What am interesting thread, it has really got me thinking about why some people stick to this WOE and others don't (I won't say "can't").
Being a carb addict myself, I think carb addicts do have a better time with this WOE, because if we do eat carbs we feel so awful the next day, that eventually we decide it's not worth feeling bad. I'd imagine that if there was no 'punishment' as such (eg feeling like something the cat sicked up) for eating carbs (besides the scales) it would be easier to rationalise eating them. That is why I started this WOL, my eating was so out of control I started doing the CAD, then went on to Atkins when CAD wasn't doing it for me, and have never looked back.

What also occurred to me is that how well people do on low carb may correspond to their expectations of it and their level of committment to making it work. If someone believes anything less than a 4lb loss a week means the diet isn't working, they're going get pretty frustrated and may give up, cos it "didn't work". Similarly, if someone isn't prepared to 'tweak' a bit and see what works best for them, also they'll get frustrated and quit. It took me a couple of months to get happy about this being a way of eating for the rest of my life, so each day I told myself "I only have to do this for today", then the next day I told myself the same thing, until I got to the stage that I WANTED to do this for the rest of my life.

I got this G-D awful book out the library yesterday called "the 9 truths about weight loss", it's truely hideous- extremely low fat, low cal, high exercise (I didn't know it was low fat or I wouldn't have got it out) but it did have one interesting thing in it about the stages of dieting. The first stage is the Honeymoon stage, where you're all excited about your new diet, losing weight, and everything is dandy. Then comes Frustration, where you go thru the "it's not fair, why do I have to diet and they don't" or similar mentality, your weight loss may slow or stop. This is the stage where many people give their diet. Next comes Acceptance, where you make the commitment, and kind of become at peace with your new WOE. Reading this board I see people in all of those stages.

My ponderings
Angela