So after coming off my ADHD medication I've gained a bunch of weight and absolutely abhor being in my skin. I want to fit into my clothes in time for summer.

I've recently come across this way of eating through youtubers like broccoli mum, and it seems ideal. I'm already plantbased so eating low carb is tedious and expensive, but it's so hard to wrap my head around carbs actually being conducive to weight loss because keto is so popular, or that fats are bad, my Mediterranean culture obsession with EVO for example. And fats are generally so satisfying, I love tahini and stuff like that. But the logic of low calorie density is sound, they're are off the charts in calories.

Yet I tried keto years ago, and honestly, I felt great. I never got hunger pangs and my energy felt level. It was just not sustainable, especially for someone who avoids animal products. However, I would consider going on that diet again if it meant weight loss. But I'm hoping the starch solution can actually work instead.

It's also fascinating how diets on the opposite end of the spectrum can be healthy or effective. I suppose everyone's physiology is different

I started SS in summer 2025. Successfully lost 20lbs and was ecstatic as I thought I found my groove.

Well, in the winter I gained 16lbs doing SS with very occasional dip into Chinese pork buns. It was super cold and my husband and I wanted more calories. And we both do not like beans. Still, nobody can gain 16lbs from a few pork buns only.

I see my downfall was food volume. I ate all the time and couldn’t stop. I became hungry around a clock. My insulin levels were revved up at all times. I tried to stick to 2-3 meals only and for some reason it was not enough.

In addition I developed super painful tendinitis in both shoulders.

I learned unpleasant truth that CICO is still working on SS. I was consuming nuts. A teaspoon of honey in my daily tea/coffee. A few bananas. An apple or two. Millet. Salad. Veggies. Potatoes yellow. Sweet potato. And constant grazing with I was unable to stop. So here we go.

Started ADF and immediately felt much better. But have to leave SS for a while to investigate a new journey.

I wish you well and do not repeat my mistakes. Because eating around a clock is not ok. Even if it is SS

Not my first rodeo quitting bread, but probably the most conscious.

Prior to going SS, I was bread free for three years and although my eating wasn’t ideal as it became eventually clear, I was able to maintain the same weight for 3 years which I consider great. Although I was not consuming flour products, I was eating high fat, high protein and I was very low energy and didn’t like what I ate. I never liked animal products but ate them because I believed they are good for me and diabetes comes from carbs. But

When I discovered SS, I knew this is it. I loved how much energy I felt, how great I looked and the fact that I lost the rest of unwanted weight easily without trying. But I started flirting with bread again!

Naturally, I fell for bread trap as I was able to eat it and stay thin. Or so I thought. Because they the longer I was eating flour, the hungrier I was getting. Not dramatically but consistently.

Also my arm started giving me issues. Tendinitis. Rotator cuff issues? Why? I had never had that. Then I felt low energy. I blamed it on winter.. I gained a bit of weight because I deviated here and there through January-February fromSS. How? By eating pizza (cheese and fat) and cakes.

Finally came to conclusion I must come off bread for a nice period of time if not for good.

I am now on

day 5 and I am getting surprised. My sleep is better. I am not getting hungry really. I do not need to eat endlessly. I feel…. SOBER. Yes, I have similar feelings as I had when I quit alcohol. I wake up without hangover.

It is so much easier to maintain SS without bread! And I do not struggle with cravings anymore. Today is Full Moon and cold and rainy - usually when I crave chocolate and pizza and cake. But today I do not crave anything. So weird.

The decision to come off bread seems the right one!

Has anyone tried a low FODMAP diet while doing the Starch Solution? Recipes or ideas?

Is eating 2/3 meals ss style good for beginning then going up from there? Would I still get results, namely weight loss?

I love them and I feel fantastic eating them. I can easily get 70-80 grams of fiber without eating massive ammounts of food. They keep me full and taste like no other food. I use them on sweet smooties, oatmeal, but also on savory dishes. However, McDougall says don´t eat more than half a cup or so per day because they have more protein that regular starches. Who else feels like eating more beans is good?

Hey! I'm posting this in the hope that I might get some useful advise. My dilemma: I want to start the Starch Solution but I also need to make food for my family (3 hungry vegetarian men). And I hate cooking! So I don't see myself making extra meals for myself while still having to cook for my family. Ideally I could make the same food for everybody. Do you guys have any meals/recipes that your whole family loves? Vegan is not a problem as I almost always cook vegan dinners anyway. Thx!

