BellaOnline Forums Food and Wine Low Carb Lisa and Bob's Progress

I just wanted to catch people up on the progress we've made since we began low carb.

Both Bob and I went on a low carb diet in June 2003. At the time we ate a 'traditional American diet' - i.e. a fair amount of soda, lots of burgers and fries, pizza, and so on. At the time, I was almost 140 (at 5'7") and he was up to over 300 pounds (at 5'10").

We went on low carb, after a TON of research. I was very worried about health effects and bought a full cholesterol tester including HDL and LDL tests. But we found that proper low carbing involved drinking a ton of water, eating vitamins, eating a ton of veggies, and healthy food choices. Anyone who thinks it is about "fat and steaks" is not actually doing low carb.

In any case, changing our diet saw great results. We switched from regular soda to diet soda and water. We stopped eating pizza and fries, and instead ate veggies and chicken and fish. We went for walks. All of these are standard parts of low carbing.

By Oct-Nov Bob was down to around 250, and I was down to around 125. In short order he down to about 220 and I was down to 120. We literally have stayed at those levels the entire time since then. It wasn't about 'sacrifice' or strange cult foods. It was solely about eating a more healthy way - the way our great-grandparents ate normally. It is only our twisted modern world that gets us to eat all this processed junk!

Oh I want to add that our cholesterol levels are far better now, and in general our health all around has vastly improved. So this has been good all around. I don't know any doctor that says a normal American style of eating - with tons of white bread, french fries and soda - is good for any human <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Thanks for the update, Lisa! I've been low-carbing with less fat - no added butter on vegies, for example - for about a year and have lost 11 lbs and kept it off - also 4" off my waist. And I feel more energetic - oh, I'm 58 so I know this has got to be a plus for me at this time of life.

Right, the aim is always moderation. You shouldn't just shovel fat into your mouth if there is no need for it <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> And trans fatty acids are always bad, no matter what!

Veggies are just SO important to life, it's amazing to me how some people think low carb = low veggies. In fact most people on low carb diets eat far more veggies than the average person does. It is pretty sad how few veggies most people eat - and it's because they're raised on french fries and burgers. For many kids, the french fry is the ONLY veggie they will eat.

I think another culprit is the turn from dipping in ketchup to dips with full fat mayonaise ...

Ah, but Susan, do you know what mayonnaise is?? I wrote a whole article for you -

http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art29261.asp

It is simply olive oil and eggs! Olive oil is INCREDIBLY good for you and is an amazingly healthy fat. To say all fats are bad is not true - fish oils are fats that your body really needs to operate properly, for example. Eggs also contain many necessary nutrients and protein. There were many flaws in the studies done in the 60s about eggs - and I am pretty sure those studies were done by cereal companies whose sole aim was to get people to stop eating eggs for breakfast and to start eating cereal (like Frosted Flakes) <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Anyway I'm not saying to eat tubs of mayonnaise. But I'm saying compared to many other things on the market, mayonnaise is pretty good for you.

Great article, Lisa!

I guess I'll go back to enjoying my Ranch Dressing, guilt free! Hehehe

BTW, Ranch dressing is not sold in The Netherlands so I stock up when in America. LOL

Lisa, have you tried the "low carb potatoes"? The brand is Sunlite. I bought some at Super Target. They have only 18g carbs with 4g fiber. per 1 potatoe. They are the size of the new red potatoes. I haven't had a potatoe in 3 years but I thought I would try them. They are excellent. I got on the scale the next morning and didn't gain 1 ounce. I wouldn't eat them on a daily basis but I rewarded myself. Let me know what you think of them if you can find them.

I've heard about those but have not tried them. I'll have to see if I can find some!

It's amazing how much even 'veggies' have changed over the centuries. If you talk to historians, most veggies we have nowadays look far different than what they looked like 300 or 400 years ago. They have been bred for color, texture, shape etc. So it is not really surprising that we are (finally!!) now breeding them for nutrition. We want to eat veggies, but we want to eat HEALTHY veggies.

For example, most of the nutrients in potatoes are in the skins. But most people peel the skins off and throw them away!! So it's just one example of how our modern society takes something that is supposed to be nutritious and throws away the nutritious parts. It's like how we take a nutritious orange, throw away the fiber and drink the sugar-juice <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />