Did you ever try low-fat before low-carb?
 

Back in the 90s I was brainwashed by all the powers-that-be that low-fat was the way to lose weight, so I basically eliminated all fats from my diet for about a year.

My hair fell out.

So did you ever try low-fat before low-carb? How did it work out for you?

BTW, in contrast, when I first did low-carb (Atkins Induction), my acne cleared up almost immediately.

Yes, and it did not go well. From the beginning of my journal:


:thdown:

Oh so long ago, and nearly forgotten. Back in the late 70's, doing protein powders, with all bran shakes..... left me starving in 2 days. After a couple starts I abandoned any more attempts to diet.

THen I discovered Atkins in 2000...... and found sucess. I also eat far more varity of veg , trying new items as the markets are carrying far more options.

In a nut shell, the low fat diets caused a 20 year hiatus and porkiness. lol

That's interesting! My hair fell out while I was losing 50 lbs on low carb, in 2008-2010.

I did "Eat to Win" in my late teens. Wreaked havoc on my teeth, I think now likely due to low intake of some fat soluble vitamins. Also when I used to do low fat, I'd get spontaneous nosebleeds, that doesn't happen any more.

Briefly long ago when I believed the medical authorities actually had some knowledge about nutrition and consumption of dietary fat, but very briefly, as I realized I didn't like any of the food I was eating without fat. I didn't challenge the low fat belief, I just realized that if I had to eat that way, I would never be satisfied. The low fat experiment last about 4 days.

Back in the 80s I tried the whole low fat thing and indeed stuck with it for a whole YEAR. I lost a TON of weight. Way more than I have ever managed to lose on LC. I got down into “normal” sized clothes, not plus sized. However:
1) for that entire year I was hungry just about every waking minute of the day. I could never stop thinking about wanting food.
2) I actually had food porn dreams all the time. I would actually have dreams about eating cakes and donuts ancd ice cream-almost every night. Cravings were always intense.
3) I lost my total social life as I could not bear to watch other people eat food. And just about all social occasions involved food, so I just stopped socializing and became a hermit.
4) I had to stop having lunch with my co-workers for the same thing. I’d always be ravenous and could not stand watching skinny co-workers chowing down.

I only stuck it out as long as I did as I’d made a new year’s resolution with a co-worker who was trying to quit smoking. I vowed that as long as he stayed off cigarettes I would stay on my diet.

Except that after a year he was still not smoking, and I was getting more and more miserable with each passing day. I was majorly depressed, felt like life was not even worth living.

And finally, after a year, I snapped. Said, “Screw it! I’d rather weigh 300 pounds that live like this for one more day!” and just began eating everything in sight-so that of course eventually I was well over 300 pounds.

My co-worker never did go back to smoking though.

As a matter of fact for the longest time I was petrified of fat. I was going to die of a heart attack, LOL. I was always hungry. This is so much better.

I embarked on low fat/high exercise in the mid-80’s and I did stabilize my weight at size 12, which worked for me. So I thought that was THE WAY to do it.

Worked until I had an operation and was put on bed rest and there was no way I could eat low fat, which is really high carb, and NOT exercise and keep my weight stable. I put it on back on with friends.

As we now know from Mark Sission of The Daily Apple, even pro athletes who eat this way can develop diabetes, arthritis, and circulatory issues.

Glad to ditch it, resigned to being overweight, until Atkins came back, started in 2004 and never looked back! Now a size 10 and loving it!

Oh yeah; I was CONSTANTLY hungry. Rice cakes (which was like eating a picnic cooler) all the time.

ohhh yeahhh

Low fat diets since I was about 15yrs old if I can remember back that far hehe
Hardly satisfying, terribly hard work and all rather bland and tasteless!
In my mid 30's I discovered Dr Atkins and voila!! -- I love the low carb ways :D

I did many years ago. I was hungry all the time and I refused to eat vegetables because I couldn't put butter on them.

Low fat was considered the gold standard for staying thin and healthy as I was growing up. Low carb lurked in the shadows as an unhealthy way to lose a quick 10 pounds on demand but was not considered something to stick to. I dabbled in low carb here and there but always defaulted to the low fat, low sodium, low cholesterol mentality. I even went so far as to "McDougall" for two years. I lost 54 pounds but gained it back and then some and was always feeling hungry, bloated, lethargic, etc. I did Weight Watchers "Core" (whole foods, low fat) with similar results. I knew there had to be a better way. I read The Primal Blueprint and then re-read Atkins after many years, and the rest is history.

I did Stop the Insanity by Susan Powter. High volume low fat eating. The problem was everything tasted like crap.

Low fat was fake food at it's worst!!!

Low fat cheese that had the consistency of plastic... :lol: