Hi there!!

I have a problem. I have not a lot to lose (about 10 lbs now). So I read all the books (PP, Atkins, CAD, Scarsdale, WW, Zone, bla bla bla) thinking that the more info I had the better I'd do. And every day I DECIDE: ok I'm going to follow THIS wol because it's the right one for me, I go shopping and buy all the right stuff and then I get anxiety attacks because of too much info, and I start thinking like "Well maybe I'd do better with the fruit in my diet" or "Oh no, the cheese is going to clash!" and I've ended up in the last month starting a different WOE every day, and every day going into a crisis cause I get this attack of "But the other book said the opposite" thing.

I'm really in a quandary, some diets like Scarsdale say low carb, low fat, fruit yes, others say high fat no fruit bla bla bla... To cut a long story short I'm really lost in the sea of diet books. You guys all seem to be doing well on the plan you've chosen ... can anyone shine a light in the tunnel for me? And please don't yell at me anyone, I'm feeling really dumb...

Thank you!
C.

Somebody who has read all those books cannot be dumb! So get that thought right out of your head.

Pick one--any one--and go with it for three months. Pick something you think you can stick with (if you like cheese, don't torture yourself by giving up cheese, for instance) and the one that logically sounds most healthful to you. If at the end of three months, you don't feel well or have regained weight, try another program.

It's not fast, it's not magical...but in a year, you should have some idea of what healthy eating looks like for you.

HTH

Take a deep breath and relax.



On the right side of the screen is a menu with "which low carb plan is right for me?" It has all the plans outlined and compared in one spot. You may want to take a look at the basics and since you already have read the books it might help to look at them from a different view.

I know on the Atkin's plan I do eat cheese, fruits and veggies along with a high fat diet. I have lost 47 pounds so far in 12 months.

The main thing is, pick a plan you can live with for the rest of your life. If you find one too restrictive then odds are you won't stick with it and go off it once you obtain your goal weight and start to regain all the weight again.

I'm pretty much doing low carb, strawberries are my weakness right now, but I'm working them into the diet. I think the thing I find most confusing is the array of supplements/vitamins they suggest you take in different books. I couldn't stand the smell of Atkins vitamins and supplements, so I ended up tossing them. The essential oils gave me indigestion and I was urping up fish, ICK! I switched to Perilla Oil and have a handful of stuff I try and down every day.

I think it's great that you're reading the books, and I think it'll let you eventually pick an choose as appropriate for you. I do agree you should pick one and stick with it for a month, then decide if you want to stay on that one or try another one. You've got the rest of your life. I found that I really needed to keep track of calories after a while, and use Fitday.com for that.

Best to you!

To all of you for your kind and patient replies!!!

If I give you an idea of what I like to eat maybe you can give me an idea of what plan is good for me ? : basically I can live without the cheese, what I really adore is fruit, that's why the Scarsdale grabbed me, but the low fat leaves me starving!!! There's a diet going around my office that sounds good and it goes like this: it's practically Kiss plus fruit (no bananas, figs etc.) with the addition of 80g of bread (??) from the second week. It sounds like I could live with it especially now the summer's coming.... problem is that it doesn't jibe in theory with any of the books I've read and I'm afraid to try... Any views on this?

Thanks again... and maybe I'll get going after all!!!
I'm very grateful...
C.

With low-carb in general, the physical factors that makes all of them work are:

1. Keeping insulin in check thus preventing fat storage.
2. Eating in a way that allows your body to use its fat stores for energy.

After that it's finding out what keeps you feeling good and energized.

Most long-term low-carbers eventually tailor any plan to suit their needs. Some may avoid dairy or nuts or artificial sweeteners. Others find that they do just fine with them.

Start and don't worry about it. Fine tuning comes later.

With not a lot of weight to lose, a plan like CAD/CALP may suit you best as a lifetime way of eating. But, it may not if the reward meal triggers you to continue eating high-carb foods. Your weight may come off slowly because you don't have much to lose but I think the benefits of any LC plan can be enormous for anyone.

Karen

oh dear, I hate to give you another book to read... ...but try either Audette's Neanderthin or Loren Cordain's Paleodiet book.

Allowable foods in paleolithic eating are supposed to mimic what humans ate 40,000 years ago: meat (game or free range) including seafood and insects if you like them, eggs, veggies, fruits, nuts, and seeds, herbs and spices, and honey in tiny/infrequent amounts. Not allowed are: legumes, grains, sugar, artificial sugars, food additives, beer or spirits. Paleo people debate if occasional wine or vinegar is okay and how much salt is reasonable.

Sounds cool!! Is there a limit to the fruit or the carbs? I'm already slobbering at the thought of prosciutto and melon!!! Yum!

Thanks everyone, will log in again Monday! Have a great w.e.!!!!

C.

no official limit on fruits, but if you're trying to lose weight, as Karen pointed out, the insulin control part is important, so the less fruit (and their sugars) you have, the better. At first, stick with the lowest glycemics (melons and berries) and eat them with protein to mitigate the insulin effect. See how you lose on one serving a day--if you do fine, increase to two. HTH!

