Semi l/c on your own?
 

I have tried Atkins and had great success but, I got burned out. I also started dating again and eating out, is not easy for me on Atkins. I packed quite a few back on, fast.

I was planning on doing a semi l/c diet on my own, not following any particular plan or being too militant as that always trips me up.

Has anyone had any success following their own semi l/c plan?

I find that when I "do it my way" I either gain some back or stall for a long time.

Is there something in particular you're having issues with as far as restaurant eating?
I remember dating...and it was always the alcohol that got me.
Is there something particular that you struggle with with atkins?

I'm only asking because I know from experience that it works, and that when it didn't, it was because of my mind set....and me telling myself that Atkins just didn't work with my life.

I have heard some have done well with IF, but I would imagine that it would be difficult socially, if you're going out for meals at certain times.
I could not make it work for me.

When you say semi l/c.....what are you planning on eating?
Do you have anything specific in mind?
Is there something you are avoiding that you think would be easier to start eating again?

MsChevious.....I am doing the same (not following a particular plan). Maybe we can encourage each other?

am doing the same thing. atkins works for me but is too restrictive. considering i just want to maintain and NOT count calories, i am doing semi low carb. I eat between 50-100 grams of carbs a day, no sugar (except in peanut butter and other condiments), no rice, fruit, pasta, bread, or fake "low carb" food (candies, bars, bread). Lots of veggies, meat, cheese, nuts, peanut butter and eggs. Sometimes legumes and berries. The occasional treat of sugar free jello w/ coconut milk, or coconut milkshakes....i have a killer pb/choco milkshake in the recipe forum.

Anyway, this has helped me drop those annoying last 10 pounds with ease. Best of all I can eat ANYWHERE, ANYTIME, and pretty much ANYTHING (slightly modified). It is so liberating. It is so wonderful to be able to never be hungry, have three full meals a day, and never worry about weight. I like this way of eating so much more than counting calories.

Oh, and once a month I have a 'free treat' day a-la sugar free sheila. not recommended for everyone but am able to get back on the next day with ease. and it makes me feel better to know it's not that i wont EVER get to eat ice cream or cake etc etc...just not every day!

Hello, I have a friend that just found out she has Type 2 diabetes, the beginning anyway.....the dr or dietician told her to get on 150 carbs per day....she has really lost wt. we both are in our 60s.....I began on 140 carbs per day, sometimes less (she says they also told her to not go below 135 carbs per day because your brain needs that many to function correctly). Any thoughts here? I just have a book and count them each day. Losing anyway, when nothing else seemed to work.

How many carbs are you planning on having MsChevious?

I lost the majority of my weight using my own semi low carb plan. You can do it but you have to be strict about it. I did not follow the Atkins plan being that I did not do well eating 20 g carbs or less a day and I didn't eat high fat. I did/do eat brown rice, some whole grain crackers, fruit, etc. with my plan. I can always find something on a menu to eat whether it grilled chicken w/veggies or a big dinner salad with steak or chicken.

I eat whatever I want, just keep it around 130 carbs per day....try to eat healthy....and I have lost 10.5# in 7 weeks, which is good for me!!!!

sorry, that is 140 carbs per day....sometimes less

there are many people around here who go on 20 carbs or less per day. their brains seem to work just fine :)

as far as "not following a particular plan" I think for it to work you have to have built up over time an understanding of what constitutes healthy eating and what doesn't. many of us who follow our own plans have been at this for a while and our opinions have str timablized ovee, so that we don't get fooled by every new marketing scheme claiming some abomination to be the latest health food.

This is pretty much what I'm doing as well. My treats also include 85% dark chocolate and wine. I eat 100% whole grain toast a lot too. A bite of cake now and then. I'm lucky that I don't have a big sweet tooth, but I do love potatoes and have to have them in one form or another sometimes. :)

i am on my own plan as well, dont count anything but try really hard to keep the carbs to 60 per day, sometimes a little morem sometimes less. typical day was like today,,,,eggs, sausage, wwbread(7carbs) with butter, coffee and heavy cream..snack one mozerella cheesestick, one small turkey pepperoni..lunch was ,,,,,actually not hungry at lunch, big glasswater, smoothie made with onehalf cup of unsweetened strawberries, onehalf cup of nofat greek yogurt, i cup of almond milk and a little splenda, a milk 2 carbs, supper was 1 cup swisschard with butter, onehalfcup tomatoes, one quarter cup saurekraut, a whole bunch of sliced italian sausage.... and onehalf cup of brown rice with butter, salt and pepper. with that i had 3 onehalf ounces dry red wine.....probably less than 60 but close enough. hope this helps.

I'm having great success using MyFitnessPal to track my calories and my carb/fat/protein percentages. I started at 309lbs and I'm down 39lbs in 3.5 months.

I wasn't even trying to control carbs the first two months. I'm working LCHF choices into my diet. I've gone from 180-270 carbs a day to 90-180. The key, for me, is keeping to my daily calorie goals

FYI, here's a visual about whether my plan is working for me