after yo-yoing all my life on every diet, i became obese and prediabetic with shocking results for my bloodwork. Doc threatened me with all sorts of nasty pills which i ran from promising to lose weight instead. "25 lbs at least" he screamed back at me.
After pondering the disastrous effects of my rebound weight gain on other plans, i found barry groves. Well, i lost 50 lbs in 18 months instead of 25 lbs and still managed to enjoy my beer at the same time, and rices cakes too. The loss was slow, slow, slow and sometimes plateaued for a month at a time. 2 years later, Im still enjoying whatever i like to eat, provided i dont go over 50-60g carb per day.
It is a feel good plan for life.
Has anyone else here had long term good results using semi LC and maintained it?

love barry groves.....even if i go off and try other plans for a day or two, i always end up back. i also love that he's been doing this for many, many years and is so fit and healthy...monica, too.
you have a bigger following across the pond but there're are a bunch of fans here even if they are not following his plan per se.

Thank goodness, i thought after skanning these posts that i was the only one who had acheived balance. Everyone here is so obsessive about how many carb grams to protein grams etc. His message is CLEAR. Relax, enjoy, eat ANYTHING you want and live. My veiw: If the weight isnt coming off, ur too impatient and at least it isnt piling back on. Im going 4 another beer! LONGTERM -FOREVER diets are truley enjoyable if u can just relax sit back and be patient. Have faith! I did and I won!

Diabetes Diet Barry Groves
It seems reasonably similar to the plan I use.
Dr Dahlqvist's plan

No, I truly ate what I wanted, a few beers, some sugar in milky coffee and if you can believe it...RICE CAKES..the do-all and end-all of high glycemic hell. Removing gluten based grains and dairy helped, provided i stayed under 60g carb. Barry Groves released me from a lifetime of hell. RELAX, ENJOY & STOP ANALYSING YOUR FOOD!

Right now I'm back to doing Groves but without the dairy. I feel it is important not to let my carbs stay too low - seems to backfire, so his recommendations of 50-60g seem to be spot on - for me anyway. Most people can lose on that amount if they are new to low-carbing and remember to eat plenty of fat.

This is ironic. You scream this message at us?????

"the beatings will continue until morale improves"

I do enjoy Dr. Groves. I follow Kwasniewski myself and it's very similar. I get french fries every day if I want em.

I started off LCing due to reading Mr Groves' book, "Natural Health and Weight Loss", as well as loads of his articles on his "Second Opinions" website.

I've never looked back, either!!!

I am now following Schwarzbein's plan, which, in terms of carbs per day, is about the same as I was doing on Groves' plan. The only difference is that she recommends having a few carbs (around 15-20) with every main meal. I like her plan because she addresses other issues than simply what you eat, such as stress management and, in my case, following a plan to help my weakened adrenals recover from the battering I've been giving them over the years... (well, life has not helped sometimes, by throwing massively stressful situations at me, either).

The main thing that I have changed since following the Schwarzbein plan is that I have drastically - but nonetheless very gradually - reduced my caffeine intake: the difference is astonishing!!! I am a much calmer and more balanced person now that I am not totally wired all day long!!!

But, had I not read Barry Groves, who is also one of my favourite LC writers because he can craft a good sentence and his writing is simply a pleasure to read, I would not be where I am today, which is that I feel tons better and am maintaining my weight whereas virtually everybody else around me my age is getting wider and wider round the middle!!!

BARRY GROVES ROCKS!!!

amanda

Good luck, Loops!!!

You know it worked for me at 70g of carbs a day, too!

amanda

Barry Groves helped me to lose 43lbs in 5.5 months.

It took me 14 months to lose that on Atkins, and then I gained it all back with my last pregnancy.

I ate basically the same as Atkins, but more fat and less carbs because that is what worked for me.

I no longer eat any carbs though, and that helped me to lose the last 42lbs. I never even got close to this weight on Atkins. I do not tolerate carbs well at all.

Barry Groves' message about higher fat worked for me. I stuck with roughly 75% Fat / 22% Protein and 3% carbs as opposed to the 65/30/5 with Atkins.

