I'm sorry, but I am done with dieting, low carb or otherwise

[JPaleo]

I am done with dieting. Dieting of any kind. Any kind of external control applied to the act of eating is a form of a diet. I can't do it anymore. I am just so tired of it.

I am going to try to find a way to eat with attunement and trust my body. I believe this will lead to more permanent weight loss for me and more importantly, happiness.

This does NOT mean I am going to start pigging out on junk food. I am still going to strive for healthy, whole foods.

But I am done with thinking that I must deny myself any type of food forever (or even for a while). I believe I can find balance.

Good luck to all on this board. I sincerely wish you the best in your quests for health.

But I think it is time for me to try something different. :wave:

-J

[Cissie]

Best wishes to you. Hope you succeed.

Cissie

[Lisa N]

Good luck. I hope you find something that is both successful and something that you can live with.

[4beans4me]

Good luck! :wave:

[Talla]

I hope you are able to find something that works for you. I wish you all the best!!!

[Rachelle]

To Each their Own.... I really wish you nothing but luck in your journey :D

[Hellistile]

Sorry to see you go. Keep in touch and good luck in your future endeavours.

[JPaleo]

Oh wow, thanks everyone!

I really do wish all of you the best in doing what works for you.

I'll pop in from time to time, though, because I think there is so much useful health info here.

Thanks again!

-J

[carrottop]

JPaleo, you have inspired me to have some of that half - A$$ed low carb orange juice but I am going to drink it with cashews.

Have you considered Frankenfoods?

Good luck to you. Truly.

[ItsTheWooo]

I am done with dieting. Dieting of any kind. Any kind of external control applied to the act of eating is a form of a diet. I can't do it anymore. I am just so tired of it.

I am going to try to find a way to eat with attunement and trust my body. I believe this will lead to more permanent weight loss for me and more importantly, happiness.

This does NOT mean I am going to start pigging out on junk food. I am still going to strive for healthy, whole foods.

But I am done with thinking that I must deny myself any type of food forever (or even for a while). I believe I can find balance.

Good luck to all on this board. I sincerely wish you the best in your quests for health.

But I think it is time for me to try something different. :wave:

-J
Good luck J
I hope you are strong enough to succeed in this.
Personally I think this is the ultimate solution to weight problems... make smart choices and allow yourself everything... but too many find it impossible for various reasons. Especially those of us with eating disordered inclinations.

Don't be dismayed by any of the posts that are going to follow which try to guilt you into "clean induction" or whatever. I know you are doing the right thing. You know you are doing the right thing. Food isn't the problem. Our behavior is. Diets just obsfucate the real issue with more problems.

[eve25]

good luck!
honestly, youre not super overweight so i think you probably can get away with making good decisions.
however (just a piece of advice that i have lived through) if you start to gain significant amounts of weight at any point, come back or do something, anything. i wish i had at 215 instead of at 320.

[BadgerGirl]

Food isn't the problem. Our behavior is.
Woo, I usually enjoy your thoughtful posts, but this is a dangerously naive statement, not to mention incorrect.

Some people just have bad eating habits that a sensible diet can fix. For others food and emotions are inextribably intertwined. For still others, food is an addiction and just one taste of whatever-that-substance-is can turn them right back into binge eaters and on a sure way to disease and early death.

In my personal experience, I used to eat for any "emotional" reason: happy, sad, frustrated, angry. All was cause for celebration to eat. But when I stopped eating certain foods (flour and sugar), the addiction was lifted and my body felt satisfied and I was able to deal with those emotions and NOT eat. Food was firmly put in its rightful place: a source of energy (fuel) and, to some degree, pleasure.

I don't have an eating/emotional disorder. I have a physiological response to certain food types. Always have. Again, this is just me, but it is naive to make broad sweeping statements that food isn't the problem when for some of us it is just that.

JPaleo is doing something she feels is right for her, and I wish her the best of luck. "Trusting" my body did not work for me. I know a lot of people who gained weight reading the books by Geneen Roth.

[BadgerGirl]

Diets just obsfucate the real issue with more problems.
By the way, the word, diet, comes from the greek word, diaita, meaning way of living.

[JPaleo]

Thanks to everyone for your responses.

