Well done Carter, it is great to be on top of your health. Such a good feeling.

I have not read this book but have read "Accidentally Overweight" by Dr Libby Weaver, a NZ nutrition expert/doctor. And the message sounds similar.

I am motivated to do things for good health, but not so much to be a size smaller. If being a size smaller means I am healthier and happier then yes, but I am not convinced that is always the case. I am an 80/20 person, eat healthy options 80% of the time. I sometimes sway too far to the unhealthy and have to address it, and am not a model size, but I love cooking, entertaining, coffee and sharing wine with friends.

I think while there are some universal principles that apply for good health and optimum weight, we do have differences in culture, lifestyle, body shape and body tolerances and intolerance's. That is before we add to the mix in our own willpower, insecurities and personality. There is a lot of money to be made in this industry that is for sure...

I just want to add that genes and luck do play a factor here as well, and we as women often beat ourselves up for things we can't change. I mean, I've been ignoring a health issue for a year now and kind of starving myself, believing that I just needed to lose 5 pounds - turns out that it's 5 pounds of fibroids that can only be removed surgically. This is the dysmorphia that constant focus on weight and size can create.

I used to be one of those people like Angie who was "naturally skinny" and would blithely eat whatever I wanted and tease friends who ate nothing but salad. Chicken fried steak was one of my favorite breakfasts. Now I kind of want to go back in time and slap the younger me in the face for not appreciating my youth and metabolism at the time. Meanwhile, I have friends who will never be under a certain size but are as fit and active as the rest of our group.

These days, I'm not as interested in losing pounds as I am in maintaining a size and fitness level that keeps me healthy and active. I have yet to find any particular diet that alters my size enough to bother with it. The "Eat To Live" book did work for me but I found it unsustainable given that my boys refused to eat what I was eating.

Wow! This is a hot topic.

I'm starting to think that no one approach works for everyone. With my kid recently being diagnosed with celiac -- and we had no suspicion! -- I am re-evaluating what I thought I knew about food and weight. I think some people can eat all the bread they want and it doesn't mess with their insulin production, and others can't. That must be why cutting carbs works for certain people.

I personally have no trouble maintaining my weight. I am underweight (according to the doctor's charts), but not alarmingly so, and despite this I will never have a flat stomach. I'm probably doing a few things right: I eat when I'm hungry, I try not to eat when I'm not hungry, I try not to eat too much in one sitting, and I try not to eat too much processed food or junk food. I try to get enough sleep, which for me is eight hours, and I go for vigorous hikes two or three times a week. I'm not perfect at all these things, but every effort helps, right? Turns out that all those things help with weight maintenance. I developed this common-sense approach in my early twenties, after getting counselling for an eating disorder -- but I don't think what works for me is necessarily going to work for the next person. I think it's more due to how I metabolize food.

Incidentally, I drink a glass of wine nearly every evening. Did you know that regular wine-drinkers tend to have fewer weight problems than non-wine-drinkers? They think it has something to do with the wine suppressing your desire to raid the junk food cupboard.

Weight aside, if I can get results like Carter and Lucinda, I would be VERY happy! I see my parents struggling with Metabolic disease. It's scary stuff. Alaskagirl is right - genes do play a factor. Therefore, I know my parents history so I MUST take action. Kiwigal, I so relate to the 80/20 rule. I live by that in every other part of my life - with a fair bit of success - so it should work for diet - right!?! Being blind sighted by a nutrition event like Aziraphale with a child with Celiac disease just opens your eyes -doesn't it? My mother was just diagnosed with low vitamin B12 which is a huge factor in memory. I'm hoping supplements will restore her memory. We'll see - I've been researching that and it's so prevalent and yet little understood and diagnosed. Nutrition is huge. Why or why is there not more science!

I did just learn that Gary Taubs is putting his own money into researching nutritional studies with the proceeds from his book. Also, his book is not a diet book - just a journalist report. Geez...really, i'm not getting paid by Gary Taubs. Although I probably should be.

Every person's sensitivities are different. I am a Type 2 diabetic. Rice is something that I cannot eat at all without my blood sugar going haywire. I know because I have done years of post meal tests. I can eat a little of potatoes or bread. Others can eat a little rice or pasta but can't eat potatoes. Like Alaska Girl, I was always slim and could eat anything I wanted but would also like to go back and slap my younger self.
As far as eating carbs, you need a few for energy. Drinking carbs in sodas, beer, smoothies and fruit juices is the worst for you because it goes quickly to your blood. Eating fats, fiber, protein, and some other things slows it down. Eating food with a carbonated beverage is bad. If I want to "sweeten" something like coffee, I add cinnamon. You do not want your blood sugar to get too high or low. Fruit...be careful not to eat much. For some reason, melons like watermelon are the worst. Berries are the best. Green bananas are better than ripe ones because they have less sugar. I can't eat grapes without a blood sugar spike.

A very interesting thread Sarah. I have read Taubes book, and it and similar teaching has probably influenced my diet over the years but I haven't really taken it on in full and don't really plan to. I certainly eat less carbs than I used to but still 1-3 serves a day, (mostly wholegrain) I switched back to full cream milk, and eat more protein than I used to

There are certainly so many individual variations and so hard to generalise - it is even hard to compare what "I used to eat whatever I wanted" actually means in practise!

