BellaOnline Forums Food and Wine Low Carb Low carb diet not for me?

Because we burn fat instead of carbs for energy.

Eating more vegetables wouldn't increase cholesterol. When I increase my carbs it's generally from fruit (lower glycemic choices) and even that will hit my cholesterol. Keeping carbs low means my HDL is higher than my LDL and my triglycerides are around 40. When I increase my carbs my LDL increases along with my trigs and my HDL decreases. BTW... I don't drink any coffee. We're all different. I've fought cholesterol all my life and by doing what I'm doing, approved by two of my physicians, I can finally maintain my cholesterol at perfect levels without drugs. Not all carbs are created equal, I agree, but higher carbs means altering cholesterol levels - at least for me with my nasty genetic factors.

Hmmm maybe it's the "a lot" that I'm having issues with Unless you are already your ideal weight, you already have fat on your body to burn for energy, and the aim is to bring in enough nutrition that your body has nutritious components that it needs. You don't need to take in any additional fat for energy.

Now of course if you ARE your ideal weight, and are seeking to maintain that weight, then you need to take in enough energy each day to balance your energy needs, in addition to that nutrition. Very few people in this forum are in that situation, but if you personally are, kudos to you!

Ah ok - is there a reason that when you increase carbs you go the fruit route? Why not add in more veggies or fiber, for example? Or are you saying "when I cheat and have an apple pie" - something like that?

Hi Lisa...

When I first started on this journey I read everywhere that high levels of dietary fat are important for satiety and high energy levels. I found that to be true almost immediately so maintained that throughout my loss and now maintenance - 60%, with much of it saturated. I also went from having high cholesterol and triglycerides to having what are now absolutely amazing numbers. My doctor says my numbers are so good that the computer doesn't know what to do with me so throws me out as abnormal. I fall into a risk category only 5% of adults are in.

I truly believe the fat is the reason I'm successful this time. I had lost all my weight twice before using low fat and was often hungry. Once I hit goal and didn't have the scale as a reward I couldn't maintain and gained it back both times. This time I'm as happy as can be and having no trouble maintaining. I lost my weight, a total of 70 lbs. in 2004, averaging 1.5 lbs. per week with no plateaus or stalls. Since hitting maintenance my weight fluctuates very little.

When I increase my carbs I choose fruit because I love it and wish I could eat more. My carb level is quite low so fruits other than berries - like pears, apples and grapefruit are tough to work in. When I go high I always grab for one of those. A good sized pear or apple is almost an entire day's carbs for me. Going high, which to me is above 40, also brings on carb cravings for me. I try to stay between 30-35, which allows for plenty of vegies and fiber.

Apple pie would not be an option for me. I am a serious life-time low carber and eat neither sugar nor flour. My once-a-year splurge on my birthday is spare ribs with REAL barbecue sauce. That's about as far as I go, although I do allow myself ONE special off-plan food on my birthday. It could be the ribs, potatoes or whatever. I'd never go so far as to choose a sugary dessert. We have plenty of on-plan options.

Does it make sense now?

I definitely agree that we have tons of great food options out there that do not involve added sugar! Lots of foods have natural sugars, so it's always a balancing act to find items that are nutritious but low in sugars.

I do agree that fats help you to feel full. I tend to feel full when I eat because I drink a lot of water with my meal, and drink a lot of water in general. So I really don't need a lot of fat to "feel full" or to feel satiated. Also, stomachs shrink as your size does, so really you don't need to eat that much to feel full, as you lose the weight.

Definitely if you let your body get too many carbs / sugars in it, it starts to crave them which sets up an endless cycle. Like Chinese food You get the sugar high, then the sugar low, then you want more sugar.

Really, when you come down to it, there are only four energy sources out there that a body can burn. They are carbs, fats, proteins and alcohol. That's a simple biology fact. We don't recommend living on alcohol And since we're trying to cut out carbs, that leaves us with proteins and fats. You are leaning heavily in the fat direction. I'd probably be at least half-half protein-fat in my balance, but if you really do get enough nutrition and protein in you every day, and you are active enough that you burn them off, then it sounds like your mix works well for you.

Any reasonably-sized meal will fill me but if it's low in fat I'm hungry fairly quickly. The benefit of eating fat is that it has tremendous "staying" power. I never even think about a snack at night as long as I've eaten enough fat.

If I have something like fish or white meat chicken I make sure I have something with enough fat, even if it means adding extra butter to my vegetables or a sauce to the fish or chicken.

Drinking a whole lot of water with a meal will make me feel satsified but hunger would appear fairly quickly. There's no "staying" power to water.

Yup.. It's working for me and has since early 2004 even though I've gone hypothyroid. I had a really hard time maintaining before I started on meds and am still struggling but all I gained was 9 lbs. because I just kept cutting back on food intake instead of piling on the pounds. Hopefully, I'll be on the proper level of meds by summer. I started treatment a year ago but it's complicated and my body isn't cooperating. The whole thing was a pretty bad joke after working so hard to lose the weight. G*d has a pretty strange sense of humor IMHO. :o)

The good news is I've been able to lose what I gained and am presently only 2 lbs. above my goal weight.

That's great news about your goal weight! And it's wonderful that you've found a balance that works well for you I guess I snack regularly through the day - and drink a lot of water - so I don't assume for example that lunch will "fill me up" until dinner. I eat small meals and then small healthy snacks. So to me, that's the way my metabolism runs