Thread: Potential Future Newbie

Hi everyone

I'm interested in doing a low carb diet but would like some opinions from the people actually on these diets, instead of some internet site that inevitably wants me to buy some low carb product from them, so promises me that its the best diet ever invented

What kind of foods can you eat? And how often?

What weight loss have u experienced and over how long?

Has the diet made you feel tired at all?

Do you go into ketosis and if so, what effects did you have? e.g. bad breath, fatigue

Thanks in advance!

Hi there and welcome
Suggest you come over to the atkins board - doesn't matter what sort of low carb you are doing but it's much more active so you can get more advice.

Some quick answers-
See my weight loss...
This is while enjoying food, reigniting my love of new recipes and cooking and going out a lot
First two weeks i was tired - now i dance most days
Usual ketosis symptoms - last a couple of weeks

Hth - good luck!

Hi welcome and good luck on ur journey.

Hello! I started very low carb about 6 weeks ago, as in Atkins induction level low carb, although I'm not following Atkins. Yes, I was tired for the first two weeks, and had headaches and one night of muscle cramps. I won't pretend it was pleasant. You don't have to go as low as I did (under 20g carbs per day), of course.

Now, if anything my problem is too much energy. I kind of thought that was people exaggerating when I read about it, but on Friday night I had to put music on and dance around the house!

I eat three meals a day, and snacks if I want. I eat any kind of meat, but limited processed meat. I eat green veggies, particularly green beans, broccoli, salad leaves, and sprouts. I eat cauliflower, aubergine, asparagus, cabbage, kale and very occasionally carrots. Also plenty of eggs, butter, coconut oil. I eat full fat yoghurt, nuts and seeds (except peanuts), almond butter, and rarely, berries. I also use limited whole milk, as well as cream.

Occasionally I "cheat", but never so much that my carbs are over for the day.

I don't know if I'm in ketosis, but at the low carb level I'm on I would be surprised if I wasn't. Main symptom now is feeling hot at night and waking up in the night. This lessens if I don't have coconut oil in the evenings.

The diet changes how I exercise too- I much prefer shorter bursts of running to long jogging sessions now, but I find it much, much easier. Shockingly easy- like walking on air.

I'm not tired, no. I do get tired if I cheat with something sugary- it's a sudden, unnatural tiredness which I suppose comes from a blood sugar crash.

I've lost about a stone so far, including a 1 week TOTM STS. I started off calorie counting and exercising, but found my weightloss slowing down, and I was hungry. The low carbing has sped it right back up again, and I'm much less hungry than I was.

The biggest hurdles were, for me:
- getting my head round the idea that it's OK to eat fat. I had a HUGE fear of fat to get over.
- wondering how to eat lunch without bread! I didn't realise how much it figured in my diet until I stopped eating it!

HTH