Whenever I see a posting titled like this one I always think... oh boy, here's another time I need to refer someone to the "I'm so bored with Low Carb" thread. Nice to see it isn't needed this time!

Congrats!

What an amazing day it was when I finally realized that I was no longer suffering through the deprivation and misery of a diet. What a joy to actually enjoy what I am doing. Yes, eating healthy and feeling good about it is sustainable. I can do this. Great post Jammie. I put a link to this thread in my journal so I can go back and read it again from time to time. If what you are doing is not sustainable, then the results will more than likely be temporary.

Hear, hear!

It's just all so much calmer! The craziness of food has calmed to almost quiet.
(There are still times I make on-plan food that is SO good, I overeat..but those times are rare and I do have a much better ability to see clearly when it comes to food. No more "low cal high carb" ravenous/grouchy punishments or crazy HFHC binges where I self-destruct.)

Keeping it all HFLC keeps me in charge: not the hormones and chemicals released when sugar hits the stream.

I am jealous of the people who say they "don't miss" the carbcrap. I do. I miss it. I still want it. BUT, I know the cost if I partake, and so, I don't. I am ABLE to make the right choice. It's a cost-benefit analysis really. I WANT those things, but it's just NOT worth it.

I like being in control.
(control-freak! )
J

It's just a wonderful, wonderful reality that there IS SOMETHING that can provide us each with a healthy body weight and all the accompanying health benefits!

It's incredible.

It's simple and it's science.

Woohoo for us!
J

Great post! I think it shows the important mental thinking of how your body feels and the health the LCHF brings back to you. I don't feel hungry either and just these things keep me LCHF

Thanks for sharing this, Jammie! I feel the exact same way. I'm coming up on 8 months now. Looking back, I've managed to stay on plan with no drama and no sense of deprivation and still go on a road trip with my family, travel for business, spend a week at my parents over the holidays, attend work functions, accompany my husband st his work functions, basically live my normal life but eating differently. I'm confident I've passed the point of no return; I'm not even afraid of jinxing it when I say there's no chance I'll go back to my old way of eating.

I also agree emphatically with your point about the link between sustainability and the rate of weight loss. I'm losing 4 lbs a month. Not fantastic, much slower than when I starved myself and lost 70 lbs in 6 months eating 600 calories / 10 g of fat a day, but there was no way I could live the rest of my life like that. I would stick with LCHF for the rest of my life even if I never lost another pound because of how good I feel. How quickly I lose becomes irrelevant.

Hi,

I feel the same way!! This is the way I eat I do not think of lthis as a diet!! It is how I eat and most of my family and friends have things I can eat! Like you say we can do this type of eating anywhere!
Wednesday I am going to Olive Garden not sure what I will find there but will make it a go!
I love the article you wrote on Sustainability!! It is right on!!

Lovely inspiring thread, thank you!

Well said Jammie. I came late to the party but I am so glad I came. Nobody ever told me that my brain would wake up and I would have far more energy. I have lost weight and I feel great . my counselor asks regularly if it is sustainable. I always say one day at a time. But I love what I can eat and it makes me happy.

I must add that 10 days of eating out at Disney world proved I can do this easily.

Very nice - I love the points about adapting to the real world and not being too much of a perfectionist - I think that's a very realistic approach.

My 'regular' low carb routine is very close to the one you describe - I can go anywhere, eat at restaurants, parties, etc without feeling like I'm going to derail (having some nuts in my purse does help though!).

I'm currently doing the paleo autoimmune protocol, which is an elimination diet with very strict rules and it's totally NOT sustainable (not meant to be though, the point is to heal and then identify food intolerances). Right now my curiosity around food intolerances was more pressing than the general sustainability factors (I'm also home without much travel for first half of the year, which is why I decided to embark on this now).

I see a looser paleo/low carb way of eating, with the compromises and adaptations you describe as the long term way I'll eat for life. I've actually eaten more or less this way since 2009 (with some sad but notable periods of falling off & regaining a lot of weight). I've now been actively managing my weight & food for nearly 500 days and I'm more and more confident that I can keep the dips off the straight and narrow to be shorter & farther apart, in part because I can live with the small adaptations like you describe.

Like......

Glad to see this post got bumped.