Hello, everyone. Happy to be here. I'm not really new to low carb since I've dabbled in it here and there over four decades but never really committed to it.

About four years ago, I read The Primal Blueprint and was very attracted to its message, recommendations and philosophy. I followed it loosely, still hornswoggled by mainstream recommendations for plant based, Mediterranean style diets - i.e., beans and grains are healthy. So I found myself eating a high fat, high carb diet. Not good!

Then I said what the hey, I'll try plant (starch) based, no meat, no oil one more time and see how it goes. In three months' time I was bloated, lethargic, allergic and more, three pounds shy of my all-time top weight. I felt horrible. It was time to flip my diet back to low carb, knowing from experience that that was the way for me to go, for life.

Still afraid of long-term ketogenic diets, I resolved to do Atkins induction for a few weeks, until I felt better, and then ease into primal (which to me closely resembles Atkins pre-maintenance, real food only). In three days I lost three pounds of bloat and yuck and now, four weeks later, I'm down 13 pounds and feel so much better! Doing Atkins helped me finally get in the habit of eating a big bowl of salad every day instead of a big bowl of pasta, rice, or potatoes. Not only am I in the habit, but I'm actually craving salads (with creamy dressing) now. Yeah! Not craving the carb-heavy starches anymore. I thought I'd never see the day.

So here I am. I stumbled on this website via web search and am glad I did. Look forward to sharing information and ideas with you all!

Interesting and detailed story. Thanks for sharing it. Welcome to here

Welcome! I too had a checkered history of different diets, as well as the difficulty of managing my eTing while married..... Low carb has worked for me. I wish you the best!

Hey there Barb, and welcome! You're come to a great place. Thank you for your story- it seems that doing LC has been helpful for you! Fat is your friend, keep eating it

Thank you all!

I don't know if I've seen it put quite this way before--but yeah, I could see how if low carb veggies are almost the sole source of carbohydrate, those carb cravings could actually serve to improve diet quality. It's also a potential explanation for some low carb "trouble" foods--heavy cream and nuts or even peanuts are fairly low in carbohydrate, but very high in calories per gram of carbohydrate, even a small vestigial appetite for carbohydrate might get a person eating these in excess.

Yes! I've discovered that a spoonful of peanut butter or a handful of nuts is a slippery slope for me because it seldom stops there.

I find a can take these, and even pretty much live off of heavy cream--but it takes a very strict ketogenic diet, I have to count everything.

Welcome! You won't find a better or more knowledgeable support system/therapy group. Grab a cup of coffee or a tall glass of water and read, read, read.

Hello and Welcome,

You are doing great!

Kathy