Linda Gardner's Blog: “I Think It Is a Life Saver”

So far this year more than 35,000 people have signed up for FREE guidance, meal plans, recipes, shopping lists, troubleshooting tips, etc., via the two-week low-carb challenge.

What could happen if you were to take it? Here’s feedback from this week:

Feedback

Hi.

I lost 7 lbs. (3 kg). I have tried low carb before but never low carb, high fat. The induction flu symptoms were pretty non existent compared to the past. I like how I do not have cravings for the junk-food carbs and could easily pass up desserts and rarely hungry.

I liked the recipes and so did my family.

I modified the shopping lists to print for 3 people but I do not think the recipes modified. It would be great to have the recipes modifiable based on how many servings and to be searchable based on carb content (stict, low, liberal, etc).

I appreciate your passion to help others become healthy. Each of us who succeed are a walking testament to others to join.

Thank you,
Patty

Hi Andreas,

Well, after 2 weeks I am seeing blood sugars (I’m a T2 diabetic) 50% lower than when I ate “normal” carbs.

I feel fuller too, so am finding that I sometimes don’t need to eat dinner. I have a tub of chilled meats & olives in the fridge which I can pick at if I don’t want a big meal.

Getting used to so much cheese/cream took a few days but I didn’t suffer any ill effects in that time. I also found that ordering all the foods for the week in one go saved me money on shopping. I will certainly continue with the plan and hope to see some weight loss too.

I have also signed up to membership of the site!

I’d certainly recommend the challenge to anyone.

Best wishes,

Sean

I thought this was a great program.

I liked the daily emails to help keep me on track.

I found the meals to be very good and filling. I no longer snack between meals and sometimes am full enough that I can skip a meal or eat a very light meal.

I have lost 6.5 lbs. (3 kg) since starting the challenge and have come off my BP medication. I monitor my BP daily to ensure I’m within the good range.

I will continue to do the low-carb diet until I reach my goal of shedding 30 more pounds (14 kg). Thanks for all the guidance.

Best Regards,

Mike

I loved the low carb challenge!
I enjoyed watching the videos that broke everything down and made understanding the LCHF lifestyle easier.

Thank you for this resource and for wonderful recipes!

Sincerely,

Tiffany

My husband had I have successfully completed the challenge.
In the two weeks, I’ve lost 4 lbs. (2 kg) and 2 inches (6 cm) off of my waist. These are good results for me.

My husband lost a total of 5 lbs. (2.5 kg) and 1.5 inches off of his waist. In week 2, he had actually really wavered in his results as he had lost a further 2 lbs. (1 kg) but for some reason in the last three days these crept back on. We have no real idea why as we’ve been very strict.

We plan to continue for another two weeks. We tend to do a low-carb diet for a month or so each year and while my results pretty much tend to stay where I am now, my husband tends to do really well.

For us it’s difficult keeping our meals exciting and something to look forward to. Lunches are especially difficult, when there are no leftovers. I feel like eggs are coming out of our ears and just are not appealing anymore.

And, it’s expensive. Fresh produce up here in Northern Alberta can be costly. But, for the month, we’re willing to absorb these costs.

Thank you for the walk-along day-by-day meal plans. Most days I followed them, but a couple of days I substituted with other recipes that you have on your site.

It’s been appreciated.

Karen & Tom

My husband and I love the low carb diet, we call it a healthier way of eating, we love the recipes.
Denise

Hi there,
I have just realised that there is another week attached to this email. Thank you soooo much.

Cheers,
Sinead

I loved the diet challenge.
The food was awesome, plentiful and satisfying and I lost 2.5 pounds (1 kg)!! I can’t tell you how pleased I was to see the scale moving in the right direction.

I’m doing intermittent fasting (fasting every other day) and had no trouble giving myself a break from eating on this regime.

Thank you for making this wonderful resource available.

Carol

I have been on this woe since end of December so was really pleased to do the challenge and lost 2kg (4 kg).
I love cooking and enjoyed making every recipe.

I have now convinced my son to join me as I continue to week three.

I am going to try the 16/8 fast as I really didn’t need 3 meals a day.

This is a great site to recommend to all the doubting people who think this way of eating is a fad.

Pat H

Hi Andreas,
Firstly, I think the site is really impressive. There is so much information with background info, deeper dive into the reasons why the diet works and some fantastic recipes. I especially like the debunking of the myths that are all around us in the media..

