When people say: Whatever Works for you?

[LC_Dave]

Since starting this WOL - My life and the 'way' I look at life has changed dramatically. Yes I have lost weight almost effortlessly (no hunger) but there are a whole range of other health benefits: improved nails and skins, clearer thinking, no gastric reflux, sleep apnea improving.

I have tried many 'diets' over the years, and they all amounted to the old lowifat, calories in, calories out idea. They have all failed and were never sustainable.

What I see often on other boards and in life are people saying 'whatever works for you', everyone is different. This is in relation to people not eating Low Carb. I'm sure there are heaps of members here who think similar.

But is it the case ?

The more I live this WOL, the more I begin to think that this is the optimal WOL for the majority of people. Of course I'm talking about people who don't necessarily have medical conditions.
Can we standby and be silent as people are 'trying' Jenny Craig and going back to Weight Watchers because Atkins just isn't working.

Is Low Carb/Atkins only a choice or a 'trick' or is it the health-giving optimal diet for the majority of humans that I think it is ?

[Tiggerdagibit]

I think everyone could benefit from this WOL!! The problem is that so many people don't want to give up the crap food. My sis is one of them. She needs and wants to lose weight, but thinks she can't live without potatoes and bread. She actually eats pretty healthy except for that. I've tried to tell her that there are many substitutes she could make, but she's stubborn. I'm hoping to change her mind when she sees all the good food I eat and how I look when I'm a little further along. She did borrow my DANDR (at my offering) so maybe once she sees HOW and WHY it works, she'll consider it. My mom is a type 1 diabetic and watches her sugar intake, but eats a lot of carbs. She counts carbs the diabetic way, but it's different. I wish she'd see the light too.

People say it's unhealthy. That's such bs. I eat 10 times more veggies than I did before and I really don't eat any more meat or fat. Look at the people in the olden days. They didn't eat any of the processed food and only ate whole, fresh foods. Was it unhealthy for them? I don't think so.

I wish I could help convert everyone I know.. and don't know, for that matter, to this WOL, but unfortunately it won't happen. I talk about it to people that I know, but I don't push because I don't like to be pushed. I do, however, try to stress the benefits and the changes it's made in my life. You just can't beat the energy, normal BG without insulin, and the host of other benefits. One day maybe more people will be open to it and I sure hope I'm there to see it!

[slimndown]

It's true that not everything works for everyone, although I think everyone could benefit from Atkins. Some people are fat just because they consume too many calories and move too little. Those people have great success on any diet that restricts calories. But for those who are actually metabolically resistant, Atkins is basically they only way they will lose weight as the other diets make no provision for this condition. The people who have it and refuse to do Atkins just aren't sick and tired enough of being fat. In fact, some people love being miserable and that's why they refuse to try it. I have a family member like that.....

[Kate113]

All I can really say is that it works for me. Nothing else I tried worked nearly as well. Sometimes I think that this is the way for everyone to go, but then again, I'm no expert on the human body. Some people tell me that they've heard bad things about Atkins being dangerous. I ask them why losing weight and looking and feeling better is dangerous. They can't seem to answer me. Hey, whatever works for them. lol

[yemenitegreen]

I found that when it comes to dieting, the old saying 'your mileage may vary' is really true. Of course, I believe that a low carb approach is good for anyone, but not necessarily an Atkins approach. many people are doing fine on a paleo diet, and in the end I feel that some kind of paleo diet - designed after our bodys needs, is what we are trying to achieve. Some people prefer more fruit and can digest fruit easily, some can't.

But, and this is a big but (no pun intended) if someone is happy and healthy as a low fat dieter or vegetarian high carber and his or her metabolism works fine on this, well, let them go ahead. There have been so many theories on what and when to eat, how to live - I don't want anyone to tell me how I should live, and I wouldn't try to do this to others, either. A good friend of mine, a registered nurse, tries to lose weight on low fat. She feels it is a healthy option. She knows that I live low carb and I have a different view on nutritional topics, and we respect each others lifestyle. So, if low fat works for her, I don't feel obliged to go on an Atkins crusade - it is her free will and choice and if she feels content about it, fine with me. Because people need to find a way of eating which does not only feed their bodies, but suits them as a person, or falling off the wagon is inevitable.

yemenitegreen

[didy]

I'm a nurse. I read the book. I accepted the scientific rationales for the plan. But it wasn't until I saw my personal results-the first time around-that I knew what Atkins said was true. Some people just don't believe in the plan, or themselves. They will fail.

