How do you decide which Low Carb Plan best fits you without buying all of the books?

[giggles]

I have been doing/trying Atkins and I am a little unsatisfied. I am wondering if another plan would be better for me, but I don't know the differences or how to determine this without spending alot of cash and time reading each plan. Any tips?

[vitaka]

Easy: go to the library and check them out. Cost $0.00.

[fern2340]

To get a quick overview of all different plans, check out the forum called Low Carb Plans. A lot of members here do different kind of low-carbing. Lots of good info, check it out!

[giggles]

Library - Nice idea. Time? I don't have much. I work full time and go to school full time. Really wanted some input to save the time. I was actually interestin in the Protein Power Plan, I haven't really heard much about that one. Any input?

[tamarian]

Originally posted by giggles
Library - Nice idea. Time? I don't have much. I work full time and go to school full time. Really wanted some input to save the time. I was actually interestin in the Protein Power Plan, I haven't really heard much about that one. Any input?

Protein power is very much like at Atkins, but a very well written book. Atkins spends a lot of time in the book defending his plan, due to controversy at the time. PP, written 20 or so years later, didn't do that, and really spent time describing the science of low-carbing. Great book.

Wa'il

[Karen]

While a synopsis is good for getting a feel for a plan, it is not a substitute for actually reading about the whole thing. That is where so much misinformation about LC. People make up their own or freely inerpret other plans then fail or get sick.

Since there is no synopsis in the LC Plans, here's a really brief one.

PP is very similar to Atkins. You start at 30 grams of carbs, which is called the Intervention Phase and stay there until a good portion of weight is lost. There are a few allowed fruits in limited quantities, the occasional light bread and low fat dairy products - instead of high fat ones are used. The fiber grams are subtracted from the total carb count.

There are charts for figurung out your lean body mass and daily protein requirement.

It's a great plan. I started on it more than two years ago and had better success then, until I found out from Atkins that you could eat high fat dairy products! :eek:

Karen

[giggles]

Thanks for your input. I was just lloking at all of the different low carb plans and wasn't sure which book to get. I wasn't too enthused with Atkins. It spent less time about the plan and ways to stay on the plan than I would have liked.

[doreen T]

.. also of course, emphasizes an adequate protein intake. Your need for protein is determined by calculating your lean body mass (there are tables in the book to help you do this) ... then, you ensure that you get at LEAST the specified amount of protein every day. The bare minimum is 60 grams per day for a small woman, and on up. You must eat an equal amount of protein at each meal .. so for 60 grams a day, you'd have 20 grams per meal. (or more, those are minimums)

They also strongly recommend that you divide your carbs evenly through the day as well, so that you don't have one big 20 carb blow-out. The 30 grams of effective carbs are divided roughly 10 grams per meal, or 7 grams per meal plus snacks.

Protein Power isn't concerned with ketones either, so you don't have to measure or track that.

Doreen

[giggles]

thanks so much. It sounds like in a way it is more like a combo of Zone and Atkins - I mean in the way that the Zone suggests a certain balance of foods at each meal - kind of like that with PP??? Just a different balance. More Atkins based. Did I get that right or is my brain fried from being up too late and on this darn computer too long?

[doreen T]

sort of ..... FATS are not limited .. as they are for the Zone.

There really is so much more to it than just a formula of eat this and that at each meal. Here's a link to the Protein Power Frequently Asked Questions page http://eatprotein.com/answers.html ... it explains a little more about the importance of proteins, fats and keeping carbs at a steady amount.

It really would be good if you could borrow a copy of the book; there are some sample menus and recipes as well. I highly recommend it ;)

Doreen

[giggles]

:thup:

WOW! That link you provided me with was WONDERFUL

Thanks so much. I am inspired to go out tomorrow and buy the book.

Thanks again! :D