Low Carb Dieters

sunryse00

Finding alternatives (love quinoa) has become a game. I give in to sweets a lot still, but I am still acknowledging it and just working at it every day.... I don't beat myself up if I slip; I just plan to do better next time.

Ha! I think of finding alternatives as a game also. I get excited when I find a simple substitution for a favorite like using cauliflower in place of potatoes to make scalloped cauliflower and ham or cauliflower soup. Sometimes it's the simplest little switch that makes all the difference.

A friend of mine told me that getting upset over a diet slip is like smashing your cell phone because you dropped it. Sometimes you just have to have that piece of chocolate or a burger with the bun and ketchup (sweet, sweet ketchup), but it's not the end of the world. You pick up the cell phone, recommit to your diet and the next meal is another chance.

bostonwolf

Is anyone else on a low carb diet? I've been struggleing lately staying within my allowed carbs. Just curious if anyone else is out there on a low carb diet & have any pointers for me?

Start a different diet that is easier for you to adhere to

I agree. I do Tim Ferris' Slow Carb diet. You stay away from white grains, breads, sugar etc but still are eating beans and most vegetables to get sufficient carbs. Low Carb diets like Atkins work, I've just found it impossible to stay on due to the cravings.

Ferriss' diet also features a cheat day where all foods are fair game, the idea being that this keeps your body from getting too used to one mode of eating.

It's working for me so far and I started a group on here about it if you want to learn more details.

bostonwolf

That sugar withdrawal headache is the worst. Been there many times, but once you get past it, it all gets easier. For me, the low carb diet is the easiest to follow as I am not a big sweet eater to begin with. Make sure you plan your day, with a variety of approved food and snacks ready to go. Trouble brews when you are hungry and don't have any low carb food. Then cheating is very easy to do.

Regardless of what diet you choose to follow, I think limiting or eliminating sugar and artificial sweetners is absolutely essential if you want to lose fat. And yeah, those first few days stink.

it's also amazing when you start reading labels and realize that the huge majority of processed foods contain sugar, salt, and fat in large amounts. If if they claim to be "low" in one of the three, the other two are jacked up even higher to compensate.

SwimFan1981

I'm on a very low carb, low fat, low calorie diet. I eat 600-1000 calories a day, less than 25g of carbs, less than 35 g of fat. Before anyone gets on their high horse, I'm under a doctor's supervision, I go in for weekly check ups. I also take appetite suppressants before each meal, fiber pills, vitamins, and biweekly b12 injections (for energy). For me it was a hard switch. I love bread, and milk... etc. This is what I have to offer you.
I eat five times a day with this calorie break down:
Breakfast: 200
Snack: 100
Lunch: 200-250
Snack: 100
Dinner: 200-250
Some days I don't eat any snacks, other I eat all of my alloted calories. For the first three days, all that I ate was lean protein. It was tough, but kicked me into ketosis. I then got to add good veggies, which was semi difficult given my carb allowance. Day 15 you add fruit 1-2 times a week.

The biggest thing that helps me stay on track is keeping low carb snacks handy (Sugarfree Jell-o is a god send). I also precook/portion my food so all I have to do is grab a container and heat it up.

Walden Farms makes a bunch of awesome everything free dressings, sauces, etc. They really help. Chicken gets old after awhile.

Is this diet for a medical reason? Don't take this the wrong way, I'm sincerely interested.

AntChorlton

Eating a low carb diet will alter your Leptin and Ghrelin levels which will effect your apatite in a bad way. Eat your carbs but pick the right ones, high in fiber and lots of nutrients.

No_Finish_Line

i have just started i am clueless to the process and how to maintain my energy i had a head ache the last 2 days and caved and ate
pretzels i would love some advice or else we can figure it out together as we go....

as an alternative to low carbs you could consider just cutting out high GI carbs like pretzels and try to get most of them from fruits and veggies.

if the low carb diet was giving you headaches, thats probably a sign its not the best for your body.

I did a mont of 50% protein and 30% carbs. it was hard at first but i got used to it. the hardest thing was that i was cooking more meals, because i pretty much had to eat more meat by default when before i could have just reached for a banana.

first two weeks i lost fat crazy fast then it slowed down. of course i was also eating at a defecit and working out like a fiend.

