Carb Nite Solution—Scam or Legit?

Low carb diets are everywhere! From Atkins to Keto, it seems like the low carb fad is taking over.

After my first, I had tried a great many diets. I couldn't get under 200 lbs no matter how hard I tried, no matter what diet I attempted or how much I worked out. Of course, then I got pregnant with our second and all diet and exercise went out the window. After having my son, I attempted breastfeeding which was not in the cards for me, but without the post complications I had with my first and a blissfully easy labor, I was rearing to go. I tried to get back to the 21 Day Fix containers, not that they worked to begin with, and religiously was plugging food into my fitness pal and figuring out my macros. It was then that I stumbled across Carb Nite Solution.

What is the Carb Nite Solution…

Low carb-high fat (LCHF). Unlike Keto where you eat 20 g of carbs a day, in carb nite solution you consume 30 g of carbs. For 9 days you eat only 30 g of carbs a day and then you get your carb night. You are encouraged to eat high carb meals, but with control. You go back to 30 g of carbs a day, but unlike the first 9 days you only go 7 days max (5 days minimum) before your next carb night. There is no calorie counting and you are provided with your first 9 days meal plan and recipes. There are two plans depending on how many calories you should be eating and then you have the ‘basic’ recipes or the ‘gourmet’ recipes. It is incredibly easy to follow the first 9 days.

Let me just say now, LCHF never appealed to me. I, like so many, thought it was a diet that cut out a lot of healthy things so I could eat bacon and was wrong. I purchased this crazy expensive book (£30) off Amazon and started reading when it arrived. It seemed intriguing enough and not at all what I thought LCHF was. Do not mistake this for Keto though, this is NOT Keto, but a good base for getting into Keto if you wanted to.

I’m really pleased to say that Carb Nite Solution worked. I started about a week before I began PIIT28 at 227 lbs and when I started PIIT28 I was at 215 lbs. A 12 pound weight loss in that small amount of time without working out is awesome. My husband was doing it alongside me and he lost 15 lbs without working out. Carbs retain a lot of water so the majority of what I lost was water weight, not that I minded because the bloat that made me look 6 months pregnant was gone. My engagement ring fit, which I couldn’t get on from about 6 months pregnant. We continued with Carb Nite Solution through November and alongside PIIT28 I lost 9 pounds in November. I was amped, I was loving this and it gave me something to look forward too during the week.

Carb Nite Solution sounds awesome, it sounds like the perfect diet but it’s not all rainbows. Rules are different between men and women. My husband, he could eat cookies—I wasn’t supposed to during carb night, something about hormones. Just because you can eat pizza or a burger and chips doesn’t mean you should eat it all. Home cooking and baking is pushed—you want a cake, better make that from scratch but again, you have to limit yourself since you can’t eat a whole cake. The reason for a lot of this is because of all the crap that is added in baked goods from the store, all the salt on take-away food that will make you bloat.

And the last pitfall of Carb Nite Solution...it’s not sustainable. Even in the book it’s stated that you should go 6 months max, take a months break and then you can go back on for another 6 months. We went off in December because we were heading to the States for the holiday’s and my family are feeders. I mean, my dad has an insane stock of cookies, cakes, chips and so much more. It’s like he thinks the world supply is running out and he has to stock up on it, you know just in case. Coming back home in January we tried to get back on Carb Nite Solution and fell on our faces. Now, this isn’t because of the Carb Nite Solution but when we initially started we were eating relatively healthy, we didn’t have an overload of cakey goods in the house unlike when we were at the States. We went from having that at our fingertips, from eating it for 3 weeks to nothing and it just ended in disaster. I tried adding in low carb meals here and there, to adjust us slowly, removing things from the house, refusing to buy them but we just couldn’t get back on track and it was discouraging and eventually my husband just gave up.

Pros:

• You get to have a carb night a week (within reason)
• The 9 day meal plan to get you started is easy to follow. The recipes are quick and easy and actually delicious
• Quick weight loss at first. Yes, it’s water weight but it’s still awesome to see
• The book breaks it down nicely but not dumbed down to make you feel stupid
• You don’t have to workout, but it helps if you do

Cons:

• Book is expensive
• While you get a carb night, home cooking and baking are pushed so the idea that you can eat Pizza Hut, Chinese, ice cream, cookies or store cakes is wrong
• Not sustainable. This isn’t a lifestyle change like Keto is. 6 months on, 1 off and then you can go back and once you come off you need to keep on eye on the number of carbs you’re eating otherwise it all comes back on
• If you love fruit, this is not for you. Until your carb night fruit is a no go, even some vegetables (apart from potatoes) are a no go

In the time that I did Carb Nite Solution I lost 21 pounds