New to low carb, can somebody look at my meal plan?

mdmarcha

Breakfast:
2eggs 6egg whites
3 strips bacon or one piece ham (84g)

snack
14g nuts (preferably almonds, but I'm poor right now so peanuts for now)

Lunch:
Whey Protein shake with water
two pieces ham (168g)
hard boiled egg

snack
14g nuts

Dinner
Beef top round 112g
2 cups broccoli
Big spinich salad with olive oil and sunflower seed kernals

please advise

servilia

I would add some fruit and a bigger variety of veggies. Low carb is ok but that looks like almost NO carbs. Have you worked out how many grams of carbs that is? I'd be curious.

mdmarcha

Yes, according to the labels on the food I have in the house, it's 20-25g carbs. I thought that fruit/sugar made you fat? I'll add some carrots or something though.

capriciousmoon

Fruit and sugar don't make you fat, eating more food than your body needs makes you fat. It's just best if most of the sugar you take in comes from natural sources and isn't added sugars.

mdmarcha

hmmm...I'm a little confused. My trainer told me that carbs (and sugar) get turned in to insulin and insulin goes in to your fat. I'll have to ask him to clarify.

tahoemads

When you have removed grains or other high carb foods from your diet, be sure to increase your complex carbs by adding in a variety of green vegetables and low GI vegetables. In fact, mashed turnips, cauliflower squash are great! That is a good way to switch up your dinner routine. Radish and celery is great with homemade hummus. How about avocados with a squeeze of lemon and sea salt? Avocado is a complete food, so don't be afraid of the fat -- it's so good for you (unless you're allergic). Munch on nuts and seeds and clean chicken or turkey. Because you've cut out the carbs, don't deprive yourself in the area of veggies and protein!

mynameisuntz

hmmm...I'm a little confused. My trainer told me that carbs (and sugar) get turned in to insulin and insulin goes in to your fat. I'll have to ask him to clarify.

He's wrong.

When you eat carbs, insulin (a hormone inside your body) is spiked. The act of insulin is to store glucose in the blood stream.

Long story short: this is a normal process, and it does NOT make you fat. Your trainer is wrong if he is implying carbs make you fat. Excess calories make you fat. Period.

The only person who need to really moderate carbs are those who are insulin resistant or diabetic.

mdmarcha

that sounds like a good idea! I love avacado and calliflower, and they both seem low carb. Is there a certain amount I should aim for? My trainer said the lower the better, because I get tired after a meal he said carbs harm my body.

mdmarcha

hmmm...I'm a little confused. My trainer told me that carbs (and sugar) get turned in to insulin and insulin goes in to your fat. I'll have to ask him to clarify.

He's wrong.

When you eat carbs, insulin (a hormone inside your body) is spiked. The act of insulin is to store glucose in the blood stream.

Long story short: this is a normal process, and it does NOT make you fat. Your trainer is wrong if he is implying carbs make you fat. Excess calories make you fat. Period.

The only person who need to really moderate carbs are those who are insulin resistant or diabetic.

So insulin is like testosterone or estrogen? (those are the only "hormones" I know)

mynameisuntz

that sounds like a good idea! I love avacado and calliflower, and they both seem low carb. Is there a certain amount I should aim for? My trainer said the lower the better, because I get tired after a meal he said carbs harm my body.

Stop taking your trainer's word on everything. He studied physiology, NOT nutrition.

Ask a doctor if you're insulin resistant. If you aren't, then you will see NO METABOLIC BENEFIT to eating low carb. Unless you prefer to, there's really no reason to.

mynameisuntz

So insulin is like testosterone or estrogen? (those are the only "hormones" I know)

I mean, in the sense that they are hormones, yes. But insulin's function is nothing like testosterone or estrogen, which are sex hormones as you probably know.

Excessive glucose in the blood stream = very dangerous. Insulin is secreted when your body has glucose in the blood stream, and insulin acts to store the glucose so it's not in the blood. So people who are diabetic have to take injections of insulin because their body won't secrete it on its own, and without those injections they will have chronically high blood glucose which, as said before, is dangerous.

People have gotten it into their heads that insulin, which "stores carbs as fat" (false), is the enemy in weight loss.

Ask your trainer two things:

1) What can carbs be stored as?
2) What is de novo lipogenesis?

I'd love to hear what hesays.

mdmarcha

that sounds like a good idea! I love avacado and calliflower, and they both seem low carb. Is there a certain amount I should aim for? My trainer said the lower the better, because I get tired after a meal he said carbs harm my body.

