Low Carb Diet
LadyFlexible
Posts: 108 Member
So I've decided to get on the low carb diet bandwagon after finding out my dog is diabetic. While we have a special dog for him. While I've tried to be health conscious, I'm trying to get serious especially if I'm joining the Navy.....So does anyone have advice as to where to start?
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There are a ton of lower carb recipes on Pinterest. Also, think of things you normally eat and remove the carbs...For me, it's taco bowls (no chips or shell), burgers without the bun, meatballs with sauce and cheese instead of spaghetti, etc...1
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Pinterest always has some interesting ideas. Someone I know suggested replacing bread with butter bib lettuce. I've looked and it seems impossible to find. Or it's run out. Is it out of season?0
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If you want to join the navy would navy food would allow you to stay on a low carb diet plan? Perhaps you should speak to a recruiter about getting fit and healthy enough to signup1
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Your dog is diabetic so you are going low carb? That is some of the most insane logic I've heard.6
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dogs are pretty low carb.. 2 birds with one stone? just sayin'6
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trigden1991 wrote: »Your dog is diabetic so you are going low carb? That is some of the most insane logic I've heard.
^^ This0 -
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/394-low-carber-daily-forum-the-lcd-group
Look into that group.1 -
StealthHealth wrote: »dogs are pretty low carb.. 2 birds with one stone? just sayin'
Sweet and sour dog?2 -
I have friends whose dogs eat the same food they do so maybe that's why.
Shouldn't dogs be on low carb food anyway ?1 -
Technically, his is a no carb diet. I'm probably the only one who can eat any carbs between us at this point. Health scare has me nervous. My goal is to get around 135 lbs0
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You do realize your dogs health is in no relation to your health right? Carbs do not cause health issues, obesity, lack of exercise and genetics do.
If you want to lose weight, you need to reduce calories, regardless of the diet you follow. And do you want a LCHF or Ketogenic diet?5 -
I too am confused at the logic that your dogs diet would dictate what you eat. My dog has been known to eat her own poop from time to time but I'm not pursuing the feces diet...
Also agree with above that going low carb to lose weight to go into the Navy is probably something to make sure is sustainable for the long term.
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Yes, I do understand that. Point being diabetes is as much of a risk for a human as it is a dog, especially since he nearly died. He wasn't terribly overweight and we did what we could to walk him as often as he could, I guesss that wasn't enough. It's the sudden self awareness, especially since My family has a history of diabetes.
I've considered talking to a recruiter when I have the time to go out.0 -
Carbs, in and of themselves, do not cause diabetes.LadyFlexible wrote: »Yes, I do understand that. Point being diabetes is as much of a risk for a human as it is a dog, especially since he nearly died. He wasn't terribly overweight and we did what we could to walk him as often as he could, I guesss that wasn't enough. It's the sudden self awareness, especially since My family has a history of diabetes.
Eating too much of *all* foods and being obese, however, does increase the risk for developing it.
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snickerscharlie wrote: »
Carbs, in and of themselves, do not cause diabetes.LadyFlexible wrote: »Yes, I do understand that. Point being diabetes is as much of a risk for a human as it is a dog, especially since he nearly died. He wasn't terribly overweight and we did what we could to walk him as often as he could, I guesss that wasn't enough. It's the sudden self awareness, especially since My family has a history of diabetes.
Eating too much of *all* foods and being obese, however, does increase the risk for developing it.
^this.1 -
being overweight is a risk factor for developing Type 2 diabetes
Low carb is a dietary choice for adherence
the 2 shouldn't be confused
much as your pet's health scares shouldn't be
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My cats and I eat differently, because humans and cats are different species and all, and have different needs.
That aside, low carbing is fine if you want to try it and see if you like it.
First question is goals -- do you want to lose weight? How low do you want to go? What do you eat now?
It seems like you are starting from the beginning, so I'd recommend checking out the low carb group linked above (although there you will probably get hard core propaganda about how low carbing is the best and important whereas here you will be told that it's great if you like it but not healthier or the only way to lose weight -- which happens to be the truth).
I'd also recommend logging for a while and seeing what you currently eat in fat, carbs, and protein.
Keeping protein around .8 g per lb of healthy goal weight is a good idea, especially if your goal is to be in good shape and in the navy and you are trying to lose and be active. As for fat and carbs, if moving toward low carb you will be cutting carbs and increasing fat. A good idea is to keep low cal carbs like non starchy vegetables and maybe lower sugar fruit like berries and then reduce portions or cut down on other carbs (bread, potatoes, rice, and of course junk food that happens to be high in fat and carbs) and increase protein (if necessary based on the number you get with the .8g calculation) and healthy fats like olive oil, olives, nuts and seeds, avocado, as well as subbing full fat dairy for the dairy you are currently consuming, maybe including fattier versions of meat (chicken with skin vs. breast only), eggs instead of egg whites, stuff like that.