No_Finish_Line

You'll notice quite quickly that posts like this will be flooded by people pushing their 'wisdom' and demand that you eat according to their 'rules' because they know best. Some do, some don't so don't take everything you read too seriously.

lol yes. I love how people seem to think one particular diet or exercise approach is the one and only way for everyone to get the best results, and all the little clicks that form around that.

if someone is telling your thier way is the only way, or is otherwise a little insulting, i'd just skip to the next post because they probably don't have much intelligent to say lol

jennb44

I am doing low-carb and I stick to between 50-70 grams most days now. When I started back in mid-January I was doing around 100 grams to start off with. Some days are harder than others and you will crave things that are higher in carbs, but you just have to even it out like have something with less carbs at another meal in that day. I was fortunate that I didn't really experience the headaches that others talk about. Drink as much water as you can is another key...helps to keep you full longer. When I want chocolate and nuts together, I usually go for an Atkins bar...they have many favors and all are really good. Carbs run between 2-3 grams a bar...not bad. I am also keeping my calories between 1300-1590 a day as well. Also, I get a lot of recipes off the internet by searching for low-carb recipes. Here is one particular site that I have used and so far most of the recipes are really good...http://www.genaw.com/lowcarb/index.html

Good luck and if you want to friend me, you can view my dairy.

LoFalcon

Good morning! I have been trying low carb with doctor supervision for 8 weeks, and have not begun to lose weight yet. I actually have gained 5 pounds overall. Now I need to lose 20 to get where I need to be. I just had to go buy new, bigger, clothes to feel comfortable. I am switching things up a bit now - going to try amping up on the low-carb Veg, and dialing back on the protein and the fat. I will see where this gets me.
I just found MFP, and I hope with some support and tools I can get on track.
I REALLY want low carb to work for me. It makes the most sense.
Thanks!

135nicole

I started a special carbohydrate diet, because any carbs made me gain weight in high speed, even when I ate 1000-1200 calories and did 4 hours exercise I couldn't get the weight down and I don't have thyroid or cortisol problems, which I got tested. The scd diet works for me and was invented to heal celiac and IBS.
The worst is giving up bread and I found a way to make bread which I eat thinly sliced more often in the day. It is high in protein, healthy fat but almost no carb and I lose weight with it. Here is the recipe:
2 cups almond meal
1/2 tsp baking soda
Mix it
4 egg white beaten with 1/2 tsp. salt until it spikes
Keep it
4 egg yolks
4 tbs. olive oil
Beat creamy
Mix the yellow and the egg whites, and add slowly the almond meal mixture to it.
Bake 350F , 25 minutes
Don't open the oven door before 25 minutes
Test it with a tooth pick, no dough- it's good
Buy the almond meal at the health food store it's cheaper there 1/3 of the store price.
I slice it very thin with a electric knife.
Taste good toasted, too.
Other wise if you don't wanna bake,I substitute bread with bell peppers, tomatoes, lettuce as a base and prepare it like a sandwich.

Telleup

I have had great success with a low carb diet in the past, but it shot my cholesteral to a very bad point. I lost 20 pounds in two months and was able to keep it for for a year, but when I started eating carbs again I gained all of that weight back plus 10. So I am now trying to eat low fat, low calories and I will tell you it is not near as much fun. I have not figured this out quite yet, but am optimistic - I just hate being hungry.

My advice to you would be to follow the South Beach Diet as it contains many "good carb" ideas and it is what my cardiologist recommended I follow. Another idea if you are planning on doing low carb is to have your blood drawn prior to starting a low carb diet and then again in six months to see if you are affecting your body in a negative way.

zeller2468

essentailly ... withdrawal symptoms!

nancycaregiver

Hi,
You can friend me if you'd like. Check out my diaries. I have found an app that I absolutely love! It is call Spark Recipes I typed "low carb" in the search bar and it pulled up literally hundreds of low carb recipes. I save the ones I liked to favorites so I have dozens of things and the app is free! I'm on here everyday. Good luck!

djm81sp

There has to be a healthy balance. When I was on a low carb diet, I had NO Idea what I was doing. No clue at all. I used to just eat lots of meat, chicken ect, and stayed away from almost anything with carbs. I didn't eat vegetables, I didn't consult a doctor, and I did pretty much everything that goes against sustainable weight loss and healthy eating. While it worked temporarily, I was also miserable and it was totally unsustainable as at the time I had no plan to follow once the weight was coming off to keep it off so I went right back to my unhealthy ways.. after all at the time I figured "well it worked once, it can work again". It didn't. I was just so happy I was losing weight I dealt with it, but long term.. it didn't take long to get off that plan and gain it all back.

oh_em_gee

I would call myself a reduced carber, but not low. I tend to crave carbs and overeat around carby foods, so I decided to cut some of them out. I very very rarely have bread, and if I eat pasta or rice, I prefer not to eat white. I actually am eating bread today, but that's not typical for me. My big problem is sugar, I can't seem to keep it down.

