I am wondering, because I can't follow either protein power or atkins completely to the T, it just doesn't work for me.

I find what works for me is to keep my calories between 1400 and 1900, trying to eat good fats vs. bad fats, trying to keep my protien up, and keeping my net carbs under 30.

If I put any more expectations than that on myself, I"m dooming myself to failure.

DISCLAIMER: This is just MY experience. EVERYPERSON is going to be different, and need different things out of their WOE. Some people may need to be more strict to have this be effective for me. The key here is that we are losing weight, gaining muscle, and feeling better about ourselves. How we get there is our own doing.

I have read many times in these forums where people get very adamant with others regarding 'cheats' etc. Some people are of the opinion that it is absolutely NOT OKAY to EVER eat a carby treat again, to EVER eat a bagel or a peice of bread. Well, if this is what works for you, then that is great. But you can't pretend to think that it will be the same for everybody.

I have lost five pounds in my first week of low-carb. I lost nothing in the first few days and got a bit discouraged, but kept with it and now I see five pounds gone. I am very happy about this! Perhaps it could have been more if I had not eaten any processed meats, or sugar-free chocolate treats, and such. But had I not done that, I wouldn't have made it here at all. THAT's JUST ME. I find that when I have a craving for, say, potato chips, I will have ONE. My craving goes away. That is what works for me. If I have a chocolate craving, I grab some Russel Stovers. See, for me, if I DON"T give in in some way to these cravings, then I will end up in a binge. Last year when I low-carb'd I lost 15 pounds, but denied myself everything, like some people say I should, and I ended up falling hard off the wagon and binging and gained it all back.

So this is my way of doing this. I eat a cheerio or two here and there. And maybe one potato chip twice a week. I eat bavarian smokies and eat sugar-free commercial chocoloate treats. THIS IS WHAT WORKS FOR ME. So PLEEEEAAASSSE don't tell me that I HAVE to do it your way.

Dear GirlGeek,

Great for you! You seem to have a lot of discipline and are more or less following the same way of eating as the rest of us. All of us create our own plan to an extent because all of our bodies are different.

Many people however do not stop at one potato chip and go on to finish the bag. It's for these people that leaning on a proven plan in a book is a good idea.

I'm going out to dinner tonight at a friend's house tonight. I'm dreading it - I don't know what I'll be expected to eat - but I'll eat what I want and if I suddenly gain weight I know what to do to get rid of it again.

The people who write these books are doctors who has worked with hundreds of obese and overweight people - and let's be honest, if we all had iron strong will power maybe we wouldn't be overweight in the first place!

Not you nor anyone else has to do it anyone's way - but let's hope the way individuals chose works - the sad stories on these pages shown that often it doesn't.

Robert

I'm one of those folks that has to do it MY way, too. I created my own plan and it's worked very well for me. I finally figured out a way to eat foods I love all day long and still lose weight. If I hadn't been on Atkins before I switched to my own plan, I don't think my plan would have worked as well b/c I'm one of those people that really needed to detoxify from sugar. Actually, my plan would still have worked, but I wouldn't have been able to work it.
asugar

Hi Girlgeek,

I agree with Robert. If your way of lowcarbing works for you, then stay with it. Don't know how you can eat just one potato chip--one large bag would be my preference--but with that kind of discipline, you can't help being successful!

Most of us need the structure of proven plans, so that if things go wrong, we have a pretty good idea where we "cheated". The other thing is that we're learning a completely different way of eating. I've accepted that fact that I can never again eat sugar, flour, rice or certain veggies, because I don't know the meaning of "moderation". But that's ok, because the trade off is that I can eat butter, cream and real salad dressing, etc.

The main goal is to be happy with the way you're eating--if you're not, it becomes just another "diet" which at some point you're going to stop and go back to eating "normally".

Good luck with your "way of eating"!

judy

I think for this to be a permanent change for me, I have to develop my own eating plan. Atkins and other low carb plans are awesome for guidelines but I am tweaking them to fit my personal lifestyle. For example, I simply loathe any pork products whatsoever so I can't use the pork rinds for recipes or anything so I have to find my own low carb ingredients.
I have to find my own personal way of low carbing that I can live with the rest of my life...besides I hate being told what to do...LOL
I am extremely grateful to Dr Atkins for his wisdom and I feel that God did raise him up to help others the way he did.

I completly agree with you!!!! you should guide yourself by your best results, and what makes it right for you. Sometimes it's preferable to have a little treat,and not binge for two days non stop...
I've gone through the same path, trying what works best for me , not giving in at the first craving... drinking lots of water...
taking my supplements... and being logical about my chioces...
If this way you have found works for you, and you're losing weight...all the power to you!!!!
Best of luck
mamasita

I don't think anyone tells anybody to do it their way. If you ask a question, you're going to get a lot of different answers based upon everyones experience.

