Zero carb days?
 

I'm going to Cancun in 19 weeks. While I'm at an acceptable weight right now I would like to trim down a bit for the beach. I have been on maintenance for several months but now want to go back to losing weight. I'd like to get rid of the last 6-7 pounds to goal. I want to go back down to 20-30 g of carbs a day, and don't have any trouble doing that.

However, I would like to "kick start" the weight loss by going 3-4 days with almost no carbs. Has anyone tried this and did it work?

Oh, yeah, I do exercise, weight training when I can and hitting the treadmill at home when I can't get to the gym. But I wanted to see if "jolting' my body with almost no carbs would have any effect.

Thanks

Joan

Personally, I think it would be counterproductive. Dr A said there was no real benefit to going under 20, as it didn't accelerate fat loss. Thet's why he changed the recommendations from the "old" Atkins, which was lower carb during induction than current recommendations.

JMHO

Going back to induction helps a lot of people kickstart weight loss again. But there is no benefit to going below 20 carbs a day.

Have you tried the Atkins 72 diet?? From what I read, it helps with fast weight loss. There is a post about this on the boards. Try a search.

Also, if you are weight training and cardio, you will need the carbs

One of the books that I have which gives hints to fast weight loss says that to quickly lose 10 pounds, you can do the following, eat only veggies, fish, eggs, limit your dairy, drink a gallon of water a day, & exercise more than normal. It says that you should not do this for more than 2 weeks because it can mess up your metabolism.
Sorry I had to edit this, I went back and looked at the book and realized I forgot to mention that it states to take L-Carnitine (2000-3000 mg).

what do you mean Atkins 72 diet? I tried to search, but 72 is too small a word to search for I guess.

What is atkins 72...I can't find it either?

I think you people are referring to the first Atkins book written in 1972 . That diet was almost entirely protein and fat based.....along with a bit of lettuce allowed here and there.

And back to the original question, about lowering carbs below 20, I think it might work. It certainly did for me back in 1973. I was a lot younger then, but whatever, I don't think it would hurt you for a couple of weeks.

What the hey? It's worth a try.....

Kay

I'm with you--it's worth a try, zero is a hard number to hit, but keep the protein up so you don't get sick--and I'd keep an eye on the calories and keep them at an acceptable number for you and your activity level.
Good Luck ;)

Thanks for the input everyone. If I decide to cut out carbs almost completely, it would be just for about 3 days, probably over a weekend. I was just wondering if that would make any difference in "waking up" my body and get it back in gear for losing weight. I tend to have a slow metabolism (thyroid's been checked, TSH , T-3 and T-4 all at low end of normal range). I tend to lose weight slowly at best, plus I'm so close to goal, so I know those last few pounds will be a challenge in 19 weeks.


No way could I do almost zero carbs more than a few days though. I like veggies too much and thinking of even 3-4 days of not being able to crunch celery stalks with cheese is torture.

I'm still curious though, to see if anyone has actually tried eating almost no carbs short-term and what it has done, if anything.

Joan

You might like to try Stillman's for about 5 days and then go onto Atkins induction. Stillmans is very low carbs, very low fat. You eat only lean meat, eggs and non oily fish. It formed part of the 'back to basics challenge' which many people on this board did some time ago.

You need lots of water with it and get ready with a laxative if neded. You go into very deep ketosis and the appetite suppression from the meat is amazing. I don't think it's a good idea to keep it up for longer as your metabolism might slow down.

I think the original book was called 'Dr Stillman's Ketogenic Quick Weight Loss Diet' or something similar. It precedes Atkins but the book is out of print.

A search on Stillmans will bring up lots of info.

Good luck
Robert

Here is the link for Stillman info


http://www.lowcarb.org/stillman.html

Good luck with whatever you decide to do. I just wanted to say that Cancun is so wonderful and beautiful! I hope you have a fantastic trip!

Orchid

Is that the actual stillmans diet though? That page states low fat cottage cheese is allowed which is high carb and dairy (I thought both were no-no on stillmans) it also lists cocktail sauce and ketchup as alowable, both of which are loaded with sugar.