How do people go on a "no carb" diet?

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  • refuseresist
    refuseresist Posts: 934 Member
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    Do you cry when you think about bread? I do
  • FIT_Goat
    FIT_Goat Posts: 4,224 Member
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    The best thing about this diet is that it means no giant bags of chips or boxes of cookies or loaves of cinnamon raisin bread sitting in your kitchen cabinets, calling out your name, tempting you to eat the entire bag or box or loaf.

    You don't live with my fiancee and her son. My pantry is stuffed with all those things and more. This would only be true if everyone in your household also ate low carb.
    And since you can eat all the veggies you want, a "low-carb" diet doesn't really have to be a "low-carb" diet.

    Uhm, no. A low carb diet is one that is low in carbs. You can't eat unlimited amounts of carbs just because they are from veggies.
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,150 Member
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    Do you cry when you think about bread? I do
    and pasta
  • refuseresist
    refuseresist Posts: 934 Member
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    Do you cry when you think about bread? I do
    and pasta

    images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ5OkArxfuWr6kfmJLi-OsUmiYBGNYGpSQ-5fhHJDAN911I1kzn
  • hookilau
    hookilau Posts: 3,134 Member
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    Technically, it's almost impossible to consume no carbs at all. Even eating just meat and fat, you're unlikely to really be consuming absolutely none. Throw in organ meats or brains, and you'll get a "bunch" [relatively speaking]. Lots of shellfish have carbs, too. Then your eggs and high fat dairy will have some trace amounts. Still, for all intents and purposes, when you're below 5g a day (not net... that's total), you can safely consider yourself no carb.

    Someone mentioned nuts. Generally, those are considered non-approved food items by truly no carb people. Even around an oz of macadamia nuts will have more total carbs than no carb people eat in a day.

    How is it done? Basically, just eat meat. The eating plan itself is extremely simple (meats, eggs, high-fat dairy). What vegetables are allowed are trace amounts of spices. That's just about it.

    While the eating plan is simple, following such a plan is often extremely hard (if not impossible) for most people. The idea that a salad is a "bad" food is shocking. The thought of 0g of fiber is terrifying. The concerns about deficiancies like scurvy (although unfounded) can drive one to a panic. If you are asking this because you know someone who eats that way, ask them how they do it.

    I did this by accident a couple of months ago :blushing:

    I'm not new to keto & had been using it to keep my BG low. What I hadn't realized is, the longer you keto, the better your BG's trend (if you have an issue to begin with).

    For BG's I needed to watch my total carbs but for keto I needed to watch net. So I ignored net and went with gross at some point to make things simpler. Looking back at my diary, I saw there were days when I only got 20-30 gross carbs per day & when the fiber was subtracted...well...it was waaay low :noway:

    I increased my carbs to about 70 g and some days as much as 100 net & stayed within my BG targets but the waay upper limit (as in 90-100 mg/dl for fasting & 120-140 mg/dl post meals).

    I've moved back down the to < 30 g per day after a few weeks and my FBG is reliably in the 80's and post meal BG's are < 110 mg/dl.

    Nuts are my downfall. Cashews specifically, for 8 g of carbs for a small handful, it's too expensive for me to spend on a snack unless it's close to bedtime -___-

    I try to save the lion's share of my carbs for meals.
  • violasmith85
    violasmith85 Posts: 274 Member
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    When diabetics count carbs we remove the number of fiber from the number of carbs in the food. So if it says 2g carb. and it has 1g fiber. We count it as 1g carb.
  • VelveteenArabian
    VelveteenArabian Posts: 758 Member
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    My husband occasionally goes zero carb for a week or two. He basically consumes only items that specifically say 0% carbs and 0g carbs. He can drop up to 20 pounds when he does it.

    Not sure what the point is since he doesn't maintain the weightloss but hey...different strokes.
  • triinityz
    triinityz Posts: 146 Member
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    I could be wrong but I thought the body needed at least 50g/day to survive and actually function? Again, I may be wrong but that's what I've heard from my low-carb friends.
    Actually the body can survive on zero carbs for quite some time. The body can survive on zero food for quite some time...

    I've been surviving on 20-25 grams or less per day for a longgggg time and I'm very healthy. So, yea, wrong!
  • tennisdude2004
    tennisdude2004 Posts: 5,609 Member
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    I could be wrong but I thought the body needed at least 50g/day to survive and actually function? Again, I may be wrong but that's what I've heard from my low-carb friends.

    Yes that is wrong. Your body can survive on zero dietary carbs.

    But would you want a diet of zero carbs - I should think probably not. Carbs definitely have their place in an optimal healthy balanced diet.

    It's just unlike protein and fat, dietary carbs are not an essential macro nutrient for survival.
  • baconslave
    baconslave Posts: 6,958 Member
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    I could be wrong but I thought the body needed at least 50g/day to survive and actually function? Again, I may be wrong but that's what I've heard from my low-carb friends.

    On average, my net carbs are 30, sometimes under 20. I'm still alive.....I think.

    Thanks for that! I have learned something new today! I never did the research myself, just was going off of what I heard. I believe you unless you're a zombie or something.

    Zombie! :laugh: I guess I'm a zombie too then because I too mostly do under 20 but occasionally go as high as 25 (or 30 when I have some fresh veggies that are too delicious to resist.) I've been doing this since June 1st. Exercising 5 days a week. Feeling great! Brains prefer to run on ketones, btw, which is something I learned recently.
  • baconslave
    baconslave Posts: 6,958 Member
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    My husband occasionally goes zero carb for a week or two. He basically consumes only items that specifically say 0% carbs and 0g carbs. He can drop up to 20 pounds when he does it.

