People's reactions to Low-carb diets

[rainny]

Good Morning Everyone!
A friend and I were talking the other night about the reactions people have to different diets, mainly low-carb. I’ve done it all. I was fat as a kid, borderline anorexic as a teenager, starved myself as a young adult. I’ve done low- cal, low fat, back to starving, did speed with GREAT SUCCESS in weight lose {who knows what I did to my body with the phen phen}, then low-carbs…but only as a diet…not a life style, then gained it all back. Then the roller coaster started all over, I tried EVERYTHING AGAIN…but came back quickly to low-carb. What’s funny about this is the low-carb is the ONLY thing that has freaked people out. The reactions are out of this world. What is the deal with this. I mean no one ever got upset over the anorexic behavior or the speed…but mention Low-carb and people about have a heart attack. I even had this guy pull my husband aside telling him to think about what he was doing. That he need to realize that carbs where good for him…and that this was damaging him. It really upsets me!!
So tell me…what reactions have y’all had to this diet?
Smile!

[agonycat]

Actually it is kinda funny.....When I started the diet back on April 28th and started losing weight, people in my office asked what I was doing. I told them and shared my book with them. Also gave them this web page so they could read the input from you good people.

So far 4 people in my office are now on this diet, including their families. So far all are doing fantastic, only one is showing no weight loss, but she is taking hormone shots.

Any suggestions for her?

[rainny]

I guess I get more bad reactions than good ones. I really wish I could get more people to be more open about it. I've lost 25 lbs since April 1st and my husband had went below his goal with his 25 lb lose, not to mention his stress level is so much better. Even then kid have noticed! If he gets cranky they ask him if he is eating to many carbs...the answer is usually YES! HA!:p
It just frustrates me. I know this is a great solution to such a LIFE LONG BATTLE...if more people would give it a chance.
SMILE,

[rainny]

[So far 4 people in my office are now on this diet, including their families. So far all are doing fantastic, only one is showing no weight loss, but she is taking hormone shots.

Any suggestions for her? [/B][/QUOTE]

:confused: I would try to increase the fat and lower the carb...if that doesn't work than maybe lower the calories. Is there an natural hormone she could take instead? What is that one thing...yam root? May be she needs to talk with her doctor about lower the dose?
Smile,

[Karen]

I haven't received too much resistance to my WOE. One person asked me, Isn't it bad for your liver?, so I told her yes. ;)

One of my work mates was inspired by my success and has lost quite a bit of weight. Another wavers back and forth but is pleased with his results. And I've noticed the management team eating less or no potatoes, rice or bread with their meals.

This WOE works as great leverage for guilt because everyone knows that white flour, sugar and potato chips is not the ideal way to eat. So, if someone is asks me questions about LC, I plant the seed, (usually while they are eating a piece of bread) and say, When you mix flour and water together you get glue! Why do you want to eat glue???

We get quite a few LC'ers coming to the restaurant and I always feel warm towards them when they ask for double vegetables or a salad instead of rice or potatoes.

How often have you heard someone say I can't live without bread, rice, pasta, cereal, sugar in my coffee etc.? Is that an addict talking or what? I find it highly amusing!

Rainny, you have the secret to a better WOL. Everyone else has been brainwashed and cannot see the light. Smile sagely and nod your head at detractors. ;)

Now, if I coud only practice what I preach and become a real role model, not half of one...:eek:

Karen

[TammyJoi]

I remember a friend of mine talking about going on a low carbo diet, and I wasn't very supportive at all (which is odd for me, I try to be supportive of most of my friends ideas-- after all, who am I to judge what is good or bad) .

I guess it would only be justice that my health has forced me to do the very thing that I was talking down. I have to control my carbos now, and I didn't realize just how many carbohydrates my diet possesed before. Needless to say I had to appologize to my friend. Is Crow low in carbos?:D

Whether or not I loose weight (which I am doing anyway), I am feeling better than I have in years, and even better, I am able to control my blood sugar. I truely believe had I been smart enough to start this diet BEFORE I wore out my pancreas, I would have saved myself the hassle of testing my blood daily.