Stop taking your trainer's word on everything. He studied physiology, NOT nutrition.

Ask a doctor if you're insulin resistant. If you aren't, then you will see NO METABOLIC BENEFIT to eating low carb. Unless you prefer to, there's really no reason to.

I'll call my doctor. Is there a danger of eating low carb for a few days if he can't see me right away?

hulk6

hmmm...I'm a little confused. My trainer told me that carbs (and sugar) get turned in to insulin and insulin goes in to your fat. I'll have to ask him to clarify.

Don't tell me you're being coached by digitalsteel? loll

mdmarcha

hmmm...I'm a little confused. My trainer told me that carbs (and sugar) get turned in to insulin and insulin goes in to your fat. I'll have to ask him to clarify.

Don't tell me you're being coached by digitalsteel? loll

?? My trainers name is Jeremy

mynameisuntz

I'll call my doctor. Is there a danger of eating low carb for a few days if he can't see me right away?

Not that I've ever heard of.

It's rare to be diabetic or insulin resistant, and odds are, you are neither. Of course there's a chance, and as such you should talk to your doctor, but just saying.

For people who don't have a clinical condition requiring them to eat low carb, *there is no metabolic advantage to a low carb diet*

HunterCML

What's going on in here? More people scared of carbs because they are ignorant on the scientific principals of daily energy balance?

Good lord people, you take a relatively simple concept and try to micro-analyze everything until it has no relevance in the context of daily nutrition.

servilia

Pick lower glycemic fruits like berries and plums and ones with lots of fiber. I also try to eat protein with every meal that is a bit simple carb heavy - it will help attenuate the insulin response if you're concerned about that.
Edit: I should edit that last bit before I get my head bitten off. Protein also stimulates insulin but it also stimulates another hormone (starts with a G, forgot the name right now) that has effects that oppose insulin to some extent.

mynameisuntz

What's going on in here? More people scared of carbs because they are ignorant on the scientific principals of daily energy balance?

Good lord people, you take a relatively simple concept and try to micro-analyze everything until it has no relevance in the context of daily nutrition.

I'M TAKING CARE OF IT.

mdmarcha

What's going on in here? More people scared of carbs because they are ignorant on the scientific principals of daily energy balance?

Good lord people, you take a relatively simple concept and try to micro-analyze everything until it has no relevance in the context of daily nutrition.

I'm trying to eat good (non carb) calories and not bad calories (carbs) to lose weight. mynameisuntz is now telling me that good/bad calories don't matter?

HunterCML

Pick lower glycemic fruits like berries and plums and ones with lots of fiber. I also try to eat protein with every meal - it will help attenuate the insulin response if you're concerned about that.

Unless you're diabetic, insulin response has no relevance to body weight (and composition) changes in the context of daily nutrition. Energy balance does (calories in - calories out).

hulk6

Choose good carbs, a good carb is one that does not raise your insulin. So, as an example, fiber is a carb that does not raise your insulin. Technicaly speaking, any carbohydrate molecule that is too big to fit through your cell walls will be fine.

mdmarcha

Pick lower glycemic fruits like berries and plums and ones with lots of fiber. I also try to eat protein with every meal that is a bit simple carb heavy - it will help attenuate the insulin response if you're concerned about that.
Edit: I should edit that last bit before I get my head bitten off. Protein also stimulates insulin but it also stimulates another hormone (starts with a G, forgot the name right now) that has effects that oppose insulin to some extent.

Wow, we must have a lot more hormones than I know about.

mynameisuntz

Pick lower glycemic fruits like berries and plums and ones with lots of fiber. I also try to eat protein with every meal that is a bit simple carb heavy - it will help attenuate the insulin response if you're concerned about that.
Edit: I should edit that last bit before I get my head bitten off. Protein also stimulates insulin but it also stimulates another hormone (starts with a G, forgot the name right now) that has effects that oppose insulin to some extent.

Glucagon.

And glycemic index is outdated by a good 7 years now

HunterCML

I'm trying to eat good (non carb) calories and not bad calories (carbs) to lose weight. mynameisuntz is now telling me that good/bad calories don't matter?

He's correct.

There is no such thing as good or bad calories, because a "calorie" by definition is a unit of energy (like a joule). Once you understand how calories and energy balance work (and perhaps the science and scientific laws associated with it), you'll begin to realize that your micro-analysis of short term effects of certain macronutrients is completely irrelevant in the context of daily nutrition.

mynameisuntz

Toasting in a roll bread.

mdmarcha

Toasting in a roll bread.

