Q's for those who fell off the wagon

These are some questions for those who lost weight on low-carb at one
point, then for some reason went back to high-carb and gained all or some
of the weight back.

When you stopped doing low-carb, did you stop because you saw it as a
"diet" and now that you were thinner you thought you didn't have to do it
anymore?

Did you stop because of something stressful in your life and you needed
comfort foods and didn't care about losing weight anymore?

Did you gradually add carbs back in during your maintenance phase, but
didn't pay enough attention and added too many back in?

I'm curious about this because I want to know what potential roadblocks are
ahead so I can try to avoid them if possible. For those who quit low-carb
and are going back to it, what advice would you give to people like me who
don't want to ever fall off the wagon in the first place?

--
-Michelle Levin (Luna)
http://www.mindspring.com/~lunachick
http://www.mindspring.com/~designbyluna

"Luna" wrote in message
...
These are some questions for those who lost weight on low-carb at one
point, then for some reason went back to high-carb and gained all or some
of the weight back.

When you stopped doing low-carb, did you stop because you saw it as a
"diet" and now that you were thinner you thought you didn't have to do it
anymore?


Yes. I decided to stop low-carbing to improve my stength and to gain
muscle-mass.


Did you stop because of something stressful in your life and you needed
comfort foods and didn't care about losing weight anymore?


No.


Did you gradually add carbs back in during your maintenance phase, but
didn't pay enough attention and added too many back in?


I ate anything and everything. (probably a mistake)

I plan on being much more careful in the future.


I'm curious about this because I want to know what potential roadblocks
are
ahead so I can try to avoid them if possible. For those who quit low-carb
and are going back to it, what advice would you give to people like me who
don't want to ever fall off the wagon in the first place?


Moderation in all things.


--
-Michelle Levin (Luna)
http://www.mindspring.com/~lunachick
http://www.mindspring.com/~designbyluna

I was on Atkins 4 years ago and lost 50 pounds - did really well, I thought,
but was very bored with the diet, as I had stayed on induction for the
entire 6 months that I was on it. One night at work, the dietary department
had left a full tray of scrumptious cake desserts in the pantry
refrigerator. Seeing that ocean of cake before me was too much, and I
snapped. I ate three pieces in a row and would have kept on except I
thought I was going to be sick. I went home depressed and disgusted and
stopped Atkins and basically just said the hell with it. I gained the 50
pounds back and then some.

This time (8 weeks now), I'm trying to do it smarter and cutting myself some
slack. I'm about 75 pounds out from goal, and I didn't put it all on in 6
months, so there's no need for me to think I need to take it all off
quickly. I read the South Beach Diet book, and the physiology of
carbohydrates made better sense to me than the way it was explained in The
New Diet Revolution. Having read that one again just recently, the
explanations are about the same, but I think the testimonials in the South
Beach diet are more engaging and I related to them more.

I have degenerative disc disease in my spine and I will eventually need
surgery - it's sooner rather than later now, so losing weight now will make
the surgery go better and make healing easier to accomplish. I am also a
Type 2 diabetic, with a strong family history of diabetes. I do have plenty
of time to improve my way of eating, so I'm trying to be logical, and as
structured as is practically possible.

I did two weeks of induction, and I try to keep my carbs in the 30-40 range.
Considering that it used to be nothing for me to practically live on a diet
of carbohydrates, I feel like I'm doing pretty well. The things that I do
differently than before - I do eat sugar free chocolate sometimes. I take
my own food to work with me and if others have brought carby snacks or
desserts - I eat my own food first so that I'm not "hungry" - then if I
still want something, I have a small portion. I have done that twice in the
last 8 weeks. Once was a piece of cake - the other time was fresh peach
pie. Neither episode sent me into a carb frenzy, and I went straight back
to my WOE and didn't look back.

My weight loss is slower this time, but I think it's okay. I'm making
progress, and my blood sugars are staying in a good range. Of course,
tomorrow is going to be a trial, and I'm debating how I want to handle the
dessert table. I'm not sure if I'll have one of something or bites of
several things, or nothing. It will depend on how I feel at the time.
Regardless, I'm not going to beat myself up about it if I do want to eat a
little more carby than usual. I'm just going to stay with my WOE and keep
my eyes forward.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it,

DebH
296/284/210

Luna,

I low carbed for 3 years and maintained a 20 lb weight loss the whole time.

What pushed me off the diet was an increasing problem with having no energy
at all combined with frustration that I couldn't lose any more weight. At
the time I thought that if I could get to a healthier weight my diabetes
might improve, so I really wanted to lose at least another 10 lbs.

After a special lab test showed that I had very high insulin and low blood
sugar two hours after eating a high protein, no carb meal, my doctor
encouraged me to think that Metformin might help with the insulin
resistance, high insulin, weight loss and other issues.

I started Metformin and immediately started having more trouble with low
blood sugars (in the 60s and low 70s. Normal is mid 80s.) I started eating
carbs to balance out the lows and since the Metformin appeared to control my
blood sugar, I decided to eat at a higher carb level--more like 150 grams a
day.