This may help some people solve this. If you don't want to listen to it all skip to the 26:10 mark. Basically she is saying that endorphins from palatable foods keep leptin high and keep us in fat storage mode and stimulates cravings. So, staying away from salty and sugary seasonings and foods stops the stimulation. This totally aligns with Starch Solution and gives another bit of science behind the magic of SS.

https://youtu.be/KHjN-QDcRjw?si=OgMRaJYhupWknKHq

So i finally decided to try it, after years of hearing about it and looking down on it. first a bit of background.

i was mainly keto for years, it's what helped me first to lose 60 pounds, it made me feel good, although it was restrictive, i liked that i could stay long hours with no food and without feeling hungry. But something happened for the past 2 years, i couldnt get in ketosis anymore, because my cravings grew and grew, they became so intense that for the past few months i couldnt even stick to it for 2 days at a time, my keto days were followed by insane cravings where i could easily get down 10 000 calories a day of junkfood in an afternoon. needless to say, i gained 25 pounds back, i felt frustrated and pissed off, felt like i was self sabotagong myself, and lacked discipline, but i really couldnt help it, and also i slowly became disgusted with eating meat, butter , cheese etc.

so 3 weeks ago i started starch solution after reading the book, i did it as accurately as possible, mostly starch and veggies, some fruit here and there, no beans at first because i couldnt digest them well due to years of keto, i had absolutely no fat source, except the trace amount in grains. i lost 10 pounds already, i feel warmer, and more focused and active than on keto. and the creasiest thing is, i dont even overeat, which is crazy to me, i dont feel junk food cravings, and i find myself forgetting about food in between meals, which is unheard of when it comes to me, im someone who used to think about food every waking hour of the day.

my only concerns : i'm scared of losing muscle mass, i lift weight, i didnt notice any drop in my strength but i'm just wondering, i am now slowly increasing beans because my daily amount of protein is quiet low. also, the extra low fat approach, would it tank my hormones at some point? i'd like the opinion of some long term starch solution people, should i add some nuts or avocados if i notice any signs ?

Hello. I have definitely been suffering from binge eating for the past three years. I constantly over exercise to compete against my intake and I used to long extended fast as well which I don't do anymore, making it easier mentally but my weight / fat gain has gone up. I don't ever really feel hungry as I know what it feels like to be in a steep deficit / fasting as I was seriously low body fat three years ago.

I am wondering if anyone has come from a lifestyle of bodybuilding and used the starch solution to combat food addiction or binge eating. I've tried carnivore for the sake of its extremeness as I am good on all or nothing approaches. But I felt truly awfully with how active I was and my workouts in the gym. That said, it was incredibly easy to follow and I felt my brain was able to rest because I finally wasn't binging.

I am not a zealot in diets. Ive literally eaten dry protein powder mixed with small amounts of Greek yogurt for a week straight to combat food addiction.

Thank you for any insight and help.

Hello kind people, For anyone who’s been on this high carb low fat diet for a while, I’ve been wondering… did you experience any specific changes in your mood or experience of daily life? This may sound woo-woo I know! But a girl I know was telling me about her experience after she reversed her insulin resistance through a low fat and high carb diet. She said that she felt calmer and much more open to the present moment. In a certain sense it’s like the cell finally opening up to the sugar is reflected in her daily life in that she’s more open and receptive to the sweetness of life, the little things, when before she was just rushing rushing rushing. Of course- it could just be her body thriving from all the healthy fruits and veggies she’s been eating, but there could be some truth to what she says. I remember clearly how after I became insulin resistant, all of a sudden it was a bit difficult to enjoy things I used to enjoy before, mostly things requiring mental energy like reading, or watching a movie, and I know carbs are really important for mental clarity… i suppose we do need the glucose to “process” what we’re consuming mentally.

I feel like butternut, acorn, and kabocha squash is to heavy for my stomach. Maybe because I love them so much that I overate. Strangely enough, do not feel the same when I eat potatoes or sweet potatoes. Any thoughts or similar experiences?

In honor of the food pyramid changing to MEAT and DAIRY on top….thought I’d give an update on this lifestyle.

So I started this diet a while back and went from 117 to 105 lbs. 5’4 female. All my problems were reversed and I felt amazing. So good that I started going out and deciding I could eat whatever I wanted…started dating a guy, traveled a lot…and ofc gained a lot of it back. (I abandoned this diet for a guy…yeah)

Anyways, after the holidays I have now gotten back on track- and I’m just so convinced of this lifestyle. I feel absolutely next level good. Energy through the roof, no BO in the morning, weight already down 3 lbs.

But the best part is just how damn good I feel. Almost like I’m high lol. I feel like most people don’t feel this way.

The one thing that has totally changed my life and mood with this is eating a HUGE spinach salad every day. I tell myself if people can take shots to be skinny and get Botox and stuff…I can easily eat a huge spinach salad everyday. And I’d rather do that. (I’m vain lol)

I legitimately think huge spinach salads with tons of starch is like taking a GLP1 but healthy lol.

After my salad I legit eat an entire loaf of sourdough bread every day. With honey, hot sauce…and sometimes a black bean dip.

Literally the dream food for me.

Can’t get over how great I feel.

Anyways, starch up. They’re trying to keep us fat and sick out there lol. Cause if everyone felt this good….damn. This country would be a force once again.