Having stumbled over the site, I decided to take the two week challenge and was fairly strict throughout. I managed to lose 6 pounds (3 kg) and 7 cm (3 inches) from my waist. Already need to add holes to belts!

During the first week, I felt like I didn’t need to eat breakfast, so I kind of fell into the 16/8 fasting as well, which helped.

Things that I noticed:

I deliberately didn’t do any weights exercise (just my usual walking) as I did feel a bit weaker during the first week or so. For the next couple of weeks, I’m going to restart on a light bodyweight routine – I think it makes sense to take things slow and steady rather than overdo things and then end up quitting.

The recipes are great, but I still miss the sweetness – may be good to have some recipes for those who would like that as an incentive to keep with the plan? I’ve used this before with ‘cheat days’ when doing weights, and it certainly helps.

I’ve persuaded my family to take it up as well (one has type 1 diabetes, so that is good as well). It will mean that there are no leftovers for the next day though (cooking for 1 with 2 portions and eating one for 2 meals is one thing – cooking for 8 is a different matter!).

Have you thought of getting some kind of integration between the recipes and the various online grocery stores? It would be great to select a set of meals for the week, number of people, then fill in an online shopping cart. A mobile app that then let you tick them off (or not if you’re fasting!) would let you tangibly see the progress. I made a simple spreadsheet to track my weight and waist and the delta each week and plot a chart. Simple too see the progress then.

We are all converts to cauliflower mash! Not sure whether people realise how important it is to have a potato substitute – we used to eat a lot of that.

Thanks again for making this info available. I’m going to keep at it, which is more than I can say for other diets.

Rich

I think it is a life saver.
I lost a few pounds, 8, (4 kg) but much more important is that I am full of energy and love this way of eating.

Thanks very very much.

Sandra

I live in Australia and have been a yo-yo dieter for nearly 40 years. I will never be a size 8, nor will I be a Victoria’s Secret model. But I do long to be able to buy clothes in whatever shop I happen to be in, and not restrict myself to 2 or 3 particular brands.

I have tried many different diets, programs, shakes, 5:2 etc. I have even had a gastric band (which I learned to cheat and put back every gram I ever lost).

My sister who is always on the lookout for healthier ways to eat encouraged me. I was hesitant and sceptical. But I figured what can two weeks hurt? If I get through the first day, then maybe I can do a second.

I took it a day at a time and now, suddenly the two-week challenge is done! Eating Low Carb High Fat must be one of the easiest modes of eating I have ever tried.

I did not starve and at most I felt peckish and when that happened, I ate a cube of cheese or had a glass of milk and sometimes even a cup of coffee did the trick.

Sometimes it was more thirst than hunger, and eating was just a habit. So I added some water to my daily fluid intake just to see if it would do the trick. If it did, great, and if I was still peckish, then food it was.

I have lost 1.4 kg (3 lbs.) in the two weeks which is not mind blowing and yet it is very satisfying to me. I am so happy with the food I am allowed to eat.

My issue has always been that when I am on some type of program, I feel like I am dieting and therefore mentally resistant. I am also not an exerciser. I can do special diets for a while, but I eventually get sick and tired of the restrictions.

What surprises me most is that the food I can eat are things I enjoy, like butter, nuts, meat, cheese, eggs and milk.

There have been some adjustments. For example, a normal meal for my family of 5 always included mashed potatoes or sweet potatoes with gravy. But being allowed to make a turnip gratin or a cauliflower mash that contains cheese or sour cream or cream has made the switch to these low carb foods effortless.

Broccoli with bacon and a cheese sauce is amazing and now that its winter here, homemade chicken soup with vegetables instead of noodles is a hit.

My eyes have been opened to things like stuffed field mushrooms, homemade hummus and pizza using a crust that is made with almond meal, eggs and mozzarella cheese and then smothered in all the meat and vegetables I enjoy.

Or spaghetti with zucchini noodles! I never thought it could all taste so lovely! I have even found a taste for things like spinach and brussels sprouts as long as they are accompanied by some sort of meat.

There are things I miss like chocolate, but with a little research I have discovered nut slices without flour or sugar, sweetened by stevia and a little 90% chocolate to satisfy or sesame seed crackers if I absolutely need something to crunch.

Rediscovering food like cocktail onions with cheese (that old 1960 hors d’oeuvre) has helped alleviate cravings for store bought crackers. This may not be strict low carb, but has helped me stay on track.

Friday night is always ‘goodies night’. End of the week treats that used to be filled with ice cream, chocolate, and chips has been replaced with an antipasto plate with olives, sun dried tomatoes, stuffed baby capsicum and good cheese with some rounds of cucumber. I am exploring kale and zucchini chips but this hasn’t been a very high priority given the other offerings available.

This way of eating does rely on meals being full of whole foods and that does require more effort but somehow it doesn’t seem a chore, at least not at the moment. I am enjoying doing these things and I feel good when I see what’s in my shopping trolley.

I have had to limit what was allowed in the pantry and having 2 young men in the house who are slim, athletic and can eat whatever they want and who enjoy biscuits and chocolate has meant some compromise. So they each are given a little stash of the goodies that they enjoy and they keep them out of the pantry where I am not tempted to snack on that mindless, easy-to-reach-for food.

I have also made full use of the shopping list provided. That was a godsend. It ensured that I had things on hand to use for meal times.

Eating out has been a bit of a challenge and there have been one or two occasions when social pressure made it impossible to stick to it all without appearing churlish or a bit weird. However, even when I did partake I aimed for minimal serves and it was incredibly easy to account for it the next day by skipping meals until I felt hungry again.

That might be one of the most liberating things I have learned. It’s okay to skip meals if I am not feeling hungry and to eat until satisfied and not full, because if I feel peckish later, there are things I can have.

None of these things are new, and yet somehow eating low carb high fat seems to have made this easier. I don’t know why that is, but I am sure there must be a reason.

Having a home full of young adults has made eating leftovers almost impossible, so I do have to pay some attention to how I put the leftovers in the fridge. But perhaps what has made this easiest of all is that I am not cooking different meals for myself and then one for the rest where I would gaze enviously at what they were eating.

This has been a long response and I congratulate you if you read it all!

I am very happy to be eating this way and I am curious to see what happens to my blood pressure and cholesterol at the next doctor’s visit. Thank you for your efforts with the web site, it has been invaluable to me, and I would not have known about this mode of eating had you not made it available.

Thank you again.

Kind regards
Janna

Hello Dr,

I am a diabetic since last 7 years. With this diet was the first time I came to know what I should be eating to reverse my diabetes. In 2 weeks my sugar levels came near to normal after a long time.

I plan to stick to this diet and reverse my diabetes. My goal is to bring my A1c to 5.2, which was 6.7 2 months back.

Thanks a ton and giving me hope.

Regards,
Najam

Thank you

Thank you very much for this challenge. I’ve been doing LCHF for some time but kept falling back, I now have 2 weeks of success and am going to continue. So here goes week number 3…

I was SO impressed with how tasty the recipes were! Many of them have now become family favorites. The ease of having the shopping list and my whole meal plan organized for me was incredible and made this easier to stick to. I also like having my lunches made already! =)
Looking forward to finding more great recipes on the website. Thank you for everything!!

Nicki

Only lost about 2 pounds, but for me that is amazing. I have been the same weight for about 8 years, despite dieting and counting points. The difference here is that I’m not hungry, and the meals are tasty. I can’t fast the 16 hours because I am scared of the migraines getting worse. I have not eaten wheat for about 12 years, since I was diagnosed with wheat allergy (not celiac). I will continue for at least another week to see how things work out.

Mary

I thought the recipes were easy to prepare and were very tasty although I didn’t cook the cauliflower lasagna. I haven’t missed the grain-based carbohydrates at all and I’ve dropped 7 lbs in 2 months and my blood glucose is slowly returning to normal from a 7.5 A1c test. All the recipe options made it easy to follow the restriction to 20g carbs and I think my family would be happy with the menus whether they want to lose a few pounds or control blood sugar or not.

Snack time in the evening was a bit of a struggle, but a few pumpkin seeds and pork rinds instead of chips or popcorn helped me get through the evening traditional snack time. They are crunchy and salty and with cayenne pepper and chili powder added to the bag it only takes a few to be satisfying. 0 carbs in the pork rinds. Sometimes I had frozen berries with stevia sweetened whip cream whenever I missed ice cream.

Thank you for the website, it has been most helpful and I have recommended it to my friends and family who are struggling with their weight and blood sugar.