Questions..new to low carbing

by | Jan 30, 2013 | Low carb diet, Weight Loss | 0 comments

This a recent comment I made on a previous thread over at Jimmy Moore regarding low carb diet

 

Debs asked:

Mark and Meg

Thanks so much for your helpful answers…I am finding the entire low carb experience extremely rewarding and very easy to maintain…The weight loss is wonderful…

I have another question…Today is day 1 of week 3 for me and I am experiencing headaches and dizziness…

Nothing has changed…. my carbs remain at 25g per day….a few days I have only made it to 20 carbs …and my carbs come mostly from vegetables, dairy and some berries…

Is there something I am doing wrong? 

Thanks

 

My reply:

Hi Debs,

Headaches and dizziness are typically a sign of dehydration and electrolyte imbalance so as Tacosaurus has said, yes up your salt and potassium intake as well as both are vital for many bodily functions but do be assured that it’s unlikely you’re doing anything wrong if you’re following the plan. It’s just something that many of us have to go through during this stage of our dietary change.

Hope that helps,

Mark

Low Carb Diet Question?

by | Jan 29, 2013 | Low carb diet, Weight Loss | 0 comments

Another recent comment I made at Yahoo Answers regarding low carb diet

 

S posted:

I am 5’10” 165lbs fairly athletic build and fairly active. Recently single im looking to tone everything up and for the last two weeks I have been sticking to a diet of no more than 50 carbs and around 1700 Cal’s per day. I am wondering if I am on the right track here and accepting all input. 

My question is should I go off my diet for a meal to a) reward myself for sticking with this for the two weeks and to b)Spike/confuse my metabolism to get it to work harder or would this just negatively affect my diet and set me back?

Thanks in advanced.

 

My response:

Hi S,

There’s a very simple answer to this, if what you’re doing now is working and you haven’t yet reach the goals you’ve set for your body, then I would suggest you keep doing what you’re doing until you do and then reward yourself with something absolutely fantastic for achieving the goals that you’ve set yourself.

Hope that helps,

Mark

 

Foods for the low carb diet…?

by | Jan 29, 2013 | Low carb diet, Weight Loss | 0 comments

Here is another comment I made over at Yahoo Answers on a post about low carb diet

 

LDB asked:

For the low carb diet, can you list things that I can eat on this diet for breakfast lunch and dinner, that have low or no carbs? I really want to lose weight!! Please helppp!

 

My answer:

Hi LDB,

Yes it will be very easy to list the hundreds of food you could eat for breakfast. However a list could not be very appetizing. You will find a quicker and much more appetizing alternative to waiting for a list is to visit any of the top low carb forums that you can find in the internet and click your mouse on their recipes and then breakfast sections. There you won’t find just hundreds of things you can eat but you’ll find thousands of recipes that I know will tempt your taste buds.

Hope that helps,

Mark

Will eating low carbs everyday help me lose weight?

by | Jan 29, 2013 | Low carb diet, Weight Loss | 0 comments

Here is a post on Yahoo Answers about low carb that I have commented on

 

That one kid:

I have a goal of trying to lose 40-50 pounds by the end of May,so I heard eating less carb and more fruits and vegetables can help me lose weight. Is that true? I run like a mile, bike for like a few miles and do stairs. What else can I do?

 

My answer: 

Hi That one kid!,

Losing 40 to 50 lbs by the end of May is perfectly doable on a low carb diet. Both from the way you have posted your question I can honestly say that you will do yourself a lot of favors by finding out more about exactly what a low carb diet is. The two front runners are obviously Atkins and to a certain extent South Beach and of those two Atkins is normally the easiest one for people to do and for most people will provide good results and feedback fairly quickly. In both cases the books are fairly cheap to buy from your local bookstore or Amazon plus you’ll find that your local library will generally have copies of both the Atkins and the South Beach diet books. As Atkins have been around since the early 70s you’ll also find copies of this book in secondhand shops for next to nothing.

As an effective diet system low carb has been proven by hundreds of thousands of people over the last 40 years or more which would suggest that it will also work for you as well. However it will only work properly of you follow a tried and tested diet to the letter which means that one way or another you need to get yourself a book and  simply follow it along. If you try and develop your own diet without a good deal in background knowledge it will take you a lot longer  to get the results you want  by trial and error so may as well use the wisdom and knowledge of something that’s already in existence and get the results you want within the time that you want.