ItTheWoo, especially thanks for yours. I agree with everything you've said. I have also read some of your other posts and I enjoy them. I think you are onto something with your thoughts on dieting and compulsivity.

I know there are some people who have biochemical reactions to food. But I do think for many, diets are a problem (maybe THE problem). Even with the improved success rate of low carb diets, there is still such a high percentage of people failing. And for me, cutting out certain foods did nothing to curb my cravings or stop my emotional eating.

I've been gaining weight since trying to go low carb (I started low carbing for health, not weight loss, and instead wound up with a little weight problem). You can blame it on my not following the plan as well as I should but what that eventually comes down to is my unhealthy relationship with food (and it may even be an eating disorder). I just don't see what I eat as the problem anymore. I see how I approach eating as the problem.


-J

[Kristine]

Since you posted this in the War Zone, I'll assume this is up for debate...

I'm sorry you saw this as Another Diet. Those of us who go bonkers when it comes to sugar really aren't far off from addicts. We needed to wipe the slate clean, so to speak, on the bad eating habits we grew up with. Mine were atrocious. It's extremely difficult to re-learn something like eating, especially when the "normal" world is totally disfunctional about food. Unfortunately, that's what healthy eating is - not eating what everyone else is. The LC books I've read showed me the way.

I genuinely hope you're one of the very few people who can just randomly manage to eat healthily without effort, and I hope you don't get any interference from grains, sugar, and other foods that we didn't evolve to eat.

[Carmen51]

JPaleo,

Please stop back from time to time to let us know if you found something that works for you. Best wishes.

[AtkinsBOY1]

I am done with dieting. Dieting of any kind. Any kind of external control applied to the act of eating is a form of a diet. I can't do it anymore. I am just so tired of it.

I am going to try to find a way to eat with attunement and trust my body. I believe this will lead to more permanent weight loss for me and more importantly, happiness.

This does NOT mean I am going to start pigging out on junk food. I am still going to strive for healthy, whole foods.

But I am done with thinking that I must deny myself any type of food forever (or even for a while). I believe I can find balance.

Good luck to all on this board. I sincerely wish you the best in your quests for health.

But I think it is time for me to try something different. :wave:

-J
I wish u all the best but now ur just following an american diet wich can lead to heart disease. I really dont think atkins is very hard its actually one of the eastiet things on the planet i just had low carb strwbaerry icream and i springled the top with a couple of tbalkesppons of atkins ceral and toopped it of with whippedcream. I also had some blueberries on the side With whipped cream and I just made low carb fried chicken wich tastes just like the orgianl. Use soyflour. Im really serious I had all of my parent fooled when they ate the souther fried chicken low carb style. I think U should give atkins a try. SOrry if I missed spelled a lot its just that im at work and I have a lot to do :lol:

[JPaleo]

Hello!

Kristine, I agree with you that many people have problems with sugar and grains. But I don't think that is my problem. In my recent experiences it is just not proving to be.

Carmen51, thanks! I will be checking in here because I do like the health info in this site.

AtkinsBoy1, I am absolutely not follwing and typical "American Diet" I said earlier that my new choice has nothing to do with wanting to pig out on junk food. I am still going to strive for healthy whole foods. I think it is great that you have found a plan that works for you. It just doesn't work for me. I think I have an eating disorder of sorts so I really need to address that. I do want to say, though, that I was previously following the Paleo/Neanderthin plan and in my previous research I found lots of info on how soy products that are not fermented are not very good for you (linked to cancer). I'm not sure if this is true or not but it may be good to research it some more.

-J

[carrottop]

Deep fried anything is bad for you.

[grandpa]

Carrottop, would you tell us more about what you mean? ("Deep fried anything is bad for you")

[carrottop]

Deep frying causes fats to oxidize and oxidized fats are bad for you. So to heat most oils to the point where you get crisp deep frying you must heat is past the smoke point. Heating an oil higher than the smoke point causes most oils and fats to oxidize.

Saute instead using real lard, butter, or a monounsaturated oil with a high smoke point.

This absolutely means no Kentucky Fried Chicken. Fat food place use their oil to fry multiple batches. This increases oxidation substantially.

[Kathy54]

But I am done with thinking that I must deny myself any type of food forever (or even for a while).