Just hatin' that I've got a heavenly blessed beauty posting in my thrad.

mynameisuntz

Toasting in a roll bread.

Just hatin' that I've got a heavenly blessed beauty posting in my thrad.

Negs4life.

Jolenebib

Your body burns sugar - that is its energy source. You need carbs. That being said:

There are "good carbs" and "bad carbs". "Bad carbs", like table sugar, sucrose, get digested very quickly and spike your insulin (like all carbs do) - your body burns those carbs - giving you energy (aka sugar rush). This is generally followed by a feeling of being tired because your sugar level drops quickly once you've metabolized the sugars. You'll probably have more cravings for food because your body needs something. Then you eat more, which means more calories, and you get fat. Its the cravings that make us fat - not the carbs. Plus they are empty calories without any real nutritional value, other than sugar for energy.

"Good carbs", like those found in whole foods such as whole grain bread, brown rice, and fruit are not metabolized as quickly by the body because they come with fiber and other things which helps slow the digestive process down and resulting in a much more gradual insulin spike and slower digestion of the sugars - you don't get a sugar rush and you don't get the crash. You feel fuller longer - you don't eat as much, fewer calories. Plus the sugar in fruit, fructose, also comes with some VERY good for you nutrients.

Really, you don't have to avoid carbs - you just want good carbs that come with fiber not highly processed carbs like those in baked goods. You do need fiber and a good source of fiber are whole grains.

But, your meal plan. Add fiber - green vegetables are a good source. Actually, add more veggies in general - they have nutrients that you're body isn't going to get from the eggs and chicken.

Going really low carb isn't necessarily going to hurt you, but it means you're eating a lot of fat and protein without necessarily getting the fiber that you need to clean out your system. Which may result in higher cholesterol and that's bad for the heart. I tried really low carb for about a week and couldn't sleep. Had a cup of brown rice for dinner one night and slept like a baby. But every body is different.

hulk6

There are "good carbs" and "bad carbs". "Bad carbs", like table sugar, sucrose, get digested very quickly and spike your insulin (like all carbs do) - your body burns those carbs - giving you energy (aka sugar rush). This is generally followed by a feeling of being tired because your sugar level drops quickly once you've metabolized the sugars. You'll probably have more cravings for food because your body needs something. Then you eat more, which means more calories, and you get fat. Its the cravings that make us fat - not the carbs. Plus they are empty calories without any real nutritional value, other than sugar for energy.

What about people with self-control?

mdmarcha

Your body burns sugar - that is its energy source. You need carbs. That being said:

There are "good carbs" and "bad carbs". "Bad carbs", like table sugar, sucrose, get digested very quickly and spike your insulin (like all carbs do) - your body burns those carbs - giving you energy (aka sugar rush). This is generally followed by a feeling of being tired because your sugar level drops quickly once you've metabolized the sugars. You'll probably have more cravings for food because your body needs something. Then you eat more, which means more calories, and you get fat. Its the cravings that make us fat - not the carbs. Plus they are empty calories without any real nutritional value, other than sugar for energy.

"Good carbs", like those found in whole foods such as whole grain bread, brown rice, and fruit are not metabolized as quickly by the body because they come with fiber and other things which helps slow the digestive process down and resulting in a much more gradual insulin spike and slower digestion of the sugars - you don't get a sugar rush and you don't get the crash. You feel fuller longer - you don't eat as much, fewer calories. Plus the sugar in fruit, fructose, also comes with some VERY good for you nutrients.

Really, you don't have to avoid carbs - you just want good carbs that come with fiber not highly processed carbs like those in baked goods. You do need fiber and a good source of fiber are whole grains.

But, your meal plan. Add fiber - green vegetables are a good source. Actually, add more veggies in general - they have nutrients that you're body isn't going to get from the eggs and chicken.

Going really low carb isn't necessarily going to hurt you, but it means you're eating a lot of fat and protein without necessarily getting the fiber that you need to clean out your system. Which may result in higher cholesterol and that's bad for the heart. I tried really low carb for about a week and couldn't sleep. Had a cup of brown rice for dinner one night and slept like a baby. But every body is different.

Are oatmeals good carbs? I could do like half a packet in the morning and stay low carb?

mynameisuntz

Bleach is a good carb.

OP you a fan of hockey by any chance?