Living Low Carb: Controlled-Carbohydrate Eating for Long-Term Weight Loss

Very pleased with this book overall. As some have noted, the entire middle section is taken up with comparisons of the various low carb diets out there. That was OK but I must admit I did not read all of them.The best features of this book are that the information is presented in a very readable and entertaining way, and that the author does not advocate for any specific form of low-carb diet. There are occasional plugs for his own stuff, but not tons. The parts which discuss why low carb works, and Chapter 12 which explains how to do low carb without following somebody's "program" were the best for us. My husband who would never have dragged his way through some of the drier low-carb books out there, read and enjoyed the relevant bits of this book.After about three weeks, we have both lost several pounds. I wasn't even intending to lose any, started at 128 lbs! We are eating tasty food, not counting calories, never hungry and eating more veggies than ever. Plus no midday shakiness from blood sugar drops. Really, what's not to like about an eating plan that tells you to eat lots of avocados, olive oil, colorful veggies, nuts, tasty meat and fish, not to fear butter, etc? Nom nom nom.For those wondering, this is not a recipe book...no recipes to be seen. It is a why and how book. I did buy a recipe book but really it comes down to: make meat or fish main dish, don't serve anything high-carb with it, make a colorful plate, cook with some healthy oils/fats. So if you already know how to cook, you may be better off just surfing the internet for low-carb recipes.

There is a reason Dr. Jonny Bowden is one my favorite health authors and this book just reaffirms it. He explains complex health and nutrition topics in layman's terms so that when you're done reading you can't help but say to yourself "Ahhh! Now I get it! That makes perfect sense!". So what drew me to this book in the first place?I've been fat almost my entire adult life and six years ago I was diagnosed as insulin resistant and two years after that I had full blown Type II diabetes. I've never really managed to get my blood sugars under control and now I know why. I am, and always have been a carb addict. Bread, crackers, chips and pasta had always been the mainstay of my daily food intake and that's why I'm fat and have diabetes. Not much of a refined sugar lover but when you put starchy carbs in your body there's really no difference.Six months ago I joined WeightWatchers and committed to eating clean, whole foods and sticking with a low-fat, lean protein, high fiber lifestyle. Well guess what, I've done exactly what I committed to and 6 months later I have lost only 6 pounds from where I started. That's a hard reality to accept not to mention the levels of frustration I have lived with over those last 6 months.About 5 years ago, I went on a low-carb plan and I took it to the extreme of no-carbs and it worked. I lost a lot of weight in a short amount of time but about 3 months into my no-carb plan I developed a kidney issue. After multiple tests and multiple doctors no one had an answer for my kidney problem so ultimately I was told that the culprit was the fact that I was not eating carbs and that I needed to add them back in. So I did and I gained back everything I had lost and then some and was then diagnosed with full Type II diabetes. But when doctors are telling you that low/no-carb will basically be the death of you then you tend to listen. So I've never done low-carb since and I'm still fat and still unhealthy.So after 6 months on WeightWatchers with less than stellar results I recently purchased this book and decided to give low-carb a second look. I started reading it and couldn't put it down until I was through it. I had one of the biggest "light-bulb" moments that I've had in a long time. What I learned in this book is that carbs are what keep me fat and make it near impossible to lose the weight. My own experience with a no-carb plan affirms exactly what Dr. Bowden describes in this book regarding carb intake. No wonder low fat, lean protein and high fiber is not working for me!! I'm still eating far too many carbs and it makes no difference that my carbs are from high fiber grains, fruits and vegetables. The problem is I'm still eating too many of them.So with my new found understanding of what it means to live low-carb, that's exactly what I'm doing and in three days since limiting my carbs I've lost 2 pounds. That is nearly half what I've lost in six months of low-fat, lean protein, high fiber eating. Now one could argue that's just extra water, maybe it is but I already have more energy and feel less sluggish and my overall sense of well-being is on the rise and food tastes delicious again!! Also, my blood sugars have been very steady and within a healthy range in just this short amount of time and yes I take medication for my diabetes but my blood sugars are usually all over the place. I can't find anything wrong with any of that can you?What I learned through reading this book is that carbs aren't bad at all. They're actually good if you're selective in how you get them into your body but the key is to limit them.Like Dr. Bowden says many times in this book, he is not advocating a low-carb lifestyle for everyone but clearly there are people such as myself that can benefit from the new science and studies of the impact of carbs on our health and that for some people carbs (and insulin/hormone levels) really are the culprit when it comes to weight gain and the inability to lose that weight.If you have been struggling with losing weight and following the normal conventions of weight loss gurus, then you owe it to yourself to at least read the information in this book and then make an educated decision whether or not a low-carb lifestyle is for you. It is not for those people who just cannot imagine their life without large amounts of carbs in their daily eating but it is worth a look for those that have no problem with change if it means a lean, healthier future.I think this is an excellent book and possibly a life changing one for some. Even if you don't have a weight problem or diabetes this is fascinating (and understandable) information on how carbs affect our bodies and for some, our overall health.

