Low Carb Monster - Low Carbohydrate Diets

Low Carbohydrate Diets

About a year after Carly and Courtney both had babies, they both want to lose their remaining baby weight. Carly chose one of the popular low carbohydrate diets, but Courtney tried eating right instead. Here's what they had to say about their results after six months of dieting, then a year.

Carly's Plan

As we said before, Carly's plan to lose her baby weight was to try one of the many low carbohydrate diets she'd heard so much about. Now that she was back at work full time and trying to take care of a toddler, she found it hard to find time to work out. She heard low carbohydrate diets were perfect for people who couldn't work out, but she wasn't sure why. Eventually, after a lot of research, she settled on the South Beach Diet. It seemed a little healthier than other low carbohydrate diets. Here's what she had to say after the first six months on South Beach.

"It was definitely hard, but also definitely worth it. I've lost all of my baby weight and 5 pounds besides. And it's more than losing weight--I'm losing fat. The last three months I really saw the fat burning start to kick in because it was spring and I decided to get one of those cool strollers for running/walking and started taking Morgan out on a long strolls. Sometimes I ran, but mostly I walked. (I was worried that when I ran I would jostle him too much.) Luckily my husband supported my efforts. Now I look the way I want to. I just need to learn how to maintain it."

After a year, we checked in with Carly again:

"After the first six months, I was where I wanted to be, but my weakness for carbs got the best of me. Now I'm gaining some of the weight back. Granted, I haven't stayed on the plan, but I haven't been eating excessive amounts of food either. If I had to do it over again, I'm not sure I'd do it this way."

Courtney's Plan

Courtney read a lot about low carbohydrate diets and decided she didn't want to experience the side effects and risks. Besides, she had seen too many people go off those diets and gain all their weight back (and then some). Besides, she liked carbs too much. She did consider the South Beach diet, but ultimately, she decided to cut out anything made with white flour or sugar. She upped her intake of fruits and vegetables, made sure she got three glasses of low fat milk each day, ate lean cuts of meat and avoided fried foods. In addition, whenever her family wanted pasta or rice, she substituted whole wheat pasta and brown rice. Unlike Carly, she had a little more time for exercise since she only worked part time. Plus, her gym had a good day care room. It was supervised so parents could work out. Here's what she had to say after six months:

"It actually hasn't been as hard as I thought it would be. The hardest part was getting into exercise again. I thought the switch to whole wheat pasta and brown rice would be weird, but nobody noticed! I try not to constantly think about it. Instead, I try to make healthy eating a habit. I haven't lost as much weight as Carly, but I know I will, and this way I don't have to give up my carbs."

After a year, we checked in with Courtney again:

"I'm finally making a lot of progress. It's funny--Carly lost 50 pounds in her first six months. It took me a year to lose that much. But her weight loss dropped off. I've heard that if your weight comes off slowly, it tends to stay off better. I guess I'll see. I'm still happy doing it this way though."