NEWBY ... Cutting carbs.... Low daily calorie intake .... Thoughts

ailsadell

Hello. I am very new to this dieting thing and have tried reading loads about the low carb diets but seem to always get a lot of conflicting info.

A little about me ... I have been suffering from ME/CFS for 9 years and although I am not 100% like I used to be I do genuinely feel great. The only problems are I can only manage my symptoms by being far less active than I used to be... Here is where my problems started. I love my chocolate and pastries and cakes, and as my diet probably got worse rather than better, my weight increased considerably.

So, I finally got my head in the right place and after reading the book EAT, NOURISH, GLOW, I decided on the low carb way. I always thought by eating bran flakes for breakfast, low fat products for meals etc was good.... It appears I was very wrong!

I started this 2 weeks ago, and basically I have just cut out bread, potatoes, rice, pasta, cereals and of course all naughties, chocolate, sweet, crisps, cakes etc. Now I'm eating fresh meat (I'm mainly a chicken eater), tuna, fresh veg, eggs, cheese, nuts, a little fruit, and the only "produced" food I'm really eating, and very much enjoying is Alpro yogurt with almonds.

I am eating far more than I ever have done and feel very full after every meal. My protein portions I would say as the standard size, ie tin tuna, or 1 chicken breast so don't think I'm over doing it. I have 2 eggs cooked anyway for breakfast, sometimes alone, or sometimes with cheese, olives, veg depending on mood.

Only problem is my daily intake is around 800-900 average most days (Not included fats used to cook with). .... My carb intake is anywhere between 20-50g a day....

I'm 5'4' age 44 and currently 140lbs .... I started at 148lb 2 weeks ago...

I'm planning to do this for another 2 weeks then re-introduce more carbs in way of sweet potatoes and oats .... Do you consider this safe? I don't really want to add more fats other than those I use to cook with (olive oil, butter) as I don't like the tastes. I drink both tea and coffee black.

Twibbly

If you are feeling better on the restricted diet, make sure you introduce one thing at a time. You may have food sensitivities that contribute to issues as well (oats are one of mine).

Also, is 900 calories enough for you? I know you're shorter & smaller than I am, but that still seems really low. How much fat are you adding in?

kirkor

Calories seem too low.

marciabwls

I agree to low on calories I started this week counting carbs..doing around 1350-1400 calories... I started tuesday at 137.6 and this morning at 135.2.. my main reason was to get away from sweets..I was eating way to many!!!!..

Dragonwolf

Try getting more fats in in the form of other meats. Do you like salmon? That's a good fish to use, especially if you can get wild caught. Beef is also a good one, but even just swapping out the chicken breasts for cuts with the skin and/or dark meat would be an improvement and will add some good fats in.

If you've been low fat for a long time, it's going to take some time to get used to the richness of fats. That's okay, just go slow with them, and before you know it, you'll be savoring all sorts of fatty goodness.

Your choices for the most part are pretty good, though your proteins are a bit lean. It may happen that sometime before you start introducing carbs again, your hunger level ratchets up. Listen to it, since your calorie level is currently really low. Yes, you might be over your calories for a few days, but that's okay, and it will level out again. If/when that happens, extend your trial of this so that you get a solid 3-4 weeks at the more proper amount of food for yourself on this way of eating.

sljohnson1207

Welcome. I will agree with the calories being too low, but if you aren't including the fats you cook with, depending on the amounts, you could be eating several hundred more calories than you think you are.

As far as not wanting to eat more fats....since you've lowered your carbs as low as you have, you need to increase your fats. Low carb and low fat eating together is not good for you.

Maybe you like other fats that you haven't yet tried. My favorite is bacon grease. Makes everything taste really good. It's kind of a neutral flavor, but adds extra fats and a richness to veggies that is incomparable. Also, avocado oil is very neutral tasting. Or just eat avocados, mayo, heavy whipping cream, etc. There are lots of ways to get fats!

ailsadell

Hi. Thanks for all your replies. I guess you are all saying what I was thinking really as the calorie count does seem low.

I did one of those calculations and did it as a sedentary person as I only get out once in a while. All those were saying my level of maintainance was between 1400-1500 a day so if I take the 500 off to loose 1lb a week I'm in the result field... Still to me it does sound low even though I'm eating loads and feel full (at the moment)

As for fats and way to add... Yes I love butter and do cook with it especially my scrambled eggs... The rest of the time I cook with olive oil. I do only like chicken breast (hate skin and leg/thigh meat) and only like the leanest of beef (childhood phobia regarding fatty meat!) ... I am more than happy to take cream in my coffee though if that's still needed??

ailsadell

I will say though that I did manage a walk last weekend and for the first time in years, I didn't get joint pain. ... Tiredness is still a problem and doesn't seem different but I feel far less bloated so mood is good :-) ... All in all I do feel better.

