Low/Moderate Carb Experts - would like your advice

[CowgirlJane 14,259]

I have a lifetime of dieting under my belt, but never really embraced the low carb thing. i guess because by the time that become huge, I had sorta given up and/or didn't really understand it. I was indoctrinated under the false diet rules of low fat being the thing. Also, it seems I really like carbs which is probably a good reason for me to restrict them.

Anyway, due to family reasons, I won't have my sleeve surgery for several months. My BMI is 49 and rising, so I have decided to get on a program and lose weight! It will make the eventual surgery easier and I hope will set me up better to achieve my longer term goals if I can shed some pounds before my sleeve surgery.

Anyhoo, I suck at eating low carb. I was shocked at how many carbs were in even what I consider non starchy veggies!!! So, I was doing okay doing a low GI type diet where you always combine carb with a Protein, but I sorta fell off the wagon. my sister had good success with Medifast so convinced me to give it a try. The boxes are here, so I start tomorrow. It is the deal where you do the Meal Replacement and have one real food meal a day - lean meat and green veggies.

Medifast is NOT low carb, as you have something like 80-100 total carbs a day. It is more like low GI eating, but their literature says that after 3 days you go into ketosis. People lose weight fast on this, and I am told after those first few days, are not hungry.

My surgeon does NOT require a liver shrinking diet (20-40 total carbs per day) for the band removal which is end of Sept, but does require it for the actual sleeve surgery. That is fine, I will follow whatever they want me to do during those last two weeks.

So, here are my questions... Will eating this moderate carb thing, if it really does result in ketosis shrink the liver too? If I am able to stick with this medifast thing for the 3 months while I await the sleeve, I think I have a pretty good chance of losing maybe 40 pounds. My BMI is currently 49, so that will help some. Will this mean that when I first have surgery, I probably won't lose very fast since I would have done the fast weight loss presurgery? After I have the sleeve surgery, I am hopeful I can figure out how to eat low carb, using real food and not medifast, but right now I just get too hungry and get too many cravings. Are there like, different levels of ketosis so you can kick it up by going to the stricter low carb? Is it useful to test using those ketone strips? Any suggestions on where to learn more about the ketosis, how to know when you have acheived it etc? i have read the Adkins website, but like I said, I just can't seem to follow the low carb thing for more then about a day. Medifast has so few decisions to make, I feel like I might have a better chance as it is very black and white what you eat.

[DoOver 17]

I had a co-worker who did low carb. I'm just guessing that she probably dieted from 340 something down to about 275. She said she was able to eat 60 carbs a day and was still losing. If you can do some moderate exercise along with the 80 carbs a day (and maybe tweek the program a little on the higher carb meals so that you don't eat a bit of the carbs) I think you will still lose. And frankly, moderate loss is better than no loss on gain while you are in this window.

[KellyL 173]

I lost some weight prior to my surgery by sticking mostly to low carb, low sugar, no sodas or candy, etc. On occasion if I had a carb on the weekend, I would eat it with Protein and just eat a way smaller portion than previously of the carb. I actually tried to get used to all the "rules" that I knew I would have after getting sleeved. I stopped drinking with my meals and waiting till 30-45 mins after I ate too. I tried to get in a good bit of protein everyday. I lost 35 lbs doing this and it prepared me for life after surgery too.

[Oregondaisy 2,021]

Get yourself a little carb counter. They come in pocket size. There are carbs in things you wouldn't think of, like veggies. If you eat green veggies and not carrots potatoes peas or corn, you will be eating low carb. The small amounts of carbs in green veggies . I never worried about using the strips, but I tried to keep my carbs around 30-40 and that has always worked for me. After about 3 days of eating low carb, cravings go away.

There are low carb web sites and recipe sites and OH has an Atkins low carb board.

If you lose weight before surgery, your liver will shrink.