Low Carbs......how low can you go?

I would suggest a couple of appointments with a very good nutritionist who can guide you through this process in a healthy way.

If you are part of facebook go search out Trim Healthy mama, there is a great group that walks you through eatin healthier and allowing you to still have treats every now and again and how to do it

How low can you go? In theory, you could go down to 0g of carbs per day. There's no such thing as an essential carb. If you're not eating any, your body has ways to get enough from other sources. In practice, getting down to 0g is not really necessary and makes for way too many food restrictions. Stuff like eggs, cheese, liver, and other foods that are good to eat all have trace amounts of carbs.

People also typically count net carbs. This means you can have lots of leafy green veggies. If something has 7g of carbs, but two grams of fiber, it's really only 2g of carbs that will reach your blood stream. So, you just count them as 2g of carbs.

Personally, I average under 10g a day. That's gross (not net). But, I will openly admit that I go to an extreme that most people have no need to reach. A more reasonable goal is 20-25g of net carbs a day. Ratio and timing doesn't matter. You can have 20g with dinner, or spread out through the day. The amount of carbs per 100g doesn't matter. It's just total grams / day that matters.

Atkins bars, pasta, and most frozen meals are garbage. They are full of a bunch of junk that you don't need to be eating. They should all come with a warning that Atkins himself did not approve of most diet foods and products and told people to just buy their own real foods. Many things sold today would be stuff that he probably wouldn't agree with. Sadly, with his death, the company became more profit driven than sanity driven. That said, a rare treat from the Atkins line of products is something you may wish to indulge in. Eating one or more products every day is a sure way to have problems.

Is it hard at first? Yes. I was the world's biggest bread eater. I would bake 4-6 loaves of homemade bread every week. I would eat fries, potatoes, or rice daily. If I ate breakfast at all, it was usually oatmeal. Changing to low-carb required me to completely rebuild my understanding of food. More than physically, this was a mentally tough task.

Finally, there are many groups on here that you should consider joining:
Low Carber Daily Forum... The Group
Keto
Low Carb/High Fat Lifestyle

These groups, and there are some others, are more supportive and understanding than the general forums. You'll get replies from people who are doing the same thing you're trying to do and who understand.

Cutting carbs and going LCHF was the best thing I've ever done in my life. Most days I'm under 10g of carbs a day. There are still a lot of awesome things you can make if you get a sweet tooth. I like to have 85% dark chocolate. It's 8g of carbs for a 25g bar. There are also a ton of sites with fantastic low carb recipes. My favorite site is Ibreatheimhungry.com. You think that cutting them is hard now, but once you actually start eating this way you won't even miss them.

http://www.ibreatheimhungry.com/recipe-index/low-carb-gluten-free-dessert-recipes

This doesn't sound like an even remotely feasible path for you. Might be worth considering a second opinion.

Yup.

I agree with the above posts. No need to go to extremes, but you can safely cut every single carb. As for myself, I try to stay at 30g net carbs/day. As stated before, difficult at first, then you begin to wonder why you didn't eat this way your whole life. I have enjoyed discovering new recipes to replace the foods I once ate. I have several low carb pizzas, waffles, pancakes, and a low carb ricotta cheese cake, just to name a few, that will cure any sweet craving!

I agree with the above posts. No need to go to extremes, but you can safely cut every single carb. As for myself, I try to stay at 30g net carbs/day. As stated before, difficult at first, then you begin to wonder why you didn't eat this way your whole life. I have enjoyed discovering new recipes to replace the foods I once ate. I have several low carb pizzas, waffles, pancakes, and a low carb ricotta cheese cake, just to name a few, that will cure any sweet craving!

Precisely. I do under 30g/daily (that's gross, not net) but intend to bump it up once I reach maintenance. The guy I quoted has it right.

Atkins has levels; you start low and then slowly you add other things. Read the book. Don't just look it up on the internet or read an article. Try to get a lot of fat and protein, less carbs. My target percentage is 5% carbs, 30% protein, and 70% fat.

If you don't think you can do it. Do this instead. Try for 50g net. Cut pasta, rice, refined breads, potatoes, corn, and other starches. Pick things off the low end of the Glycemic Index. Green leafies, veggies, fruits. This will improve your blood sugar and calorie intake nicely. That will drastically improve your health.
(My mother is a diabetic, and I have had gestational diabetes, so I'm well informed on restricted carb diets.)

I did VLC for about a year, and it was a truly miserable experience. I'm not saying that to try and scare you, just pointing out the obvious - the human body is designed to eat carbs, and going into strong deprivation will work for some people but will be an unsustainable horror show for most people.

Good luck!

It is an interesting concept that for some may be controversial I listen to a podcast this morning (ask ask prof noakes) professor Timothy Noakes who is an authority on low carb high fat diet. He recommends between 50-150 grams/day. Yes, you can go down to -zero- but that is not for everyone.

Another resource is the book 'the art and science of low carbohydrate living' by Jeff Volek and Stephen Phinney. Great read.

Another podcast you may want to listen to - and don't be intimidated by the fact that the hosts are marathoners and ironman triathletes - it is the concept. The pod cast is "fit fat fast".

Personally I would go low carb, but not necessary to the point of becoming ketotic. If you do for medical reasons, I would hope your physician have you on some kind of supervision and check numbers regularly.

One caveat is - in the beginning people can be very tired and irritable.

I am supposed to see plain yoghurt as the answer to world tension, when I HATE plain yoghurt. Can anyone tell me where to start!! Thank you so much

You can dump a bunch of artificial sweetener in it, and a few blueberries. It's decent.