no carb diet is FAILURE

ApexLeader

After a day of the no carb thing I've had enough. The advise I was given in my introduction thread was great, I now see why a no carb diet is unrealistic. Here is my food log for today:

Egg - Scrambled, 4 egg (44g)
Generic - John Morrell Bacon, 68 g

Double Luck - Canned Green Beans, 1 cup
Amick Farms - Boneless Skinless Chicken Tenders, 12 ounces (GROSS)
Wal-Mart Great Value - Party Peanuts (Salted), 60 peices

Generic - Frozen Tillapia, 16 oz.
Great Value - Reduced Fat 2% Mild Cheddar Cheese, 1 oz
Generic - John Morrell Bacon, 20 g

What a rubbish diet. I feel literally sick from all that grease and non nutritional fatty meat. Any suggestions on how to be good on carbs AND eat healthy?

there are a lot of other foods you can eat than the ones you listed. also, i've lost 12 lbs in january from sticking to 50 grams or fewer carbs 6 days out of the week.

ashfuse

eat CLEAN. I strongly suggest tosca reno--eat clean diet recharged. It's cheap on amazon and will change your whole outlook on food.

if I don't have at least 120 g of carbs a day I don't last. I workout hard, though, so I need the carbs. I try to match protein to carbs. I usually range about 130-140 g carbs and protein per day. Most of my carbs come from fruits, veggies, nuts, oats, and seeds. I do eat sweet potatoes and occasionally regular potoatoes. If I eat bread, I eat ezekiel or other sprouted bread. If I want spaghetti, I make sure it's whole grain pasta.

Sabine_Stroehm

You had carbs, btw.

But yeah, that doesn't sound fun.

I eat pretty "slow" carbs, and pretty clean.
And only eat tasty things.

:-) Find what works for you.

jsd_135

I can do that better, allowing 100g of carbs allows soooo many more vegetables and room for some fruit.

My friend is doing the no carb thing and I don't see how he can stand to eat bacon instead of spinach or something with some nutritional value to it, but each to his own I guess.

If you're just starting out, I would highly recommend that you simplify your approach. To me, trying to keep specific macro numbers under a certain (arbitrary?) point is too complicated. I feel that the heavy-duty macro-tracking is more suited to people who have their basic diet under control and are refining their macros for specific purposes (e.g., strength training). Why not go easy on yourself and try to improve your basic diet first, eliminating as much as possible the processed stuff and getting portions under control. Baby steps will likely serve you better in the long run.

Wishing you the best.

jasonpclement

I'm still not convinced that low carb is the way to go for all but maybe a very small population. I'd shoot for 100-125 grams a day if your sedentary.

I've done low carb, high carb, and in between. Low carb will make you drop lots of weight over the course of a few days, but most of its just water. When you have less glycogen in your body from carbs, you store less water, and the scale goes down. Over longer periods of time, the true weight loss across multiple diets is usually even, calorie for calorie.

Unless you are part of a very specific population with different sensitivities or what have you.

LisaGirlfriend

Everything in moderation. Go for 40% protein, 30% carbs, 30% fat if you want to even do macros for weight loss... but here's my recommendation:

Get 1g protein daily for each pound of body weight, meet your daily calorie target and let your carbs and fat intake land wherever you want each day. Some days you'll feel like more carbs; some days you'll feel like more fat...

This for sure. I know I feel better eating lower carb. Lots of food have carbs in them that are healthy like fruits and veggies. I don't feel good when I overdo it on bread and pasta. My body doesn't like it. I also have a protein filled breakfast (very low carb) and only have the starchy carbs at dinner and sometimes lunch. Good luck.

mmapags

Everything in moderation. Go for 40% protein, 30% carbs, 30% fat if you want to even do macros for weight loss... but here's my recommendation:

Get 1g protein daily for each pound of body weight, meet your daily calorie target and let your carbs and fat intake land wherever you want each day. Some days you'll feel like more carbs; some days you'll feel like more fat...

I essentially agree with this person although I think the protein is a little higher than nessesary. The typical recommedation is 1 gram per lb of LEAN BODY MASS, not total body weight. But either way will work and not cause and issues.

Why do you feel like low carb is imnportant? There is no proven advantage to Low Carb Diets. For some they work great and for others not so great. Sounds like you are in the 2nd category.