You don't need to cut out the carbs I mention here, but start by cutting them down.
Nothing magic about replacing bread with a cabbage or other kind of lettuce (the point of which is just to reduce bread, but bread is easy enough to cut down on or not eat without replacing it with anything, IMO -- I'm not low carb but rarely eat bread because the calories aren't worth it to me).
If you are thinking that a diet without bread, rice, fruit, and potatoes or sweet potatoes seems unappealing, very low carb might not be for you, but if you are thinking that you don't care about those foods and steak and vegetables and full fat yogurt and cheese sounds delicious, it might be. And again there are lots of options in-between, so finding out your current macros (amount of carbs, fat, and protein you eat) would be a decent start.
Hope your dog is doing well too!0 -
LadyFlexible wrote: »Yes, I do understand that. Point being diabetes is as much of a risk for a human as it is a dog, especially since he nearly died. He wasn't terribly overweight and we did what we could to walk him as often as he could, I guesss that wasn't enough. It's the sudden self awareness, especially since My family has a history of diabetes.
I've considered talking to a recruiter when I have the time to go out.
You can always get a simple blood test done at your doctor's office if you're concerned about your glucose number. I get mine tested twice a year because of my history with prediabetes. With a family history you should probably be getting tested regularly anyways.0 -
Ultimately I need to lose weight for right now then improve my overall fitness. What I right now overall is cereal and eggs.
I'll definitely look at that link. I'm prepared for propaganda. I've found when dealing with special interest groups, prepare for the propaganda.0 -
LadyFlexible wrote: »Ultimately I need to lose weight for right now then improve my overall fitness. What I right now overall is cereal and eggs.
I'll definitely look at that link. I'm prepared for propaganda. I've found when dealing with special interest groups, prepare for the propaganda.
Several years ago I unexpectedly found out my glucose number was in the prediabetes range, and with my family tree full of type 2 diabetics, my doctor said it was most likely genetics but I could try and lose weight to see if it helped (all those family members who had it were/are also overweight or obese). I proceeded to lose around 50lbs and got my weight within the lower end of the healthy bmi range, and my glucose numbers are now solidly in the normal range, and my doctor no longer labels me a prediabetic. This doesn't happen to everyone, but many people find that by just losing the extra weight it greatly improves your health markers/blood work.
It might not hurt to get a blood test done to check your glucose number, and then have another one done after you've lost the extra weight, so you have data to compare.
As a side note: I've never eaten low carb and continue to eat all the foods I like. I just needed to be at the correct calorie intake for my weight goals, and that was enough to fix my high glucose number.
eta: OP-your profile says your a high school senior, how old are you?1 -
LadyFlexible wrote: »Ultimately I need to lose weight for right now then improve my overall fitness. What I right now overall is cereal and eggs.
I'll definitely look at that link. I'm prepared for propaganda. I've found when dealing with special interest groups, prepare for the propaganda.
Can you clarify the bolded?
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That's actually really old. I'm 21 now. I started this when I turned 18 but forgot about the profile when I started college and every so often would try to restart. Now I'm trying to get serious because I'm planning on graduating with my associates of science before I join the navy.
^I eat a lot of breakfast food so it's really as it says. I eat a lot of other stuff like pb&js, deli sandwiches, Raisin Bran, omelettes, peanut butter and bananas, tea, water, canned peas or green beans, packaged salad bowls, slim fast.0 -
LadyFlexible wrote: »That's actually really old. I'm 21 now. I started this when I turned 18 but forgot about the profile when I started college and every so often would try to restart. Now I'm trying to get serious because I'm planning on graduating with my associates of science before I join the navy.
^I eat a lot of breakfast food so it's really as it says. I eat a lot of other stuff like pb&js, deli sandwiches, Raisin Bran, omelettes, peanut butter and bananas, tea, water, canned peas or green beans, packaged salad bowls, slim fast.
Thanks for clarifying 0 -
IMO, a great start is to log what you are eating. Sounds like it might be pretty low protein, although hard to say without knowing amount. It is helpful to look at the current diet when trying to improve it.
Advice for what a healthy diet is (since that seems to be an interest of yours): https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/what-should-you-eat/
Obesity is a major risk factor for diabetes (or pre-diabetes) so getting to/staying at a healthy weight is the best thing to do to avoid it. (Cats and dogs -- cats even more than dogs, as they are obligate carnivores -- should eat far fewer carbs than humans, and many pet foods are too high in carbs. Extremely healthy human diets are often high carb or at least not lower carb than the average American diet (which isn't really high carb, despite some of the claims you will hear). The average American diet isn't great, of course -- although many Americans eat very well -- but that's about food choice, not carb percentage, as the link to the Harvard site explains). Many of the things that most Americans fail to do but which are recommended (like eating more non-starchy vegetables, fruit, legumes) actually involve adding certain kinds of carbs, and other things I'd personally recommend (the .8g of protein per lb of healthy goal weight when losing weight) are carb neutral.0 -
I think it's time we start looking at this slightly differently ...lemurcat12 wrote: »Obesity is a major risk factor for diabetes (or pre-diabetes) so getting to/staying at a healthy weight is the best thing to do to avoid it.
