New to low carb..quick question
BryonyKate
Posts: 32 Member
Hi everyone
So after having tried every diet under the sun (most of which were 60 + g of carbs a day) and working off 6-900 cals per workout (5days a week)..I'm really seeing very little result so have decided that perhaps very low carb diets are the way forward. My main concern though is fruit.. I have a MAJOR sweet tooth..like could actually live off chocolate! Because of this I tend to eat 2-3 pieces a day just to satisfy my sweet cravings. But just an apple as 15-20g carb, a banana 20+. I know that berries are the lowest carb fruit so will have a portion of mixed berries a day but I just fear that this little fruit will make my cravings for something sweet really intense and I'll end up binging. I have a bit of a history of binge/purge/restrict so the last thing I want is for my body to be screaming out for sweet stuff and carbs and just to once every couple of weeks go crazy and binge out. Also I find if I don't eat quite a carb heavy meal before my workouts I have such little energy and struggle to push through.
So basically how can you satisfy a sweet tooth on low carb? And how many grams of fat/protein is recommend a day?
Oh also (sorry to ramble!) but do you find it is best to spread your (lets say 30g) of carbs out over the day..or have the majority in one go? Ie a 20g carb piece of fruit or portion of oatmeal?
So after having tried every diet under the sun (most of which were 60 + g of carbs a day) and working off 6-900 cals per workout (5days a week)..I'm really seeing very little result so have decided that perhaps very low carb diets are the way forward. My main concern though is fruit.. I have a MAJOR sweet tooth..like could actually live off chocolate! Because of this I tend to eat 2-3 pieces a day just to satisfy my sweet cravings. But just an apple as 15-20g carb, a banana 20+. I know that berries are the lowest carb fruit so will have a portion of mixed berries a day but I just fear that this little fruit will make my cravings for something sweet really intense and I'll end up binging. I have a bit of a history of binge/purge/restrict so the last thing I want is for my body to be screaming out for sweet stuff and carbs and just to once every couple of weeks go crazy and binge out. Also I find if I don't eat quite a carb heavy meal before my workouts I have such little energy and struggle to push through.
So basically how can you satisfy a sweet tooth on low carb? And how many grams of fat/protein is recommend a day?
Oh also (sorry to ramble!) but do you find it is best to spread your (lets say 30g) of carbs out over the day..or have the majority in one go? Ie a 20g carb piece of fruit or portion of oatmeal?
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Replies
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Chocolate peanut butter fat bombs
diet sodas
water ehancers (like Mio)
Atkins shakes
Those are the sweet things I eat or drink on a regular basis.
ETA: If you are eating several pieces of fruit a day, you will not get the benefits of ketogenic eating, such as appetite supression, becuase you are essentially loading your body with sugar every few hours.0 -
You've done really well so far on your weight loss journey. I'm not sure why you should give up your fruit if it's been working for you, unless you have diabetes issues.
Have you checked out the Primal diet? I just suggested it to my daughter, becuase it allows between 50-100 carbs, and she likes her fruit, too. I think you ought to go read up on it, because it makes a lot of sense.
Last, I wanted to ask if you've also been counting calories? Your diary is not open so I could not tell. On any diet, what works the best is checking yourself on your calories to be sure you're not eating too much, or even too little. Good luck!!0 -
Personally I love fruit.. too much. Once I have a piece of fruit I end up eating 3 - 4 portions then I get a craving for other carby foods from the sugar rush.. so I tend to stay away from fruit nowadays. If I want healthy fibrous foods I stick to green leafy vegetables.0
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I already answered your post in the main forum about this--but as everyone else is saying, the easiest and most efficient way to deal with your sweet tooth is to cut it off. I was a sugar monster too, so I know that sound scary and impossible. It's not. Once you get away from all the sugar and are about a week or two into that way of eating, you just don't crave those things anymore. The trick is leaving it alone entirely, though. Not having bites of chocolate each night, or a bunch of fruit, or your oatmeal, protein bars, whatever else. As others are saying, all that stuff just keeps the cravings going.
Lots of leafy greens and cruciferous veggies, protein, and healthy fats.
Primal Blueprint is a great book/place to start, I agree.0 -
There are plenty of options while skipping fruit. If you can't give up fruit, that's your body keeping its dependency on sugar. You need to break that cycle.
I eat chocolate almost every day. I started with Ghiradelli dark 86. Now I use Lily's Chocolate (sweetened with erythritol and stevia).
