Is low-carbing successful if you go slowly??

Question folks:

Can you "go slowly" with low-carbing, cutting out foods little by
little? Atkins seems to want you to go cold-turkey and seems to have a
scientific reason why one should do this. Is it less effective if you
gradually cut out foods?

I am kind of doing this intuitively, because many of these foods were
triggering nasty side effects. I can say that I have not had one of my
splitting headaches in about a week which is the longest I've gone
headache-free. I got very, very sick yesterday from a blood sugar
crash, though, and even today feel like my blood pressure is still
kind of low.

In my case, I haven't quit carbs so much as they've quit ME. I have
already cut back significantly on the carbs. I can't eat very much of
them and I only eat as much as I can eat.

A positive note is that I AM learning restraint... and discovering how
tasty low-carb foods really are. I'm inspired to cook. Lettuce
sandwiches are fantastic. I can't believe I ate off of bread all these
years. These white foods really have no flavor of their own! I am
inspired to make 'manicotti' of rolled up, thin-sliced zucchini
stuffed with ricotta cheese... thoughts anyone?

Weeks ago I would have thought nothing about eating a whole supersize
fries from McDonald's. Tonight I made chicken baked in lemon juice and
butter with herbs, and threw a bunch of halved mushrooms, and some
potatoes (for my carbo-philic fiance) into the pan. The mushrooms took
up all the chicken juice and marinade.

I had only two small slices of the potato - and found myself picking
the mushrooms off his plate!! I wanted the shrooms, not the potato!
That's a first!

I am thinking about going Atkins though because I seem to be doing
poorly doing low-carb while eating "light" foods; I got really, really
sick from low blood sugar.

BTW does anyone have any good vegetarian recipes?? For variety's sake?

wilson wrote:
:: Question folks:
::
:: Can you "go slowly" with low-carbing, cutting out foods little by
:: little? Atkins seems to want you to go cold-turkey and seems to have
:: a scientific reason why one should do this. Is it less effective if
:: you gradually cut out foods?

You may not drop as quickly at first, but it will certainly work to
gradually cut our excessive carbs from your diet. Over the longer term, the
results will be very likely the same and you'll reap the same benefits
relative to weight loss.

You really need a high fat diet when you cut out the carbs. Are you
doing that? Probably why you are sick.
Lots of olive oil, butter, bacon, mayonaise etc is needed to fuel
your weight loss.

PJ


On 4 Mar 2004 01:08:45 -0800, (wilson) wrote:

Question folks:

Can you "go slowly" with low-carbing, cutting out foods little by
little? Atkins seems to want you to go cold-turkey and seems to have a
scientific reason why one should do this. Is it less effective if you
gradually cut out foods?

I am kind of doing this intuitively, because many of these foods were
triggering nasty side effects. I can say that I have not had one of my
splitting headaches in about a week which is the longest I've gone
headache-free. I got very, very sick yesterday from a blood sugar
crash, though, and even today feel like my blood pressure is still
kind of low.

In my case, I haven't quit carbs so much as they've quit ME. I have
already cut back significantly on the carbs. I can't eat very much of
them and I only eat as much as I can eat.

A positive note is that I AM learning restraint... and discovering how
tasty low-carb foods really are. I'm inspired to cook. Lettuce
sandwiches are fantastic. I can't believe I ate off of bread all these
years. These white foods really have no flavor of their own! I am
inspired to make 'manicotti' of rolled up, thin-sliced zucchini
stuffed with ricotta cheese... thoughts anyone?

Weeks ago I would have thought nothing about eating a whole supersize
fries from McDonald's. Tonight I made chicken baked in lemon juice and
butter with herbs, and threw a bunch of halved mushrooms, and some
potatoes (for my carbo-philic fiance) into the pan. The mushrooms took
up all the chicken juice and marinade.

I had only two small slices of the potato - and found myself picking
the mushrooms off his plate!! I wanted the shrooms, not the potato!
That's a first!

I am thinking about going Atkins though because I seem to be doing
poorly doing low-carb while eating "light" foods; I got really, really
sick from low blood sugar.

BTW does anyone have any good vegetarian recipes?? For variety's sake?

"wilson" wrote in message
om...
Question folks:

Can you "go slowly" with low-carbing, cutting out foods little by
little? Atkins seems to want you to go cold-turkey and seems to
have a
scientific reason why one should do this. Is it less effective if
you
gradually cut out foods?




YES, of course you can!
there have been many here in ASD-LC who started out with a
SUGARBUSTERS type woe and "graduated" to the atkins approach!

Wilson,

Just remember one thing, the more carbs you eat, the less fat you can eat.

