Thursday, September 9, 2010

Low Carb?

I am all for losing weight with what works. I am one that believes that deprivation is the cause of most eating plan failures. BUT some would argue that my vegan eating plan is also deprivation. I was interested when I went to visit Anne what someone like myself would eat on a low carb diet (not that I plan on going low carb, ever). But seriously, without all of the animal products, what is left for a vegan such as myself to eat if I were low carb?

Again, my vegan lifestyle is not political. I am allergic to eggs, milk, honey, turkey and feel sick when I eat meat (except fish). When I looked at Anne's breakfast, I wondered what I would eat. Now, when low carb people look at my food, do they say, "Well, I can't eat any of that!" I had hummus for breakfast, and a granola bar for lunch. I am going to take some more hummus with me to school for dinner, just because it sounds so yummy! I might take a few tomatoes with me, too.

I really am interested in feedback about the low carb thing. I was on adkins in 1997, lost 20 lbs, then gained it all back shortly after. I thought about trying the Zone in 1998, but then got pregnant and wanted all sugar and wheat. In 2000, I went on WW. In 2001, I got pregnant. In 2002 I went on WW and was at 149. I got pregnant. In 2003, my son was born with some special needs that caused me to go up and down in weight. I went completely vegan in December of 2009. I kept "cheating" which would make me sick over and over. A couple of months ago, I decided to get my act together. No more cheating. Ever.

Now I am my lowest that I have been since before I got pregnant with #3. I feel really good. I was up .4 on the scale today, but I am confident it will be gone tomorrow. It is strange because i remember being this weight and thinking I looked hot. Then I remember losing 5 more pounds and thinking, SWEET! My goal was 149 because that was the highest I could be and still be healthy weight. Well, my goal now is to be healthy. I want to lose, but at the same time, I want to feel good, have endurance when I walk up stairs, I want to sleep better, get my thyroid under control. The list goes on, but the number cannot be the be all to end all.

3 comments:

  1. you're always hot to me bigmama!

    I think as long as you are having nutrient-dense carbs you are ok. Humans need carbs to help balance their brain chemistry as I understand it anyway. You & I need all the help we can get.

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  2. I know low-carb is controversial. I guess you would probably think of my eating that way. But I consider it "good" carb. I like the South Beach Diet. It is quite different from Atkins in that the goal is not to go into ketosis. The initial phase does have you cut out a lot of carbs, like grains and fruits, but to help you cut the cravings. Then you add those back in, but whole grains. You can also eat beans - carb.

    Now while I think it is a great plan, I have reached my goal weight on it more than once but then gained back. But I gain back because I start letting myself eat a lot of food that is NOT on the plan.

    I think you should do whatever works for you and that you think you can comfortably live with long-term. That's the key.

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  3. I think healthy is a good goal. It's probably not advisable to leave out any of the food groups (unless allergic, or for ethical reasons). Waisting Time's program is much better than Atkins - healthy carbs is the key. And Lanie is right, our brains do need carbs...unfortunately not from donuts or cookies - lol - but I don't think fruit is going to kill us any time soon.

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