Wildcard -- I agree with you.

I know healthy people who tend to eat low fat. I know healthy people who tend to just eat whatever they like with no regards to fat - and they are STILL healthy. I know healthy people who eat low carb. I know healthy vegeatarians who eat a ton of carbs. I know healthy vegans. What all of these people seem to have in common is that they DON'T over-eat.

As far as recidivism rates go, I'm not sure that low carb has any better stats than low fat, or calorie-restricted, or any other plan. I know lots of people who can't stick to ANY plan, whether traditionally balanced, low carb, OR low fat.

And I know lots of people who've quite Atkins and SB. And there seem to be lots of second and third-time arounders on this board. Indicating that low-carb doesn't necessarily have any special advantage when it comes to maintaining long-term success.

I SAY AMEN!

low fat and low carb diets make you lose weight. Starvation makes you lose weight. Hacking your legs off with blunt butter knife make you lose weight.
LC means you lose weight while you retain lean muscle mass and don't go hungry. Sorry - but I think low cal and low fat isn't good for humans.
BTW 95% of people trying the other methods fail.

Recently, one of my low-fat/calorie friends wanted to know what I really believed (as opposed to the party line) about Atkins and why it worked. In response I told her "what I had learned" while doing Atkins.

The first thing I learned is that I have fairly low metabolic resistance. I suspected it after I lost 29% of the weight I needed to during 2 weeks of induction and I firmly believe it now, after managing to lose weight consistently while straying farther and farther from DANDR and remaining sedentary. Simultaneously, through meeting people here, I learned that this makes me damn lucky.

I told my friend that I am someone for whom "eat less, exercise more" would probably work. Then I said:

That's common knowledge on these boards. IIRC, DANDR says that the plan was initially a dietary prescription for people with high metabolic resistance and related medical conditions. Is it still an effective and healthy program for most people? Sure! Would rampant LCing improve the world? Sure! But that doesn't make it the only path for everyone wanting to be healthy or thin. That's the part I think is easy to forget around here.

The BEST thing Atkins has done for me is redefine my concept of a moderate or reasonable amount of sugar (including making me aware of hidden sugars). This is invaluable and I intend to take it with me for the rest of my life, whether I LC forever or not. As far as I'm concerned, all people -- regardless of weight or eating plan -- would benefit greatly from this change in perspective.

Uh-huh. Constipation--during the first two weeks on Atkins when our fiber intake is pretty darned low. This improves dramatically once a person is off Induction.

Leg cramps: I personally haven't had one leg cramp. I've seen a lot of people on the board who have suffered from this. But here's the clincher: I know something a lot of people don't about that kind of thing and I don't mind sharing! Muscle cramps are generally blamed on a lack of calcium or potassium. Well, that's partly true. But one needs also to take into account the amount of vitamin C and magnesium one is ingesting. If any of these four is lacking from the diet, muscle cramps are likely going to be the result. Also, strenuous exercise, even with adequate portions of above vitamins can result in cramps. This is pretty easy to overcome--no one needs to exercise so strenuously they cause themselves cramps. If we work up to more strenuous amounts of exercise, the cramps will be non-existent.

Dizziness? Rarely. Sure, I've seen a few complaints, but this isn't normal.

Kidney stones: As far as I know you're the only one who complained of kidney stones, and has been pointed out time and time again it was most likely from what you were doing previously as the symptoms started roughly as soon as you started Atkins. Kidney stones don't happen overnight.

Mood swings: Yeppers! We all go through almost hell during the first few days of Induction. If a person's following the plan properly, that lasts for 3-5 days. Considering what you just put your body through, I don't see it as a huge problem.

Hair loss: Sure, some people lose hair. Geez, I lost hair by the handful after every one of my children were born. It sort of came back later. You should've seen me the winter after the most hellish year I've ever had in my life! Hubby had a heart attack the day after Christmas. I was expecting a baby in June, and when she was born she never breathed. During the time between his heart attack and baby being born, I was running my tail off taking care of him, supervising the generous people who'd come to help finish our little house we'd started, and was completely frazzled! The next winter, my hair fell out in droves--from 1.5" across a ponytail to .5" across. I was practically bald! That's called stress! Stress will almost always induce hair loss. The one thing about Atkins, though, is that if your hair does fall out because of the carb withdrawal stress, when it grows back in you may wish it was still falling out. I never lost any because of Atkins and it's just getting thicker and thicker and thicker. Now considering my age, this is really weird, because all the women I know my age are starting to get thinner.
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Okay--having said all of that: I say to people that if you can find some kind of weight loss plan that works for you, then go with it! I couldn't hack low fat. Oh, I tried it--messed with my blood sugar so bad I was a complete mess. And I got sick and tired of being hungry all the time. I've known for my entire adult life my body does better on more fat and protein. But if you have a body that does well on carbs, then go for the low-fat regime!

