. Each time I felt so ill I decided it wasn’t worth it. I’d rather be a few pounds over weight and feel healthy and happy.
I will add, I do not eat much sugary things like cake, puddings, chocolate etc but can’t do without bread, potatoes, pasta etc.

I've done low carb since I was 25...I'm 52 now. I workout everyday (running in the morning, pilates and/or ballet barre in the evening). I also walk three dogs three times a day. No issues at all with lack of energy.

This is very informative.

g.co/kgs/xaEBFj

@Delatron what happens when you get type 2 diabetes??

What has type 2 diabetes got to do with eating a healthy balanced diet?

Thanks for the tips! Had never heard of fat head pastry…

I like the idea of having a day off/not stressing when you go out. I do find a lot of the time I really don’t want to eat the rice/bread whatever, but other times I really crave it. I’ve had success with just having one chip/potato/piece of pasta if family are eating it - cheating but that’s usually enough to have the taste.

can anyone recommend a good book about low carb/keto? I’ve probably never really done keto as I eat fruit but maybe I should try to be more strict not less!

Yes for several years as had type 2 diabetes which has been in remission since I started low carb .
I bake my own low carb bread with vital wheat gluten, substitute cauliflower or aubergine for potato, rice , pasta , only berries for fruit and bake my own low carb cake (almond or coconut flour) when I feel the need. I eat a lot of salad.
Easy to keep to as the alternative is diabetes and medication.

I did strict keto for around 2 years (over the pandemic mostly, so I didn’t have to deal with eating out much, haha!) Now I try to stay keto, but I’m probably just very low carb.

If I’m out at a weekend, on holiday or at a wedding or something like that I eat carbs though. I bloody love bread, pizza and having a pint of Guinness now and then, but it makes me wildly hungry for a few days. This reminds me why I try to stay keto/ low carb most of the time; I can’t be dealing with that nonsense in work. I used to be hungry all the time and have no off switch and now I just feel hunger in a “normal” way. I also dropped from an 18 to a 10.

As an aside, I don’t understand why the concept of low carb makes some people so angry; it works for some and not for others, no need to get so vexed!

Thanks @HaitchOar, this sounds like what I would aim for. Could you - or anyone else who does low carb - give some examples of your meals/a day of eating? Sometimes I feel like the options are really limited but I know that’s not really the case!

Today so far I had hard boiled eggs for breakfast with tomatoes, then meatballs and salad for lunch…

And yes to the hunger! This is another reason it suits me - I think I have blood sugar issues and when I eat carbs I am hungry ALl the time and also feel really bloated/puffy. My face literally changes, mostly weight loss I guess but something else too…

Oh totally; most of my family has some sort of diabetes and I was probably well on the way. Food took over my life because I was just always hungry. I’d get shaky hungry, not the kind of stomach feeling hungry I get now.
I didn’t even eat that much chocolate or live on sweets or anything. I feel I am just very sensitive to all of that, which is why keto suits me.
I’ll write you out what I eat in a day in a few mins. :)