Cdev... I just joined this forum today so I'm getting to this party late, and I totally was not expecting to see this as a topic.
I have used low-carb as a sporadic reducing diet for years. This is not how it is meant to be used, but that's what I have done. When I am on low-carb I lose weight. When I fall off the wagon I gain it all back.
I was an extreme low-carb booster. I lost over 100 pounds, then 80, then 50... it was all the same weight, though.
Low-carb works. It does. It's not unhealthy. If you can do low-carb for life then you will lose weight and keep it off and be fine.
If, like me, you hear the siren-call of the doughnuts and go back to your old way of eating then you will go back to your old weight. This is not a failure of the diet, this is a failure of 'the operator'.
There are some odd, magic-ish things about low-carb that don't seem to make sense, but it works.
So does low-calorie eating. They both work. The question is which one can you stick with?
It's far more important to change your habits than your actual diet. Do you eat in front of the computer? Stop that. Stop snacking willy-nilly.
Come up with new habits. Add them one per week and keep them going.
For instance, a possible habit would be that you don't eat after 8pm normally. (exceptions happen, but 90% of the time you don't)
Another possible habit would be that you drink a glass (500ml / 2cups) of water 10 minutes before eating. If you have finished your meal and you want seconds then you can do that but you drink another glass of water first.
Another possible habit would be taking the stairs instead of the elevator.
Something that is a lovely addition to your day is to drink a big glass of lemon water when you first wake up. Gets the guts working. If you are lazy like me then your lemon water can just be a pitcher in the fridge with water from the tap with 1/4 cup of lemon juice (from a bottle) added. No sugar. It's excellent.
Increasing physical engagement is key. Walk. Do light weight training to build muscle. Muscle burns calories. Calories still matter, even on low-carb.
Taking a multi-vitamin is helpful.
Salt substitutes like NO-SALT are high in potassium. Since you're not eating bananas you could be a bit light on potassium which causes some people to suffer from cramps more easily, so using one of these potassium-based salt substitutes may make you feel better. When people talk about 'low-carb flu' it's often a potassium issue.
Some people talk.... endlessly... about all manner of horrific side effects of low-carb. I have not experienced any of these. If you find constipation to be an issue then drink more fluids and maybe add psyllium fiber to your life.
If you find that your weight loss slows down then you should increase your activity level. Don't try to starve yourself. Let yourself eat good food. Try to limit bacon and other processed meats with high nitrates. Use them for flavour rather than as a major constituent of the meal. Eat a pound of pork loin? For sure! Eat a pound of bacon? Not as good a choice.
Artificial sweeteners work way better on low-carb because your tongue has nothing to compare it to. If you take a sip of diet cola while eating a Mars bar it will taste like battery acid. If you take that same sip first thing in the morning it will taste like heaven. You have to fool your taste buds, and they're not that easy to fool. Some products use Splenda or Stevia and they over-use them terribly - they want to make it taste *sweet*, which is not what you want when you're on low-carb, and they end up tasting fake and horrible. If you choose to use artificial sweeteners then try a few and keep in mind that less can be more.
Strive to eat foods that are naturally low in carbs. Ignore 'protein bars' and other glycerin-heavy crap, as they don't work as advertised and rarely have a taste that is worth the carbs they have.
If you're jonesing for pasta then treat yourself to a steak.
In a restaurant, a grilled-chicken caesar (no croutons) is a very common option that you will find almost everywhere. It's a good 'plan-b'.
I think that's it for now.
If you have any questions I would be delighted to try to help.
Mike
You've demonstrated why low carb diets are unhealthy quite well there. The same is true for low fat diets, which are also bad.
It's unhealthy because it's too restrictive. Cutting out a large range of foods is not healthy. The fact you can't keep it up and fall off the wagon, so to speak is a sign the diet is not healthy and is unsustainable in the long run, not personal failure. There are physiological changes caused by following such a diet, which lead phycological changes and carb cravings. Again, see the Minnesota Starvation Study.
The fact you need to take a multivitamin, is a sign it's unhealthy. A healthy diet doesn't require supplements.
I'm glad you don't suffer from constipation, but do you know that it's not necessary caused by too little fibre and fluid intake? Eating too few calories can cause it, as the digestive system slows to a crawl. If you tried an extreme high fibre, low calorie diet for a long period of time, it would likely result in constipation.
The fact that foods which you find normally taste bad, such as artificial sweeteners taste good, is a sign the diet isn't healthy, because it throws your sense of taste out of whack.
Drinking water, just to fill your stomach and suppress hunger pangs is a very bad habit to get into. It can lead to excessive fluid intake, which can be very dangerous, night time urination and confusion between thirst and hunger signals. Don't do it. Generally one should drink when they're thirsty and eat when they're hungry. People generally drink enough fluid, based on thirst signals. The exception is when they're hot, or engaging in strenuous exercise. If in doubt, urine colour is the best indicator of excessive, inadequate, or sufficient fluid intake.
Bananas are a relatively poor source of potassium. Coconut water is probably the best natural source of potassium and is lower in sugar, than fruit juice, but don't overdo it.
Do you know that you weight fluctuating up and down is worse for your health than being a bit obese and having a stable weight? Muscle is lost when you lose weight and is replaced by fat, when you gain it back. It also makes you more prone to other health problems such as diabetes, than being a little fat.
It's definitely good to get into healthy habits such as exercising, and not snacking in front of the TV, or at the computer, but not restricting your diet too much is a healthy habit to get into. The problem is, after a prolong period of restriction, it can be very difficult to eat a normal healthy diet, because binge eating becomes increasingly likely after depriving your body of essential nutrients, for such a long time. It's often then followed by restriction, whether this is conscious or not, as it's a habit you've gotten into.
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