Cutting out Carbs

Two words:

Lunch+Box

^ this, along with planning your meals for the week during the weekend.

Check these video for some tips.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TYOlg43a-U

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CN_rFMvavMY

Each person reacts differently to carbs. I personally found completely cutting out carbs make me hungry and cranky all the time.

So now I try to keep some carbs on the diet but I've upped my proteins.

When you go to the gym or hit the tracks, you need to have some strength to finish your workout. Without enough carbs of protein in your diet, you will burn out quickly and lose muscle.

So do try to include some complex carbs Good luck

As far as carbs go, yes, you do need them. It has also been shown that cutting out a good portion of carbs can help. I would go Paleo diet or something like that. Perhaps the zone diet.

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what is that??

The rice won't help with low carb. You could try to get the cooks to let you have just meat instead of sandwiches or meat and rice mixes, although you'll probably have to pay more or get less. You could also smuggle in some boiled eggs, or see if they're on any of the salads as topping (I've seen them on salad bars).

I had great luck with low carb for many months when I was very overweight. Not so much when I had less to lose, but maybe nothing works fast and well when you're on the last few pounds. However, if you're going to do it, to get the most benefit, you really should do it for months, not weeks. That is partly because a lot of people lose water weight the first few weeks, which makes the loss look better than it is, but mostly it's because becoming fully keto-adapted takes time. Some people find they feel great on low carb after the first (rather rough) month or so and I felt even better after two months. So if you like meat a lot and are one of those people who feels great eating low carb, you might want to adopt it long-term, not just for loss, but for maintenance.

Also, everyone is different. I'd never suggest not trying it, since I did have great results for nearly a year, but some can't stick to it, others feel not so great on it, and others don't lose on it (calories still count!).

+1 for lunch box. Pizza is ridiculously calorific and the carbs and fat are really low-grade. Crappy salty white bread and cheap cheese. Omit from your diet!

Include carbs from wholegrain rice, wholewheat pasta, wholegrain cereals etc. They'll keep you fuller for longer and prevent snacking. Also have more fibre which is generally something people lack in their diet. Protein rich meals are another way to decrease carbs because they are filling. Eggs; 0% fat yoghurt; chicken breast; skimmed milk; all these are delicious easy ways to add protein. Hope that helps.

the only way you lose by cutting out carbs is water weight. Your glycogen stores deplete (and they are the ones "holding" water) so your body releases the water it's held and you get a few pounds lighter. Once you go back on carbs the glycogen stores replenish and hold water again, so you will gain it back. And you are not shifting any fat which is the ultimate goal, right?

The above is assuming you eat the same amount of calories in a day regardless of whether you eat carbs or not.

Just figure out the maximum amount of calories you can eat and lose weight, increase your protein consumption for satiety and muscle protection and you're good to go

Wow... So I lost 89 pounds of water weight? Interesting......

OP …do what you want to do ..

but why can't you just eat in a moderate deficit and get 30% of your calories from carbs…? Do you have some kind of medical condition/carb sensitivity?

I would rather enjoy all the foods I like, be healthy, and still lose weight/maintain, etc….

There's no medical reason behind this, I've just known some people to do it either by choice or necessity, and it's worked as a good kick-start for them. I haven't been doing what I should for my diet as much lately, so I'd like to get myself started and really motivated again.

As a jump start it's not really a good idea because once you stop it you WILL gain back.... If you do it you need to stick with it....
If you don't plan on doing it full time I would probably recommend doing lower calories instead.

I have to do it to stabalIze blood sugar for insulin resistance because I tried low calorie and got no where with my blood sugar problems and my PCOS symptoms....

I tried a low-carb diet last year to get some quick results before "settling down" with my new lifestyle. I lost about 20 lbs, but gained them all as soon as I started expanding my foods again. I did not take the time to research how much was ok to eat and what types to eat. Just went back to old habits. We need some carbs, veggies and fruits if you can have them, people talk about grains, etc. I am not an expert yet. From what I see in the previous posts it has to do with making a real-life plan and planning on sticking with it. If you find good recipes in the internet for low-carb and you feel that's the right thing for you, go ahead and enjoy it! If you want a quick start-up, make sure you have a plan for when you end that period and move on with what is next without missing a step. Good luck!!!

I've known a few people who have cut carbs out of their diet for a few weeks and have lost a bunch of weight, and I'm really interested in trying it for a few weeks as a bit of a kick-start to get myself back into my diet. My biggest problem with this, though, is my job. I work 4 nights a week at a pizza place, and eat dinner there each of those nights (I work 10+ hour shifts each night). Our menu is almost all pizza or fried food or sandwiches, which isn't going to help me with not eating carbs.

The only option I can come up with is to just eat salads when I'm working, but I worry that I'm going to get sick of them really fast and won't be able to keep up with it. The other option I've considered is, because we also deliver for a Mexican restaurant, I have ordered a shredded chicken/Spanish rice dish before that would work, but it's not very filling and I wouldn't know what to get with it. Can anyone give me some suggestions for how I can eat without carbs while working at this restaurant? Or at least how I can cut way, way, way down on the carbs I do eat at work?

umm....salads are carbs so....

Every time a person begins a "low carb" diet plan, an Angel somewhere cries...

This isn't a direct answer to your question, but it may help make food decisions easier in the future.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819055-setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets

Might also benefit you to research If It Fits Your Macros (IIFYM). The IIFYM is a personal choice, but I find it rather liberating...

Cheers!

the only way you lose by cutting out carbs is water weight. Your glycogen stores deplete (and they are the ones "holding" water) so your body releases the water it's held and you get a few pounds lighter. Once you go back on carbs the glycogen stores replenish and hold water again, so you will gain it back. And you are not shifting any fat which is the ultimate goal, right?

The above is assuming you eat the same amount of calories in a day regardless of whether you eat carbs or not.

Just figure out the maximum amount of calories you can eat and lose weight, increase your protein consumption for satiety and muscle protection and you're good to go

Wow... So I lost 89 pounds of water weight? Interesting......

ALnoog, I said assuming you eat the same amount of calories per day (eating carbs or not), you're going to lose only water weight. In the end it boils down to calories in/calories out, unless there is a medical condition.

I myself have reduced pasta and bread, but i don't credit my success to low carbs. It was simply the food that I would eat too many unnecessary calories of. So while I might eat less carbs now, the main thing I did by reducing the bread and pasta was cut down calories.

if you cut out carbs and just replace it with other food, then you will only lose water weight.

I never lowered the calories I ate... In fact I ate more because old Atkins encouraged SO much fat intake...

if you eat more calories, you will gain weight. unless you defy the laws of thermodynamics.

You may have felt like you were eating more, because protein and fat keep you satiated longer. Another reason I don't eat too many carbs, I prefer to spend my calories on meat.

If you think you have truly eaten less calories with carbs, then stopped eating carbs but increased your calories and lost 90 lbs, then you must have been logging inaccurately at one part of this process or the other.

I mean you see the logic, right, eating more calories will make you bigger, just like adding bricks to a house will make it bigger. Can't keep adding bricks and make a mansion into a studio flat