Does low carbing work?

[Honeyporridge]

I have about a stone of baby weight to lose to get to my pre pregnancy weight and also would like to lose half a stone on top of that. Lost weight successfully on Cambridge before but obviously not suitable now.

Does reducing your carbs really work? Can't face counting calories or points or syns ...

[hellsbellsmelons]

Low carbing should be good for your body.
No carbing at all - not so much.
Just cut out bread and pasta (and rice if you can)
Get your carb intake from natural foods, veg, fruit (berries are the best)
Job done!

[Applefallingfromthetree2]

It definitely does, no need to cut out carbs completely either.

[stubbornstains]

See, now I've had to start googling to check my facts....Yes, your brain can use stored fat for energy, as it gets converted into glucose when metabolised, like anything else. So yes, we do need sugar (in the form of glucose) to function- but we can survive perfectly well and yet never eat actual sugar, as the body can make it for us.

Protein that we eat is not normally metabolised- it goes to build up muscle- but can be converted into glucose if you are literally starving

. FWIW, I've been on quite strict low carb diets in the past, and felt very well on them indeed- better than normal, in fact. They have contained small amounts of carbs though, in the form of vegetables (not potatoes!), as I wouldn't cut them out.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starvation_response

And in case you think I'm some kind of wild eyed carb- refuser, I've just eaten 2 slices of bread and marmite and half a packet of crisps! (but I'd be a hell of a lot thinner, healthier and more energetic if it'd been a smoked salmon salad)

[Rosa]

Diddn't work for me I lost fat but gained water ...far too much as well .

[stubbornstains]

http:/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starvation_response

^go on, work then!

[stubbornstains]

(gives up in disgust)

[specialsubject]

FFS - eat properly, move more. Eat too much, get fat. It is so simple.

I see that saying 'diets don't work' is classed as rude. Facts are never rude.

Keep wasting your time and money then, no skin off my nose.

I'm also giving up in disgust.

[Venticoffeecup]

This is a long post but I hope it's helpful.

I'm slowly gearing up to start eating low carb full time. I've been doing a lot of research and reading from lots of different sources.

I would recommend the Marks Daily Apple website, I've found a lot of info on there and I think it's fairly balanced and reasonable. There are other useful websites if you have a good look around.

I'm turning to this diet because other diets haven't worked for me. I tried a traditional low calorie diet once before. It was a very sensible one that was recommended by GPs. I did loose weight at a sensible rate, however I became really ill to the point where my hair started to fall out. I couldn't understand why as I was eating more healthily then I had ever done in my life - yet blood tests showed I was severely mineral deprived.

I gave up and put the weight back on and then some after I had a baby.

I looked around and found out about the Paleo diet which I'm currently trying to get the hang of.

I had a couple of days recently of only eating Paleo plus, by which I mean Paleo plus dairy. I felt pretty good on it actually. One thing that I noticed is that it changed my hunger levels. In the past when I ate a traditional English diet, I would feel fine then have a sudden energy crash and feel hungry and very very weak.

I didn't feel like this during those days, I just felt hungry but not weak.

I wasn't on it for long enough so I have no idea about weight loss.

The big down side I've found is that for me it takes a lot of planning. I needed to make sure I had the right sort of foods in, you can't just throw a load of pasta together for a quick tea like I would have done in the past.

The consequence of this has meant that I've fallen off the wagon as I wasn't prepared for the past few days. I've gone back to eating 'normally'.

During this back to normal carb days I have felt pretty awful. My IBS which had gone during the low carb days has returned.

It's been enough to convince me that I need to go back to eating the low carb diet again.

I wish you all the best of luck.

[penelopicon]

Yes it works, but you have to keep a careful eye on what you're eating - too many carbs and it stalls! There is a fab app called "My Fitness Pal" where you can edit the settings to the desired % of calories you want to get from fat, protein, and carbs per day. Really helped. I fell off the wagon because of chips, but I'm getting back on. I feel fantastic when I manage to keep it up, so much more energy, and I get to eat bacon

[coolbeans]

Yes, it can work really well, but you have to do it properly and research reputable diets. Atkins, South Beach all follow roughly the same principle and it is low carb, not NO carb.