While it's generally true that "Obesity is a major risk factor for diabetes" it's much-more accurate to state that "an excess of visceral bodyfat is a major risk factor for diabetes".
There are more-and-more instances of healthy weight people being diagnosed with Type II diabetes, especially in developing countries. We're talking men with a BMI of 21 or 22 (considered healthy, not overweight and certainly NOT obese) but who actually have 30-35% bodyfat when they undergo a DEXA scan.
To consider ONLY those we classify as "obese" at-risk is missing a very large population who should be screened for this disease, and we need to rethink how we screen.
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Obesity is best diagnosed based on BF%. BMI is just a rough way to predict if BF% is a problem (or okay or low) ideally in conjunction with other factors, and other than that is a good way to measure population (increasing BMI or the like). (21-22 BMI and 30-35% BF for a guy seems unlikely, though -- I'd be curious for some more information -- but certainly those body fat numbers for a man = obese.)0
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Going LCHF will help prevent T2D. If you don't eat a lot of carbs you will avoid
large blood glucose swings. If your BG does not go high, you probably won't get a T2D diagnosis.
The group linked above is good for information on how to be successful with a LCHF diet. Those people for whom the diet worked well are still doing it. We tend to post in that group since there is not much support or acceptance of the LCHF diet on the main boards. But propaganda? I don't know. More like that is where you will find positive information, rather than info from people who did not do well on, or enjoy, the LCHF diet. What I mean to say is that that is where you'll find the success stories.albertabeefy wrote: »
I think it's time we start looking at this slightly differently ...lemurcat12 wrote: »Obesity is a major risk factor for diabetes (or pre-diabetes) so getting to/staying at a healthy weight is the best thing to do to avoid it.
While it's generally true that "Obesity is a major risk factor for diabetes" it's much-more accurate to state that "an excess of visceral bodyfat is a major risk factor for diabetes".
There are more-and-more instances of healthy weight people being diagnosed with Type II diabetes, especially in developing countries. We're talking men with a BMI of 21 or 22 (considered healthy, not overweight and certainly NOT obese) but who actually have 30-35% bodyfat when they undergo a DEXA scan.
To consider ONLY those we classify as "obese" at-risk is missing a very large population who should be screened for this disease, and we need to rethink how we screen.
That's because it's genetic. Yes, we all know this.
I think the genetics link is stressed too much. I doubt there are many people in North America who do not have at least one relative with diabetes or insulin resistance.
I developed prediabetes at the upper range of a normal BMI, although I would not be surprised to learn i was one third body fat. I only have an aunt who developed diabetes in her late 60s. I was just turning 40 when I did.1 -
lemurcat12 wrote: »Obesity is best diagnosed based on BF%. BMI is just a rough way to predict if BF% is a problem (or okay or low) ideally in conjunction with other factors, and other than that is a good way to measure population (increasing BMI or the like). (21-22 BMI and 30-35% BF for a guy seems unlikely, though -- I'd be curious for some more information -- but certainly those body fat numbers for a man = obese.)
You said that so much more pleasantly than I was thinking when I read it
21-22 BMI and 30-35% BF for a male is extraordinarily unlikely
While the two measurements aren't linked there is rough and predictable correlation between BF and BMI0 -
lemurcat12 wrote: »Obesity is best diagnosed based on BF%. BMI is just a rough way to predict if BF% is a problem (or okay or low) ideally in conjunction with other factors, and other than that is a good way to measure population (increasing BMI or the like). (21-22 BMI and 30-35% BF for a guy seems unlikely, though -- I'd be curious for some more information -- but certainly those body fat numbers for a man = obese.)
Unfortunately it's not as unlikely as you two might think:You said that so much more pleasantly than I was thinking when I read it
21-22 BMI and 30-35% BF for a male is extraordinarily unlikely
While the two measurements aren't linked there is rough and predictable correlation between BF and BMI
This is just one example. But we're finding it more in other populations as well. http://motherboard.vice.com/read/how-a-bmi-fallacy-convinced-the-world-that-diabetes-is-a-disease-of-excess
With over a billion people in India (with one of the FASTEST rising rates of diabetes in the world) having their health risks vastly under-estimated by (and their true bodyfat % simply not correlated with) BMI, we really need something more accurate.
Heck, at 6'2" with a 34" waist BMI says I'm overweight and nearly obese. We already know it's highly inaccurate screening tool for health risks for those with higher levels of muscle mass; now we're learning it's also highly inaccurate for other body types as well.
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