While it may be interpreted as "DO IT MY WAY OR YOU WILL BE DOOMED TO FAILURE!", people are speaking about what they have experienced and what works for them.

The biggest desire in passing on information is to see that people succeed. If anyone thinks that they can help others not to make the same mistakes they've made, they'll do it.

But, it's in the nature of being all too human that our own experience will be our greatest teacher.

Karen

Karen, while I appreciate your replies I do find that sometimes your replies to the threads can be somewhat terse.




I can fully appreciate this. All I was saying was that often I have read threads where people do get very adamant about things, for example cheating. I read on a few different threads where people even seemed to get angry, saying that there was no way anyone on this WOE could cheat, it is against everything, cheating is totally unacceptable, you should never ever cheat, any form of chips, chocolate bars, breads, etc. is a cheat and very bad, etc. etc.

I was just trying to say that I think that while this may be wrong for THAT person, it may not be wrong for me. I don't know why defenses have to go up so quickly when I say my WOE may be a little different.

Girlgeek,
It's the real world----- In the real world we all have to find our own way. Some follow a defined path and some venture out on thier own. What ever way you go, the goal is the same.....Get there and be happy that you did.

Judy

GirlGeek...

I think some of the responses that you've seen are based on experiences with people who have been through this board before saying "I just want to do it my way" and before long are posting things like "Help! I'm not losing" or "Why won't the scale move?" Many of them have left saying that low carb doesn't work without ever having followed any established plan. In reality, it was their version of low carb that didn't work.
If what you're doing is working...great! But if you should happen to hit a stall or plateau, please be open to suggestions from those who have "been there, done that" or have seen lots of posts from others who have.
On a large board like this, you're going to see all sorts of opinions and ideas. Some of them are good. Some of them aren't. Those ideas or suggestions that are downright dangerous (not saying that yours are) are going to get challenged. It's always best to take what you find useful and ignore the rest.
When it comes down to it, nobody can force you to do it their way. They can suggest, they can even insist, but nobody is going to show up on your doorstep and force you to low carb any way other than what you want to do.

LisaN, thank you for your response, I can definately see your point regarding people who may go away saying this Woe does not work. And because of your reasonable and kind response I now know that if my own way of doing things stops working, I will go to a strict follow-the-book approach to get things moving again. I had never thought of it that way. Thanks, Lisa!

That is what I am trying to do as an Atkins OWL 1800 calorie limit.
What is it that you are concerned about not following in the program. Maybe you are in sync with the low carb way after all. I try to notice and reduce chance of an insulin spike that would put me off program. You probably can feel the limit for that in your carb intake and back off before it becomes an issue.

ive been doing atkins for about 6 weeks now and i dropped about 30 lbs, and then i stalled, cant loose another ounce. so ive been reading on the site different peoples experiences, and today i decided to join e-diets, and im not promoting it i just wanted to see how it works, and what kind of a menu they would give me, they also have a money back guarantee, if u dont like the site they totally refund all unused money, well let me tell u i was probably eating too much, from their induction diet, i can tell u i was probably eating 3x what i was supposed to. So now i am going to restart my atkins and follow for 4 weeks, if it works, i will stick to it, if not, i will only have lost 20 dollars, and i can down load all the recipies in the meantime

good luck friend.

I have worked out my own plan. It's still low carb but not as low as Atkins nor as high as the Zone. It seems to be working for me as I have started losing again. I was on Atkins for about two months, then tried CAD and back to Atkins when that didn't work for me.
What I do is have some carb and protein at each meal but only unrefined carbs, like whole grain toast or small portions of low-glycemic fruit, absolutely no refined sugar. I avoid processed foods and use the good fats. Calories are between 1200 and 1400.
I'm feeling much better with this WOE since I was feeling terrible every afternoon, having kidney pains, and spending way too much time in the bathroom or taking Immodium.
I too think that I wouldn't be able to stay away from the carbs if I hadn't started with Atkins.

I agree 100% with you.....and wondered how many people
have been successful by "doing their own thing" I have
been lowcarbing since 2/03, tried atkins......too strict,
somersizing etc. so decided to combine the two, and count
carbs. I find if I go below 30 net carbs, I start feeling dragged
out and sooo tired. So I go between 30-40 per day, as I
exercise 5 days a week also. I also got bored very fast
with eating the same things, and have incorporated some
nuts, and some LeCarb ice cream into my food choices.
I want to lose 9 lbs. and the inches coming off are slow,
but I agree with you in not depriving yourself. If I
deprive myself for too long, I splurge way to much, and
have to start over again, but am wondering by incorporating
those few items in.....is it stalling me out??? and preventing
me from losing any lbs.? I have lost about an inch and a half
in my hips and my legs about 1/2 inc. my stomach about
an inch. So maybe it will just take me a lot longer, by doing
it this way....but like you said, I cannot deprive myself
and I get bored very easily.

Deb