And as if this was not complicated enough, you should also know that Cordain is controversial amongst his peers because of his "early humans ate low-fat" stance. See what Steve Byrnes has to say about that in The "cave man" diet was low-fat and/or vegetarian. Humans evolved as vegetarians. It sounds right to me.

Hi Chocolate,

Since you are currently right in the middle of average weight for a person of your height (123-136 for a small-framed woman) your body is going to be highly resistent to losing. May I ask why you have a target weight of 120? Just curious as you are just a bit taller than my 5' 6.5".

-Shelly

PS If I were you I would stick CAD so you can eat your fruit during your rewards meal

Hi everyone!

First of all thank to all of you who so kindly put forward your advice: much thought over and appreciated.

The surprise is this: Friday i was in such a confusion as to which diet to try I decided to NOT decide until today thinking that during the weekend I would just try to generally low carb and not drive myself crazy being either ON a specific diet or OFF. I thought I'd just cut out sugars and pasta and bread and high carb veggies etc etc. and .... TADAAAHHHHH!!!!!! this morning I weigh 3 pounds less. Well waddaya know!!! So this morning I've decided to "choose a diet" next monday and carry on cutting out the big carbs this week hehehe!! Maybe all I needed to do was put into practise the basics of all these diets and stop looking for excuses to not stick to it! Goody! I'll keep you informed!

Shelly: the answer to your question is that I'm really skinny all over except on my butt where everything accumulates, and I've only had the extra for about a year or so. My frame is really really small even if I do have the extra height....

Bye to all
Have a great week!!!

C.

Remember me? I couldn't choose a diet .... so I've been doing what I decided in the last post for a week now and have lost 4 and 1/2 pounds!!!!!!!

My diet isn't exactly LC and isn't low cal either!! I have cappuccino in the morning with a croissant (jam inside), for lunch I avoid carbs and have protein and salad/vegs (but every now and then grab a forkful of somemone's fries). Snack is a couple of regular crackers with cheese or salami (yesterday was a little pizza!!) and dinner is like lunch with a couple of glasses of wine to boot!! Yesterday (even with the pizza) was my biggest weight loss day... (I admit though to a few more cravings today than the other days...)

I know my weight loss is effective cause I used the pants-o-meter (I don't know who I stole that term from on the board but I like it!!!) and this a.m. I'm wearing a pair of pants that I haven't been able to wear comfortably for over a year...

Can't say I'm too upset about it, but can anybody explain what's going on? I keep thinking "Tomorrow I'm going to weigh and be up at least 10 pounds". Objectively I'm not eating enormous quantities, and I never leave the table with a bloated feeling .. always "just right" ... The only idea I have is that probably I never followed any "official" diet long enough to see results and maybe I would have lost even quicker ...

Thanks for insight...
C.

Chocolate

There are so many ways to lose pounds. Low fat, cabbage soup, Low cal, Made up versions of diets like yours, and many more. The book shelves groan with different ideas. Not many explain or suggest the road to permanent reduction of fat (not necessarily water or muscle).

When you stop, or return to whatever you think is normal the weight will return as it does with everyone. So you try again and repeat the process. And it works again although perhaps not quite so quickly and you seem to be starting from an everso slightly higher starting weight.

Croissant, jam,crackers,fries,pizza even in small quantities keep the production of insulin going. There is no change in the way that the body uses fuel, you will still crave certain foods.

You are losing a little weight now through portion control and slightly lower calories, The no carbs at lunch is a myth because A) you are not eating just protein, the carbs are in the veg and the sauces B) There are carbs in the cheese, the milk in your tea and coffee, eggs etc. etc.

In essence what is going on is that you are not following a low carb diet, you do not know what the nutritional make up of what you are eating, you body is doing its own thing, and ultimately you will be dissappointed. This is not speculation my part, it is almost a certainty.

But this will happen very slowly. You do not have much to lose and this is not vital to you at the moment. But All of us see ourselves in where you are now. Carbs are not affecting you to much, a few pounds loss is a piece of cake (so to speak). We have all done it to make amends for a holiday binge, or to get into the summer clothes as the sun comes out.

There is nothing that I can say will change what you do. Your general awareness of what sugar/carbohydrate (the same thing) can do to your body is now better. But then peoples awareness of the dangers of alchohol and smoking does not necessarily lead to change.

I applaud you for making an effort to limit your carbohydrate intake. When you gain weight you will know why.

I second what Rustpot has said.

Low Carbohydrate diets has a lesson to teach. That is what to eat and how much. It retrains us on what we have been brought up on that made us gain the weight.

Don't get me wrong...I am happy for you that you are losing the weight you want. However unless you change your eating habits for life, you will regain the weight and will be back as a repeat carb offender.

I will caution you about eating a high fat diet while consuming medium to high carbohyrdates. It messes your blood chemistry up and throws it to the danger levels of high cholestrol.

Good luck to you