I really think that kind of says it allor even for a while)

Nothing has to be given up forever, but in any healthy eating plan there is foods you just have to give up for awhile in order to see results.

As others have said, you don't have a lot to lose. So maybe a good exercise plan would be your best bet along with a good food choices in controlled servings.

As for never having foods again, no thats not how it works, my typical week includes, all fruit, brown rice, potatoes (3-4 times a week), any veggie, Whole grain bread 2 slices a day, Oatmeal is my main breakfast 5 times a week.
And even the odd dessert If I really want it, but it has to be pretty special :)

So reading throught the whole plan you'll see that many foods are added back in, so it's not forever.

I wish you luck, I've been there done that, thinking that I ate super healthy, all fresh foods, low fat,very little junk at all, but I continued to grow, year after year.
I think I got to the point I had to really shake up by system and Low carb'n did that.

Cheers Kathy

[JPaleo]

Thanks, Kathy54, for your thoughts. The plan I was following was Paleo/Neanderthin which does involve giving up many foods forever (if you are going to stick to the plan). I researched it a lot and found it to be the plan I liked the best. But in practice, any plan I try to folow that has any strictness at all ends up going the same way. Obsessive adherence leading to feelings of deprivation leading to breaking the diet.

I really do think my problem is bigger than what I am eating. It's psychological.

But I feel that I should add here (as I have been thinking about it over the past few days) that right now I have to do what I have to do to heal my relationship with food (and that requires me to lift restrictions on food, get out of "diet" mode and delve deep as I explore what is wrong with me). It does not mean that I will never be eating low carb. It may be that once I get over my issues with food, I will naturally fall into a low carb plan (but it will be approached as a natural outcome of a healthy relationship to food rather than a diet I must stick to).

I just cannot make my focus the diet and expect my psychological issues to resolve themselves. The issues have to be addressed first. Then maybe healthy eating will be easier.

-J

[potatofree]

It's my obligation to pop in and recommend the "Ultimate Weight Solution" :D ...it's doing wonders to help me sort out the very same issues you seem to be having.

[tagcaver]

I am done with dieting. Dieting of any kind. Any kind of external control applied to the act of eating is a form of a diet. I can't do it anymore. I am just so tired of it.

I am going to try to find a way to eat with attunement and trust my body. I believe this will lead to more permanent weight loss for me and more importantly, happiness.

This does NOT mean I am going to start pigging out on junk food. I am still going to strive for healthy, whole foods.

But I am done with thinking that I must deny myself any type of food forever (or even for a while). I believe I can find balance.

Good luck to all on this board. I sincerely wish you the best in your quests for health.

But I think it is time for me to try something different. :wave:

-J
J, good luck. I think Dr. Atkins had the overall goal of teaching us to eat properly, not necessarily having us live on a "diet". I know that I haven't thought of the way I eat as a diet for a long time now. But what low-carbing has done for me is to help me break my bad eating habits. For instance, I no longer have the urge to hit the vending machines at the end of the work day. It's just a bad habit I've gotten rid of.

When you think about it, Atkins maintenance is alot like the way you are describing eating. I've been on maintenance for about a year, and I never deny myself anything I really want. It's just that what I want now is healthier for me.

Again, good luck!

Joan

[JPaleo]

Potatofree, thanks for the suggestion. I'll look into it.

Tagcaver, I am really aiming for something like that. And the stuff I have been reading about learning to eat for physical hunger and trust your body really stresses that once you get over food issues you often naturally start craving healthier foods. And I found that when I initally started working on this problem that was true (personal and job stress have really brought out my food issues in full force lately so I need to work harder on that aspect. I have a long way to go.

-J

[serrelind]

Hi,
I think I'm going to try it that way too. I have tried lowcarbing for more than a year, got down to goal weight, and now have found myself with an eating disorder that I did not have before. I have put on 3/4 of the weight I've lost. I'm tired of dieting. I think you're right. It's the deprivation and restriction that is causing us to fall off the diet. More and more I think dieting does not work (for me anyway).

Anyway I just wanted to say I know exactly what you're going through and what you are saying. I'm going to experiment with eating whatever I want (but trying to opt for more healthy choices). It is scary because I know I'm going to put on weight but I have to try this...