135nicole

Thank you for pointing out the cholesterol. I checked my nutrition and I am in the limit. This app is really good you can check a lot and see what works or not. I found out I am an balanced oxidizer with jillian Michaels and can have carbs, fat, protein in equal portions. With this app I can see if I do and influence my eating in the right direction.
I tried the south beach diet and I only loose weight with phase 1. As soon as I go to phase 2 I gained the weight back in few days. Staying on phase1 made me weak after 2weeks.
The scd diet works better for me. I also learned that I should eat all the required calories which I didn't and that's why my weight goes slowly down or plateaus for a while. I also did a lot of weight training and jillian michaels said that if you have to loose excess weight do extra 2 hours cardio( one at am and one at pm), besides your weight training.
After one week on the scd diet with no more ups and downs.
i will change my exercise program to that now with the hope that I will see great weight loss. 2pounds a week I would be happy.
I started in January with the shred revolution diet and I only lost 2 pound in six weeks with three pounds up and down every three days (frustrating)! But I learned to have my meals at 300 cal. and snacks at 100 or 150 calories- for me I just ate the wrong foods working for me like protein bars or shakes, they are full of lactose which made me bloated, I use them to put my protein intake higher. Now I know that homemade yoghurt, almond bread and lentils are my protein food to go to.
I also learned from Jillian Michaels that cruciferous veggies like broccoli, kale, cauliflower, cabbage need to be slightly cooked to benefit weight loss.
Sorry for those who are getting mad from shared experiences. For all the others I hope it helped a little to find your way to the diet and exercise which fits for you. But all in all I lost 5 inches in the waist, 1 inch hips, calves,arms,chest,neck in six weeks with only weight loss of 3'pounds in six weeks- doesn't that sound crazy? I look like I lost 20 pounds. I gonna add the cardio to really loose them.

spruitt417

I've been doing South Beach Diet since Jan 2, 2013. For the first 2 weeks you can have proteins, non-starchy vegetables & dairy....no rice, potatoes, bread, cereal, fruit, pasta, cookies, cakes, etc. I was never hungry & didn't miss the carbs (I had tried Atkins once before but found it too restrictive & didn't stick to it). After the initial 2 weeks you gradually add the carbs back into your diet, paying attention to what does or doesn't trigger cravings. I used to live on pizza, potatoes, pasta, fast food & now I don't even miss them.

You have to find something YOU can commit to. If you're not willing or ready to make healthy eating a lifestyle change you'll always struggle on some level.

megan__johnson

If you're so used to eating a lot of carbs, trying to take them out of your daily eating WILL be tough, and you WILL have withdrawls.

But the only advice i can give is to make it past the first couple of days, you will be amazed at how much better you feel. Literally from the inside out, i feel completely different.

I started out doing only 1 carb serving per day, just to not shock my body so much.. (1 cup rice, 2 slices of bread)
But after doing that for a month, I gave them up completely, started doing larger servings of veggies.

135nicole

The diets I tried I sticked to it at least 4-6 weeks or even 3 months, when it wasn't working for me and made me bloated and weight gain I tried another one. I tried weight watchers old and new program, the gorgeously green diet (my husband lost 20 pounds and i gained 10 pounds,) south beach diet ( phase 1 works for me), you are what you eat from Gillian McKeith( lost 10 pounds but gained 4 inches from bloating), fasted for 40 days,cabbage diet, shred revolution, cleansing, I tried laser acupuncture for weight loss over 6 month, iris diagnostic, apple cider before meals,Brigitte diet, p90x diet ( which is kind of work and a lot of calories), gluten free diet.
I hardly put salt and sugar on my food and celery tastes salty for me now and milk tastes too sweet.
I just came to the point where I thought that I can't have certain healthy carbs, so I found the scd diet and am on it for a week now. I like it, I lost a pound in one week. I just hope that's the one.

iris8pie

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