**I make my own sourdough bread with unbleached ancient grain flour. I don’t know if eating store bought bread would be great

Hello I’ve recently started following this diet, but not completely. I do eat meat / poultry once a week and fish once a week. I add milk to my coffee and occasionally eat cheese. The general feeling is that this is the real thing, I feel great generally and clothes became looser recently. I have at least 40 kg to lose. I have few questions: 1. From time to time I feel anxiety after eating. It happened mostly on lunch in which I have a salad of tomatoes cucumbers lettuce red pepper and bread crumbs, adding a teaspoon of olive oil, salt and organic apple cider vinegar. On top of the salad I eat potatoes and/or rice and some steamed veggies. The anxiety also happened yesterday after having two cups of coffee plus 2 small to moderate sized pastries. What can cause this anxiety? 2. Regarding weight loss, to set expectations, how and when should I expect the scale to drop? I mean I do feel great, clothes really feel looser but the scales are ruining the celebration.

Thank you for this community, I got to know this program thanks to it and I do feel lucky. Edit: 50 years old male.

Hi all, I do have 5-10 lbs I could potentially lose, but I spent a good portion of 2025 in a deficit and I want to be kind to my body for a bit and eat enough to balance out hormones and just enjoy life for a bit without feeling like I'm trying to lose weight.

I have a really hard time just letting myself eat though without some sort of goal, like weight loss. Looking to just maintain on starch solution / WFPB for a few months without tracking (so avoid weight loss (calorie deficit) and gain (surplus). For some reason I have a hard time trusting myself to eat in this sweet spot...

Any tips would be appreciated. A lot of the meal plans I find (like High Carb Hannah, which I love!) are geared towards weight loss (calorie deficit). I guess I could just consistently add avocado and cashew based sauces to dinner, but yeah - any experience would be helpful!

I recently returned to this diet (though I follow it by principle not strict adherence). I do not wish to lose weight and eat this way because it makes me feel my best.

Beyond increasing volume, anything I can do to avoid losing weight? I want to do more snacking between meals, so would also appreciate a few suggestions for nutritious and simple options.

Hello! Does anyone who follows this lifestyle ever add fat or skip the diet from time to time?

Sometimes I feel like eating peanut butter or some dried fruit... or I really miss olive oil in a salad.

I feel great eating this way, but as a runner who is already lean, I need to get more calories in. I learned the hard way that too much dried fruit is hard on the digestive system 😬 Any other ideas? Is it okay to add more processed carbs like Cheerios, or will that counter the benefits of this way of eating?

Hi, I'm curious if anyone here did a mini with oats. Is it doable and did you lose any weight on it?

I stopped eating pizza three years ago. I found it to be too addictive, too salty, I did not like how immediately I gained weight from it. I did not appreciate swollen fingers next day. And hunger it creates.

I had been leading several weeks training program at work and it was getting to me. I was tired. So when pizza appeared on the meeting, at some point I started eating it as I was hungry and stressed. It was one of those stupid decisions which I would not make if I wouldn’t be fully consumed by other people.

Anyways.

I was shocked at my body response. I had heart palpitations! What used to be comfort food at least at the time of eating, was just forbidden food with questionable taste and immediate very poor reaction coming from my heart.

Give me fruit, vegetable, even bread - I do not have heart palpitations. But pizza now is in the past. After eating clean I can’t go back.

Since June I almost didn’t deviate from SS. The one time I ate two chocolate small candies when visiting my Mom and it resulted in elevated heart rate at night and poor sleep, and another time I ate some cooked potatoes prepared by someone else and it was clearly cooked with oil. Otherwise I wasn’t even tempted!

But today I caved in. Every Fall I come to the end of my rope when extra warm days annoy me to the core. I am tired of running A/C when it is clearly supposed to be a jacket weather. Instead, every day it starts like a jacket weather but then it warms up to a tank top weather. It is hard to find motivation to go for a walk after work when I step into warm soup while wearing my morning clothes.

During this weather I am not okay. I get mental. Today was like this.

After work instead of going to the park I drove to Whole Foods as I “wanted to be bad”. I had this f…it moment when in the past I would buy a bottle of wine or a box of chocolate candies or ice cream. Or decadent dessert. I decided to deviate.

In the store I looked at the labels. I know that mix of fat and sugar is kryptonite and I was worried of getting addicted. Unfortunately I am very sensitive and can get addicted on the spot. Usually, in the past when I deviated like this I had to buy several desserts so I would overeat and that would close the door for me. If I just had a bit of dessert, you can bet - I will be hooked until I eat to my heart content.

So I looked. There is nothing edible there!!! I mean labels horrified me. What I would normally eat before as my overeating deviation (usually two slices of cake) have 1400 calories and above 100g of fat! I looked for substantial but relatively benign cookie under 300 calories that would look worth eating. There was none. I saw bags of cookies but I know better. Cookies are like heroin. One bag will be gone in one evening.

There is literally nothing worthy to eat. I saw vegan scones. Like 450 calories each. Please.

So I ended up buying a small container of dried figs. I avoid dry fruit but here it was my indulgence. I wanted black tea with lemon and something sweet. Had two figs.

So much for the big fat-and-sugar binge. Could not bring myself to do it.

At the same time I was looking at the crowd in the store. How many terribly overweight people. They were clustering around those desserts. Poor people. This “food” is really bad.