I eat zero carb. just how I love to do my plan that fits me best.
I feel wonderful, full of energy and just thru the roof knowing I am controlling myself to the best of my ability, losing lbs. easily and eating like a normal person with very satisfying foods. no hunger of course if the biggest perk

Hard to find ZC eaters, it is a hard course to follow in a way for many. very understandable. but for those it works for, we found the right path.

I read ZIOH site and many others. I don't go for total strict compliance or drink the koolaid groups but there is alot of great info on some sites.

I do my zero carb daily. but if for any reason I am in a situation that only a salad is around (and yea might happen 1-2 times a year here ) I will eat it.
daily is 0 carb under my total control, but if life throws me a curve I will go up to like 5 total carbs if required.

very carb sensitive person and carb addict so a ZC lifestyle gives me what I need to be in control, I eat wonderful and am happy. this can be life long for me cause this plan suits me so well. I am a certified meat hound and I don't have any problems eating meat all the time

so if anyone wants to chat ZC and all then jump in and go for it.
this is a nice little area to track your food and more.

today for me is:

10 oz ribeye and 2 pork chops. yummy for sure.

so this starts a new current up to date ZC thread. I will just keep it alive by posting my experiences on it for others. hopefully some ZC'ers will kick in and chat.

I know Larry is out there

Hi Karen, I'm doing Meat&Egg fast and started a thread yesterday. I plan my meals every day and eating only 2 meals. Would be great to have more friends to join me doing this challenge.

meat and egg fast sure is considered ZC food. the few trace carbs from the eggs is almost nothing of course and it is coming from a protein source, not a veg source.

I do eggs on certain days just cause I want to eat an omelet

Hope you do well on it.

I just eat meat all the time. it is my plan. I have done so well on it.

I don't do 'fasts or tricks, or tips' or anything anymore.

I don't count kcals, don't track macros, or anything.

I eat meat and just go on my way thru the day.

It seems eating like this (ZC) for about 7 months total (I was Atkins 1972 induction food list for 5 months before)....I am doing exceptionally well.

more power to you! any and all drop of the carbs helps me cause I am a super carb sensitive gal. eliminating the carbs will probably help you alot also!

Would you give me an example of your day karen!

I am becoming a mono eater. something I never thought I would be since I fought to keep variety in my life. but in the end it came down to the simple basic eating plan that suits me best.

bacon and eggs
cheeseburger patty
tuna and mayo
shrimp or crab legs with butter
ribeyes by the tons, I live on a ribeye a day
pork chops
any beef cut, london broil, chuck roast etc.
whole roasted chickens

then hot tea thru the day as I just like to sip a hot bev.

today was bacon, cheese omelet
ribeye fried in little butter
2 pork chops

hope that helps give you an idea of how I eat now.

ZC is interesting.

I am about 7-8 months on ZC, few slips in there but nothing to make any real difference on my progress.

Some evaluations:
I ''feel'' my body getting healthier. In that, I used to feel sluggy and tired and all from SAD diet, being overweight and all that usual stuff that makes us 'start' a healthy diet plan.
Now I can feel my body. Like it is 'truly alive'. It is very hard to put into words to describe this change in me. I wish I could explain it better but I know it is real I feel wonderful!

I need to move. exercise. absolutely move more and more.
I am so full of energy it is 'not the old me' at all. I always was a mover/outdoor gal. go from sun up to sundown but I had to push that action. Now I just go without thought. My body wants and needs to move. Another great change in me.

I relied heavily on sweeteners in my hot tea. needed sweet. I have cut consumption by 1/2 in my use. 0 carb liquid sweetener. I am adjusting and MIGHT go for total elimination. not sure yet how that will play out but one thing is my taste for any sweet is diminishing a ton.

I am leaner, I am getting a LC/ZC body. I am near goal and not losing as fast (cause I am not cutting calories to force the scale loss right now)----but my body is leaner and slimmer. NO doubt about that. My collarbones keep emerging more. My tummy has no bloat and my whole frame is 'leaning out' a bit. again, hard to describe to someone, but when you lose inches on the body, not on the scale and you are getting a lean LC or ZC body, you can see it happening. I have it happening

obession with food. almost gone. sure I see, smell, think about food when a good trigger situation comes along, but on a daily basis I do not obsess like old days. I would fight to stay on plan. Now I just do, I don't fight. I eat XX and I am happy. I have no strong desire at all to go back to old eating. Different for me, the yo yo dieter, absolutely!

Simplicity. my eating plan is so simple. I don't have to count macros, watch calories (well I do if I want some down movement on the scale and will work on that cause I do want more lbs. gone ), I don't make complicated LC fake substitute recipes, I am back to basic and simple suits me to a T.

