Hi,

I've lurked on the site ... a lot. I'm trying to lose 12-20 pounds. 20pounds is ideal, 12 pounds will put me in a health weight range (132 or lower).

I'm currently doing cardio for 30 minutes/5 days a week (jogging) ... with some sporatic weight training 1-2 days a week. I've maintained this schedule for 3 weeks, however I'd like to lose the weight by Thanksgiving. Do you guys think this is realistic ... or am I over my head here? Also, does anyone have fitness video recommendations for those rainy days? I have a 3 year old, so getting out to a gym isn't always possible.

And my last question ... I promise ... are carbs evil? Seriously, I love carbs, but to be honest, I lose weight very quickly without them. I fear that if I cut back drastically on carbs, I'll gain it all back as soon as I have a biscuit.

lol, no, carbs are not evil. I realize we all have different body chemistry and we all handle certain food groups differently, but for many of us it's a calorie thing, regardless of where those calories come from. Like I've seen so many people say, "Carbs don't make you fat, excess calories make you fat."

HOWEVER, I too have noticed that when I go a few days without eating many carbs, my weight drops. There's a reason for this. It's mostly water. Or so they say. Perhaps someone else can give you more insight, but I've found that if I balance everything, carbs included, I stay at a more steady weight loss than if I 'deprive' my body of one particular food group. For example, intentionally or not, I've gone a few days where I don't take in many carbs at all. Eating mostly fish and veggies and lean meats and salads and the like. After a few days I'm down a few pounds on the scale. But as soon as I take up regular eating habits, like eating carby veggies and whole grain breads and beans and whatnot, I'll go right back up those few pounds. Even though I didn't go OVER my calorie limit.

Reason? Water. When you restrict carbs, your body drops water much faster than it would otherwise.

Not all carbs are created equal--some carbs are better than others, and some diets, like the South Beach Diet, recognize this. If you think about it, it should be pretty obvious that a 1/2 cup of brown rice will have more nutritional value than a sugar cookie. The carbs that are "evil" are the ones that are sugar and white flour, like pastries. The "good" carbs are whole grains, dried beans, and vegetables.

As for the reason you lose weight quickly when you cut out carbs, it is probably because you are eating additional protein instead of the carbs. Protein tends to have a diuretic effect, so when you cut out the carbs you are losing excess water weight at first.

I am not in any way an expert, but IMHO losing 12 pounds by Thanksgiving is doable. That's a pound a week. Losing 20 pounds by Thanksgiving will probably be a little harder. Normally 2 pounds per week is a pretty reasonable rate of weight loss, but since you have so little weight to lose (I'm sure it feels like a lot but, really, in the grand scheme of things, 20 pounds isn't that much), the pounds are probably going to come off slower. At least that's been my experience as I've gotten within 10 pounds of my goal weight.

I love my carbs and would never give them up. I've lost 30 pounds without giving up carbs. That said, I have cut back quite a bit on the amount of pasta I eat (and when I do eat it, I usually eat whole wheat pasta). I do still eat a fair amount of rice and have increased the amount of polenta I eat (turns out I really like polenta and if you bake it in the oven it's a cinch to make, easier than rice). I also eat a lot of bread, at least once a day, sometimes twice a day. But I eat breads that are a lot lower in calories (I try to find bread that is less than 100 calories per slice) than what I used to eat before. And I've given up baked goods--cookies, cake, brownies, bagels, muffins, etc. almost entirely. To satisfy my cravings for these types products, I allow myself one nutrition/energy/granola bar per day (I know they are quite the same thing, but it's worked for me). On the other hand, I have significantly increased my carb intake in the form of fruits and veggies. I eat way way more fruits and veggies than I did before.

To maintain your weight loss, you have to be prepared to eat this way for the rest of your life. I haven't tried the Atkins diet and I don't know a lot about it, so take this for what its worth, but common sense tells me that if you give up carbs to lose weight and then go back to eating them once you get to your goal, you will probably gain the weight back. So if you don't think you can give up carbs permanently, a low/no carb diet probably isn't the right diet for you. And you absolutely can lose weight without giving up carbs--lots of people in the calorie counting forum are doing it.

-- Barbara

This is my personal experience with choosing a low-carb plan. Not all carbs are equal. If I eat lots of fresh fruits and veggies, (which I do) the weight loss continues. I can also eat whole grains, yams, Oats, brown rice. Basically what I chose to give up is processed foods, white flour, white rice, white pasta, white potatoes and sugar and salt. I think the notion that a person can't eat whole grains and lots of fruits and veggies and still lose weight is not correct. I also choose the leanest cuts of meat and eat a lot of baked fish and chicken. What I have tried to do is include the healthiest of foods and at the same time keep the fat count lowered. As everyone has said if you go real low carb and start eating them again, you'll certainly gain. But, the same is true of low-calorie or low-fat if you really think about it. Whichever you choose, it has to be permanent. If any of us go back to the way we ate when we were over-weight, we will be over-weight again.