My lifestyle is portion control, exercise 5 times a week and follow the 80/20 rule.

Anonymous wrote:I cannot fathom never having a slice of birthday cake or a glass of wine. That kind of restriction is completely unnecessary.

I eat low carb/high fat and there's a place for birthday cake and a glass of wine in my diet. I try to keep my carbs to less than 50 grams a day, maybe 100 if I'm lifting heavy that day.

Wine is low carb by nature, having less than 10 grams per 8 oz glass. I drink it about once a week and because I eat low carb, a little bit knocks me out. 1 glass is equivalent to a person having 3 glasses on a normal American diet. I drink only a little wine on a normal basis, because I train a lot and I feel it when I drink the night before.

As for birthday cakes, I always have some on my birthday of course, but my family knows I like flourless rich dark chocolate cake, with very little added sugar. As for others' birthdays, I weigh it against how good I think the cake will be. If it's your run of the mill dry cake, I don't bother. My taste buds have changed so much that your normal American dessert tastes sooo sweet it's not even enjoyable. If it's incredibly delicious cake from Randolph's, then I'll have a small slice.

I also eat chocolate and high fat Greek yogurt, nearly every day. But the chocolate is very good quality dark chocolate, and I only eat a small piece.

I am a low carber and find it to be pretty easy to stick with. Once my body adjusts to low carb and high fat, I feel good and have very few cravings for carby foods. About 4 times a year I'll have something sweet like birthday cake. Drink a little wine or bourbon most evenings. Also enjoy some 85 or 90% dark chocolate every day - which tastes sweet to me since my palate has adjusted. Berries and whipped cream are another treat.

This is a way of eating that I am interested in continuing for life - not a short term diet.

For someone interested in making permanent dietary changes, I recommend looking into the Whole 30. Its quite restrictive for 30 days, then you add things back in gradually and get a feel for your own ideal diet - in terms of overall health/weight/energy/etc.

I cannot fathom never having a slice of birthday cake or a glass of wine. That kind of restriction is completely unnecessary.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any diet this restrictive and obsessive is simply not healthy mentally or physically. Exercise portion control and move your body.

While I get where you are coming from here, it is also a simple fact that sugar and refined are also "simply not healthy" in any way. They shouldn't be eaten at all. They have no redeeming qualities whatsoever and they just encourage people to consume more and more of these kinds of calories.

That is why is just ultimately completely eliminated them. Once I did, I was finally able to tame a 30-year struggle with weight and eating. I don't view it at restrictive; those types of edible items that we put in our mouths are not food.

Are you a joyful person? What do you eat and drink at holiday parties?

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Anonymous wrote:i'm also down to my last 10 lbs (8 to be exact) but i feel my low carb diet (<50g) has done all it could as the weight loss has stalled. no suggestions but interested in this topic too.

What is your body fat %?

Do you lift weights? If you don't already lift weights, that's an easy way to keep losing weight. But try not to eat MUCH more food than you already are, which is easy to do on low carb.

i don't know my body fat but my BMI is 24+ so i'm now in "normal weight" range, but i'm not muscular, never have been.

i know i should lift weights regularly not just for weight loss but for stronger bones and muscles but i just don't enjoy weight lifting and have no motivation for it...

That's what will get you over your stalled weight loss.

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Anonymous wrote:It works temporarily, but it's very difficult to return to normal eating without gaining it back. This happens over and over to many of my friends.

but that's not the problem of the low carb etc diet, rather the "normal eating" diet? it's like saying running 3 miles a day worked but gained it all back when return to "normal exercise level" which is obviously not enough?

IMO it's not as sustainable as other weight-loss programs - if you do portion control then it's easy to continue that because you've been doing that all along. If you've been losing with ketosis, you need to switch to something new to maintain.

but why is it necessary to switch to something else to maintain? what's wrong with continuing these diets to maintain (and staying in ketosis if that's the case)?

Personally, I didn't find it necessary to switch to something else. It was a bit of a lifestyle change to cook from scratch every night but once you're used to it, why not?

For my husband though, he's more prone to binge-eating so if the paleo diet is his attempt to manage that, it will be of limited effectiveness because he's always one meal-out away from falling off the bandwagon. I don't see that as a short-coming of paleo specifically though. That's been true of every diet he's always had - it only takes one trigger to totally derail him. It's really a psychological and emotional issue, more so than one of dietary style.

how is it sustainable to cook from scratch every night? No dinners out with spouse or friends? Never a rushed evening, with work,. kids' activities? Seriously? What kind of pace do you live that you can do that?

NP. Meal planning and meal prep. Easy. Also, there are low-carb options at restaurants.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Y'all are fine living indefinitely without bread and pasta?

