Kevin Caruso

[Luv'inLife]

If you are gaining it back its because you arent on the maintenance diet. We have to remember why these people ended up at his office in the first place and that's because of their repeated bad habits...

exactly, there is no miracle cure for obesity, even gastric bypass patients have a diet to follow or they will re-gain the weight.

[MagicFingers]

gastric bypass is a surgery...Dr Caruso's plan is non invasive
I know of 2 people personally that had that surgery and were so sick after and weak and within 2 years started to gain weight until they went back on their plan of diet and exercise given to them by the dietician before surgery, nothing in life is guarantee'd unless you are willing to work at it.

Nothing in life is guaranteed except death and taxes. The being sick and weak after surgery is not normal and not common, again it has more to do with the surgeon and what he has done and what you are eating that will make you sick and weak. After surgery and after losing the weight is it possible to gain the weight back, of course, you might not sit and eat a huge plate of pasta but if you graze all day you will consume the same amount of calories as someone who ate the huge plate of pasta. Although your body can not absorb all those calories depending on the type of surgery you had it is still possible to slowly gain some of the weight back. But the point being with the surgery or I shoudl say with the type of surgery RNY to be specific there is a physical change in your body that provides a behaviour modification where you will not eat high sugars/fatty foods without being violently sick, in most cases the person will stay away from those food choices. Carusos diet has no such thing so where there pros for the surgery there are no such pros for the caruso diet. On that diet you either choose to do it or you don't, after the surgery you basically have no choice without feeling like you want to die.

[The 6th Member Of AC/DC]

Its not a magic potion it's a framework for success. If you don't have the will power to follow it you will fail and if you fail you can't blame it on the diet if you don't follow it. Common sense logic prevails here, If you are prescribed drugs to assist with a certain ailment lets say and you don't take them you can't exactly blame it on the drugs lol

[MagicFingers]

Your right in the fact that there is nothing that is a magic potion. Everything is just a framework for success. However it isn't always about will power. Weight loss is not all common sense otherwise it would be much easier to loose the weight than it is. There is a science behind it and there is not one weight loss method out there that works for everyone. That is the point to all this. Some diets work for some and not others, where other diets work for some and not others as well. The point I am making is that "I" think and truley believe that overall Dr Caruso's diet is not a good one, and that there are other weight loss alternatives that are much better than this option.

[The 6th Member Of AC/DC]

The diet he presents may not work for everyone, just like certain meds don't work for certain people's ailments. As for it not being good well I beg to differ. The Atkins diet is far worse, so to speak.........

[A*lil*Loopy]

I tried going to Caruso. His system couldn't work for me. I was unable to stop eating by 6pm because of my work schedule and he found that unacceptable.
I had to go off of my medication (prednisone) for me to lose any weight. I got severe bruising from the B12 injections (because of my medication possibly?).
The diet wasn't too bad except for it seemed that it was similar to the Canada Food guide but drastically reduced. My memory screams of only lettuce greens that I got incredibly tired of. Every time I went in I had to buy more "vitamins" from them and I only ever saw Kevin Caruso once! I saw him the first visit where he talked with me but not about my medical condition/medications that may impede any other treatments. All visits afterwards were with a woman who did the injections.

I'm not going to slam his program but I will say that I felt as though I was only donating and he couldn't comprehend someone who had to alter their eating schedule to fit their work schedule. If I worked nights I wouldn't have been allowed to eat at all.

Now let me state that I didn't lose more than 20 lbs. I didn't feel at all like there was any support and I felt like they thought I was a binge eater or someone who ate an enormous amount which was not the case.

Would I go back...........not a chance. Would I recommend going to an enjoyable exercise place, hell yes. Go where there is support and you look forward to going, having support and positive feedback is an amazing tool.

[MagicFingers]

Loopy you are sooooo very correct. Hope you find a place if you haven't already. Weight loss is a difficult thing for anyone and no matter how much or how little you have to lose pat yourself on the back each pound you lose. Each pound is one more pound closer to freedom. With my prgnancy and the year following I gained 30 pounds, some poor food choices but some of it is a medical condition. I am currently trying to get pregnant again and this will be our last baby, after that back on the wagon to get back to my goal weight. I did it once I will get there again, only this time I am much closer to it already. 5 years ago I lost nearly 200 pounds I gained 30 of it back that isn't bad, kept 170lbs off since 2006. The past two months I must have lost about 10 pounds, since doing daycare and not having time to eat and staying busy all day my pants fall off so I must have lost some and my jeans come off without undoing them YEAH ME.

[lynys]

The diet he presents may not work for everyone, just like certain meds don't work for certain people's ailments. As for it not being good well I beg to differ. The Atkins diet is far worse, so to speak.........

Why?

Atkins has been proven to lower blood pressure and cholesterol. It completely removes refined carbohydrates and sugars from your diet, and pushes fresh fruits and vegetables onto the person following it.

I very highly recommend it. Never felt better in fact. If not for my pregnancy, and the need for those extra carbohydrates for my baby's sake, I would still be following the maintenance portion.