After reading and studying Jonny Bowden's other book, "Living the Low Carb Life", I knew I had to purchase this latest edition. It did not disappoint. He is amazing in how well he explains what carbohydrates do to the body. As a lay person, he enabled me to fully understand how much damage is done to the human body when you eat carbohydrates and especially when you eat them in large quantities as everyone in this country does. High Fructose corn syrup is in every processed food we eat today. We wonder why there is an obesity epidemic? We wonder why there is nearly an epidemic of diabetes? Jonny has the answers to these questions and more. He explains how cholesterol is made, what type of cholesterol is really bad for us, and why fat does not create fat nor does it create cholesterol. Carbohydrates create cholesterol. I would high recommend this book to anyone who is serious about their health, about controlling their weight and especially for anyone with diabetes.My husband suffered with type 2 diabetes for over 20 years before I picked up Dr. Richard Bernstein's book, "Diabetes Solution" that book lead me to research and study diabetes. It lead me to the first edition of Jonny's low carb book. My husband was on 43 units of insulin a night, had severe peripheral neuropathy in both his feet. The pain was so bad he could not walk 75 feet without sitting down to rest. He was on Neurotin, a powerful medication to relieve the neuropathy pain. He was morbidly obese (280 pounds at 5'10"), irritable and always tired. He fell asleep at the wheel while driving on the Interstate and hit the concrete wall. Thankfully, he nor anyone else was injured.After reading Dr. Richard Bernstein's book, "Diabetes Solution", Gary Taubes books, "Good Calories, Bad Calories" and "Why We Get Fat and What To Do About It" as well as Jonny Bowden's book, "Living the Low Carb Life", in 2003, I put together a program that my husband could live with. Within a week of starting the program, I could see the change in him. Within 3 months he was completely off of insulin, within 9 months he lost 80 pounds (since he has lost another 20 pounds making it a total weight loss of 100 pounds). The neuropathy pain is gone! Gone! He has been off the Neurotin pain medication since 2005. He has been off of the diuretic medication since 2006 he was on that medication for nearly 30 year). The psoriasis that made his elbows more like sandpaper than elbows is also totally gone. His elbows are like a baby's soft cheek now. It is amazing what carbohydrates can do to a body. Jonny explains that so very well in his book. We have experienced it in our own lives.We now teach others How We Beat Diabetes through presentations and our recently released DVD. You can see the awesome changes we made in our lives by going to our web site [...]. These changes happened with the help of all the authors listed above. Jonny Bowden's newest book, "Living Low Carb" is an excellent book, a great reference tool, a way to understand why low carb living is such a healthy way of living.Buy this book today. You will be very happy you did!

Johnny is an incredible writer. He has a wonderful flow and you can’t get bored.My advice is :A) when it comes to read the different diets , take it piece by piece and slow down to digest what each diet offersB) dive into the references and the sources. He knows what he is talking about and the book is not biased. It’s based in evidence.

Lost 4 stone and got in shape a couple of years ago. Weight loss is largely about diet and this book will teach you the principles. I don't care for the second half of the book particularly which runs through all the different types of diets that are out there. The summary at the end (i.e. the basic principles of this "way of life" as opposed to dieting) is brilliant.Can't recommend this book highly enough for us "normal people" who want to understand things better but aren't clever enough to be qualified in it!

I bought this book after listening to the audio book, which was fantastic. Its full of well researched information delivered in an accessable way. I wanted the actual book as reference to remind myself what I need to do to maintain a healthy eating pattern.

This is an interesting, fairly objective book about the ins and outs, pros and cons, and what the body does during a low Carb diet. The author reviews all the low carb diets around currently and explains the difference between them all and argues well about the science of a low carb diet. The author however is also promoting his low carb diet too, not so objectively. The book sellars were fast and reliable.

This book explains how living the low carb way can be good for you. I particularly liked the reviews on the various low carb diets such as Atkins, Paleo etc and find them helpful. I would recommend this book to anyone you would like to undertand about living the low carb way