Don't let anyone discourage you, you are doing the SMART thing, taking care of your body now. I wish I had learned this lesson sooner (but I am a bit hard headed ;))

[rainny]

Karen,
Your great! HA! You sound like someone who would be great fun to hang around!
I'm a pretty stubborn person when I find something that works. But it hurts me when I have love ones in my life...like my parents...and they tell me they cant afford to eat like me. I don't see how you can afford to eat any other way. They both have high blood pressure and heart problems. Mom has a problem that the doctors can't explain where her foot and hand gets so dry and bumpy and will even bleed. Dad has had several strokes and is have small ones on a daily bases. He also has a problem where he will get real white, sweaty, cold and develops the shakes. As soon as he consumes a large amount of sugar he is okay. I KNOW THIS WOULD HELP HIM! I have come to terms with the fact that they will never try this. But it still makes me sad. I did get my Aunts on it. And my husband was a great turn around! He can believe how he has change mentally and physically...it has improved our marriage 100%

I know what I'm doing is right for me and my family...But I'm a rescuer! ha!:p I JUST WANT TO MAKE EVERYONE AND EVERYTHING BETTER EVERYWHERE! HA!:D Oh well, maybe in a perfect world!
Smile,

[tamarian]

Originally posted by TammyJoi
Whether or not I loose weight (which I am doing anyway), I am feeling better than I have in years, and even better, I am able to control my blood sugar. I truely believe had I been smart enough to start this diet BEFORE I wore out my pancreas, I would have saved myself the hassle of testing my blood daily.


Thanks for sharing this Tammy! I never realised this aspect of diabetese. I also admire your attitude! Good luck on your WOL!

Wa'il

[Karen]

Originally posted by rainny

I'm a pretty stubborn person when I find something that works. But it hurts me when I have love ones in my life...like my parents...and they tell me they cant afford to eat like me. I don't see how you can afford to eat any other way.

I know what I'm doing is right for me and my family...But I'm a rescuer! ha!:p I JUST WANT TO MAKE EVERYONE AND EVERYTHING BETTER EVERYWHERE! HA!:D Oh well, maybe in a perfect world!
Smile,

A lot of people, especially older ones have the carb habit so ingrained that they can't fathom any other way to eat. The devil you know is better than the devil you don't know? Changing their WOE is probably real scary for them.

This WOE does not have to be expensive. We're not chowing down on beef tenderloin everyday. I think if you look at other peoples menus (I'm an exception because I'm lucky as well as unlucky to work in a restaurant--whipped cream is always available arrrgh!) you will find that if you add a sandwich here, a bowl of cereal there, a couple of high sugar drinks and mashed potatoes with dinner, you will find the standard daily diet of most people.

I have found that I actually eat less than I did before because I'm not stuffing bread and cookies into my face all day in a futile effort to stay coherent.

To risk evangelism, have them over for a low-carb meal based on chicken legs or ground beef and vegetables. Like you, I hate to see people ruining their health by the way they eat when the answer seems so simple.

Here's to the perfect world. ;)

Karen

[kian]

boy, can I relate to the "you're doing WHAT??" Almost like I would get more support if I were to abuse diet pills or start the Heroin Plan or anything but give up carbs. I began telling people early on but found it was not worth the iritation level to have to justify my choices. The only people I will divulge my "secret" to are those I feel are sincerely open minded and wanting to have some of the success I have had. the rest can wonder on...Was recently on a camp-out with 40 boy cubs & leaders..........one person made an off the cuff remark about the sour cream I was dipping my green beans in. I smiled and dipped on, making no mention about the potato chips, potato salad, pasta salad, and baked beans( or the fact his belt buckle could only be assumed was there) for me, my lo carb is akin to "the meek shall inherit the mirth" carry on locos:rolleyes:

[doreen T]

What’s funny about this is the low-carb is the ONLY thing that has freaked people out. The reactions are out of this world. What is the deal with this. I mean no one ever got upset over the anorexic behavior or the speed…but mention Low-carb and people about have a heart attackWhat's more odd, is that I'm old enough to remember a time when the popular theory was that more protein is good, healthy, and starches made you fat. Weight Watchers earliest program, Overeaters Anonymous, TOPS (Take Off Pounds Sensibly) .. they ALL encouraged a reduced calorie regimen that provided higher amounts of lean protein and vegetable oils, lots of vegetables, controlled portions of lowcarb fruit, and reduced/restricted intake of starches and grains. That was in the 60s and 70s.