Sugarbeat

I'm glad you're feeling better! That's the best part about this way of eating. It sounds like you have a good grasp of things, but I would recommend not counting calories at first. Or, if you must, count them as more of an experiment than a guideline as to what you should be eating. Focus on getting enough fats so you're satiated and your blood sugar is stable (if that pertains to you) even if takes you way over your calories. When I first started my calories were over 3000 some days. I haven't been tracking much lately but its because I don't really feel I need to-I'm just not eating as much. The calories eventually take care of themselves because you simply don't feel the need to eat as much. Take measurements and photos as well as using the scale because the scale may go up or stay the same while the inches go down. Especially at first.

If you like coffee and are looking for ways to add fats, you might try bulletproof coffee. There is a recipe around here somewhere but its basically a TBSP of coconut oil and a TBSP or two of butter, I add HWC, and put it in the blender. This makes it nice and frothy . Sometimes I add cocoa powder, sometimes cinnamon, sometimes neither.

GaleHawkins

ailsadell I wound up LCHF trying to manage my arthritis pain because the docs wanted me to start Enbrel for pain that really is a drug I did not want to take.

LCHF actually took way most of my joint pain so I have be very low carb and very high fat now for 7 months and plan to stay on this eating lifestyle. Actually I worked run my old backhoe all day at church where I am putting in an acre parking lot. I started this project last summer when I was still on carbs and drank Pepsi instead of water. The pain just to climb upon the backhoe was really bad. After eight hours I am still am relatively pain free.

Low carbing took my 7-8 pain level down to a 2-3 on a 1-10 scale. I have lost some weight but really lost some inches.

Unsweetened organic coconut flakes is a high fat food source that works well for me that I recently added.

cindytw

If you feel better on low carb, my bet is a gluten and grain intolerance. Also sugars of any kind can be an issue. I looked up your issue as I was not familiar with it, and all those symptoms can be accounted for in gluten and grains. So keep at it, eat more fats, DON'T Do low carb products, eat real foods, and throw any government nutrition information out the window!

Add coconut oil, nut butter, nuts, olive oil, butter, avocado, more cheese, if you eat pork (ribs and country ribs), if you eat beef (chuck roast or ground chuck), Salmon, mackerel, chicken thighs, Whole roasted chicken WITH skin, eggs, salad dressings with mayo base, oil based salad dressings, bacon!

Lrdoflamancha

cindytw wrote: »

If you feel better on low carb, my bet is a gluten and grain intolerance. Also sugars of any kind can be an issue. I looked up your issue as I was not familiar with it, and all those symptoms can be accounted for in gluten and grains. So keep at it, eat more fats, DON'T Do low carb products, eat real foods, and throw any government nutrition information out the window!
Add coconut oil, nut butter, nuts, olive oil, butter, avocado, more cheese, if you eat pork (ribs and country ribs), if you eat beef (chuck roast or ground chuck), Salmon, mackerel, chicken thighs, Whole roasted chicken WITH skin, eggs, salad dressings with mayo base, oil based salad dressings, bacon!

It is really hard to wrap your mind around this ... But your body will love it. I have been doing LCHF for 12 weeks and last night I found myself peeling the chicken skin off the thighs. Eat all the fats.

KnitOrMiss

ailsadell wrote: »

Hi. Thanks for all your replies. I guess you are all saying what I was thinking really as the calorie count does seem low.

I did one of those calculations and did it as a sedentary person as I only get out once in a while. All those were saying my level of maintainance was between 1400-1500 a day so if I take the 500 off to loose 1lb a week I'm in the result field... Still to me it does sound low even though I'm eating loads and feel full (at the moment)

As for fats and way to add... Yes I love butter and do cook with it especially my scrambled eggs... The rest of the time I cook with olive oil. I do only like chicken breast (hate skin and leg/thigh meat) and only like the leanest of beef (childhood phobia regarding fatty meat!) ... I am more than happy to take cream in my coffee though if that's still needed??

If the skins don't get crispy enough to tolerate cooking them on meat, try cooking them on the meat (to retain moisture in the meat), then pulling them off and crisping them up by baking them further. My fiance at them before I got the chance to do so - but they were crunchy like chips!