Well, small amounts of bread can fit in low carb. But generally, Yeah, just like I'm fine living without it. Just like I'm fine living without smoking (enjoyable in the moment), wine every night, soda, etc.

Ok got it. I'll just keep exercising, eating carbs and being 20 pounds overweight.

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It works temporarily, but it's very difficult to return to normal eating without gaining it back. This happens over and over to many of my friends.

but that's not the problem of the low carb etc diet, rather the "normal eating" diet? it's like saying running 3 miles a day worked but gained it all back when return to "normal exercise level" which is obviously not enough?

IMO it's not as sustainable as other weight-loss programs - if you do portion control then it's easy to continue that because you've been doing that all along. If you've been losing with ketosis, you need to switch to something new to maintain.

but why is it necessary to switch to something else to maintain? what's wrong with continuing these diets to maintain (and staying in ketosis if that's the case)?

Personally, I didn't find it necessary to switch to something else. It was a bit of a lifestyle change to cook from scratch every night but once you're used to it, why not?

For my husband though, he's more prone to binge-eating so if the paleo diet is his attempt to manage that, it will be of limited effectiveness because he's always one meal-out away from falling off the bandwagon. I don't see that as a short-coming of paleo specifically though. That's been true of every diet he's always had - it only takes one trigger to totally derail him. It's really a psychological and emotional issue, more so than one of dietary style.

how is it sustainable to cook from scratch every night? No dinners out with spouse or friends? Never a rushed evening, with work,. kids' activities? Seriously? What kind of pace do you live that you can do that?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any diet this restrictive and obsessive is simply not healthy mentally or physically. Exercise portion control and move your body.

While I get where you are coming from here, it is also a simple fact that sugar and refined are also "simply not healthy" in any way. They shouldn't be eaten at all. They have no redeeming qualities whatsoever and they just encourage people to consume more and more of these kinds of calories.

That is why is just ultimately completely eliminated them. Once I did, I was finally able to tame a 30-year struggle with weight and eating. I don't view it at restrictive; those types of edible items that we put in our mouths are not food.

+1

They are not food, merely "food-like substances."

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It works temporarily, but it's very difficult to return to normal eating without gaining it back. This happens over and over to many of my friends.

but that's not the problem of the low carb etc diet, rather the "normal eating" diet? it's like saying running 3 miles a day worked but gained it all back when return to "normal exercise level" which is obviously not enough?

IMO it's not as sustainable as other weight-loss programs - if you do portion control then it's easy to continue that because you've been doing that all along. If you've been losing with ketosis, you need to switch to something new to maintain.

but why is it necessary to switch to something else to maintain? what's wrong with continuing these diets to maintain (and staying in ketosis if that's the case)?

Yup seriously. If you eat a crappy diet high in processed foods and shit, diet to lose weight and then go back to said crappy diet - why would you be surprised if you gain the weight back??

As for ketosis - you're dead wrong. Staying in ketosis is the easiest way to maintain your weight, as nautral fat consumption (vs trans fats) is self regulating.

I thought ketosis is bad for the kidneys so it shouldn't be a super long term approach?

And no need to go back to crappy diet, just switching to whatever else you are doing next is yet another adjustment. I think people get caught up there.

Nope. You are confusing ketosis with ketoacidosis. Look it up. It's a fairly common error.

Anonymous wrote:Any diet this restrictive and obsessive is simply not healthy mentally or physically. Exercise portion control and move your body.

While I get where you are coming from here, it is also a simple fact that sugar and refined are also "simply not healthy" in any way. They shouldn't be eaten at all. They have no redeeming qualities whatsoever and they just encourage people to consume more and more of these kinds of calories.

That is why is just ultimately completely eliminated them. Once I did, I was finally able to tame a 30-year struggle with weight and eating. I don't view it at restrictive; those types of edible items that we put in our mouths are not food.

Any diet this restrictive and obsessive is simply not healthy mentally or physically. Exercise portion control and move your body.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Y'all are fine living indefinitely without bread and pasta?

Well, small amounts of bread can fit in low carb. But generally, Yeah, just like I'm fine living without it. Just like I'm fine living without smoking (enjoyable in the moment), wine every night, soda, etc.

Uh, smoking and wine aren't food groups.

In my house, wine is considered one of the major food groups!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It works temporarily, but it's very difficult to return to normal eating without gaining it back. This happens over and over to many of my friends.

but that's not the problem of the low carb etc diet, rather the "normal eating" diet? it's like saying running 3 miles a day worked but gained it all back when return to "normal exercise level" which is obviously not enough?

Not at all. It's too extreme for the averag person to maintain. It's like going from no exercise to marathon training.

Portion control of whatever you want is what works long term.

Except that it doesn't, since some foods are addictive like white bread that actually make you hungrier so portion control is not possible. Empty calories is real.