No hunger, not the old 'useless' craving hunger. that is gone.
I am in deep keto and under control. my hunger hits slower now. It uses to come fast, I would get instantly woozey, extreme exhaustion and I would have to eat immediately and feel better. NOW that is changing. I am out of the exhaustion and woozey situation stage now. My hunger starts very low, my head says, hmmm, food time? but I am not hungry! then it gets a bit more intense and still I don't eat and then bit more and I say---eat now! cause if you don't you might eat the whole world. So I eat and back to the same pattern.

I fell into a eat at 11/12 and 2/4 pattern. 2 meals per day. sometimes 3, but 2 mostly. I natural IF. I am done eating between 2-4 every day. I do not eat til 11-12 the next so I fall into a natural intermittent fasting situation. I don't do this on purpose. this is just how it falls. So while others 'schedule' an IF eating window, I do not but my natural body is following its own IF.

In total love with my food. Old regular LC....ate fake lc bread, ate lc recipes that tasted junky instead of the real deal, ate some LC frozen meals, omgosh junk. Now it is meat and fat.
I am a certified meat hound. I love meat and fat and this food is exactly what I want to eat and makes me content.

I lost a little hair going thru regular LC plan. Then I jumped on Atkins 1972 induction for about 5 months, eating some small salad that is allowed. from there I fell into the ZC meat only off the A72 list of foods. When I went from regular LC to Atkins 72 induction foods my little bit of hair loss stopped. Do not know why? have no real theories on it. I just know lately there is way less hair in my brush LOL. it was never a problem for me, but it was noticeable in my brush I was losing more than normal. that is not happening anymore.

take 1 multi vitamin per day. I do not think this is needed, but I say, what the heck. it can't hurt me so I take it. do I notice any differences? nope. but I choose to take one.

I count nothing. track nothing. eat what I want, as much as I want in a day on my ZC. I like this cause I despise tracking of any kind. annoying. I found a plan where I eat to my hunger level and that is all it is. nothing more. I happen to love this simple aspect of it.

brain fog is gone. mind is clearer. I am 'in tune' with what is happening and more controlled in my decisions and wants and how to achieve things. I was more muddled when I ate worse, now it seems I know my path and how to handle life and I do just that. I speak my mind more direct on situations etc.
From eating ZC and my changes? I don't know. But I am changing and that I do know

just some observations on what ZC is doing for me.

ZC is a hard road to follow. if you are a meat hound then it can suit you very well. I am a meat hound and yes it suits me very well. Then add in that I love eating this way, and the great benefits I am seeing happening in me....I got a winner eating plan for myself.

Am I strict ZC? yes and no
I reserve the right to hit up to about 5-6 total carbs per day if I am in a situation I might need to eat a small salad out in public to survive or something like that!!
I reserve the right to one day throw a few mushrooms into my steak dinner if I want. So far I have not wanted it, but honestly if I feel the day comes I want some, yes I will do it.

Will I drink alcohol every now and then. yes.

There are diehard ZC people who follow a XX policy eating plan. that is not me. this is my own ZC plan to fit MY life. but it is a ZC plan with a few build in changes to ultra low carb if wanted whenever I choose.

so far I have not chosen to eat any carbs and have no plans on it, but like I said I reserve that right to do what works for me at any given time!

food today
1/2 roasted whole chicken
ribeye steak with butter
hot tea

Karen, well said! I'm convinced that the best plan for weight loss is the one you feel comfortable doing with no restrictions. You make your own plan that suits your lifestyle with no one telling you what and when to eat. Then pounds start coming off easily while not stressed!! The best thing is you never have to count because you feel simply full and you don't need to eat so the overall is consuming less calories naturally. For me doing meat&egg fast made me eat less calories. But I really miss cheese which apparently was causing my weight loss to slow a bit. I'm planning to reintroduce it after a week or so and see what happens. One thing I can't give up till now is hwc and solenda. Maybe I'll give it a try soon. ZC teaches you to take control so I hope I can do it.

I'm wondering how much did you lose and how ling it took you to get there!!

I was a mess Mora.

in that, I was regular LC for 2 years. I lost 30, gained back 10. Lost a total of 40, gained back 12. and so on!! I was 20-25 'net' carbs.

I will never do 'net' carbs in my life again. a carb is a carb. netting is made from the company to get you to eat more of their products. they can't make frozen meals and snack bars and shakes etc. VERY lc....so they devised this 'net' crap about fiber to 'let people' excuse the fact of their carb load to buy their products. (THAT IS how I feel on that LOL) your mileage may vary!

so....I was one step from quitting LC for good. why bother right? it was a nightmare.

I found the Hardcore Atkins 1972 Induction food group people here. they ate ONLY from the Atkins 1972 induction food list. nothing else off that list.

THAT is what saved me. I am a carb addict pure and simple. I went down to like biological 0 carb eating that food list.

it cut my cravings, the gals are hardcore and say, stay on plan 100% and you win, going off means back to the old yo yo useless dieting. So I took their hardcore advice and am winning this battle now.

I lost like 30 of this and kept it off with the hardcore eating.

