I know that sounds off, waaaaaay off. I was browsing the boards various other forums and reading random posts. It seems like the type of person prone to CKD has an easier time dieting, its more of a challenge and a for some even more than a hobby. I dont know if I said that right, but the prospect of passivly dieting and only low carbing is really dismal, boring, and mentally defeating. I dont think I could do it. I need to know I am actively participating and even doing more than losing weight, fat or muscle, but actually getting somewhat healthier. when I started, 10 minutes of cardio floored me. Now I can go for just under an hour and only have to stop out of soreness and boredom. According to the calipers i have went down 4-5% in body fat and that totals to about 15 or so pounds, the scale only says 10, so I am inclined to think I have put on a few pounds of muscle.

its just a late night ramble,figured I'd post something other than my usual asking for technical information haha.

Anyways, subjectivly, seperating the objective and blatantly more rigerous, physical, and disciplined difference between CKD and Atkins style LC'ing, do you think that its easier to CKD, for YOU, than to just LC. It seems like cake, "oh sure, that would be easy, I would be doing 1/10th of what I do now" but in reality I think it would drive most of the people who frequent here insane.

PLus I think the strictness destroys any and all temptation to cheat. I guess its like saying that it's easier to "STAY" in a maximum security prison than it is to "STAY" in a minimum one.

Steven, have a cruise through the Health forums next time you venture out of this one You'll see that there are many LCers who are doing this for reasons other than fat loss. LCing helps regulate (and in some cases cure) many diseases including, Crohn's, Arthritis, Type II Diabetes, PCOS and Heart Disease. LCing gave me normal blood pressure for the first time in my adult life (w/o having to exercise and before dropping 70lbs) and LCing with some weight lifting helped me drop a whole hell of a lot of BF.

I understand what you're saying re LC vs. LC w/ a carb up, but I can't answer that question..... yet

Nat

Lyle wrote something or other in his journals on this topic. It really rang a bell with me - if I'm going to do something, I'm really going to DO it, damn it. As in, if I am cutting the carbs, I'll cut them to absolute zero. If I am planning out my eating for the week, I'll go to the store, buy the same canned tuna and mayonnaise for every day of the whole week. Obviously it's monotonous as hell and even someone as stubborn as I will eventually go insane doing this. At some point I'll have to stop and do something different, and thus CKD provides an ideal platform.

And it's not just a matter of being stubborn or having willpower. As I am reading more about leptin, it all falls into place even better - it's not just the psychological boredom that calls for such a cycle but real physiological processes.

Having said all that: I think that CKD as described by Dan Duchaine and practiced by most of us is a bit extreme and may not be suitable for everyone. While most LC dieters (excluding those doing it for very specific health reasons) are probably well advised to carb every once in a while, not all are as active, attentive, or just plain obsessed about what they do and how they eat. Admittedly, CKD takes a lot of tuning and a lot of sacrifice in the sense of enjoying what you eat.

I certainly wouldn't expect everyone to eat tuna and mayonnaise every day and smarties on the weekends. That's why I stopped describing what I do in much detail to friends and acquaintances - I just say that I do LC.

And when they catch me with a mouthful of smarties, I just pretend that it didn't happen. If you ignore something it will go away, right?