wow, I have loved reading all of these forums, the people are so nice! I just wanted to share my story and ask a few questions about the low-carb way of life...
dec 2002:
went low carb and loved it! I ate ample amounts of beef, chicken, fish, nuts, seeds, avocaods, and veggies throughout the day and ate one high carb meal at breakfast (usually whole grain toast with yogurt and apples) I lost weight on this and was quite happy (never had to count calories or portions), energy was good
jan 2003:
started feeling "guilty" for eating sooo much yummy fatty foods and meats (even though I ate rather healthfully considering what a lot of lcers eat-frakenfoods) I went vegan and I lived off of plant starches (rice beans potatoes vegetable fruits, and grains only) I cut all fat out of my diet as well as all protein in adherence to this McDougall guys recommendations, felt crummy most of the time, but still stood faithfully to my vegan diet,
dec 2003:
I was the "perfect" vegan but couldn't take it anymore!!! I gained weight when I tried to eat more than 800 cals a day and the more rice and beans I ate the more weight I put on!!! I had dreams at night about eating meat. I became a majorly food obsessed anorexic (I had eating disorder tendencies before i went vegan but veganism drove me over the edge) I lost it one day in frustration and went on a completely ketogenic diet. I ate nothing but greens and meats and fats. I felt like my body was turning back "on"! Unfortunately I lost WAY too much weight doing this and looked like a bag of bones after about 3 weeks.
March 2004
Right now I eat only whole grains, veggies, fruits, and yogurt for carbs. I eat ample amounts of protein with each meal and very small ammounts of healthy fats (I eat a meal every 2-3 hours for a total of 5-6 a day)
Which brings me to my question....
How can I follow a low-carb plan and NOT lose weight. I want to maintain my weight eating low carb. I wish to cut back on the starches a little more but every time I do the more weight I lose. Adding fat calories doesn't seem to work. Eating lots of fruit doesn't even work. Ever since I began eating meat again I can now tolerate 1500-1800 cals a day w/out gaining weight (and I am a SKINNY woman who by all definitions should have a pretty shot metabolism after 8 mo's of existing on 400-800 cals a day) I exercise 6 days a week but only 3 days are 30 min of cardio and the other 3 are weightlifting. I actually exercised more while being a vegan (cardio for 1-2 hours a day, seven days a week) and I've found that after I began eating meat I didn't have to workout nearly so hard to stay slim.
I simply feel good on a low carb eating plan but i do not want to lose weight nor do i want to eat a bunch of cheeses and fatty meats. I like living off of plant fats, lean meats, fruits, veggies, nuts, seeds, dairy and the occaisional whole grain. Makes my body feel good but doesn't keep my weight up. I have found that I tolerate an extremely high level of carbs now compared to before.
ps: I have been declared perfectly healthy by my doctors, blood work/thyroid/heart/liver etc all checked out okay. I just need to figure out how to maintain my weight and still eat low carbish. I do not want to GAIN just maintain.
Thanks for reading this rather long post if you haven't already lost interest by now