Public media is very, very powerful in its ability to propagandize and influence popular thought. When the link between cholesterol and heart disease was publicized in the early 80s, food manufacturers went NUTS promoting the low cholesterol, lowfat foods, and sat back while their profits soared. Scientists and researchers KNEW all along that dietary cholesterol -- that which you consume -- has little to do with the level of cholesterol in your blood, which is more influenced by the function of the liver in response to ... SUGAR ... Ooooppss .... ranting, sorry! .. :o

I recently heard a brief news item about how Canadian prairie farmers are being offered financial incentives to convert part of their land from grain to livestock production. The end of the news item made comment that similar programs are underway in the US farming states as well. I didn't pay much attention at the time, but I have since thought that it will be interesting to see if, in coming years, the pressure will be on to eat more meat, less grain, since the supply of both will be changing in that direction. Once again, the public health is dictated by politics and profit. Some things never change.

Doreen

[rainny]

Wouldn't it be WONDERFUL to be able to go to the grocery story and buy low-carb bread,chips, ice cream... That sounds so great! I too believe it will come in a few years. I know more and more people are doing the low-carb thing...but it is also hidden. That to me is what is sad. :( I remember when Jenny Craig first introduce the low-carb diet...I though GREAT! Something that works!:D My boss at the time was doing the Jenny Craig thing and wanted me to join her. I was pretty stuck to the low-carb thing ao I told her no...but we stayed as work out partners! So when they started the low-carb thing I was pretty excited because I figured they would have LOW CARB FOOD ITEMS YOU COULD BUY! The carbs where to high and I wouldn't do it. Needless to say my boss wasn't happy...and it was the beginning of the end for our friendship and my job. Yes my job. It became a jealousy thing. I was loosing steadily and she was struggling. Anyway I do think the way of thinking is turning around. And no matter what low-carb diet your doing I think everyone owe Dr. Atkins a great deal of Thanks for sticking to his guns and promoting this way of eating! I know I do! :D And I'm grateful to know that when my kids grow up they will have and answer to the problem. Talking about kids...what is the right amount of carbs for a kid on a diet. I started a thread...but didn't get a bite the last time I looked!ha!;)
Smile,

[rainny]

Originally posted by Karen


A lot of people, especially older ones have the carb habit so ingrained that they can't fathom any other way to eat. The devil you know is better than the devil you don't know? Changing their WOE is probably real scary for them.


I have found that I actually eat less than I did before because I'm not stuffing bread and cookies into my face all day in a futile effort to stay coherent.

To risk evangelism, have them over for a low-carb meal based on chicken legs or ground beef and vegetables. Like you, I hate to see people ruining their health by the way they eat when the answer seems so simple.

Here's to the perfect world. ;)

Karen

Karen,
Know its scary for them...I just pray they will see someday. Right now they eat mostly potatoes. Mom says she couldn't live with out them! :eek: Sound familiar! ha! I have really tried to tell then that we don't eat that much and that our grocery bill is really lower...but they won't hear of it. What is funny is Dad his a high protein shake thing for a long time and lost allot of weight. But he has gained it all back because he can't live that way. But he does understand that the hi protein low carb works. And I know they had to be spending more money doing the shakes then the way we eat. I'm hoping that if I cna REALLY get my aunts to eat this way {they are having heart attacks right and left back there :( } That not only will it improve there health but maybe they will convince her that its not expensive to do this. :) HOPE HOPE PRAY PRAY! I want my parent to have a long healthy life. To see there grandbabies grow up! :(
I guess all I can do is move forward... pray for the future to show the truth about low-carbs...and for the industry,FDA & American Heart Association to embrace the low-carb way...so that we all can be healthy! :D AND STAY WITH THIS GREAT GROUP!:D Y'all are great!
Smile,

[Karen]

Originally posted by kian
boy, can I relate to the "you're doing WHAT??" Almost like I would get more support if I were to abuse diet pills or start the Heroin Plan or anything but give up carbs. \

The Crack Plan works well too, LOL! A sure fire way to lose 30 lbs. in 30 days.

I live in Vancouver's Gastown/East End, which is the poorest area in Canada. Junkies, crackheads, hookers, schizophrenics, bi-polar--you name it, it's here.

There are many places that give out bread and some days the streets are littered with cinnamon buns, bagels, baguettes stuck in chain link fences and exploded loaves of the white sliced stuff.

