Don't worry Jim - I'm still here, with no intentions of going low-fat again!
I can't get over how much better I feel these days. I'm eating low-carb, lots of meat, green veg, eggs... using lots of olive oil, and real cheese. I'm losing weight, inches, and just feeling good. I'm not obsessing over every blessed calorie, and I'm not hungry. If I want to pig out, there's lots of things for me to eat that I enjoy as much as carbs.
I read about the Dukan Diet last month, and I understand it's primarily protein and water. Okay, that might work, but think about this: how long can you live on it? Do you really think lean meat will be palatable without using oil or butter to cook it? Dry eggs? No sauces? I can only think of boring old chicken breasts and pork loin chops with the fat trimmed off... yuck. If I wanted to eat like that again, I'd go back to Weight Watchers, et al, and at least then I could have salad with it.
* okay, since I wrote this, I looked up the article about Dukan - here's a quote:
The phases
- Pure protein attack phase: you only eat protein, i.e. meat, poultry, fish, seafood and fat-free dairy products. This phase lasts for 3 to 10 days depending on your target.
(note from me: Fat Free Dairy products tend to be very high in sugar... not sure who this equates "protein"?
- Cruise phase: like the attack phase, only vegetables are gradually added to the protein. All that's off the menu are starchy foods (potatoes, sweetcorn, peas, lentils, green beans etc). Then you alternate these 2 phases until you reach your desired weight (maximum loss 1kg per week).
- Consolidation phase: you return to normal eating as slowly as possible to avoid the dreaded yo-yo effect, reintroducing forbidden foods gradually. Allow for 10 days of consolidation for each kilo lost.
- Stabilisation phase: you eat normally, respecting two golden rules: have a pure-protein day once a week for life, and eat 3 tablespoons of oats and bran per day.
So you can make sauces out of low-fat stuff, and have vegetables on the "cruise" part of the diet, but I still think that all the back and forth is just going to trigger cravings for sugary things. If I stay off sugar, I don't want it. But if I have some, it's a slippery slope... it's all I think about. Not for me, but if you are stronger than me, go for it
I know how hard it is when you stay the same at weigh in time. I've cried many tears over the years about this. But Caz - in your first post you say you keep losing and gaining the same two pounds. Your sig says you've gained two pounds, lost it the following week, then lost another 3 more! That's good progress! Why jump when the ship's not sinking? (that is, unless you aren't updating your sig?)
If you think you are stalled, go back to basics again - don't eat too many mims, watch your cheese intake, look for hidden carbs that might be throwing you off, and watch your booze intake (there's carbs in that too!) Some people who say they are stalled don't appear to be, if you read their signatures and stats on the side of the page... they might be having slower progress, but they are still MAKING progress.
Good luck, and come back to let us know how things go. :wave_cry: