Hello everyone.
Last year, with all my hard work, I was able to lose 20 kg of weight by low carb diet during 4 months and occasional walk and excercise. However, I was unable to keep it off and gained all the weight back. But after losing weight, I was not happy with results and that triggered binge eating disorder.
I want to start again. But I have learned that low carb might not be the way for me. I have planned to kick start my weightloss, I will go on low carb just for a month and also follow strict excercise routine. Please suggest should I calorie count too during this month or not?
Also, can I drink fruit juices during low carb?

But you said low carb doesn't work for you. Why do it again? Sorry to hear about your binge eating disorder. But there is no diet that will fix an eating disorder. Weightloss from dieting is difficult and tends to come back as you have already witnessed. An eating disorder can be treated, it requires that you neutralize your relationship to food and not use it for reasons other than hunger. Binge eating is usually triggered by restriction. The more you restrict the more you will binge. There are a lot of people here that suffer the vicious cycle of it, and yoyoing is extremely stressful on your heart.

We're you eating low carb while you gained the weight back? If not then it's not that low carb didn't work but that you stopped doing it. I lost a lot of weight eating low carb and I have no doubt that going back to my old way of eating would cause me to gain it back.

I recommend getting help for the binge eating, since that's what caused you to gain it back, contributes to your high weight, and will *always* stop you from keeping the weight off. It's probably affecting other areas of your life. Good luck - I hope you try something new, as what you tried last time didn't work.

I'm doing low carb now, and I'm not sure the right way to do it, but I'm keeping my carbs around 100g/day. I guess some people go even lower than that!

Jump starting with low carb for a month sounds like a good plan. It's a lot easier to start something and stick with something when you see results.

I like Myfitnesspal because it's easy to keep track of what I eat, and it breaks down what I eat so I can see how many calories, how many grams of protein and how many grams of carbs I'm getting each day.

I'm certain fruit juice (or fruit) would not be on the menu for low carb, but perhaps if you were to have a little juice and still keep your carbs below a certain point, you could. I've been known to visit the candy dish at work a couple of times a week, to grab a little bite sized treat. I still manage to stay within my target and stay in ketosis.

When you say you gained all of the weight back, is it because you gave up the low carb lifestyle? That's what I did. I slipped back in to my old, bad eating habits.

I think between my age and my body type I need to stick to a low carb lifestyle to lose/maintain weight. That doesn't mean that at some point, I can't switch to that 80/20 I hear about, where as long as I eat really well 80% of the time, I can enjoy some higher carb choices 20% of the time.

Thank you all for all the helpful replies. I feel so welcomed.

@wannabeskinny: I said it did not work for me in a way that I was not really happy with my results. I fainted several times and it was very difficult for me to stay away from carbs.

@rubidoux: Thats exactly what happend with me. I lost weight very easily with low carb but I can not maintain this forever. As in my part of the world, we eat carbs(grains,rice etc) for breakfast,lunch and dinner lol. After I lost my weight by low carbs I could not eat anything but carbs. I felt as if everything were empty calories, only carb have nutritional value lol.

@souvenidarling: Yes you are right. I guess I wont be able to keep my weight off unless I get rid of this binge. But its amazing how I feel under control when I am getting closer to my goal weight, once I'm done and all goes away. Maintanence is the problem for me.

@twinieten: I was able to lose weight with low carb very easily but its just that I cant switch to low carb forever. But I want to do this for a month. Maybe I will give it a try. I use myfitnesspal, its really helpful. I will try to keep this 80/20 rule in my mind when I hit my goal weight.

Hi findingmyway13,

If you felt well during your low carb plan, it may be a good way to eat. I lost a lot of weight on low carb low cal, but also dealt with sugar binges for a while afterward. Doesn't mean you shouldn't try to work it out...

Fruit juice is a no no--since all the fiber of the fruit is removed, the natural sugars are absorbed rapidly by your body and you may as well eat straight sugar as far as weight loss is concerned. fwiw, I avoid processed sugar and flour products, incl pastas. Once in a while I eat sweets, ie at a social event or if stressed out, but eventually I hope to leave them out of my WOE for good. My go-to carbs now include things like butternut squash, apples, avocados, sometimes nuts, almost any kind of veggie (watching potato amts, and avoiding corn).

I think what I'm driving at is that maybe your diet should reflect a way that you can sustain long term.

btw, a great book to help with binge eating is Brain Over Binge, by Kathryn Hansen. And for why we crave certain foods,etc, The End of Overeating by David Kessler. Both books have helped me a lot in maintenance.

Hope this is helpful

When done correctly, Atkins is a great plan for life. Stay on Induction for 2 weeks then begin climbing the carb ladder as outlined in the plan and by the time you get to maintenance, you can eat anything in amounts that won't add back the weight.

Many people think low carb is a lot of protein and fat and a few vegetables. Not so. Read up on it, Atkins has free info, and do it correctly and you won't regain.

The book "The Calorie Myth" really helped me, as well as all of Mark Sisson's books.

The thing is, no one has the whole answer. Your best bet is to keep trying and to really listen to your body.

If something didn't work in the past it probably won't work this time. Binge eating disorder is incredibly complicated. I found help from a variety of things, including low carb but also mindful eating, meditation, self love, whole foods and many other bits and pieces of advice and information.

Unfortunately even if I could compile concisely every thing that I did to get where I am it still wouldn't be the 'right' answer, because it's only the right answer for me.

But keep your chin up and keep trying new things. Something will click, I promise. I struggled with binge eating from age 12 and I still do.

^this!

Good luck and I hope it goes well for you. I sometimes feel like I am eating way too many carbs and cut them out every now and again.

I don't like to cut them out on the long term because when I add them again I just end up bloated and fed up with the way I look.

But with binge eating I suggest you look at treating it - such as doing some hypnosis as this can stop the overeating and get you into a long term routine instead.

My hubby had that problem and now follows paul mckenna.