Serre

[Hellistile]

I found that dieting alone wasn't working. I read Lights Out, Sleep, Sugar and Survival and the light bulb went off. Since increasing my winter sleeping hours I have lost my appetite, especially for carbs, and have lost 5 pounds in 4 days. SAD, the new disease exists only because we are trying to stay up longer than we should. It's not lights that cure SAD, it's increasing our sleep time during winter. Another thing the medical establishment has gotten wrong. Paleo man ate more carbs in the summer and got less sleep and consumed almost no carbs in winter and slept a lot more. Why do we think that just because we can stuff ourselves with carbs and get little sleep all year round that we won't get sick, fat and suffer from all sorts of mental and physical ailments?

[JPaleo]

Serrelind, I know what you mean. I think I have had a mildly messed up relationship with food for quite some time now but the excessive restrictions I came up against in doing low carb really made it manifest itself much more seriously.

I can recommend a great website I found the other day. It was set up by a woman who struggled with the same sort of stuff and really has some great info and guidelines for how to learn to eat "normally" (i.e. without any sort of disordered mindset). I think it is okay to post the link here since she is not seliing anything or trying to convert people. It's just there for people who are interested as an info source. It is : http://www.normaleating.com/

I think the best thing she has there is a good description of how to go about first relaxing your food restrictions and then moving on to dealing with your issues with food (so as not to fall into some pattern where all you do is eat whatever you want all the time). What I mean is there is a progression of steps to get to a point where you naturally eat healthy whole food but it is coming from the inside instead of from the external restrictive force of a diet.

Does that make sense? Anyway, I'd be interested to hear what you think about it.

Hellistile, I think I definitely don't get enough sleep anytime of hte year but probably even less in the winter. I've heard a lot about that book. I will have to check it out.

-J

[nikkil]

I'm going to have to check out the 'sleep' book myself. I totally don't get enough sleep at any time (shift worker - graveyards) and I've always believed that it contributes to my weight gain.

I understand what you're saying, J, and wish you luck in getting healthy however you go about it.

Take care,

Nicole

[tom sawyer]

My own personal observation is, once you've gone for some time under the "restrictive external restrictions" of a diet, that it becomes second nature and at that point it is coming from the inside. In other words, you develop good habits using a diet, until it just becomes a way of eating. I eat what I want, I've simply trained myself to want healthy low carb stuff.

And as for whether your diet is working or not, how do you assess this? I've successfully lost the weight I want, but my wife's loss is proceeding much more slowly. Still, we both understand that this is the proper diet for humans and we believe that we are experiencing better health as a result, regardless of weight. You don't have to be skinny to be healthy.

[Nancy LC]

I gotta second the sleep thing. It just makes all aspects of life better to get enough sleep.

[liz175]

In addition to the Normal Eating website you posted, you may want to look at the Overcoming Overeating website (click here (http://www.overcomingovereating.com/) ). It looks like it is a fairly similar philosophy, but I didn't look at them in enough detail to understand what the differences between them are.

I think these sorts of approaches to eating can work very well for people who are not insulin resistant or diabetic, and it doesn't sound like you are. I think that people who are insulin resistant or diabetic do need to be somewhat conscious of carbs.

[serrelind]

J,
Thanks, I've checked out that site. Very helpful. Feel free to drop by my journal and read up on my experiment with eating-by-consciousness. Hazelnut recently posted in my journal -- she's dropped dieting, eating whatever she wants, eating high quality tasty food, and it's working beautifully for her. Gave me a lot of hope and encouragement that I will get over my obsession and disordered thinking about food.

Serre

[suzzee2003]

Thank You for that web site. It makes all the sense in the world.

[TheCaveman]

sleep

Seconded. (Again.)

[RDW]

"I am going to try to find a way to eat with attunement and trust my body. I believe this will lead to more permanent weight loss for me and more importantly, happiness.

This does NOT mean I am going to start pigging out on junk food. I am still going to strive for healthy, whole foods.

But I am done with thinking that I must deny myself any type of food forever (or even for a while). I believe I can find balance."

This sure sounds like a diet to me :)

[JPaleo]

What about it sounds like a diet?

