I've heard recently about the blood-type eating plan, and I know there's lots of other things out there - Ayurveda, etc etc.

I'm not sure that low-carb (at least in the format the I've been doing it - Protein Power) is right for me - the weight loss is very slow and I don't feel great at all, like the book - and folks on this list - say I should.

How can I tell if this is just the wrong WOE for me? Are there any special nutritionists I could go to that would tell me what would work for me...?

It seems that most folks on this list hit on this WOE and it works for them. I'm not convinced that it's right for me - I never got that boost of energy everyone seems to talk about, and the weight loss is very very slow and choppy - down a bit up a bit, over and over.

Any ideas?
Thanks!
Inna

Hi Inna! Sorry you are having trouble with Protein Power. I don't know much about that, I use Atkin's. I am sure there are people who don't benefit from low-carbing. You may not be insulin resistent. You might consider another successful plan like Weight Watcher's.

But remember, you might be a slow loser on any plan. Our bodies fight weight loss and you might just be good at that. Have you had a complete physical lately? You might consider getting your thyroid checked and find out if there are any other physical problems causing this. Birth control is another possibility.

Looking at your profile, you actually have a decent loss. Don't do what I did - when I was your age I was always seeking an easier faster way. I never found it. So I kept gaining. I hope you get a handle on this while you are still so young - believe me it gets worse.

You might consider starting a journal and making sure that you are following PP correctly. Best of luck to you! Cindi

Thanks for your support, Cindi!

I guess part of it for me is that although there are all sorts of conflicting views about the health issues involved in this WOE long-term, I can see cutting out sugar and flour from my life long-term (with the occasional indulgence, of course , but intuitively it feels unhealthy to cut out fruit (I've found that if I want to keep between 20-30g a day, I can't afford the high-carb counts in fruit!), to cut out all whole grains, and to limit veggies. I also get kind of nauseated from eating red meat, so I'm pretty much doing chicken, turkey, and fish.

I guess I'm just wondering about how to go about figuring out if this is the way for me to go - should I get more strict (which is definitely going to be a temporary thing), or change some things around (maybe go to 50-60g carbs, cut out some of the unnecessarily high-fat stuff) - how can I know what works, and how long should I give it to see if something works...?

Another concern is that my doc has had me on Meridia - an appetite suppressant - since I started LCing at the end of August, and he said that generally people only take it for 6 months; so I'm afraid of wasting that little extra boost on a WOE that isn't helping me lose weight!

How has your path on LC gone?

I think everyone is truly different. Just read a couple journals to figure that one out.

I had originally lost 80lbs many years ago doing low fat - low calories and exercise. I was a vegetarian (although I did have dairy and eggs) for years and it worked for me then.

Then I proceeded to spend the next 10 years yo yoing the same 15 lbs back and forth to just remain the same. I had added poultry and fish about 4 years ago but continued working out and low fat/low cal dieting. But it no longer worked for me. Jogging worked but I hated it and needed to find something I would keep up with.

I was always hungry which was the hardest thing to fight. LCing for me is great because I can be full and I feel good/healthy.

You need to find what makes you feel healthy too - I would think more about that than immediate weight loss.

Figure out when you are thin... what kind of diet/WOE would you be choosing. Then find the diet that utilizes most of that because this must be a way of life not a diet.

All the best to you...

FYI - I tried Ayurveda and I would have sold my mom for a salt shaker.

Inna, there are many factors that have to be taken into consideration when being a diet. There are literally millions of plans to choose from. My friend and I have had many discussions about dieting over the years. She is under the impression that as long as you stick to any diet, that it will produce results. I disagree, as there is physiology to take into consideration. I done the Susan Powter STOP THE INSANITY diet in 1993, and lost 40 lbs. in 3 months... I ate more than I even wanted to eat, at her books suggestion, and lost weight and shrunk... I looked a helluvalot smaller than the 180# I weighed. I still craved high sugar and high carb stuff though, and took advantage of :if it has low fat it is ok for me to eat: premise. With this LC'ing diet, I am not craving the sugar and carbs... and I am taking that to the bank~!! I eat a very restrictive diet... but that's ok, it IS MY CHOICE... I know I will not eat this way forever, I do eventually plan on adding more veggies and fruits into my eating... but the foods like the breads, the high sugars, the high starches... It is MY belief that I am better off without them.The thing is... the bottom line... is YOU have to find something that works for YOU!! There are numerous LC plans out there... examine them... try them... and you might be correct in what you say, that LCing isn't the right diet for you... I would look at past successes/failures on diets... what worked the best,the worst,... and remember that age affects how you lose weight as well... it is true that women lose weight more slowly as they get older *sigh* mom was right on that one... some things to remember, (in my opinion), make sure you don't go below at the least 1200 calories, I would suggest taking vitamins to supplement whatever you are doing, and do something that YOU can live with~! My opinion... so don't be thinking "she told me that I HAD to do it this way", just some suggestions~ and I wish you the very best in your journey to a smaller you~

Innani, I searched through your posts and what I see in your post from September 20 seems to be still with you.