His latest book, Trick and Treat is one of my favorites now.

Wow, I'm not the only one. So grateful to hear so from u guys. If i go ketogenic, I feel acidic, tired, lethargic and suffer weeks of sleeplessness, depression and anger. A meal just wouldnt hold me over. I lost well over 50 lbs with barrys "Natual health and weight loss" and only regained 8 lbs as opposed to all the weight lost plus 50% more on ketogenic diets in the past. A few months ago, I unknowingly cut down on fat, it backfired. however, i was probably a bit too thin anyway...according to friends and family....some even sincere! My weight has now stabilized at 104 lbs by adding lashings of better butter (50%butter,50%virgin olive oil whipped together) to everything. My meals are now normal and as far as protein amounts go....never gave em a second thought as my appetite natually decreased the longer i stuck to barrys advice. It is a lifelong livable journey-NEVER say diet. That is something you go on then off, resulting in longterm failure. Now...time for that other beer! Yes I still enjoy it each day...us aussies are baptised in the stuff and it fits perfectly into my plan.
PS. Just quit coffee in exchange for cocoa and herbal teas and 2 lge jugs of rain water a day....the results were amazing within the 1st day...no more fluid retention.....pee'd all day for the 1st time in 12 months...Again....Thank you Barry!

I too cannot tolerate dairy. However, after following barry for 6 months, i found a small spash of whole milk in decafe or cocoa and the thinning down of butter with 50% olive oil (whip them together and refrigerate, spreads straight from the fridge) seemed for me for the 1st time in my life, do-able. However Yogurt, cheese, ice cream and cream still trigger an immediate reaction........they snog up my nose, chest and throat. (Snog is a polite word for phlem).
Oh by the way i was sometimes cheating up to 80 grams on my "too many beers" nights!

Well i never thought of that! Maybe my beer was a little more important. We only have "hot chips" here in oz and they suck now that they are all cooked in racid "healthy" vegetable oil. They smell and taste exactly like the cheap oil theyre cooked in. Low-fat phobia is taking over here in oz. I just quit working at the local pub, the smell of the deep fat frier was as sickening as was watching the overweight staff "nosebagging" the contents of that deep fat frier. Those very staff thought i was sick for eating fresh meat and butter! Now thats IRONY.
I hope you didnt think I was screaming a message. Maybe just got a bit carried away on my soapbox. Just a bit shocked at the obsessiveness of food analysis on the site. Food phobia is not inducive to good mental or physical health. I think the "industry all round" has frightened people into a shocking state of food-phobia. Maybe if we all close the books after reading the "diet plan" and skip the scientific info, more folk could just get on with it. The more we know the more we seem to obsess! Anyhooooow, time for another beer...n' yes....Im still skinny!

Thx Amanda -

I've been re-reading Life Without Bread as well - and that goes up to 72g carb. That is the cut-off point for diabetics and has been proven to work long-term for a lot of people. Anyway those are my favourite two books - Groves and Lutz. Atkins made me feel like crap and I never got rid of cravings for 'something' due to the seeming emphasis on protein rather than more fat than protein etc. Also, I was using mayonnaise and olive oil for fat - now I see these are not suitable fats for energy and satisfaction for me. It is definitely tough trying to eat high animal fat without dairy and I do find my protein starts to edge up without the cream but I have to give it a good shot.

That pub situation, oh my gosh. Didn't they have a real chef guy who knows the diff? Too bad. I had a BF who was a pub chef and he made the most amazing stuff out of what they would normally THROW OUT - the beef trimmings and so on. Sigh.

Awww, sorry for teasing you, I'm right with ya.

When did we as consumers all turn into frightened rabbits at this insane public health message? Dr. Kwasniewski says it is eating the Conventional Wisdom foods that makes people like sheep - not very bright, fearful, quick to panic, and wanting to be in a herd. This is one of the "weird" ideas that Peter at Hyperlipid talks about.

Enjoy your beer. I will raise a potato fried in tallow, in your honor.