To me diets are about deprivation. I am doing the opposite of depriving myself. I am trusting myself and my body's internal cues.

-J

[dina1957]

I thought that "diet" simply means one's lifestyle? Nothing wrong with it.

[RDW]

dina,

That's it, a diet is a regulated form of eating. In this case, no junk food and healthy, whole foods. Resulting in caloric monitoring.

J~

You cannot be to far from your goal, certainly a LOT closer than I am and I am envious. Find what works and stay with it :)

[JPaleo]

But I never said no junk food. I just said I would not be pigging out on junk food. The way I am eating now is to eat what I want when I want (and this does include junk food sometimes) but based on my body's internal cues. Some posters earlier said that meant I was going back to the SAD. But I disagree. I said I would still strive to eat healthy food (because I like healthy food--I like vegetables and fruit and meat) but it would not be externally regulated by a diet. My eating is all internally regulated. If I eat only junk food I feel gross. But if I eat mostly healthy food (as my body craves it) and indulge in a little junk, I feel fine.

Maybe it's just different definitions of a diet. But to me a diet means external controls to regulate food intake. I'm going with internal controls. If that makes sense.

I know a lot about nutrition with all my paleo and general LC research. But forcing myself to stop eating dairy and bread and cookies and chips just resulted in feelings of deprivation. Now, when I think that I can eat whatever I want at anytime, I don't crave those foods. I've got chocolate that's been sitting in my drawer for a week untouched. There's ice cream in my freezer that is unopened and a bag of chips in my cupboard that is also unopened. Before I started trusting my body these things would have been devoured in a day or else I would have had to keep them out of my house (all the while dreaming about them and feeling deprived). And if tonight, my body decides it really does want some ice cream I will have it. Without guilt (and guilt was what stressed me out the most).

I'm finally starting to relax about food. I'm realizing that I can be trusted. I will not eat everything in sight.

And I am no longer having weird up and down feelings (that always felt like blood sugar issues). See, my body knows what it needs at any given time. And when I am very in tune with my body, I can give it what it needs. Some days I eat frequently, some days not so frequently. I let my body be the judge. Before I was on a regimented eat 6 small meals a day, at these certain times, only these certain foods, blah blah blah. It was exhausting.

I do like the way this is working for me. I feel so much better. More even and calm.

-J

[dina1957]

dina,

In this case, no junk food and healthy, whole foods. Resulting in caloric monitoring.

In my book JUNK is not considered food at all, word junk is a synonim of the follwoing: scraps, litter, garbage, trash, debris. If I've choosen not to eat from a trash can, doesn't mean I monitor my calories:lol: .

[Pogojo]

I gotta second the sleep thing. It just makes all aspects of life better to get enough sleep.

I actually have a question about this. My friend is semi-dieting. Well she worksout out 4-5 times a week and watches what she eats. But sometimes I don't think she eats enough. And, on top of it she complains about her sleeping, constantly being unable to get a good nights sleep. Is this a common reaction to not eating very much because I would have thought the other, more sleep?

[Duparc]

You'll be back!

There is, indeed, an unsocial side to dieting but the feeling of being deprived is an attitudinal one that can be changed. It is probably a simple matter of whether you want to be a fool alone or a fool among others.

Meantime, the bible you're looking for is Sally Fallon's "Nourishing Traditions"!

[JPaleo]

Hi Duparc, I wasn't sure if you were talking to me or not.

I have had no issues with dieting being unsocial but I have had issues with deprivation.

I honestly don't think I'll be back (to low carb dieting that is--I do like coming to this site). I've been doing and feeling much better with my new program, better than I 've felt in years.

I've learned a lot here and I think low carb is great for many people. Just not for me. And I've learned a lot a good stuff (which is why I keep coming back to read posts) like the dangers of trans-fats and problems with soy products.

Where in Scotland are you, by the way. My mom is from Aberdeen, though she's been in the states now for some 30 odd years.

-J

[Wyvrn]

JP, how nice for you that - unlike many people who can only control their weight by following a low carb diets - you aren't addicted to carbohydrates. Best of luck.

Wyv

[Duparc]

Hi JP,

There are two reasons why I suspect that you will be back. One is that the research findings which are generating from LC is confirming its many health benefits, and the other is, if we don't have our health, then we are struggling in this life. When you recognise this you will return.