You should be eating a fair amount of vegetables and salad on a low carb diet. But not highly refined carbs, flour, white rice and so on that are not needed. Those type of carbs can come back into your diet when you are on maintenance in smaller quantities and modified - so brown rice or things like quinoa.

And it might not suit all body types, but it does work fast if it suits you and you can lose weight super quick if you stick to it.

And the idea that you have to lose weight slowly has now been discredited by numerous studies. There was a study published just earlier this week in the Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology from the University of Melbourne that showed that there was no difference in long-term weight regain whether patients lost their weight fast or slow

[PetulaGordino]

eating low carb doesn't have to cost more, and you don't have to buy special books or products. try to avoid obsessively counting grams of carbohydrate because that way madness lies in the same way as counting calories. but it has to work for your lifestyle, budget and body

not sure what specialsubject's problem is

[FurryDogMother]

Atkins is not and never has been a no carb diet. Carbs come from green leafy veg, mostly, plus there are (minimal) carbs in stuff like eggs, cheese and cream. At its very strictest (the first 2 weeks) one eats 20g carbs a day on Atkins, and then the carb count goes up on a weekly basis until you stop losing.

Anyway, that point being made, yes, low carb works - when you're on it! I say that because I have twice lost 5 stone on a low carb diet - maintained the loss for 3 years the first time and 1 year the second. I'm now embarking on the third time - think I've worked out that I have to eat this way for life now!

I find low carbing works because I never feel hungry on it - and once I've adapted to the change in diet, it's pretty easy - if you enjoy meat, poultry, fish, seafood, eggs, cheese, cream and butter. If you don't, it'll be a bit of a struggle! The hardest part - for me - is cutting out bread, because it's so easy to grab a sandwich - but if you think ahead a bit (always have hard boiled eggs in the fridge, for example), then it's do-able.

Give it a go!

[bigbluestars]

I keep slim by limiting carbs, particularly white processed starch stuff. I eat loads of veg, protein, fruit, nuts ( I know there are some carbs in all these foods), a little wholegrain pasta, luckily I don't like bread or cakes.

It works for me.

[ChickenMe]

Yes it works IMO. Particulary good if you have blood sugar issues ie getting hungry very quickly after eating grains, lack of appetite control, cravings for sugar/bread, wild blood sugar fluctuations, abdominal weight gain. Low carb breaks that cycle. Fasting helps too.

Low carb is not no carb. You find the level at which you can lose weight without making yourself unhappy and weak. For me that was 100g a day. 100g a day pretty much eliminates any ability to go wild on "empty" carbs because your allowance would quickly be used up. The idea would be to eat whole foods. You get your carbs from fruit, veg and beans because they are proper foods and try to avoid manufactured food where possible.

The upside is, for this to work you must eat enough protein and you must eat full fat (and not fat-reduced) dairy, use traditional fats in cooking (lard, dripping, butter, coconut oil) and eat the fat on meat (if you like it). The reason for the full fat is a) full fat versions are more nutritious and a lot of "overweightness" is linked to malnutrition. B) Traditional fats contain important fatty acids which are not found elsewhere. See coconut oil. C) fat is satisfying and consuming fat sends "full" signals to the body. As your regime will be low sugar it must not be low fat too or you simply won't be able to stick with it.

Basically you only count carbs, not calories and not fat.

I hope this is helpful. It's something I'm very interested in so I like to share my tips which may not be entirely scientific but nonetheless have worked for me.

[MrsJossNaylor]

Low-carb worked for me - to a point - but it just didn't fit with my lifestyle. I exercise a lot and low carbing didn't give me enough energy.