I have never been overweight as such (though of course wouldn't mind being a bit thinner) which in itself helps with weight control I think - as in less fat cells to shrink. I attribute it to heredity, an active youth that probably built up my muscles, not liking savory snacks like chips, BBQ sauce or being very fond of soft drinks, frugality, in that I rarely buy food for myself when out, not being a big drinker who had huge nights out and who knows how long I had coeliac disease may have affected my food absorption. (I am finding it harder to maintain now, though being in my 40's could be a contributory factor)

I am dealing with higher body fat than I'd like (despite a BMI of around 21) but I'm fairly convinced the answer for me lies, like you have already discussed, in weight training. I'm still mostly working on my form after some injury, but that, plus getting back to intervals once i recover, is where I'm planning to head.

Also, I find when lowering carbs I'm definitely wanting to eat more fat, and I do find overeating that is pretty easy to do, with accompanying no loss of weight.

I haven't quite gotten through all the responses but great thread.

I eat a high protein, low carb diet and have never felt so good! My diet sounds very similar to that of Caro. I eat loads of veggies, lean meats, legumes, and fish. I don't eat gluten as I have an intolerance and it can make me quite sick.

I started to eat this way in January last year for two reasons. I was putting on too much weight and I wasn't feeling my best I terms of health. Since doing this, I dropped 9kg (I think that about 20 pounds) and have maintained it easily. I feel the best I have for a long time and find I crave the so called good foods now and have almost no desire for sweet things. Every now and again I have some "junk" but most of the time it's just not that exciting to me.

So, I haven't read the book you mention but it sounds similar to what I read that led me to this way of eating xxx

What an interesting thread! Like Deborah, I too stick to a mainly low carb diet. And when I have carbs I try to do the healthier ones e.g. sweet potato. I find it so much easier than the old low fat stuff I used to do! I think about food a lot less, and I am rarely hungry. I eat a small bit of sugar, mainly in yoghurt, but largely I have cut it out - and when I have it I crave it more! I'm happy to put many things aside, or limit them, but I must say I'm not giving up my red wine.
I have quite a few paleo books - I'm coeliac, so they are great to cook from. But I'm allergic to nuts and seeds, and I do like a bit of dairy, so I don't think I will go full paleo, though there seem to be an awful lot of benefits.

So interesting to read all the responses. I was always very skinny in fact I was made fun of for being so skinny and for having a huge appetite.
I never had to worry about what I weighed but I never really ate a lot of any one thing. I just ate a balanced diet of real food. I was NEVER into soda as it was always too fizzy and made me burp even when I was a little girl. Fast forward to about 3 years ago- I went though menopause and I now have such food cravings. As long as I am out of the house and busy I am ok but if I am home look out. That bar of chocolate or the nice fresh loaf of bread- I will attack them. I feel terrible I don't sleep, have headaches and have such congestion when I lie down . It is as though I have an ice berg moving from one side of my head to the other stopping me breathing properly. In the middle of all this I was diagnosed with osteoporosis. I held off on the meds until last year when it was evident that it was really getting worse. The meds give me nasty reflux even though I am careful. This winter with my Mother being so sick meant I spent a lot of time home by the phone so I ate my way through it and am miserable with myself.
After reading all these responses I can see that I really need to change what I am doing and do some research. I did try to reduce my gluten a lot about 8 months ago but saw no difference. Also reduced dairy and no change.

There is also a lot of sound research on cravings stemming from your body either having parasites (we all have some, but I mean when they are out of control) or a deficiency in something else. Craving sweets/carbs is usually not a good sign for health and if you eat them often, eliminating most of them (and alcohol) may make you feel worse for a week or so but ultimately should make you feel much better. Craving red meat or chewing ice may mean you are low on iron or minerals, etc.

Our bodies seem to be smarter than our minds sometimes.

Thanks for the insight texstyle I hadn't thought about that .

Like Lisa, I love reading nutrition as a hobby. I would have studied it, if it didn't involve swallowing so much dogma!

"Good Calories, "Bad Calories" and a few of Taubes' earlier articles were brought up in my methodology class in grad school as a paragon for research methods. Taubes focused on insulin, and probably couldn't devote as much time to leptin, ghrelin, ACP, and other equally important factors in metabolism. He doesn't advocate low carb as a prescription for everybody, but for obese and diabetic populations specifically.

I have done keto/low carb for six months, but am going to wean myself off of it. I seem to be the freak case among LCers who has gained fat--scales are misleading, clothes less so--despite calorie/macro tracking, and working out. Low carb appealed to me because of its metabolic and dental benefits, but I don't derive much pleasure eating meat regularly. Pork and most seafood are off-limits, and I'm not a huge fan of soy or legumes.

For once, I'd like to try intuitive eating, but it's hard when your emotions/feelings are mediated by your intellect. I still look at food and immediately think of macros first. Moreover, I'm not even sure if it's possible to eat intuitively, and to gain strength/lean tissue. We shall see.

I decided to order the book.