One of my favorite items is coconut custard (I've posted here in MFP - use the search function and you'll find it). It's almost 90% fat - perfect for keto. I've made low carb brownies, low carb cheesecake (pumpkin cheesecake was a hit - and cheesecake with a brownie base was another great one). Low carb ice cream was also yummy.
I experiment with sweeteners - which ones I like, which ones are good in baking, which ones leave an aftertaste.
There are hundreds of websites out there that have low carb and keto recipes. I've bought half a dozen cookbooks. A few were great, most I haven't used. You have to take the time and effort to search for things and to experiment. For every hit there's be a failure (avocado chocolate truffles did not work for me, but the same website had several other things that worked great).
Reddit's keto page is a huge wealth of knowledge. Their FAQ is fantastic. If you haven't checked it out, please do -- it will answer so many of your questions. People are also constantly posting recipes on there, which is where I've gotten a lot of my ideas from.
Reddit FAQ: http://www.reddit.com/r/keto/wiki/faq
Good Luck.0 -
Thank you so much everyone for all of your responses. I'm sorry to ask so much! But really appreciate how helpful everyone is.0
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Ditto the Primal Blueprint. www.marksdailyapple.com. So much great info. If you quit the sugar, fruit included (especially if it is a trigger) your cravings will go away. As far as energy for your workout, I would suggest dropping carbs some every week until your body gets used to it. For me, losing weight requires less than 50 carbs/day but Primal does advocate 50-100 gms/day for long term heath. When I get to my goal I will add back some healthy carbs including fruit. Never sugar or junk out of a box though. You also asked about how many grams of fat per day. Mark Sisson (primal blueprint) says .5-1gm of protein/day. I back into the macros using the customizing feature here at MFP. Mine are currently 65% fat, 10% carbs, 25% protein and about 1300 calories/day but I am not nearly as active as you are. Much easier to stay within your calorie goals when such a high % of calories are coming from fat. Good luck. You'll do great!0
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Hi everyone
So after having tried every diet under the sun (most of which were 60 + g of carbs a day) and working off 6-900 cals per workout (5days a week)..I'm really seeing very little result so have decided that perhaps very low carb diets are the way forward. My main concern though is fruit.. I have a MAJOR sweet tooth..like could actually live off chocolate! Because of this I tend to eat 2-3 pieces a day just to satisfy my sweet cravings. But just an apple as 15-20g carb, a banana 20+. I know that berries are the lowest carb fruit so will have a portion of mixed berries a day but I just fear that this little fruit will make my cravings for something sweet really intense and I'll end up binging. I have a bit of a history of binge/purge/restrict so the last thing I want is for my body to be screaming out for sweet stuff and carbs and just to once every couple of weeks go crazy and binge out. Also I find if I don't eat quite a carb heavy meal before my workouts I have such little energy and struggle to push through.
So basically how can you satisfy a sweet tooth on low carb? And how many grams of fat/protein is recommend a day?
Oh also (sorry to ramble!) but do you find it is best to spread your (lets say 30g) of carbs out over the day..or have the majority in one go? Ie a 20g carb piece of fruit or portion of oatmeal?
This is so weird, because your entire post describes me EXACTLY! I just started trying to go low carb, after restricting calories for a very long time with no success. I want so bad to get into ketosis, but I do well for a couple of days, then BINGE on carbs! I have binge-eating issues as well. I am lost as far as what to kind of meals to make, and I am REALLY struggling with a MAJOR sweet tooth. I'm adding you as a friend. Maybe we can encourage each other and share recipes/ideas..
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Hi and welcome!! I recently gave up fruit. I was eating berries and an occasional plum or 1/2 cup cantaloupe. I usually had 2 servings daily. I was in a stall and decided to eliminate the fruit. I'm losing again so I'll hold off on the fruit until I'm at goal. I don't have any carbs at breakfast. I have bulletproof coffee (12 oz coffee, 1 tbsp coconut oil, 1 tbsp mct oil, 1 tbsp unsalted grass fed butter and 1 tbsp heavy cream) There is around 45 gram of fat there and this keeps me satiated until early afternoon. My carbs come mainly from veggies and I usually stay under 25 grams net/day. My macros are 10-20-70 (C-P-F) and my cal are set @ 1700. The beginning is a bit of a struggle, but the cravings do go away!! Lots of resources out there as those above have mentioned, Good Luck!!0
