Call me convinced: I'm going low carb

fbmandy55

Making a transition is pretty easy also. When I buy groceries for the week, I plan our dinners as meat and veggies. I try to limit our carbs and if we do have pasta or rice it is always whole grain. Last night was chicken and steamed broccoli with strawberries with cool whip for dessert. :bigsmile:

Prahasaurus

I would love to go low carbs!!! I just don't know how it how to start or what to eat!

Well, about 20 minutes of googling should solve that issue.

--P

pixelberry

The only thing I still haven't figured out is how to get my chocolate low carb... I love chocolate haha.

I make a variation of this: http://www.healthylivinghowto.com/1/post/2012/05/melt-inyour-mouth-not-in-your-hands.html

Sugar alcohols reek havoc on my system and stalls out my weight loss, so these really do the trick. I use liquid sucralose & vanilla extract instead of Truvia or Stevia because it tastes bitter to me. I also add an almond in there. Good stuff!

000WhiteRose000

I still eat chocolate nearly every day. Just rich dark chocolate, and only a small amount.

NYactor1

bump

o2seaobx

Two weeks into low carb diet. I am a celiac, so this diet was not a hard for me, as I do not do processed foods anyway. I have gotten through the "Keto Flu" but am experiencing a strange sensation that I can only describe as that feeling of "lift" that you get when you are riding a rollar coaster or you drive over a hill too fast! Kinda a "skin crawling" sensation. Am getting used to it and it seems to be decreasing somewhat... moves around my body. Mostly in chest and left arm, and sometimes legs. Wierd! I have had the worst time losing weight. Have always been overweight since having kids which is whenI think the Celiac kicked in. On the low carb diet I have found that I am not hungry at all! I used to get bouts of binges where I could not eat enough, and would be eating anything edible just to try and stop the feeling! I am very surprised at how well this is working for me! I am losing inches vs. pounds, and that is probably the hardest part of the whole diet! Instead of going by what the scale says, I go by how my clothes fit, and how I feel. The one thing I have noticed, bacon is one of my "cheats" as the sodium levels swell me up so badly! :happy:

yarwell

I would love to go low carbs!!! I just don't know how it how to start or what to eat!

It's more a matter of what not to eat. Rather than meat, two veg and potato have meat and two or three veg.

If you reduce carbs by 90g you need 40g of fats & oils to replace the calories, assuming protein was already sensible.

Miss out pasta, pizza, potato, bread, cake, cookies, candy, sweets, sweet fruits, starchy veg, sugar etc etc

yarwell

Rather than going low carb I go "low glycemic index". Fruit have low glycemic index, so they are fine.

while some fruit have a low GI that is not the case for all fruit, and in most cases it is purely because the carbs are fructose that doesn't show up in blood glucose measurements.

cherries at 63 and bananas at 52 don't strike me as low GI, nor 72 for water melon

slsmoot123

I was doing the P90X fat shred phase, which is really low carb. Omg the headaches I had. I went back to just counting calories w/ more emphasis on complex carbs rather than "lo-carb". Did anybody else get headaches from going low carb?

verptwerp

I strongly recommend looking into the South Beach Diet. It's based on sound scientific studies, and although it doesn't cut carbs completely out, it does work to break the carb addiction (physical and psychological) that many of us suffer from.

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THIS !

3+ years ago I was overweight & grumpy that my doctor put me on diabetic meds ...... then I stumbled across the South Beach Diet & started making changes .... lost weight & got off the meds. Found out that certain foods are triggers (for me) including bananas & almost anything "white" ..... they cause cravings, so I seldom eat them. Processed foods are scary with chemicals, so I read labels like crazy. Have even started buying some organics (dairy, fruit & veg). I choose healthy foods when eating out (most of the time LOL) ...... and cooking more & bringing lunches to work. Fast-food places are for black coffee only, IMHO !

SB worked for me ....... Weight Watchers works for others ..... any reasonable diet can probably do the job ..... it's about experimenting to see which foods & what quantities work FOR us, rather than against us ..... and then sticking with it .....

Best of luck to everyone ..... we're all works in progress :drinker:

yarwell

Did anybody else get headaches from going low carb?

Mainly the people that didn't read the bit about increasing salt intake I suspect.

willnorton

bump

Biggipooh

Rather than going low carb I go "low glycemic index". Fruit have low glycemic index, so they are fine.

while some fruit have a low GI that is not the case for all fruit, and in most cases it is purely because the carbs are fructose that doesn't show up in blood glucose measurements.

cherries at 63 and bananas at 52 don't strike me as low GI, nor 72 for water melon

True, water melon and maybe bananas have a higher GI. There a tons of fruits out there with lower GI But for example eating white bread makes me crave for more sugar. That does not happen with a banana.

