hello everyone
Im new to this board, so to get started i thaught id tell my story, before i ask a few questions.
I am a 23 year old male,
thanx i started a low carb program few months ago, basically because i caught sight of myself on a security camera in a bar and couldnt belive how fat i looked.
I decided to do somthing about it, as i had no sucess with the ladies in quite some time!
A friend was trying a low carb program, and was saying he had lost 11 pounds in 11 days, with no exercise. i was sceptical to his claims, but i decided to give it a go.
I looked up on the net about low carbing, an after getting the basics i started on a program of eating less than 20g of carbs a day.i had a great start
I lost 14 pounds in about 20 days.
i was about 200 pounds to start with and in about 6 weeks i was down to my current weight of 170 pounds.
i was delighted, instead of squeezing into 36inch jeans, i was fitting nicely into 32inchers. and i was feeling great about myself.
but i had very stressfull examinations coming up, so i quit the diet to concerntrate on them.
i didnt gain any weight at all, even though i was eating junk, to get my mind of the exams, so i was pleased, but after the exams finnished i seemed to fall into a deep depresion, a friend of mine, who is a doctor, told me that many people who leave a low carb plan suddenly get very depressed when they quit, due to the body missing those feel good ketones.
anyway i kept trying to get back on the low carb plan, but i couldnt last more than a few days untill i slipped.
i started going to the gym a lot (while on the low carb plan), and found i didnt loose any weight or gain much muscle and i seemed to only have the energy to run for about 1km at 12km/hour. so i quit again and started eating a traditional "healty plan", i seemed to gain a little fat, but als gained a hell of a lot of large muscle, i also had the energy to run 2 km at 12km/hour.
My body looks really good, except for my face, which still looks chubby and fat, and my waist, which looks good and toned when i breath in, but flabby when i breath out. the rest of my body looks superb, (IMO)
does anyone have any advice as to what i should do?
especially to loose weight on my face, is a return to low carb the answer?,
anyone know any facial exercises?
as a poor student, i found the low carb way very expensive to stick to, any tips there?
im feeling a bit depresed again, now that my face and waist dont seem to be getting thinner
thanks for reading, any help would be greatly appreciated
thanks

Welcome, Hayabusa.

I can't help you on the exercise question, but check out our exercise forum, and our gurus (especially TrainerDan and Fern) should be able to help you.

I *can* help with the finances, however. As a poor ex-student with a HUGE student loan, I don't find low-carbing particularly expensive. I buy cheaper cuts of meat, like chuck steaks, and make curries or stews. I buy off-cuts of bacon and whole chickens which I cut up, freeze, and cook one or two pieces at a time. I don't eat a lot of dairy, so cream and cheese are not much problem. Veggies aren't expensive, and just think of all those chips, Cokes, and chocolates, and other 'treats' I'm not buying!

As for your after-exam depression, that might have been caused by the release of tension, not the change in diet. I've been there too.

Rachel

Well, sounds like you had good success with lowcarbing the first time around.

Neither am I a fitness/exercise expert, but one thing that I was wondering ... were you adequately nourished?? Cutting out the carbs is one thing, but you need to replace those calories with PROTEIN. Especially with working out and weight training. Muscle needs protein in order to grow and develop. And total calories are important .... if you used to eat 200 or more carb grams a day, that's 800 calories. If you all of a sudden cut 800 calories out of your day, your body has to get the energy from somewhere. Your fat stores yes, but protein is needed for cell replacement, tissue repair, hormone production. 60g per day is the minimum requirement for a small, sedentary woman. A big tall guy who works out would need a LOT more than that.

Were you also taking vitamins and minerals? in particular calcium, magnesium and potassium?? These important minerals play a vital role in energy production and balance in the body.

Indeed, there is a lot of information to be found on the web. But nothing beats getting your hands on a book, and reading up on all the nuts and bolts and fine details. You might very well be able to borrow a copy from your library. Atkins of course is most popular, but I think you might also find Protein Power useful. They go to into great detail about protein, exercise and energy. Here's a link to the Protein Power FAQ's, in particular some questions on athletes, protein and fat consumption .. http://eatprotein.com/answers3.html#3c

Hope this has been helpful. Keep us posted how you're doing..

Doreen