NeverGivesUp

try to eat clean instead by limiting the processed stuff. Diets that you cannot keep up for life never work in the long term. Get frozen fruits and veggies if the cost it too high. I would avoid canned if I were you. I personally do not believe in high protein diets although a lot of people on MFP will disagree. Your body needs to rest and should not be in go go mode all the time. Protein makes your body work constantly repairing itself. The way I feel the best is to make fruits and veggies the base of what I eat and everything else revolves around that. Then you are getting so many nourishing natural vitamins and minerals for your body.

bearwith

You need some carbs to give you the energy and to allow you to feed your brain - hence you will feel good. When you do not eat carbs, you crave sugary food and that is a rollercoster of up and down mood swings as your blood sugar goes up and down.

Keep some healthy carbs like brown rice, wholegrains and nuts and seeds. You cannot go on a diet that is so far from real eating that when you come off the diet, you will put masses of weight on because you have not conditioned yourself to normal food. I did this several times when on a diet and ended up loving hot buttered toast and sweet tea because I had missed the carbs so much.

Remember - a little bit of everything in moderation, just keep below your calories and keep exercising and the weight will fall off.

Sabine_Stroehm

For everyone calling me out on the processed garbage (especially those chicken tenders, they were disgusting) sorry I'm just really new to this thing. I feel like an idiot for jumping into "low carbs" when I really don't have any idea about it.

As for the canned green beans, I like my green beans canned...cannot stand it otherwise. That's really the only canned vegetable I eat though. What about frozen? Is frozen OK?

It's just really expensive to buy this stuff raw....

Here's a comparison between fresh and canned green beans. Price, and nutrition. Fresh is not more expensive in this case.

http://www.nutritionbudgeteer.com/Pages/nutritioncomparisongreenbeans.aspx

justkeepgoing1010

I can't do without carbs. I don't eat crazy amounts but I eat enough to feel happy and not irritated. Balance is the key that's all.

mmapags

Your body needs to rest and should not be in go go mode all the time. Protein makes your body work constantly repairing itself.

What exactly do you mean by this?

jazzalea

wow one day and it's already a failure..... hmmm wonder why it worked for me? oh yeah.... because I found foods that I liked .....and concentrated more on ME than on what I was fueling my body with......

find what works for you and stick with it......

SanteMulberry

No carb diets (or very low carb diets) are counter-productive in the long term. It is okay to go very low carb for a max of a couple of weeks to kickstart a diet but to stay on it will make you burn muscle--not a good thing. You need the "muscle-sparing" effect of adequate carbohydrates (and that DOESN'T mean that obese people should be eating a high carb diet--because most obese people have a problem with high blood sugar/ high insulin). I eat between 100-200 grams of carbohydrate (I exclude sugar and wheat because I found that I was addicted to both of them) mostly from starchy vegetables and some fruit. I eat one or two pieces of 100% organic rye bread (two on my heavier exercise days) and it completely satisfies any "bread hunger" (and, in fact, I defy anyone to eat more--it is a very heavy, nutrient-dense food that seems to stay in your stomach for the entire day). This diet, combined with exercise will reduce body fat while retaining more muscle than very low-carbohydrate diets.

abrahamsitososa

Yes dehydrating your body of carbs is a failure. That's why Dr. Atkins had to file for bankruptcy.

greyoutside

You were eating carbs, though. "No carb" is a scam. and "low carb" is a fad diet without a whole lot of science behind it.

I don't really eat any grains, but I eat plenty of carbs because fruits, vegetables, beans, seeds, etc. all contain plenty of carbs.

groversa

Carbs are the easier and best way to give your body food, because your body can break it down a lot better and easier than any other type of food. Carbs are good for us! We just can't over do the simple carbs, stick with the complex carbs Simple carbs (such as white bread, table sugar) break down really fast, give you a burst of energy then leave, complex carbs (such as wheat) break down easily, but slowly, so it gradually gives your body as much energy as you need throughout the day.

fun_b

It worked for me a few years ago when I lost over 30 pounds and kept most of the weight off. I am no longer on the diet but it took two week for me before I saw positive results and I never felt sick. Just a thought but could you be eating too much Bacon?

tjl2329

Yeah no carbs suck. i just try lower carbs. I am dibetic so my dietian recommended it. lost over 30 lbs doing it. since dec. i eat 30 - 45 carbs per meal and 15 to 30 grams per snack. at first it was hard but i rarely go over. if i really want something i wat it. i dont like meat very much. but love cheese yogurt and peanuts. eggs only a little bit. i am over in fat an protein so i am now working on that. just try to reduce carb a little at a time. you can do it.

princessd84

The whole "war on carbs" really grinds my gears. Your body NEEDS carbs for energy. They serve a vital function. To cut them out is faddy and not a healthy long-term eating plan. Around 33% of your calorie intake should come from carbs.