After losing 70 pounds and keeping it off for over a year, I went off my very satisfying eating plan. (no rung of OWL or maintenance included the trash I thought I was finding comfort from) Only one person was rude enought to comment when I gained half of my loss back. She said "guess that Atkins didn't work for you". I reminded her that "ANY diet you go off of, won't work, now, will it?" I know, without a doubt, this is the easiest plan ever for me to stay on.

I've lived too long to think that those people who believe, "I could never give up my pasta" won't talk themselves into failure even with this WOE. So, I've stopped trying to convince even the people I love. I just offer to let them borrow the book.
didy

[Brook]

I don't want anyone to tell me how I should live, and I wouldn't try to do this to others, either. <snip> Because people need to find a way of eating which does not only feed their bodies, but suits them as a person, or falling off the wagon is inevitable.

What yemenitegreen said.

Just about the time I see anyone reaching for their soapbox is about the time my listening shuts off. Getting their attention so far as dieting/weight-loss goes is easy. All you have to do is be successful in what you do and you don't have to club someone else over the head with anything. They come to you

[Alienore]

As well as being healthier and there being less of me, my skin has improved because of all the healthy vegetables I'm eating. Before I started Atkins my skin was spotty and greasy due to all the rubbish I stuffed down my throat.

Friends and family have commented on how much better I look overall, including my skin improvement. Over Christmas I stayed with my parents who live by the seaside - I was jogging lightly on the beach a couple of times and Dad commented on how he hadn't seen me jogging AT ALL since I was at school nearly twenty years ago.

This works for me - I accept that other regimes and programs work for others but I know what works for my body. I will talk about Atkins and how much better I feel on it but I don't seek converts.

I'd rather let the new, healthier me speak for herself.


Deborah

[Chris]

Gee, I sure hope Brook doesn't yell at me for being on a soapbox, but I do have to admit that I feel that a low carb lifestyle is the most natural one -- for anyone. I've said this before, and I apologize to those who've "heard" it already, but our bodies did not evolve to eat carbs in any sort of abundance -- especially refined carbs!

It took millions of years for humans to evolve into our caveman ancestors, who were hunter/gatherers. Most of the time they subsisted on animal protein and fat, fish, and, no doubt, creepy crawlies of some sort. For just A FEW WEEKS in the year, they were able to gather wild fruits and vegetables. They had no agriculture, and no way to preserve any excess that they gathered. It was this diet that their bodies had evolved to assimilate. Today, thanks to modern agriculture, freezers and cans, we have an enormous overabundance of carbohydrates, constantly available. Just that, alone, is more than our bodies were designed for. But, we make it worse -- MUCH WORSE -- by refining many of those carbs into simple sugars, flours, etc. If you look at the amount of sugar that's dumped into the average modern body, it's amazing that we continue to function as well as we do. More and more, though, we're NOT functioning. Type II diabetes, which used to be called "adult onset" is being seen in children of 10 and 11 years old,. Two-thirds of the American populaton is overweight, and fully one-third is obese!

One-third of us either exercise enough, have a high enough metabolism, dislike sugar, or whatever, to be within a normal weight range. As to the rest, I'm fully convinced that if we could get people to open their eyes to what refined carbs are doing to them, we could change the world! (Sorry, Brook. I'll climb back down, now!)

[Tiggerdagibit]

Originally Posted by Chris

It took millions of years for humans to evolve into our caveman ancestors, who were hunter/gatherers. Most of the time they subsisted on animal protein and fat, fish, and, no doubt, creepy crawlies of some sort. For just A FEW WEEKS in the year, they were able to gather wild fruits and vegetables. They had no agriculture, and no way to preserve any excess that they gathered. It was this diet that their bodies had evolved to assimilate. Today, thanks to modern agriculture, freezers and cans, we have an enormous overabundance of carbohydrates, constantly available. Just that, alone, is more than our bodies were designed for. But, we make it worse -- MUCH WORSE -- by refining many of those carbs into simple sugars, flours, etc.

Yeah, that's what I was trying to say, but boy did you say it much better!

This is a great post Dave! Thanks.