I've been on low carb for 6 months now and have lost 50 pounds.
My goal is to lose another 50 pounds and get back to the weight I was when I quit smoking 18 years ago.
My husband lost 65 pounds over a year, and has kept it off for two years now - and he does occasionally enjoy pizza, pasta, etc. He’s very ‘gourmet’ about it, and always trying recipes. But he’s the type who can eat meat three times a day.
It’s harder for me, because I’m not a big meat eater, and can’t sit down to ‘slab-O-meat’; so I eat things like tuna salad, chef salad, lots of deviled eggs, and all-meat chili from ground beef.
I can lose weight on any diet, but low-carb is definitely the least painful way; there’s always something you can snack on that won’t upset the diet, and after the first day or two most folks don’t even get hungry.
The only problem is really the same problem with a very low-fat diet: you have to have so much food prepared, to get enough calories per day. (When I was on low-fat, I used to leave the house with a big basket in the morning, saying, “Well, my lunch and I are going to work”). So, I suggest anyone trying this to have a lot of stuff on hand - do freezer-cooking for a week ahead, etc. - before you start the diet. Otherwise, the boredom of eating one or two things constantly, or the aggravation of so much cooking, will tempt you to quit.
There’s a ‘roll’ recipe that we’ve used after the initial phase of the diet. It comes out with a texture like a Yorkshire Pudding, or a popover, or a big gougere; and you can make them any size, including for hamburger rolls (just remember to keep them frozen until you want one):
http://findingradiance.com/2011/02/24/magic-rolls-eades-low-carb-comfort-foods/
-JT