I felt much better on this regimen. My energy and mood were 100%
better--except that I gained 10 lbs within a few months. I ended up
stopping the Metformin because the lows were scary--I'd feel like I was
going to pass out. Plus, it was pushing up my cholesterol and my fasting
blood sugar was going up. After that I used another drug to control blood
sugar and continued to feel really good. I maintained my weight 10 lbs
higher than where I'd been when low carbing for six months, but eventually a
major stressor--melanoma--led me to gain another 10 lbs. At that point my
blood pressure went completely out of control.

This time low carbing I realized that the lack of energy I had from low
carbing was due to *low* blood sugar caused by high insulin and figured out
that the high insulin was caused by eating too much protein which was
converting to glucose in the body and catalyzing insulin release.

I have kept my protein much lower this time than I did in the past, which
has helped. I also monitor low blood sugars as assiduously as high ones, and
found that if I can nudge them up as soon as one starts (with my "two gram
cure") I don't end up with low energy all day.

I also am letting myself eat small portions of just about anything every now
and then so that I don't build up the huge feelings of deprivation that I
had after 3 years of no bread, cake, pastry, ice cream, or other forbidden
foods. I don't have a problem with bingeing on anything but ice cream and
certain candies (which I avoid!) so I can do this, and I've found that
because I know that I can have the occasional off plan treat I don't feel
any need to go off low carb in a big way. At the end of my 3 years of low
carbing I had gotten to where I could barely stand to look at a piece of
meat or cheese and longed for grains, fruits, pasta and upscale veggie food.

I've also found that my energy level is much better, over all, at a level
around 50-60 grams a day, rather than the 30-40 I used to eat at, though I
have to watch calories more carefully at the higher level.

In short the big problems I've had to deal with we

1. Low blood sugar which worsened the longer I low carbed
2. Stalling above where I wanted to be
3. Feelings of deprivation for many foods that grew very strong after a
couple years

-- Jenny

Cut the carbs to respond to my new email address!
New photo: http://www.geocities.com/jenny_the_bean/jennypics.htm
Weight: 168.5/137
Diabetes Type II diagnosed 8/1998 -
HBa1c 5.2 10/03
Low Carb 9/1998 - 8/2001 and 11/10/02 - Now

http://www.geocities.com/jenny_the_bean
How to calculate your need for protein * How much people really lose each
month * Water Weight Gain & Loss * The "Two Gram Cure" for Hunger Cravings
* Characteristics of Successful Dieters * Indispensible Low Carb Treats *
Should You Count that Low Impact Carb? * Curing Ketobreath * Exercise
Starting from Zero * Do Starch Blockers Work? * NEW! Why the Low Carb Diet
is Great for Diabetes * NEW! Low Carb Strategies for People with Diabetes


"Luna" wrote in message
...
These are some questions for those who lost weight on low-carb at one
point, then for some reason went back to high-carb and gained all or some
of the weight back.

When you stopped doing low-carb, did you stop because you saw it as a
"diet" and now that you were thinner you thought you didn't have to do it
anymore?

Did you stop because of something stressful in your life and you needed
comfort foods and didn't care about losing weight anymore?

Did you gradually add carbs back in during your maintenance phase, but
didn't pay enough attention and added too many back in?

I'm curious about this because I want to know what potential roadblocks
are
ahead so I can try to avoid them if possible. For those who quit low-carb
and are going back to it, what advice would you give to people like me who
don't want to ever fall off the wagon in the first place?

--
-Michelle Levin (Luna)
http://www.mindspring.com/~lunachick
http://www.mindspring.com/~designbyluna

Luna wrote:

These are some questions for those who lost weight on low-carb at one
point, then for some reason went back to high-carb and gained all or some
of the weight back.

When you stopped doing low-carb, did you stop because you saw it as a
"diet" and now that you were thinner you thought you didn't have to do it
anymore?

Did you stop because of something stressful in your life and you needed
comfort foods and didn't care about losing weight anymore?

Did you gradually add carbs back in during your maintenance phase, but
didn't pay enough attention and added too many back in?

I'm curious about this because I want to know what potential roadblocks are
ahead so I can try to avoid them if possible. For those who quit low-carb
and are going back to it, what advice would you give to people like me who
don't want to ever fall off the wagon in the first place?

I guess you could say I fell off the wagon. I first LC'd in the
70s, I think, maybe even earlier. I just viewed it as a diet,
something to do until I achieved the desired weight that I could
then ignore. Of course, I told myself I could just go back on
again, that I would keep track of my weight and do so, but that
did not happen. Of course, we know what happens then.... I LC'd
1-2 more times with the same philosophy and the same result. Then
I thought about it again for several years, fearing that since I
was older, more could go wrong. I was relieved to see the
positive studies that started coming out, and then got back on.
But now I see that this has to be more than a short-term fix. It
has to be incorporated into my life. I expect I will occasionally
eat higher-carb things when I am satisfied with my weight, but I
will not make the the norm. I haven't quite figured out what my
initial approach will be though. First, I somehow would have to
do "safe" experiments to see what has the tendency to derail me.


