Me me me meeeee..
Tried it the strict way a couple years ago and it worked great.. lost 57
pounds in about 6 months but it was difficult for me.. plenty here do it
just fine though.. one of those individual issues. Then I gained all but 10
pounds of it back and it took me another year and a half to get off my tush
and try again... it's worked MUCH better this time going slower.. some of
the purists on the group would and probably will have a cow... the ones with
the holier than everyone else attitude that you *have* to do *this* or you
*have* to do *that*... But this is my personal way of it and it works *FOR
ME*. I have the occasional indulgence.. I refuse to call it cheating.. some
couldn't do that without ending up on a binge... but I handle it just fine.
Have lost everything I regained and am back down to my low from the last
time and it's sticking this time. Slow but steady. I don't freak if I go a
week or two without losing even a half pound, as long as I am not gaining
anything I am ok. I started back on this way of eating middle of last
August, and have lost the 47 pounds I gained back.
And if you love pasta, my substitue for lasagne noodles is... zuchinni!!
slice it thin and layer it in.... lots of fresh spinach also. Ragu makes a
great no sugar added sauce and it's NOT labed *low carb* so it's not
expensive and it's really good.
My occasional indulce is to not ask for something instead of a baked potato
if we go out.. not always, just once in awhile.. sometimes I even have a
little dessert. I have mostly just learned not to overdo the really bad
stuff. Also I am sure I am not as sensitive to those bad carbs as some might
be, which is a help. It's also done away with the hypoglycemic episodes I
used to have to deal with during the day when I was eating too many simple
carbs. When I do have the *bad stuff* it's always just a little and ALWAYS
with the rest of my meal being very low carb.

Teeb

I did something similar too. Never went on Atkins or anything.
Completely cut out sugar and junk food. Reduced bread and potatoes
greatly. Controlled my portions. I do not eat after 6pm.  worked
great.

http://igor.chudov.com/weightloss/

i
223/174/180

I pretty much did.  I used to eat two big pasta meals a day, with unlimited
snacking on chips, candy, and other junk. I started by eliminating
snacking.  When I got used to that, I replaced one pasta meal with a big
salad with either grilled chicken or shrimp in it. Then after about a week
or so I replaced the other pasta meal with veggie stir-fry with added meat,
or meat and cheese rollups, or steak and brocolli, etc.  Then I started
reintroducing snacks, but I snacked on cheese sticks or nuts instead of
chips.  Now I'm cutting back on snacks again.  I still rarely eat
breakfast.

Hehe, in the beggining I thought I will and I even planned to do some
Zone-like plan. Week later, without wanting to do so, I found myself on
induction level carbs (and very low calorie level indeed too).

Since then, I do not care about my actual carb count, but I think I am
usually somewhere between 20-70g. No cravings, BMI normalized (started
at 29, after 3 months it is 24). There is simply food I do not eat
anymore (bread, pasta, sugar, starch), some that I eat in moderation
(fruits, meat, eggs, dairy, olive oil) and some I never count (low
starch veggies).

I would say it was intuitive, but fast :)

Mirek

I thought I could do it that way, but I crashed and burned.  For me,
personally, I have to do it all the way.  I hope you'll have better success
than I did when I tried it.

Best wishes to you,
Carol

writes:

I'd never dieted before, so I wasn't sure what I was going to do, and I started
by ordering some books -- Atkins, SB, and a couple of cookbooks.  When I began
reading, I realized I didn't have to wait for an official start to an official
diet in order to drop sugar.  So I did that right away.  It was rough -- sugar
is my downfall and it felt like dropping an addiction -- but I lost 8 pounds in
6 days and felt insanely healthier despite the withdrawal symptoms.  A few days
later, I drew up a plan for myself that I knew I'd follow, and that was the
beginning of the diet.  I've tried a couple of white processed foods in small
quantities since getting down to the 150 range.  Rice doesn't seem to have an
impact; it doesn't make me hungrier or anything like that, and it doesn't seem
to "stick."  So I might eventually integrate that back onto the menu in limited
amounts.  White flour seems to be almost as bad for me as sugar, though, so
that might be off the menu permanently.

It's a learning experience, which is good.

Daria
166/148/140
sugar-free since 2/1/04
low-carb since 2/17/04

I didn't know I was following any particular diet.  I was in a lot of
pain and my kinesiotherapist told me to cut out all wheat flour
products, all potatoes, and all sugar products.  He told me to eat all
the veggies and fruit that I wanted, and to eat protein 5 or 6 times a
day.  I discovered the concept of glycemic index myself, and
incorporated that into my eating style, and with all that I felt a lot
better really fast.  Because I was "ordered" on this "diet", no one
questioned it, and I didn't have to justify myself to anyone.  I still
follow it for the most part, though I also have my indulgence days, and
sometimes have pain again as a result.  I've been eating this way for
over two years now, and have been more stable than ever before.  I'm
still adjusting it, and incorporating things I learn here and from
research I learn about elsewhere.

I think it's always a learning process.

Rebecca

I did.  I started with the "Carbohydrate Addict's Diet".  this is
where you have 1 or 2 low-carb meals per day, and 1 meal which
can include one small serving of higher carb food.  I still use
it, as it helps control my appetite in general, and I get to learn
which foods are 'keepers' for me and which to eliminate from my
eating repertoire.

The Carbohydrate Addict's diet is not really a "low carb" diet, but
you can turn it into one by choosing lower carb foods at the allowed
carb meal, that aren't on the standard menu.  It's more of a controlled
carb diet.

CM

There's a vegetarian low-carb forum at
http://forum.lowcarber.org/forumdisplay.php?f=109

I'm hoping to stay vegetarian.

Skinny --
pre-diab hypo

In article
<d2cb7826.0403150935.3edae3ac@posting.google.com>,

I didn't need to lose much weight, and I'm fairly
active, so a "diet" wasn't what I needed. I needed
structure, and to get away from the "junk."

I try to stay under 100 grams a day and that works
pretty well for me. Been doing it for little over a
year. I cut out pasta, white bread, most sugar and
starches, and upped the protein and the fat (too many
years of low-fat dieting made that goal hard!). I only
gave up what didn't matter to me to begin with, or
foods that I knew were triggers, like potato chips. I
kept beer, whole-wheat bread, all vegies and most
fruits. I added flaxmeal, rolled oats, and wheat bran
to my diet as well. I allow most things in
moderation--it works well for me.

I use Fitday to track all of my nutrition and activity
stuff, M-F, weekends off. I got down to 115 lbs and
have maintained since last May.

Amy
168 (1997 highest)/115 (and holding)