That's because carbs cause an insulin release which will store dietary fat
on your body as body fat. It will also mess up your cholesterol because the
excess glucose in your body bonds to the receptors on your blood fats and
keeps the body from being able to remove them.

Only when you cut carbs way down can you eat the high fat stuff associated
with a low carb diet.

I'd say the cut off is probably around 60 grams of carbs a day. Over that
level you better not eat a whole lot of fat.

-- Jenny - Low Carbing for 4 years. At goal for weight. Type 2 diabetes,
hba1c 5.2.
Cut the carbs to respond to my email address!

Low carb facts and figures, my weight-loss photos, tips, recipes,
strategies for dealing with diabetes and more at
http://www.geocities.com/jenny_the_bean/

Looking for help controlling your blood sugar?
Visit http://www.alt-support-diabetes.org/...0Diagnosed.htm



"wilson" wrote in message
om...
Question folks:

Can you "go slowly" with low-carbing, cutting out foods little by
little? Atkins seems to want you to go cold-turkey and seems to have a
scientific reason why one should do this. Is it less effective if you
gradually cut out foods?

I am kind of doing this intuitively, because many of these foods were
triggering nasty side effects. I can say that I have not had one of my
splitting headaches in about a week which is the longest I've gone
headache-free. I got very, very sick yesterday from a blood sugar
crash, though, and even today feel like my blood pressure is still
kind of low.

In my case, I haven't quit carbs so much as they've quit ME. I have
already cut back significantly on the carbs. I can't eat very much of
them and I only eat as much as I can eat.

A positive note is that I AM learning restraint... and discovering how
tasty low-carb foods really are. I'm inspired to cook. Lettuce
sandwiches are fantastic. I can't believe I ate off of bread all these
years. These white foods really have no flavor of their own! I am
inspired to make 'manicotti' of rolled up, thin-sliced zucchini
stuffed with ricotta cheese... thoughts anyone?

Weeks ago I would have thought nothing about eating a whole supersize
fries from McDonald's. Tonight I made chicken baked in lemon juice and
butter with herbs, and threw a bunch of halved mushrooms, and some
potatoes (for my carbo-philic fiance) into the pan. The mushrooms took
up all the chicken juice and marinade.

I had only two small slices of the potato - and found myself picking
the mushrooms off his plate!! I wanted the shrooms, not the potato!
That's a first!

I am thinking about going Atkins though because I seem to be doing
poorly doing low-carb while eating "light" foods; I got really, really
sick from low blood sugar.

BTW does anyone have any good vegetarian recipes?? For variety's sake?

In article ,
"Jenny" wrote:

Just remember one thing, the more carbs you eat, the less fat you can eat.

That's because carbs cause an insulin release which will store dietary fat
on your body as body fat. It will also mess up your cholesterol because the
excess glucose in your body bonds to the receptors on your blood fats and
keeps the body from being able to remove them.

Only when you cut carbs way down can you eat the high fat stuff associated
with a low carb diet.

I'd say the cut off is probably around 60 grams of carbs a day. Over that
level you better not eat a whole lot of fat.


So very interesting.

On 4 Mar 2004 14:10:21 -0800, Duffy wrote:

PJx wrote in message
. ..
You really need a high fat diet when you cut out the carbs. Are you
doing that? Probably why you are sick.
Lots of olive oil, butter, bacon, mayonaise etc is needed to fuel
your weight loss.

PJ

Not true. Atkins advocates high-fat, but other plans, including the
South Beach Diet, favor a lower fat model.

With my tricky digestion, "Lots of olive oil, butter, bacon, mayonaise
etc" would put me in the ER. Yet, I managed to lose almost 60 pounds
and keep it off for 2 years with a low carb, moderately low fat
approach. And I've never been healthier.


Duffy
182/124
since 12-01-01

Even those of us who eat relatively high fat don't necessarily eat all
that stuff. I do eat olive oil daily, but not much; butter is good, but
some days I don't eat it at all; I eat bacon every once in a while -- it's
too greasy for me; I very rarely eat mayo. I don't restrict my intake of
fat, but I also don't eat fat for the sake of eating fat (other than fish
oil and flax oil). Nonetheless, I do eat the skin off chicken (something
verboten on low fat).

--
Bob in CT
Remove ".x" to reply

PJx wrote in message . ..
You really need a high fat diet when you cut out the carbs. Are you
doing that? Probably why you are sick.
Lots of olive oil, butter, bacon, mayonaise etc is needed to fuel
your weight loss.

PJ

Not true. Atkins advocates high-fat, but other plans, including the
South Beach Diet, favor a lower fat model.