Your mother might be interested to know that I reside at Kirriemuir at the south-eastern edge of the Grampian hills and live within its snowbelt. This small red-bricked town lies 50 miles south of Aberdeen where your mother's roots lie. The town's claim to fame is that James Barrie, the author of Peter Pan, is a native of the town and was born and buried here. The Hollywood actor David Niven is also reputed to have been born here as his birth occurred apparently when his parents were staying overnight at some local hostelry while on route to London, shortly after the turn of last century.

[JPaleo]

Hi Duparc, usually I do not like being told what I will be doing (pride of youth, maybe?) but you put it in such a lovely way, I guess I will have to consider it a possibility at some later date. :lol:

I have never been to Kirriemuir (though I am sure my mother has) as I have only been to Scotland a few times in my life (when my grandfather was still alive). Aberdeen was beautiful country, though. I am envious of anyone who gets to live there.

-J

[Grimalkin]

JPaleo, the reason this WOE succeeds for so many of us is because it targets our imbalance: insulin. For me, using LC principles has made my health and weight management a snap. If your problem is truly emotionally based then I feel for you - that is much more complex, and difficult to really get a handle on and resolve. Or if it is some other imbalance it would help you if you could identify what it was in the first place so that problems can be avoided later. I wish you the best of luck - just "listening" to my body got me into all sorts of trouble!


Off topic...

Duparc, many years ago myself and a friend travelled past Kirriemuir on a backpacking adventure through the Highlands. The scenery truly was lovely there. It took me two weeks to finally understand that Scottish accent, and by the third week I fell in love with it. I can hear the lilt of it in your writings and it brings back memories :) .

[JPaleo]

Grimalkin, I know all the reasoning behind low carb dieting. I researched it extensively before I started, especially the paleo diet (which was the one I was following). It just didn't work for me and I don't have any insulin imbalances.

Listening to my body is working. But this listening is not some thing where I say, "Ooo, I want to eat a whole pint of ice cream so I will." It is about really listening to when my body is hungry and what it wants and most importanly when it is done. When I do that I find I don't want to eat a lot. I use to never listen before and that was why I would overeat. Now, on the rare occasion that feel like eating some sort of junk food (I say rare because I just don't want it any more now that I can have it anytime) I usually only want 3 or 4 chips or 4 or 5 spoonfuls of ice cream. Then I am done. And I feel good.

I don't why it works but it does.

I know all the science behind low carbing but why would I do it if what I am doing now works better and makes me feel better than anything I have done before?

I think it is great that is works so well for so many people. It just doesn't work for me.

-J

[Wyvrn]

I know all the science behind low carbing but why would I do it if what I am doing now works better and makes me feel better than anything I have done before?

As others have pointed out, the purpose of low-carbing is to help people with insulin related disease, and since you claim you don't have any problems with your insulin, maybe you need a support group that actually has the same issues you do?

Wyv

[JPaleo]

I am not coming here for support. I come here because there is lots of good health info here. And if I see a post on which I feel I can contribute, I do. I am not trying to argue that my way of eating is somehow "better." It's not. It does not work for many people. But it works great for me.

I started this thread a few months ago when I was having a lot of food issues and feeling very frustrated. I said I was off to try something different, and I did, and it worked wonders for me. Is there something wrong in my checking in on this thread and talking about what has been working for me? Might there occasionally be other people who have the same problems as me who might benefit?

I have never said low carb is bad or wrong. I have always said it is a mircle for some. Just not me.

-J

[Duparc]

To stay LC for life at your age is probably a dismal thought. If your intention is to apply something of the principles of LC for the future then that should benefit you. I mentioned earlier about Sally Fallon's book; if you have not read it then do so. The information it contains should benefit you for the remainder of your life.

[Wyvrn]

I started this thread a few months ago when I was having a lot of food issues and feeling very frustrated. I said I was off to try something different, and I did, and it worked wonders for me. Is there something wrong in my checking in on this thread and talking about what has been working for me? Might there occasionally be other people who have the same problems as me who might benefit?