Hope that helps,

Mark

Which Atkins program works best?

by | Jan 29, 2013 | Low carb diet, Weight Loss | 0 comments

This a recent comment I made on a post about Atkins at Jimmy Moore’s

 

Amanda’s post:

Hello all!

Last week I decided embark on my weight loss journey and started Atkins. I went ahead and checked out the latest book from the library and started followin it on 1/20. Frankly, I was a little disappointed when I weighed myself this morning and saw what I lost in a week. Zero. Zip. Zilch. Nada. I followed it to the T as well. 

Anyway, I’ve been reading a bit online and it seems that people have the most success with Atkins 72 or the New Diet Revolution. What are the big differences between those two plans and which is better? I plan to start one of them today, I’m leaning towards 72 because I need strict. That said, both books are around $7 on Amazon, I may go ahead and just order both.

Thanks!
Amanda

 

My comment:

Hi Amanda,

Well firstly congratulations for sticking with the diet for 7 days. A lot of people bail up before then so well done you! That said I noticed you’ve only weighted yourself and as most of us will tell you the scales lie. It’s far better to also measure yourself and also keep an eye on how your clothes are fitting. Quite often we will notice our clothes loosening, well, before we see any change in the scales or the tape measure.

As for which diet to choose the old or the new, the bottom line is the one that best works for you is the one that you should continue with and it may end up that you actually don’t follow Atkins as your low carb diet of choice as other diets might suit you better.

Personally I  use a mixture from both, the old and the new simply because, one, I’ve never been a fan of net carbs which would lean towards the old 72 diet but also as Texasgoldengirl has pointed out we do have to watch how much protein we eat as our over indulging can quickly become a problem. 

Last thing I need to make sure I do is keep active as without a certain level of daily activity it seems my metabolism slows down and over the long term that could obviously give problems as well.

The great thing is you decided to take charge of your weight before you’re 40 and that’s probably about one of the best thing you could have done as leaving it later as LLL has said does make the job more difficult. Your decision to give Atkins another 2 weeks is probably a good start but I would suggest you actually take it on for longer than that. The thing is everyone’s body is different and yours may take a little longer to get into the swing of a low carb diet as there are many many changes that have to go on all for the better I might add.

Whatever you do make sure you continue to look after your health. Losing that 40 lbs now will probably be the best thing you can do for your future health and well being.

Hope that helps,

Mark

Just an introduction

by | Jan 28, 2013 | Low carb diet, Weight Loss | 0 comments

Another recent comment I did over at lowcarber forum on a post about low carb diet

 

Lyndsey’s post:

Hey everybody! My name is Lyndsey and I am excited to join you- I’ve been on low carb for 6 weeks (CAD) and I’ve lost about 20 lbs. I have 120 lbs left to go, and it’s crazy how daunting it can be! I find that if I think too much about the big number it’s easy to get discouraged!

I am 26, have 2 little girls ages 3 and 1 (my oldest has severe autism) and I am a professional photographer. I am so glad to be here and get some support! I’ve been active over in the CAD section but it’s a little sleepy over there and I don’t want to annoy them with my desire to post so frequently lol! 

Weight has been a life struggle for me. I have always been addicted to sugar, but only in the last year after having my youngest has my weight gotten higher than ever. I don’t want to blame circumstance but part of that has been dealing with the autism diagnosis for my oldest girl. The lowest I have ever been has been 125 at 15 years old (after doing THIS very diet!!), and that will be my goal again. More than anything, all of the silly reasons have gone and I now know I need to do this for my kids, for my health.. So it’s more motivating knowing I am doing it to be around for my kids in the long term. 

My husband is also obese but he is over 400 lbs. He has joined me on this but he’s not the type to join a forum  

Anyway, nice to meet you all and you WILL be seeing a lot of me

 

I replied:

Hi Lyndsey and a very warm welcome to you. Great to see you’ve lost 20 lbs and in only 6 weeks. Well Done!

I’m sure if you keep at it those extra 120 lbs will be gone before you know it just stick with the plan and don’t let anything disways you.

The link that JEY100 has suggested is well worth looking at. As is another one that focuses on the work of Dr. Natasha Campbell McBride who is considered a world wide specialist in the Gut and Psychology Syndrome, natural treatment for autism and other similar types of problems. Here is the link for that: http://www.doctor-natasha.com/gaps-book.php

Once again a warm welcome and I’m looking to seeing more of you on the forum as time goes past.

Mark