May I ask you low carb "old-timers" a question??

I only started to learn about and eat low carb since March 16th of this year...and was doing fine for a few weeks, losing numbers like 3, 5, 1, 11, 7, 4, etc, per week.

THEN... I found the Recipes forum, and starting trying out the things that I had been missing...the "low carb dessert recipes"....uh oh...

I stopped losing, and started gaining, and now am having trouble reversing it. Can you give me some advice?? Have any of you found this to be true in your case?? Is it a matter of portion control? Or is it an all-or-nothing thing??

Any hints, tips, or things you have learned along the way you can pass on to this newbie??

Thank you!!!

WELL, in my opinion, and this is purely my opinion based on MY OWN INDIVIDUAL FACTS FOR ME. You have to be very careful when you begin to follow alot of the recipes you see on here. Try to keep it as natural as possible because alot of the recipes are for maintenence and ongoing weight loss and lifetime maintenance. They are also for most people who have gotten or are already pretty close to their goals. And if you are one of those super insulin resistant type people. Those can be furocios to your progress in the event you cant have say more than 25 carbs or so in order to lose. I found my majic number to be at about 28-30 carbs / day before i lose my ketosis. So when i stay around 15 and less than 20 a day with 3-5 meals thats when i do my best. Thats also for when i am doing like absolutely ZERO sugars. Not less than 1, Not 1, Not not a significant source of... Im talking absolutely ZERO SUGARS. and alot of the recipes kinda make you HAVE to tolerate 1 gram or so. and when you look at the total consumption of those items in a week or so or even just consuming the entire recipe in a day or two. you have killed your ketosis register and will either maintain or gain. I am pretty sure that the last time i was truly successful after losing 100+lbs I began to get cocky. started listening to alot of outside things and got away from what i had been doing next thing you know i was up 30lbs and then being told that hey the weight fluctuation is going to happen. well it happened allright. and it took me another 4 years to put it all back on plus some. So in my opinion. i just stick with what works. Especially for those of us that have lots and lots to lose. I try to find a recipe every now and then but the ones i tend to stick to are the simple ones that i only really use the ingredients i have in the refrigerator. like eggs, cream cheese, splenda, heavy whipping cream, etc. When i do that, i get to endulge and still come out with a whoosh. I keep saying i know there are things i can have, but its still a diet/way of life. I'll have some fancy stuff when im chilling outside SHIRTLESS! lol

Ditto what JT said. If I have too many "LC recipes" that blur the line from this WOE I tend to gain too. One thing to remember is that Splenda does have carbs too. Like 1g per packet, which adds up quick if you're measuring by the cup. I think the key is like he said, find that level of carbs you can tolerate and still stay in ketosis, then stay under it.

Thank you JT and Aaron, I REALLY appreciate your insights. I think I need to go back to basics, like you said.

How do you keep track of the number of carbs? Is there a way that doesn't take so much time? It seems like I already spend so much more time cooking everything from scratch, and then to add on paperwork and calculating on top of that is sort of daunting! Any tips for how to do keep track efficiently and quickly??

Thanks!

Rettakat
I personaly tried following the recipes this last week and half and have not lost anything since but to only go up and down the three to five pounds. I stopped doing them and I finally lost another pound. I also keep track of my eating by using a web site called sparkspeople.com. I hope this helps.

Well today is my official weigh in day and its even better than yesterday! Down an additional 1.5lbs since yesterday, im sure it was because i had like a GALLON OF WATER lol, and it did leave me before morning im sure. So new weight is 474.00 Even! 450 IS AROUND THE CORNER! WOO HOOOO. Thats 36lbs even. slowly but surely.

JT

Congrats mcadeowner! This mornings my weight was 208.6! yay

is it to late to join?

the way i look ~ it is the more meat i eat the less carbs i have to count

Sw: 260
Cw: 256
Gw: 130

my weigh in was the same oh well better than up.
you are all doing so well and i agree with the guys on the don't eat too many of the reciepe listed they make me stall or sometimes even gain.

Weezerrrrr! Your more than welcome to come on in! This is a great group of people and a heckuvalotta(isitaword?) support. Enjoy!
I like to use www.fitday.com to track my carbs

I restarted LC on Monday and thought to join you all then. Can I still join today? I've lost 10 lbs so far. If not, its okay, I'll keep checking in to see how everyone is doing...

SW: 305
CW: 295
GW: 135

Ok, I think I can do this. Can I give this a try?

sorry, I met to post the last message on the 100 knee lifts but I see that most of you are there so is it ok to join that also?