Queen_JessieA

I am also low carbing. There are SOME things that I MUST have in order to function...like coffee creamer (tho I DO cut it with skim milk) on occasion. I am not a huge fan of bread anyhoo, so that doesn't bother me. SWEETS are my pitfall!

wanniet

bumping to read later

kayemme

i'm somewhat on the bandwagon, and by somewhat I mean that I am in favor of low-ish carbohydrates, but almost no simple carbs. the problem with the term "low carb" for me is that many vegetables have carbs and i don't really eat meat and i have no intention on changing that.

so i try to keep my sugar to fiber ratio in check and that's how i know i'm doing all right.

yo_andi

I aim to keep my carbs under 100g a day (which I admittedly go over some days). Most of my carb grams come from vegetables, some from fruits and very few from legumes. I don't eat any wheat, rice, or corn products, due to insulin regulation issues. It's not for everyone, and it requires a distinct mindset change, but once you realize it's not a "quick fix" and work on changing your habits so you can maintain this for good, it becomes a lot easier.

That being said, I do miss pizza, and occasionally rice. I don't miss those more than I value a long, healthy, diabetes free life though :laugh:

callmeBAM

I Personally take pleasure in my occasional fatty bowl of pasta and it hasn't killed me

Saying "I do this... and it hasn't killed me" is a horrible defense of anything. I wonder how many smokers out there are like "I smoke a pack a day, and it hasn't killed me!". Doesn't mean we should imitate what they are doing.

Spice_4_Life

Bump!

callmeBAM

Did anybody else get headaches from going low carb?

Mainly the people that didn't read the bit about increasing salt intake I suspect.

It's called the "Carb Flu". Your body does have a transition phase and some people feel crappy for a week or two.

Cmadridk

I think a low carb diet is GREAT if you want to drop a bunch of weight quickly and then gain it back even faster, plus more.

You're better off going low sugar than low carb. I did low carb/ low cal to lose 50 pounds and it was miserable. Now I'm losing the last 30-40 pounds and yesterday I ate an entire bagel and two slices of garlic toast. I woke up a pound lighter than yesterday (when all the low carb diet advice says I should have woken up with extra water weight...)

Meanwhile I kept my sugar under 30 grams, and I have absolutely no cravings for carbs or sugar...I just eat whatever looks good! Its worth a try, I would be very unhappy to live the rest of my life without starches.

amandamay83

Sometimes I think this is more a semantic discussion. What do you mean by low carb? Is that your fundamental goal, and the reason the weight is coming off?

Oftentimes people extol the wonders of low carb "dieting" for weight loss, but when you look at their diet they cut out crap, started eating more meat, fish, lots of healthy veggies, fruits in moderation, etc. Now, yes, that's a low carb diet. But it's also a healthy diet. Or a "common sense" diet. You can just as easily say that you are convinced, and now going on a "common sense diet." My guess is that the food will look very similar... :-)

Don't get me wrong, I, too, eat foods that are typically low carb. I just don't think it's necessary to follow some rigid system to meet your dietary goals.

--P

I totally agree. My boss tries to do Atkins and has great success with it, when he's on it. The problem is, he's either all on or all off. He seems to go in two-week cycles. I try to do what I consider modified-Atkins...or, like you say, a common sense diet.

I DO lose weight faster and feel much better when I cut out the carbs. But this mostly means cutting out the crap foods. And while pasta and bread aren't necessarily crap, I know that I can't eat just a little of those foods, so it's better for me to avoid them.

I've looked at the Dukan diet. I'm sure I would lose weight on it, because it's ridiculously rigid. I'm also pretty sure I could never keep it up long-term, not even if it meant I could look like Duchess Catherine.

yo_andi

The only thing I still haven't figured out is how to get my chocolate low carb... I love chocolate haha.

I make a variation of this: http://www.healthylivinghowto.com/1/post/2012/05/melt-inyour-mouth-not-in-your-hands.html

Sugar alcohols reek havoc on my system and stalls out my weight loss, so these really do the trick. I use liquid sucralose & vanilla extract instead of Truvia or Stevia because it tastes bitter to me. I also add an almond in there. Good stuff!

I get this chocolate from Trader Joe's:

http://www.amazon.com/Simply-Lite-Chocolate-Sugar-Free-3-Ounce/dp/B0049UDYH8

eyecandy1202

bump

pmaia

I need to read more later. I keep going over in protien and carbs but am suppose to eat more calories.. so i must be doing something wrong with my choices.

Crochetluvr

So where do you stand on the whole carb thing?

I have been a low carb believer for many years. My mistake was thinking I could just go back to eating the way I did after I lost the weight. I now know that isnt the case. You CAN teach an old dog new tricks, I guess.

But that doesnt mean I will never treat myself again. Everything in moderation. I eat low carb, whole wheat bread, Dreamfields pasta (2oz dry) that doesnt spike my sugar, and even a little cake on special occasions. If I can fit the numbers into my diary, I will do it. But I also eat high protein...keeps me fuller and more satisfied.

I started many years ago with the old Air Force Diet, which was low carb. Low carb has been around for decades. Some say its not sustainable, but it IS if you stick with it. I intend to this time.

belgerian

Ive thought about it but I love to run 8 miles a day 5-6 days a week and on the 6th day a longer run. Theres no way I could do it not to mention I love my apples, banannas and steel cut oats.

monalissanne

bump to watch videos when I eat my carb-filled lunch :devil:

JamCubeChi

Bump to reivew later

amysj303

I am bumping, maybe some hints for lowering carbs...