Makes you wonder. Food that is so disposable?:confused:

I'm really enjoying this thread.:D

Karen

[shelley]

Boy, a whole lot of people are giving me a hard time.
I have had everything from "you can"t loose weight that fast" to " he is a quack!" or "ketones are poison I tell you, they will kill you" or " it just isn't normal you know!"
My dietitian gave me a hard time to. And I asked her "if low carb diets are so bad, why do you put diabetics on them?"
I have dieted myself into obesity with all of these other diets. So far Atkins has given me results and my blood sugars have never been better.
So I say:p to all the critics........LOL

[nrussell]

Hi Tammy and everyone

Tammy I can empathise with those damn prickers. Had it 5 times a day plus 3 - 4 shots of insulin when pregnant. Give me the insulin shots any day ....

I was recently diagnosed with borderline diabetes around 8 and fortunately they didnt give me a pricker this time (although I got all paranoid on this WOE thinking I was going to get hypoglycaemia!).

Anyway, no signs of hypoglycaemia and I had my follow up GTT and I've dropped back to 7.5 which is really great news so I've staved off those darn prickers and I'm sure that this WOE has helped.

Also now I've discovered gallstones (something us fair, fat, fertile and forty females do have to keep an eye on, on this WOE) and had all the heart tests done as a matter of course and they have all improved to near or within normal limits. Mostly they've been quite bad for at least 5 years and my blood pressure has gone from mediocre - high to reasonably low.

So next time, people say this is harmful - tell them that heart disease, cancer and diabetes are the three biggest killers in the western world and that on this WOE we at least are less likely to succumb to those. Studies with heart disease are increasingly demonstrating this.

Also if you are obese, you are 40 times more likely to die than an average sized person - so in order to "get a life", maybe some risks are acceptable. Sure beats stomach stapling (way more risky) which before this WOE I was very seriously considering.

I must admit my experience with people is mostly positive regarding this WOE, although my brother the Dr, when hearing about the gallstones gleefully said "Well you have to give up the diet now!". That was 4 weeks ago, just wait till he sees me at Christmas - I will let what I look like be self evident ....:D

Nicola

[rainny]

People are just odd sometimes. I mentioned before I think that I went threw and type out all the benefits of this diet on several pieces of paper {what I took from atkins} I then carry it around with me. Some at my desk...some in my car. I pass then out and e-mail them to allot of different people. I have begone to tell people these are the list of studies done and the positive benefits to this diet. When you can show me the stuff that are done in the same CONTROLLED MANNER that prove or even show evidence that this diet is harmful in anyway !!!PLEASE!!! give it to me! Because everything that I have found has only proven it to be healthy! This still doesn't stop some people. It just make me upset that it was okay to starve myself, abuse diet pill { I did the fin phen for 2 years} and no one was concerned. But now I'm eating feeling great looking great, working out and just over all doing better...and every one is acting like I'm slitting my wrist or something!
Its just weird! ha! I DREAM OF THE DAY THEY SAY...WE WERE WRONG...This is a healthy woe! :D :p :D :p :D
Smile,

[judie6227]

Hi everyone, I have been doing with WOE for a year and have lost 50 lbs and the funny thing is my doctor recommended it to me and I have been checked by her and everything is great. My daughter is also on it with me and has lost over 50 pounds and the 3 ladies I work with are all on it inspired by my weight loss. So ignore all those nasty people and keep up the goos work.

Judie

[rainny]

I'm so glad to here that! I know it will happen here in they USA too...because the health benefits and success rate is to high to ignore. Until then I will just have to ignore the nasty people! ha!
SMILE

[JenniferB]

Everyone trashes this diet. They say it is deadly and ineffective. And I make it look worse than it is. But it does seem to work better for men. My husband loses weight if he even thinks about the diet. My body is a miracle of caloric conservation. I gained a bunch when I was pregnant. I lost almost all of it, though. Over sixty pounds. Now the baby is finally one and I just can't get rid of these last ten pounds. (or 13) Because I'm not visibly losing on the diet, it looks even loonier. So I've got this bizarre eating thing going on that nobody can relate to and it isn't even working. (Can you eat this? Can you eat that?) Also, everyone insists that I am too skinny as it is, and shouldn't be dieting anyway. So I've got almost eight months invested in trying to lose The last twenty-five pounds and can't seem to do what nobody thinks I should do anyway. I am making the diet look weirder than it is by going back on induction every whip-stitch. But the post-pregnancy hormones have been a monkey wrench in the works and I kept cheating for holidays and then I wasn't very informed, so I drank caffeine and used equal every day. So many people around me don't see the difference between induction and OWL. I keep telling them it won't always be this extreme. My parents are concerned. My husband lost almost all his weight and then switched to weight watchers, which he says is healthier. He said his plateau was too much to overcome with Atkins. Of course he's losing weight again. I just want to weigh 120 again. I'm 5'7". I want to get back into my wedding gown. Everyone sees the Atkins diet as an extreme measure towards a rediculous goal. I'm starting to look obsessive and one-dimensional. Exercising all the time has hurt my image in that regard, but I love my tae-bo tape and I just want to do what I said I was going to do! I think It can work and there's nothing about being a mom that should keep me from my goal! Seeing all of you trying so hard to stick with it is very encouraging. Especially in a world of nay-sayers. I saw a lot more support when I looked like I'd just had a baby. The diet has a terrible reputation here. (North Carolina) My husband works in New York and said Manhattan is just Atkins city. I went to Paris last month and saw smints everywhere, so I guess they're into it. Nobody under 60 is carrying an ounce of fat over there.