Now I'm back to my old diet of eating well and exercising. I don't eat desserts, crisps, biscuits, white bread, chips, pastry etc, but allow myself the odd potato, bowl of pasta and wholemeal bread.

I feel brilliant. I've gained a couple of pounds back, but am gaining PB after PB in races, and don't feel hungry.

I wouldn't recommend low carb diets, but I would recommend avoiding stodge, refined carbs and sugar. Just eating well and moving more, basically - it's not very complicated!

[fairylightsintheloft]

Works for me. Did Atkin about ren years ago and kept off the 20lbs I lost on it for about 8 yrs til I was pregnant the first time. I got gestational diabetes in both pregnancies so had to limit white carbs and it reminded me of it. I now generally avoid the obvious carbs like cereal bread potatoes pasta and rice but have nuts milk some fruit and lots of veg. If life gets in the way and I have to grab a sandwich its fine but it definitely suits me to eat low carb most of the time.

[pantsjustpants]

Low carb/clean eating has worked for me. I've lost 3st and kept it off for a year so far. I saw a nutritionist, and he's really revamped how my whole family eats really. In a good way!

I tend to Weetabix, porridge or a slice of wholemeal toast with an egg for breakfast. That's pretty much it carb- wise apart from lots of veggies. Giving up sugar was also a really good thing to do too!

[Bogeyface]

H has lost 2.5 of the 4 stone he needs to lose in 9 weeks on low carb. He doesnt miss it at all. It isnt no carb dont forget, but low carb so you are not cutting it out altogether. Just cutting out sugar in drinks, sweets, cakes etc can make a huge difference.

I am doing it too but I am not as hardcore as him (and dont have as much to lose) so I do still have the odd sarnie but I have still lost a lot. We have cut out bread, pasta, rice , potatoes and cakes etc. If we drink anything it is the Zero version (coke, sprite, fanta etc zero taste almost the same as the full fat versions and waaaay nicer than the diet versions) and I have G & slimline T if I am having a drink rather than sugar laden wine. Its healthy, its easy and it works! Just replace your carbs with veg/salad and you'll be good :)

[ClashCityRocker]

Works for me.

I think there is a lot of people who get hysterical about it, but I do think we tend to over-rely on carbs as a society in general.

I'm on the LC boot camp at the minute, and to be honest, don't feel like I'm on a diet.

[Bogeyface]

The problem with carbs is that during the war they were pushed as a good solution to rationing. Spuds are easy to grow and fill you up, so the more the better on everyones plate.

A whole generation grew up using carbs as the main part of the meal and so it carried on, the trouble is that the more of them you eat, the more you need to eat in order to feel full. Cut them out and you will feel hungry for the first week or so as your stomach adjusts but then you really wont feel it. I found that keeping a crustless quiche ready in the fridge helped for when I was really hungry (dead easy recipe, google it!) but as I say, after the first week or so it was fine :)

[Bakeoffcakes]

My DH lost weight low carbing but he ended up having a terrible bout of gout. His dr said high protein diets are terrible for developing gout, in some people, it is a form of arthritis and can be genetic, so if you have someone in the family with gout, be aware that going on a high protein diet can trigger it.

[PetulaGordino]

you do need to drink enough water too

[MrsJossNaylor]

There seems to be some confusion on this thread as to what low carb actually means.

Cutting out sugar and white bread isn't low carb - it's healthy eating.

On a truly low carb diet you'd be looking at cutting out most of your milk, dairy etc too.
When I was doing low carb, for example, I was amazed at how many carbs were in natural yoghurt. I'd thought that plain bio yoghurt would be virtually carb free - but no. I could hit 40g of carbs a day without going anywhere near bread, pasta, potatoes, sugar or cereal.

So these people who are saying yes, they lost weight cutting out crisps, pastry, sugar, white bread etc, but still ate veg, seeds, weetabix, a rare slice of wholemeal bread - that isn't a low carb diet. That's how healthy eaters live all the time

When we're talking at cross-purposes about what low carb means, the message becomes very distorted.