I have never said low carb is bad or wrong. I have always said it is a mircle for some. Just not me.
If you want to provide support for others in your situation without having a debate, then you might want to consider starting a thread somewhere other than the War Zone. Otherwise, you seem like someone who has never experienced nicotine addiction, hanging out with a bunch of people who are trying to quit smoking and telling them over and over that their methods are of no benefit to you. What's the point?

Wyv

[Wyvrn]

Duparc, love that book. IMO everyone with any interest in cooking, health or culinary history should get it. Too bad you don't eat veggies though, the kimchi and saurkraut recipes are wonderful.

Wyv

[EmmaB]

Wyvrn, a few things you may want to consider:

Firstly, I have a vague memory that this thread was not posted in the War Zone but moved here after some of the latter posts took the thread in a certain direction.

Secondly, you might want to look at JPaleo's profile, particularly her Join Date and reconsider your recommendation that she find another forum to post on. Being fairly new, it's understandable that you may not have realised that JPaleo is a respected and valued member of the boards here. I'm not sure it is ever good form to indicate that someone's opinions are not welcome here and to recommend that they seek support elsewhere, but it is particularly startling when the recommendation is being made to a long-term member and contributor.

Thirdly, the experiences of those who have whole heartedly tried low carb but found a different road to health and weight loss are not to be shunned, they are just as valuable as your own experience of low carb success. Would you really suggest that we should only ever have pro low-carb posts on the board? I for one would find that a sad development.

For further enlightening comment on similar issues to JPaleo's, you may want to read ItsTheWoo's recent thread here (http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthread.php?t=231905).

Emma

[JPaleo]

Hi EmmaB, thanks so much for your post. I really appreciate everything you said.

And thanks for the link to ItsTheWoos new thread. I am off to read it now.

-J

[Wyvrn]

Emma, I'm sorry, but I can't seem to remember ever posting that JPaleo should leave this forum. I did, in an attempt to be helpful, suggest that she move her thread off the War Zone, but darned if I can find any place where I suggested she actually leave the Low Carber site. There does not seem to be any indication on this thread that it has been moved from elsewhere.

As for the experiences of people who have tried low-carb unsuccessfully - it's of no interest to me since low-carb is working for me. Anyway it's not up to me, if you want to promote something other than low-carb on this site, it's up to the site owner. But it seems to me that the War Zone is intended for debate. If you don't want debate, then I give you the same advice I gave JPaleo - make a thread for it somewhere off the War Zone.

Wyv

[potatofree]

As others have pointed out, the purpose of low-carbing is to help people with insulin related disease, and since you claim you don't have any problems with your insulin, maybe you need a support group that actually has the same issues you do?

Wyv

you seem like someone who has never experienced nicotine addiction, hanging out with a bunch of people who are trying to quit smoking and telling them over and over that their methods are of no benefit to you. What's the point?

Wyv

I agree with Emma that it kind of reads like you're implying she leave... I'm sure you probably didn't mean for it to sound that way?

As for the experiences of people who have tried low-carb unsuccessfully - it's of no interest to me since low-carb is working for me

Then may I ask why you find the thread so interesting? I really AM interested in hearing about people's experiences and their journey to find something that works for them. Low carb is effective for most, but it's certainly not the "One True Way". The site owners have provided a forum for ALL points of view, and Jpaleo has always been respectful of everyone's point of view, even if she disagrees.

If a person's posts irritate you, there is always the "ignore list" feature under you user control panel.

[JPaleo]

Thanks, Potatofree. I appreciate your post. :)

Wyvrn, it is not my intent to annoy anyone or convert anyone. I am just reporting what is happening with me. And the only thing I would "debate" is whether or not low carb is the right diet for everyone. But I am not actually aiming for a debate but more of a discussion and a true curiosity as to whether or not anyone else has had experiences like me. I do believe that low carb can work wonders for many people. It just didn't for me. And I think the increased interest in low carb diets has brought about a lot of good health info (i.e. the dangers of transfats, the truth about cholesterol, etc . . .). I come here most days to read articles in the media section and I still read stuff in the paleo section and the emotional/body issues section and any other threads that catch my eye. And sometimes I contribute if there is something I have had experience with in my life and in my journey towards a healthy relationship with food.

Duparc, I have heard lots of good things about Sally Fallon's book. I will have to check it out.