This is what I see...

The Learning Curve: I find it frustrating to always have to think about food - it occurs as such a chore!

Yes! You're learning something entirely new and until you've learned the "hows" and are feeling more comfortable, it will be a real mental stretch.

Not Sticking to the Rules: I'm down 8 lbs, and haven't been following things too too closely for the whole duration.

Umm, I think this is self explanatory. You've got to give your all.

Commitment: So for me I guess it's a bit of a struggly between the quality of life issue, and actually getting a bit more of a dramatic weight loss result

You have to decide which of the two you want the most.

I guess I'm still waiting to make the mental shift, since for me this is REALLY HARD right now...

The mental shift comes with learning to love, or loving what you're doing. It comes with stepping over all the boundaries you've created for yourself. Be patient. It takes practice.

These are some of the basic principles that enable you to be successful at any thing you choose to take on. It doesn't make any difference what kind of diet you want to follow unless you can learn to live comfortably and grow with it. Please don't use it as a form of torure. You have the ability to change it into something that will nurture you.

And you don't need the Meridia. You have the strength within you.

Karen

Thanks Karen - that's really inspiring.
You're right - it's easy for me to beat myself up, compare myself to others, panic and flail, and blame the program, or my genetics, or what have you.
It really does come down to - it's a choice, something I'm doing for myself, and something I'm committed to. Exactly what it looks like may change. And - I know I need to get a little more perspective and distance on it - try something, if it doesn't work, just go back and try something else - instead of deciding that that's it, nothing works, and it's time to give it all up...

Yes, I believe there are people for whom this diet is wrong. Just like we low carbers complain about the pyramid and how it can't be right for everyone, so goes the low carb. I don't know for sure if the blood type diet is pertinent, all I know is I am a type O, and on low carb I lose weight very, very quickly. I have a girlfried who is type B, she went on low carb and lost only 3 pounds in 8 weeks! So she went to a naturalist (I think that is what she is) and she did a bunch of test and told her the low carb diet is like poison for her and put her on a different way of eating. Don't know whether to believe in all that or not, but every one I know that has had real success on the low carb diet has been a type O blood type. (success being not just weight loss, but feeling good and not being hungry and having cravings). Coincidence or not...you have to decide what to believe and figure out what is right for you.

And my husband...he is type AB...he eats whatever he wants, whenever he wants and not only doesn't gain weight, doesn't seem to have any food sensitivies either...and he is ten years older than I. If he tries to cut his carbs, he gets all shaky and weak. So, I figure if we are ever in a famine, I will survive and he won't. But until that happens...I have to cut the carbs.

If it is not working for you, you may not have your carbs low enough and want to try a different low carb diet.

I can't do any of the diets that give you more carbs than Atkins because as soon as I eat anything like they say you can eat (# of carbs) I go into a carb feeding frenzy.

Good luck! Hang in there and don't give up. There is something that you can do, you just have to find what is right for you!

Do you find that to be true for O+ and O-?

I think that this WOE is good for most everyone when followed liberally. Sugar, refined flour and wierd chemicals arn't really good for anyone, our bodies arn't made to deal with them. Cutting those things out of your diet might not result in a huge weight loss but it couldn't be bad, either. Going from there, you might have to tweak and experiment with your diet to find what is best for you.

I do not recall reading anything about being positive or negative, but I didn't read the book real thorughly (it is quite large).

The naturalist that my friend went to was connected with a health food store. She uses saliva and other things to figure out what was going on. I don't know if I believe in all this, but I will say this, something in whatever she tested (which was not blood) showed her that my friend has high cholesterol. And she does...extremely high. So...

If I knew at your age what I know now, the one thing I would do regardless of what "diet" I was on or anything else going on, I would avoid processed white flour like the plague. I wonder at times if I had known and done this one thing if I would have ever had a weight problem!