[MagicFingers]

I personally don't believe in the Atkins diet in the strict sense but I do know that it has worked for some and thats great. I do believe in removing refined sugars and believe that our bodies do need an amount of carbs to be able to function properly, but do believe that it is great when you can remove the unhealthy carbs from your diet. Carbs in the form of fruits and veggies I believe is good.

[lynys]

And that is exactly what Atkin's is. It doesn't completely remove carbs. They are abundant in fruits and veggies. It does remove sugary foods, starchy foods and carbs like white flour.

[MagicFingers]

Lynys....I know someone who followed a strict atkins diet made them severely sick and by strict I mean didn't eat anything but strawberries for fruit because that is virtually the only fruit they could eat, the others had too much sugar in them, the veggies, would be lettuce, celery and broccoli apparently the others had sugar in it and they ate all MEAT and cheese. That to me is an extreme Atkins diet and not healthy. but agree with what you said, I have in the past remvoed all refined sugars, I did feel better but I didn't lose the weight like others said I would. And no I didn't eat more of anything else. This is still after I had my gastric bypass and lost 170 pounds and I was trying to kick start my body into losing again, it didn't really work for me but then again I couldn't and stil can't eat high sugary foods, breads pastas and rice I don't tolerate well either.

[lynys]

Then, they didn't follow Atkin's correctly. Trust me. You can eat more than strawberries, lettuce, broccoli, etc.

Add to that the fact that you can eat meats, eggs, cheese, dressings, nuts, etc. The only things that are cut out are flours (refined wheat flour) and sugars.

I followed Atkins for a while, and only stopped because the midwife told me I needed to make sure my baby receives enough carbohydrates for fetal brain development. Once she is born, I will be resuming immediately. I found it to actually give me more energy, made me feel much better, and less ill.

[The 6th Member Of AC/DC]

Why?

Atkins has been proven to lower blood pressure and cholesterol. It completely removes refined carbohydrates and sugars from your diet, and pushes fresh fruits and vegetables onto the person following it.

I very highly recommend it. Never felt better in fact. If not for my pregnancy, and the need for those extra carbohydrates for my baby's sake, I would still be following the maintenance portion.

I didnt say it doesnt work but it starves the body of the carbs it really wants. Most of the time you crave carbs to the point where it drives you crazy. As for the maintenance part of Atkins its not so extreme as like in the beginning where it is recommended you stay away from all fruit. At least the diet Caruso presents has a little bit of carbs to keep you from going crazy. I am sure that most doctors would recommend a diet that follows closer to the Canada Food guide or whatever its called than denying the body carbs. I could be wrong but who knows lol

[lynys]

LOL! You are still getting carbs and it really doesn't make you insane. Basically the idea is to convert your body from burning carbs, into burning fat. And, this happens very quickly.

The most "sickness" one would feel is a slight headache about two days in because the body is changing it's way of thinking. After that, you feel absolutely amazing.

The only reason they have you cut out fruits in the beginning is because people are addicted to carbohydrates and sugars. Plain and simple. In order to fend off any addiction, you need to cut out sugar. So, cutting out natural sugars will make sure you do not relapse. They are re-added and you can eat fruits other than strawberries. Blueberries, raspberries, cantaloupe, honeydew are also good fruits to include. Things like apples or bananas you should add during maintenance because they are much higher in carbohydrates and will eat up most of your carb total for the day.

For me, Atkins was less about weight loss ands more about eating less crap. It doesn't mean you can never eat a sandwich again, or a plate of pasta, or chocolate. I did. It was about learning to eat more "natural" foods and less processed junk. There's nothing better than enjoying a delicious grilled burger smothered in cheese, sans bun. Add a nice salad to the side, and you've got an awesome meal!

[The 6th Member Of AC/DC]

LOL! You are still getting carbs and it really doesn't make you insane. Basically the idea is to convert your body from burning carbs, into burning fat. And, this happens very quickly.

The most "sickness" one would feel is a slight headache about two days in because the body is changing it's way of thinking. After that, you feel absolutely amazing.

The only reason they have you cut out fruits in the beginning is because people are addicted to carbohydrates and sugars. Plain and simple. In order to fend off any addiction, you need to cut out sugar. So, cutting out natural sugars will make sure you do not relapse. They are re-added and you can eat fruits other than strawberries. Blueberries, raspberries, cantaloupe, honeydew are also good fruits to include. Things like apples or bananas you should add during maintenance because they are much higher in carbohydrates and will eat up most of your carb total for the day.

For me, Atkins was less about weight loss ands more about eating less crap. It doesn't mean you can never eat a sandwich again, or a plate of pasta, or chocolate. I did. It was about learning to eat more "natural" foods and less processed junk. There's nothing better than enjoying a delicious grilled burger smothered in cheese, sans bun. Add a nice salad to the side, and you've got an awesome meal!

I am already insane enough so I don't need carb withdrawal insanity. Besides, my doctor told me specifically to stay away from the Atkins diet and focus on the one that I eventually went on.....