With my tricky digestion, "Lots of olive oil, butter, bacon, mayonaise
etc" would put me in the ER. Yet, I managed to lose almost 60 pounds
and keep it off for 2 years with a low carb, moderately low fat
approach. And I've never been healthier.


Duffy
182/124
since 12-01-01

On 4 Mar 2004 01:08:45 -0800, (wilson) wrote:

Can you "go slowly" with low-carbing, cutting out foods little by
little? Atkins seems to want you to go cold-turkey and seems to have a
scientific reason why one should do this. Is it less effective if you
gradually cut out foods?

Yes, you can go slowly. That's exactly how I did it. For the first step,
I didn't really eliminate many specific foods (except fruit juice and
sugared sodas); I just reduced the amount that I was eating (or overeating,
I should say). One bowl of cereal instead of two; one plate of pasta
instead of two, etc. Then gradually replaced the more refined carbs for
slightly less refined carbs (whole wheat pasta instead of regular, brown
rice instead of white, cereals higher in bran and flax, etc.) And then
slowly eliminated the pasta and rice and bread and potatoes and cereal
altogether, after finding subsititutes for them (cabbage or zucchini or
tofu for pasta, cauliflower or turnip for potatoes, Wasa for bread, etc.)

I also started exercising at the same time (treadmill at first, then
alternated treadmill with resistance exercises on a crossbow).

I only lost about a pound a week, so it took just over two years for me to
lose all I wanted to lose (110 pounds). I never had a big
8-pounds-in-a-week loss that helps to keep some people motivated,
especially early on. And I never had a magical moment after two weeks when
I said "Hey, all my cravings are gone!" But I was never in the misery some
people report when they do a drastic diet change, either. And no prolonged
stalls, since any time my weight loss slowed down, I just cut back on carbs
and calories just a tiny bit more.

I think that what made it work for me was that because it was so gradual,
at any given point along the way I was eating at a level that, at that
time, I would have been willing to continue eating at forever. There
weren't times when I was dying to get out of whatever "phase" of the diet I
was in so that I could have some temporarily-forbidden food again. The
whole thing was sort of a two-year-long "pre-maintenance" phase that
gradually turned into "maintenance" by itself.

BTW does anyone have any good vegetarian recipes?? For variety's sake?

These aren't exactly recipes, but here's a few low-carb vegetarian meal
ideas. This is assuming you eat eggs and cheese and soy-based products.
And Quorn, if it's available where you live.

- Shredded cabbage, stir-fried or boiled, with a lower-carb spaghetti
sauce, Boca Italian sausage, grated parmesan cheese

- Stir-fried veggies and Quorn "chicken" tenders, in a low-carb spicy
sauce, over reconstituted TVP (as a substitute for rice)

- Quorn "chicken" cutlets simmered in Trader Joe's spinach Punjab sauce,
with steamed broccoli and butter

- Veggie burger with cheese in a low-carb tortilla, plus a salad

- Egg salad on a Wasa, plus a selection of raw veggies and dip

- Stuffed peppers (boil red or green bell bepper for a few minutes, drain,
fill with ground Quorn or soy protein crumbles that have been simmering in
lower-carb spaghetti sauce; top with mozzarella cheese; bake)

- Shepherd's pie (ground Quorn heated in a skillet, add some spices,
mushroom gravy, lower-carb spaghetti sauce; stir in some cooked fresh green
beans; dump it all in a casserole and cover with mashed cauliflower; bake)

- "Handwiches" -- soy deli slices and cheese (and optional condiments and
veggies) rolled up in large green-leaf or romaine lettuce leaves

- Chowder made from cream, low-cabr milk (Hood Carb Countdown), tofu,
turnip, cauliflower, and onion

- Lo mein made from spaghetti squash and various crunchy vegetables,
scrambled egg, soy sauce and seasonings, and either tofu or Quorn "chicken"

- Lasagna made with very thinly sliced layers of tofu to replace the
noodles, plus whatever other normal lasagna fillings you use (eggplant,
spinach, cheeses, lower-carb pasta sauce, etc.)

Em

Thanks for the suggestions Em -
I'm not a vegetarian anymore but I do love vegetarian dishes, and
there's only so much MEAT I can eat!! Feh. It's getting boring.

Thank you!

Wish I could find some good stats on the carbs of eggplant/zucchini.

At this stage I'm allowing myself any veggies - mostly it's the grains
I've cut back on, plus NO refined sugars.

Here's a tricky situation...
My partner WILL NOT eat artificial sweeteners. And I'm hearing bad
things about Stevia.

However I'd like us to be able to eat some of the same foods... such
as I'd like to be able to make teriyaki or bbq that we can BOTH eat,
I'd like to be able to make desserts that we can BOTH enjoy. Not make
two separate meals. Ugh.