-J

[Wyvrn]

I agree with Emma that it kind of reads like you're implying she leave

If you cut and paste from different posts I made, and omit the part where I suggested she create a new topic on this forum, yeah I can see how you could take it that way, if you wanted to.

Wyv

[Wyvrn]

JP, believe it or not, I have absolutely no argument with your WOE. I'm just completely mystified why you continue to present it in the War Zone when you don't want to debate it? When I asked "what is the point", what I meant was, well, "what is the point?". Not "JPaleo, you should leave".

Sheesh,

Wyv

[JPaleo]

Wyvrn, my responses on this thread have been in response to other people's questions or statements. I felt it would be rude to just ignore them since I started this thread.
On other threads, I have been sharing my experiences where I thought they were relevent (i.e. someone says IBS is cleared up with low carbing and I say that mine was worse with low carbing and better on med-high carb--that's not a debate, that's sharing my experience--disagreement does not equal debate).

And I have not presented my WOE as something to debate. What is there to debate? It works for me. Low carbing works for others. And I have said that repeatedly. No where in my posts will you find me telling people to stop low carbing or that my way is better than your way. I know people for whom low carbing has amazing results. But it doesn't for me.

As I said in my last post, the only thing I would say I have "debated" is the idea that low carb would work for everyone. Since it doesn't work for me, I have to say that I believe it doesn't.

-J

[sugarjunky]

How could quitting all refined flours and sugars NOT work for everyone?

[JPaleo]

You can be eating mid-high carb and not be eating any refined flour or sugar. I eat whole grains and starchy veg and quite a bit of fruit and I feel better doing so. I also eat lots of meat.

Anyway, this has just been my experience. I said before that I started this thread last year when I was feeling really frustrated. I am now very comfortable with my new, non-low carb way of eating and I honestly don't want to debate it. Again, what is there to debate? This is what works for me. Surely no one wants to argue about whether or not I can tell what makes me feel better.

So if other people want to keep "debating" this on this thread please do but I am going to stay out of it.

-J

[smhbraces]

what do u mean your done

[kAd]

Best of luck to you. :)

[steveed]

...I for one am sick of diets and WOEs and I'm not dieting ever again. Think I'll go with behavior modification this time. I'm on the Julia Child diet, eat the best quality food, but less of it....sure worked for her!

Now where did I put that croissant?

Seriously, I don't believe in eating truckloads of croissants and tubs of rice. These days I'm eating in the Weston Price mode...no faux foods, the least processed foods available, the best meats available with plenty of good old saturated fat, fresh fruits and vegetables taking up 50% of my plate and good old cod liver oil.

But I will have the occasional piece of dark chocolate and my daily glass of red wine.

Bon Appetit!

[atmasters]

Good Luck out !!! My little two cents on this. I Do not think that this is a diet it is not a quick fix. This is a life style that I have chosed Because I was not that smart when it came to eating. I thought I could just eat durring the day and still look good. < Wrong> I started to gain. So I worked on doing what you are going to do find some thing that will not make me over waight and I can still enjoy my food. But I cant quit Because I would just go back to what I was doing Before and well thant made me gain weight. It does Suck haveing to wach every thing and see every one eat all the junk and it sucks watching the same people gain weight over time. But it is a habbit that is hard to break.We grew up with this junk food and a lot of people made a lot of $$ with this food. It is hard to change. So just do not go back to what you were doing Before this because you will be right back to there faster that you can say Low Carb Baby.

Well good luck

[Jiggy Puff]

In my personal experience, I used to eat for any "emotional" reason: happy, sad, frustrated, angry. All was cause for celebration to eat. But when I stopped eating certain foods (flour and sugar), the addiction was lifted and my body felt satisfied and I was able to deal with those emotions and NOT eat. Food was firmly put in its rightful place: a source of energy (fuel) and, to some degree, pleasure.

I don't have an eating/emotional disorder. I have a physiological response to certain food types. Always have. I totally agree with this. That is definatly my story.

[smhbraces]

just like to say that i watch mycarbs and have started to take strength training on---it's fabulous really recommend it. I go to a fitness and health centre for women and it's not that expensive it's called truestar health. let me now if you want more info. goodluck to all and hope everyone succeeds in all they want.