I totally agree. A diet you can't stick with in the long term is useless.

I've made a decision. I don't have a crystal ball and can't see into the future to know what the long term effects of either diet will be, so I have to go with what makes me feel the best, healthiest, and happiest now.

Thank you so much to everyone who contributed their opinions, experiences, and wisdom to this thread.

" if my body is lacking some vital nutrient, or something, it will let me know and i'll do something about it. until then i'm sticking to vlc"

Yes, it is so hard to wrap our minds around this. No matter how much we say oh, this is healthy or unhealthy, it's far more important to listen to our bodies. I didn't eat sugar for 4 months and gained and gained. I started in on it again and promptly lost 15 pounds. I know in my mind sugar (including fruit) is bad for me, but my body reveals a different story.

Well, Happy, if The China Study ever factored into your believing a vegan diet was healthy, you might want to reconsider in view of a more unbiased analysis of the data: http://rawfoodsos.com/2010/07/07/th...fact-or-fallac/

Mind you, this was done by a raw-foods person... not a low carber!

Oh, gosh...I was vague again. I decided on meat. I made a list of pros and cons of both WOE and realized I feel the best on meat and if I start feeling bad or am lacking something, I'll deal with that when I come to it. I weighed everything, but the one thing that decided it for me, and carried more weight than anything else, was remembering that the last time I felt really good, mentally and emotionally, was last November when I was doing all meat. I felt happy and very self-confident, and that's not like me. (I should've just looked at my username when I started having doubts. )

I will read that post that you linked to, though, in case I go nuts (likely) and start doubting my choice again. Thanks.

ETA: WOW. I just read that post. I've been lurking over at the McDougall forum and The China Study comes up quite frequently over there, both as a recommendation for newbies and cited as the reason for adopting the WOE, much the way GCBC is here. That really helps put my mind at ease. Thank you so much.

This meat thing's not working out too well. It's been a week or so (?) and already I don't want to eat. I've had burgers, brisket, and lamb chops. Ugh. I've been forcing the food down. I take a bite of whatever meat is in front of me, say "Yeah, that's good", and then don't want to eat any more. I've started eating a lot of green vegetables and lower-carb fruits because I'm hungry and can't stand to eat more meat, but they're just not satisfying.

Not really looking for answers...this topic has pretty well been covered, I'd say. I guess I just thought I'd check in with an update.

I get that way on all-meat too. Too many carbs and I tip in the opposite direction. For me, I think there's a sweet spot.

What carbs do you eat? And what would your diet look like if you took out the meat?

I hear that, and I've had a couple of sweet potatoes. But if you take out the meat, what kind of diet is left?

Well, I wouldn't take out the meat, it remains a staple. However, for carbs I eat berries (at the moment), blueberries, raspberries mostly. I also eat veggies. Lately baby bok choy. I like going to Asian markets and trying exotic things. I think sweet potatoes are really great too, they seem to make only the tiniest bump in my blood sugar as compared to potatoes, which make a huge bump.

Sometimes I make a chicken/egg salad and use celery in it, maybe cut up a bit of apple too.

Oh yes, tomatoes. I have a good recipe for a chicken with pearl tomatoes.

I'd like to try some other things like jack fruit, cassava and some of the interesting things in the asian market, like water spinach.

I try to keep it paleo.

Oh yes, I've been making almond flour biscuits and putting peanut butter on them. They're awesome!

Why do you have to take out the meat?

Nancy, I love cassava.

I really think I just need a break from all diet related information. I'm driving myself crazy. Thank you all so much for your help. I'm sure I'll be back, but for right now I have to get away from this and clear my head.

HappyLC, you sound so much like me! I have tried all meat and made myself completely sick. I know how hard it is to read posts by people who are thriving on lc, vlc and zc and want to try it to get the same results and have the whole experiment backfire in your face. The conclusion I have come to is that as long as I stay paleo I feel good with an unlimited amount of carbs. I don't limit my fruit to berries but also include grapes, apples, mango, pineapple and sometimes bananas (these seem to help me with nausea, like a paleo saltine cracker) I also realize that I do better with less veggies, they seem a little hard to digest. If I eat as many carbs as I want then there comes a point where I don't want them anymore and I actually want to eat meat, but never more than 1-2x a day, and some days 0x. I think it's a good idea to back away from forum for a little while, I had to do that too because I was listening so much to everyone else that it was becoming hard to hear what my body was asking for. Good luck finding what works for you!

hey happy, i'm sorry to hear you're so frustrated right now, but i think what you are going through is right on plan. we've all been there at some point or another. the questions, the doubt, the frustration...it's what led us all to get to the point we are at in our own individual woe.

it should give you much hope that all of us (in this thread) are doing our own thing, and all of us are doing quite well.

when i can't take another steak, or beef in any form, i eat chicken, devild eggs/ egg salad, and fish (mainly salmon, trout, and sushi). i mention this only because the meat you mentioned was on the heavier side of the meat spectrum. as a kid, i remember never being able to do very well on a lot of meat in the summer (this is what gradually led me to becoming a vegetarian).

i know you are not asking for advice, but you remind me so much of myself (lol). so i would like to suggest taking it a little lighter with the meat during the warm summer months.

best wishes to you happy, and when you are ready please come back and tell us how you are doing!