to low carbers

I have been trying to follow more of a low carb diet. Not too drastic like all meat or anything. I am trying to up my veggie intake though. I post to a lowcarb website stellastyle.com, it's a chef from food network who lost about 200 lbs this way. I learned something about low fat foods that I have proved correct by reading food labels yesterday at the store. He states that when you low carb, try not to "low-fat". When a product has lower fat it usually has more sugar to make up for the lost flavor that it had as a high fat food. Check it out. I was really surprised.

Hi there Stephanie Welcome to the non-op board. I have been following the South Beach Diet, low-carb, low-fat approach, since July 7, 2005. So far I have lost 96 pounds. I do understand what you are saying and yes it is valid. When removing something they have to add something else. I will compare labels and realize that in order to have something low carb sometimes the sugars are actually higher, therefore I just take the regular version. Sometimes the numbers are so incredibly negligible that it doesn't matter anyhow. But as far as "low-carb" goes, I do not buy low carb items. I do not do the "faux" sugar foods. I don't eat anything imitation. To me a snickers bar is a snickers bar, regardless of whether it has low-carb on the label. I stay away from all processed foods, choosing instead whole foods over their counterparts. I don't do foods that are high in fat. That is the Atkins approach. I choose turkey bacon over beef or pork bacon and low fat cheese and sour creams, etc., over their higher fat counterparts. I think it is all about finding foods that are whole, not eating things in packages and staying away from white flour or sugar items. For ME this works. It's not the approach for everyone. Donna

I try to eat a lot of fresh things too but I do use things sweetend with Splenda (yogurt, my coffee, etc.) I do use full fat cheeses and sour cream/cream cheese but I use fat-free organic milk. I developed gestational diabetes while I was pregnant 8 months ago and my Ob/Gyn put me on a "diabetic" aka-low-carb-diet. I lost 20 lbs after I had her but put it all back on after starting to eat white products again. I have been having high blood sugar readings but my A1c was 5, so no real diabetes yet. I am 31 5'7" and 267. I have lost 5 lbs by cutting out sodas and all white foods. I feel better but I still have cravings for sugary things but this may be due to my use of Splenda. I am slowly trying to wean myself from sweets since I want to be able to stick with losing and not feel deprived. I like the idea of low-carb with fresh foods and not a lot of processed, low-carb commercialized foods. Most taste horrible anyway (Atkins bars) or act like a laxative when I eat them (SB meal repl. bars). I've posted a few times before but I feel like I have finally found a plan that works for me and I'll keep ya'll posted on my progress. Thanks for the reply and I look forward to reading your posts.

I kind of worry what is going to happen if I can't spend the rest of my life not eating anything with "white." But then I think about it and realize that if I had a disease that precluded that type of food, guess what, I wouldn't be eating it!!!! My doctor has even suggested completely removing wheat products from my diet now. He says with osteoarthritis, which is a curse of mine, it has been proven that removing gluten makes the symptoms better. I eat barely ANY wheat now. All I consume is in my oatmeal (3 times a week) and my oat bran whole grain bread (3 times a week). Hardly an alarming amount. As far as the sugar free products, I'm with you. The South Beach Meal Replacement Bars which I have used perhaps 4 times in the past 6 months, give me horrid gas after the first bite!!!!! I choose them very wisely and only eat them when I am downright outright desperate!!!! Keep me posted, our plans seem to be rather similar!

Donna, I try to drink a low carb Slimfast for breakfast and lucnh with a snakc in between and then usually eat a South Beach Diet frozen dinner, or a Lean Cusine dinner. I have heard that these dont have any proccessed fodds in them. Any thoughts of eating these kinds of dinners?

Hi there Mary, Honestly, I like to keep food in my plan. I eat so little of it these days that I truly want to enjoy what I eat. I went on a complete liquid diet back when I was about 19. I lost 31 pounds in like 5 weeks and gained it all back and more. I mean, how couldn't I??? Frozen dinners for me are a luxury for when I am so totally unprepared. They have a ton of sodium and frankly not a whole lot of food!!! Most of it is water. Mostly for lunch, never for dinner. Whole foods, foods grown or raised. I like to say I don't want to eat anything that hasn't lived at one point or another. Donna

Hi Stephanie, I started a food plan the last week of October, 2005. The only "low" anything I buy is salad dressing....and that's very rarely. I've been eating poultry, fish, eggs, fresh vegetables, fresh fruit...no bread, no sugar, no flour, no legumes or high starch veggies. I was seriously addicted to bread and butter....Getting off the bread was harder than quitting smoking. (I smoked for 30 years and quit a year and a half ago.) My body is now used to fresh food...no processed stuff anymore....except...fat free cool whip. I don't crave bread or sweets anywhere as much as I used to. I lost 37 pounds in 9-10 weeks. I have a ton and a half more to go.....but it sure does work when you change your eating habits. Good luck to you, Laurel