[vettelvr]

I have lost 20 lbs on a low carb diet and have kept it off for about a year. I have recently just started to calorie count and eat healthy, after a failed attempt at weight watchers. I don't want to do low carb long term, but would like to do it again to jumpstart my weight loss. Has anybody done this before, and how did it work for you?(switching from calorie counting to low carb then back)

[kaplods]

This doesn't really answer your question, but may help. I found that for me a compromise plan works best - with both low carb and calorie counting elements (well an exchange plan where the counting is done for you as each exchange contains approximately the same number of calories). Not everyone considers an exchange plans a method of calorie counting, but since it does control the number of calories - I see it as a subcategory of calorie counting).

My first encounter with low carb exchange plans were in the Duke Diet Book (not the Rice Diet one) and the hillbilly housewife website which has 1200, 1400, 1500, and 1800 calorie plans at three different carb levels.

http://healthy.hillbillyhousewife.com/foodplans.htm

The Duke Diet book has two different carb levels and I believe a similar range of calorie options.

[lifechange]

If you don't want to do low carb don't. It will kick start your weight loss and give you good numbers for the first couple of weeks but a good portion of that is water loss. So when you go back to straight calorie counting, your loss will slow down as you replace your glycogen stores. There are many reasons to do low carb, I personally do a modified version of low carb and calorie counting so I am not knocking low carb- but if you just want to do it to jumpstart your weight loss- I don't think it is ultimately going to help you out. Your weight should start coming off with whatever diet you are doing-just keep at it.

[chick_in_the_hat]

Lifechange has it exactly. If it's just for a kickstart - there's probably no point. IMHO - it's better to start building the habits you plan to use to maintain the weight loss from the very beginning. Because the only way to keep the weight off is pretty much life long vigilance. If low carb is not an eating plan that makes you happy...I'd say avoid it.

[kaplods]

I do think jumpstarts are highly over-rated. Most people want them, which I think is the real reason (while they may use "detoxing" or other jargon to justify), many structured plans start with them. In many ways, I think the jumpstart is the biggest disservice to weight loss efforts. Because that "quick" component is so tempting and so addictive. I think it also contributes to the "down" I feel when the weight loss stops being impressive.

Every diet or weight loss attempt I ever quit - I quit because I wasn't seeing the results I wanted to see, generally based on very unrealistic expectations. Although I wasn't always aware that my expectations were unrealistic - I just saw myself as a big, fat failure for not being able to reach them.

[JulieJ08]

I may do a brief "lower" carb interval again (and I don't even really mean "low" carb), but not for weight loss per se - I do it to retrain my sweet tooth.