You know...I was just over at a WW site and guess what I saw? Posts about hair loss, mood swings and constipation. Along with some more posts like, "Help! I've used up all my points and I'm still hungry!" and "I just had to have my gallbladder removed" (familiar with that one...had to have mine removed after 18 months of low fat dieting!) and "Help! Low blood sugar!"
In fact, if you visit nearly any weight loss site, you will find posts such as this. Low carb is no different. Well...actually it is. The problems experienced on low carb generally tend to clear up within a week or two once your metabolism has made the adjustment from burning primarily glucose for energy to burning fat for energy.
For the most part (yes, I know there are always exceptions), the posts that you find regarding dizziness, etc...are from those still in the induction phase or not following the plan correctly.
Leg cramps? Real familiar with those...I had them nearly nightly when my blood sugars were out of control. Haven't had single one since I started low carbing.
Having said all that, if others want to low cal/low fat, they're welcome to it. It's not hurting my feelings any.

Pause for thought - read the books, make an argument, then find a response.
I'm not sure you understand the basis of LC: insulin rebound and the altered Krebbs Cycle to switch form sugar/carbs> energy to ketone>energy.

What I really want to know is: Why are all the posters in this thread with what look like "real photo avatars" naked?

Well, except for MaryToU, of course.

Carry on,

Kay

Oops, sorry, Ian, I missed your post. Why aren't you naked?

Now I see. I missed all of page two. *creeps away, embarrased at my stupidity*

Kay

Wildcard, this is a support forum specifically for people who have chosen one of the published LC plans, which are all (AFAIK) adequate in calories, protein, and fats. People who want to wing it are welcome, too, but surely you can't expect a lot of support if the majority of us consider what you're doing to be dangerous. That would be like one of us expecting a lot of support if we showed up at a low fat forum.

I think that low cal/low fat has failed a lot of people here, and so folks understandably hold a grudge. I recognize that it works for a lot of people, though, even if it doesn't work for me, or gave me a bad experience.

Only to the extent that damage from years of eating poorly may affect proper functioning of organs and systems. Other than that human physiology is human physiology--we are all the same species.

Also, it may appear that what works for one may not work for another, but there are too many variables to conclude that. I was macrobiotic and did essentially high carb and low calorie and lost a ton of weight. Why? I was walking to and from work and after dinner almost every day. I cut out a fair amount of processed food. I went hungry for the entire day and only ate dinner. Others who claim to do high carb/low calorie may eat entirely differently and have no exercise--or--may over-exercise or have excessive stress in their lives causing the release of cortisol which will cause weight gain.

For the same reasons, some people claim that low-carb doesn't work for them, but analysis of diet and lifestyle will usually reveal the unknown variables that are the cause.

At risk of sounding "Phillish" I believe 95% of people who treat ANY food plan as a quick fix, bandaid solution will fail. There are a LOT of low-carb dropouts too.

<taking away Ian's butterknife>

Going to have to agree here.. At my workplace, pretty much the entire staff started low carb with the new year. At least 20 people. I think one or two are still eating that way and that's it. And those one or two don't appear to have been showing any progress so I have a feeling they aren't following it 24/7. For some, low carb is a godsend and a way of life - for others, it's a 'quick fix' (in their minds) and they fall off the wagon and gain it all back.

Of course, the same thing happens with any 'diet' - if it's not something you can live with in some fashion as a 'way of life' it won't work for you. Although I have reduced my carbs quite a bit, I don't do well on 20 carbs a day -- so I adapted to make my plan something I can live with and still lose weight. Decreased carbs, decreased calories, increased protein. /shrug.

TarHeel, I just figured you had a special filter!