--
Jean B.

I did it because I mistakenly told myself "never again" would I eat
certain foods (that I was not sensitive to) rather than spacing it out.
I've gained 6 pounds over the past 4 months.

For me, low carb is about appetite control, not ketosis or never having
certain foods ever again. (barring my sensitivities). I am sensitive to
enough things on this earth, so why add to it? I am now rewriting my
WOE to include the things I swore off, only less often, so I know I
"can" have it. I now have a once a week free day where I can count
calories but eat the foods I want. The rest of the time it's low carb.

CM

In message ,
Luna writes
I'm curious about this because I want to know what potential roadblocks are
ahead so I can try to avoid them if possible. For those who quit low-carb
and are going back to it, what advice would you give to people like me who
don't want to ever fall off the wagon in the first place?

Don't get pregnant :-)

When I got pg my tastes changed and I could NOT stomach meat, fish or
eggs. I still dislike them, though not as strongly, ten months after
the event.
--
Mogget, the Churl in the Puce Greatcoat

For me it was getting depressed at not getting to spend holidays with my
family two years ago.. I decided I was going to enjoy the holidays, eat what
I wanted since I knew I could lose any of the weight I might gain.. I was
doing this much more strictly than I am this time and it was easy to let it
go.. Took me almost two years to get it back together and start losing
again.. slower this time, but easier to handle. This time around,
Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners are going to take the place of my weekend
semi-to-hell-with-it meal. It hasn't hurt me to have one meal on the
weekends where I eat what I want.. usually that just means going ahead and
not subbing out the baked potato if we go out.. or eating a couple
breadsticks if we go to Olive Garden.. etc.

Teeb

"Luna" wrote in message
...
These are some questions for those who lost weight on low-carb at one
point, then for some reason went back to high-carb and gained all or some
of the weight back.

When you stopped doing low-carb, did you stop because you saw it as a
"diet" and now that you were thinner you thought you didn't have to do it
anymore?

Did you stop because of something stressful in your life and you needed
comfort foods and didn't care about losing weight anymore?

Did you gradually add carbs back in during your maintenance phase, but
didn't pay enough attention and added too many back in?

I'm curious about this because I want to know what potential roadblocks
are
ahead so I can try to avoid them if possible. For those who quit low-carb
and are going back to it, what advice would you give to people like me who
don't want to ever fall off the wagon in the first place?

--
-Michelle Levin (Luna)
http://www.mindspring.com/~lunachick
http://www.mindspring.com/~designbyluna

"Luna" wrote ...
These are some questions for those who lost weight on low-carb at one
point, then for some reason went back to high-carb and gained all or some
of the weight back.

When you stopped doing low-carb, did you stop because you saw it as a
"diet" and now that you were thinner you thought you didn't have to do it
anymore?

I stopped because hadn't lost weight for the last 10 of 12 months I was
doing it, so I got ****ed off.


Did you gradually add carbs back in during your maintenance phase, but
didn't pay enough attention and added too many back in?

I went crazy and binged on all the foods I wasn't allowed - potato chips,
savouries, etc.

I'm curious about this because I want to know what potential roadblocks
are
ahead so I can try to avoid them if possible. For those who quit low-carb
and are going back to it, what advice would you give to people like me who
don't want to ever fall off the wagon in the first place?

Don't quit! I gained 18kgs (nearly 40 pounds) in 9 months, because I binged
on all the forbidden foods, I think out of defiance since I was so POd about
sticking faithfully to LC for a year and losing bugger-all.

I've been back on it now for about 16 months and am nowhere near my previous
starting weight yet. Though I didn't lose weight for the first 14 months
this time around either, I'm sticking with it. If things get unbearable I
might do it CAD-style for a week or two, but for me low carb is just the way
I eat now.


Rachel
(New Zealand)

JC, I'm really proud of you admitting that you've fallen off the wagon
before. Sometimes I get this image of you being super human and having all
the self control in the world. Nice to see you're human, thanks for sharing
your answers.
~*~Pie~*~

"JC Der Koenig" wrote in message
y.com...
"Luna" wrote in message
...
These are some questions for those who lost weight on low-carb at one
point, then for some reason went back to high-carb and gained all or
some
of the weight back.

When you stopped doing low-carb, did you stop because you saw it as a
"diet" and now that you were thinner you thought you didn't have to do
it
anymore?


Yes. I decided to stop low-carbing to improve my stength and to gain
muscle-mass.


Did you stop because of something stressful in your life and you needed
comfort foods and didn't care about losing weight anymore?


No.


Did you gradually add carbs back in during your maintenance phase, but
didn't pay enough attention and added too many back in?


I ate anything and everything. (probably a mistake)

I plan on being much more careful in the future.


I'm curious about this because I want to know what potential roadblocks
are
ahead so I can try to avoid them if possible. For those who quit
low-carb
and are going back to it, what advice would you give to people like me
who
don't want to ever fall off the wagon in the first place?


Moderation in all things.


--
-Michelle Levin (Luna)
http://www.mindspring.com/~lunachick
http://www.mindspring.com/~designbyluna