I swear thru these last years I have lost and regained like 80 lbs at least....crazy insanity.

thing is it was 100% about weight loss. isn't it always?

NOW it is about staying on plan. eating what suits me and makes me happy to stay on plan. never eating off plan. and making sure that is #1. Then the lbs. drop in their own good time.

when I tried 'tricks, tips, starvation, played with IF and macros, and calories and OMGosh all that mess----I was confused and dumbfounded and miserable. the lose and gain showed that!

when I went near 0 carb and fell in with gals who use no excuses at all ever to eat off plan......then I found my way.

so now my life is eat my zero carb, lbs. drop when they want, I am feeling so good and somehow it all finally has fell into a very good place for me

vanity lbs. oh yes I will get these last ones off, but I don't obsess anymore like I did before.

hope some of that helps explain me. tough journey...you bet...but I kept at it and found what works for me finally.

I got a good future ahead of me finally no more gaining ever in my life!

It's really great when you find what works for you. I'm still learning but I have a plan which is a good thing. Still trying different things sometimes zero carb sometimes 20 carbs but a great advice I got from some friends and is really helping is "LISTEN TO YOUR BODY" I eat whatever I want from the allowed food list when I'm hungry. If not I don't eat.

That's it. key is if food is on the list and it is allowable and you want it, then eat it

everyone has a breaking point of 'deprivation'.

kinda like 'how low can you go' in cutting out food in your life but if you cut that one thing too much.....you lose your mind and backslide cause you are annoyed, ticked off, deprived and angry that you 'have to eat' this way.

key is eat youf list of food. make it appealing to you. never deny anything on that list. then you set yourself up in a good way.

you know ZC is 'hardcore keto' LOL

you are very smart in your approach Mora. we all want the lbs. gone tomorrow......and really understanding that the key to this whole thing is 'to learn and adjust' to a whole new eating plan for life. WE must put that effort in and learn new ways, new coping strategy, how food effects us, stay on plan 100% and change us!! but yet we focus on the lbs. and scale and it can derail us.

make the perfect eating plan that suits you....then watch the scale and adjust your happy eating plan that suits you so well into tweaking a bit to help that scale.

I like your style mora

simple food---1500 calories
tuna and mayo (100 cals. tuna. 300 cals. mayo) 400
delish ribeye later with pat butter (10 oz. ribeye...estimate 875 calories, will round at 1000 for 100 cals. butter)
total 1400. have 100 for cheese snack if wanted

life is so easy in the food dept. now.

I think back of the old days when it was 'constant macros' and tracking and all that mess.

oh my gosh. I went looney doing all that. not only did I get confused doing it....I also did not like doing it

absolutely for many it is a tool they use and do well.

me, nope. I just want to eat and have all the magic happen, and when I eat my ZC plan, it does just that

I do know one thing. I read a facebook group...ZIOH...and they have wonderful information on their site. about vitamins, the joke about overeating protein and it turns to glucose etc.....so I love the info it gives me....but they are just meat and water.

I personally want a bit more control in adding,,,,maybe,,,a few different things if I want, when I want. So I don't follow them exactly, I do my thing. but the info there is wonderful to read.

makes me understand why my ZC life is going so well and I feel so great.

but losing weight. one can eat very high calories in eating meats and fats.

I found for me----me personally----the one thing I must watch is calories. if I eat less calories I lose weight. basic simple.

if I eat more I maintain. basic simple.

I never have a tendency to overeat and gain. I never gain even if I eat alot of calories in my ZC plan.....cause even if I eat alot I just maintain.....cause I can't eat that much to gain. I am simply not 'that hungry' to go crazy into such a high calorie count I gain.

so....my goal. watch my calories.

I need to do this so a mini experiment for me.

today is Sunday.
1 week.
total calories per day....1500. not one calorie more
I bet I drop on the scale.

will get my kitchen scale out and weight my meat before eating and keep me in that 1500 kcal goal.

I will be annoyed having to 'track' for this week but I will.

If I was total ZC mode and tracked nothing, I have a tendency to eat more. It is what I do...I eat...which is why I got fatter and fatter. even on ZC and not hungry I can still eat ALOT.

so I will do a week of control on my ZC eating and see how I do.

I will come back in a week and post my results.

always a work in progress but lately it is about keeping it simple and easy and no over-thinking anything.

Hope you see resuts Karen

Thanks Jean

always working on me

I know when I cut my kcals. eating my ZC plan I drop weight faster.

thing is I just hate tracking and don't do it

but now I will since I am lower on the scale and it is ''more work'' to make the last lbs. vanish!!

I agree counting/tracking makes me irritable but when I was at goal in 2010 I did the tracking to lose the last few pounds.

yup, I think more closer to goal the 'looser' we are in our eating.

as long as I don't gain....I can eat xxx.

but that isn't the case cause I am NOT at goal....I am near it

so I best shore up the BS and get down to business.