[rainny]

My husband works in New York and said Manhattan is just Atkins city. I went to Paris last month and saw smints everywhere, so I guess they're into it. Nobody under 60 is carrying an ounce of fat over there. [/B]

From what I under stand...this is just the French woe...and always have been. I remember so many times I heard on the news that their lack of weight problem, heart disease etc was do to their DNA. It drove me nuts for the longest time. Hang in there Jennifer! You’ll do it! Just remember that that last 10 lbs. might be muscle…you said you have been working out allot right? Plus having a baby can do strange things to you rib cage. The baby is very capable of pushing those out wider when you were caring her/him during those long 9 months. At least that’s what my Doctor told me…plus other mothers. Did you husband have his blood work done before the atkins? I would be curious to know if there is any change in his cholesterol level since starting weight watchers. My hubby won’t get of this…mainly because of the stress level improvement. And yes he lost all his weight IN ONE MONTH! Sick isn't!HA!

Smile,

[rainny]

Originally posted by Karen


The Crack Plan works well too, LOL! A sure fire way to lose 30 lbs. in 30 days.
Karen

That is too funny! ha! Sad but I know of people that could deal with me doing that instead of atkins!:p
HEE HEE!

[Mrs. Y]

Jennifer, I think 120 is probably a bit extreme - you may be just right for your height.

The obsession you have with the 13 lbs. is probably the result of the extremes your bod went through in producing this lovely new human being (who, by the way, needs all the nutrients he/she can get if you're nursing (?) - a bit personal, i know, but it's important :) )

After being sooooo big, your brain is still harbouring that 120 lb. image and comparing it to the size you are now and labelling it as still being toooo big, when in fact you're probably just right for someone who is only one year post-partum.

As we get older we all have to hang up the 120 lb. "ideal weight" we were when we were just out of high school. If you're this disappointed at this stage, you're in for a real shock when you hit menopause, trust me I know this firsthand...

So try to enjoy being a wonderful mom to a wonderful kid and stop stressing about the pounds, girl! If you keep with a regular exercise program and keep watching what you eat, you'll be fine.

[JenniferB]

Thanks Mrs. Yogi,
Little Genevieve isn't nursing. Oh no, I wouldn't dream of dieting with her invested that way. I gained all that weight during the pregnancy on the instinctive eating theory and I'd do it again. she was 9 pounds of perfect. She's doing great and insists on feeding herself everything. That is a workout for me in itself.
I don't want to get all shallow, image obsessed, and vain. You know how it is. It's just hard to quit something once you've invested much time in it. I'm a little pig-headed.
My body has been determined to weigh 135 ever since I turned 19 and at 34 I stll can't accept it. It wants to be all roundish and fluffy. I want it to be a hard angled 115 and we are at war. Only the baby brought a truce, because I couldn't push it with her in the mix. It may be time to surrender to reality, having reached the point of diminishing returns. I'm going to give it one good full month of concerted effort and then declare victory. I quit smoking before I got pregnant and am still smoke free, so that is a victory in itself. I ought to get a 10 pound no smoke variance, huh? All those French girls were smoking. Even the ones with children.
Thanks again for the much needed input.

[Mrs. Y]

Now that's a great concept. I managed to quit on my thirtieth birthday and hey, come to think of it, that's around the time I got married to a great cook and started gaining the extra.

BTW I'd take a little fluffiness over hard angles any day!

Good luck and don't be so hard on yerself. You are a lucky mom and have a great life by the sound of it.