    Not sure what the point is since he doesn't maintain the weightloss but hey...different strokes.

    Eww...Yeah. I did very low-carb, like less than 10g/day, for awhile. You really begin to appreciate veggies more once you can finally have them again. :laugh:


    Technically, it's almost impossible to consume no carbs at all. Even eating just meat and fat, you're unlikely to really be consuming absolutely none. Throw in organ meats or brains, and you'll get a "bunch" [relatively speaking]. Lots of shellfish have carbs, too. Then your eggs and high fat dairy will have some trace amounts. Still, for all intents and purposes, when you're below 5g a day (not net... that's total), you can safely consider yourself no carb.

    Someone mentioned nuts. Generally, those are considered non-approved food items by truly no carb people. Even around an oz of macadamia nuts will have more total carbs than no carb people eat in a day.

    How is it done? Basically, just eat meat. The eating plan itself is extremely simple (meats, eggs, high-fat dairy). What vegetables are allowed are trace amounts of spices. That's just about it.

    While the eating plan is simple, following such a plan is often extremely hard (if not impossible) for most people. The idea that a salad is a "bad" food is shocking. The thought of 0g of fiber is terrifying. The concerns about deficiancies like scurvy (although unfounded) can drive one to a panic. If you are asking this because you know someone who eats that way, ask them how they do it.

    I did this by accident a couple of months ago :blushing:

    I'm not new to keto & had been using it to keep my BG low. What I hadn't realized is, the longer you keto, the better your BG's trend (if you have an issue to begin with).

    For BG's I needed to watch my total carbs but for keto I needed to watch net. So I ignored net and went with gross at some point to make things simpler. Looking back at my diary, I saw there were days when I only got 20-30 gross carbs per day & when the fiber was subtracted...well...it was waaay low :noway:

    I increased my carbs to about 70 g and some days as much as 100 net & stayed within my BG targets but the waay upper limit (as in 90-100 mg/dl for fasting & 120-140 mg/dl post meals).

    I've moved back down the to < 30 g per day after a few weeks and my FBG is reliably in the 80's and post meal BG's are < 110 mg/dl.

    Nuts are my downfall. Cashews specifically, for 8 g of carbs for a small handful, it's too expensive for me to spend on a snack unless it's close to bedtime -___-

    I try to save the lion's share of my carbs for meals.

    Oh I love cashews. That's why I don't eat them. I love them wayyyyy too much. I could eat the whole can in one sitting..trigger food, no bueno! So I eat almonds instead. I could take or leave them, but if I need a fat and cal boost at the end of the day, I go to them.
  • lolabluola
    lolabluola Posts: 212 Member
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    yeah I did do the 20g carb thing - but that's just cause if there are breads / bagels / pasta / cookies / muffins / pizza / sugar ETC I have totally no will power so atkins style was a good stepping off point for me cause it's a lot harder to over eat on salad. So you do get a lot of carbs from veggies and stuff because it allows you to subtract the Fiber from the Carbs to get 'net carbs'. I was strict at 20-90 grams of carbs for about a year - now i can focus more on just healthy eating and if I want a sandwich I'll have it because The LOW carb helped me learn how to eat my starches and grains in moderation.

    So yeah when people say no carb - they totally mean low carb (eek I hope!)
    I think I was totally addicted to sugar and bagels and mmm bread I could eat by the loaf - I would actually get cravings for bread.
    Just made a nice starting point to re-learn moderation for me :)


    does that make any sense?
  • baconslave
    baconslave Posts: 6,958 Member
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    Do you cry when you think about bread? I do
    and pasta

    images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ5OkArxfuWr6kfmJLi-OsUmiYBGNYGpSQ-5fhHJDAN911I1kzn

    Nope. Don't cry when I think about bread or pasta. I'm completely satisfied with all the foods I eat. Sweets either. I haven't touched one since I started. Or cried over one. Which is miraculous considering what a carb addict I once was.

    So ummm....

    roudIZk.gif
    :laugh: :laugh: :laugh::
  • refuseresist
    refuseresist Posts: 934 Member
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    Mmm. Bacon and eggs. ON toast. Mmmm


    I think I might be being an idiot. Sorry
  • baconslave
    baconslave Posts: 6,958 Member
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    Mmm. Bacon and eggs. ON toast. Mmmm


    I think I might be being an idiot. Sorry

    :laugh:

    Poo on toast. But put some sour cream and some cheese in those eggs...yum. Or a quiche. I still have a piece of a sausage, cheese, and mushroom one I made earlier in the week. De-frickin-licious. It needed bacon, though. Mmmmm....bacon.
  • rprussell2004
    rprussell2004 Posts: 870 Member
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    Gonna try this pizza crust tonight:

    http://imgur.com/a/dT5I2
  • baconslave
    baconslave Posts: 6,958 Member
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    Gonna try this pizza crust tonight:

    http://imgur.com/a/dT5I2

    Bookmarked that sucker. Looks pretty NOM-worthy.
  • refuseresist
    refuseresist Posts: 934 Member
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    OMG I love quiche
  • La5Vega5Girl
    La5Vega5Girl Posts: 709 Member
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    my husband is on one. he has lost almost 20 lbs. he eats less than 10g/carbs per day.
    it's easy for him. he doesn't even count calories. he eats mushrooms, olives, lettuce with fattening dressing (<2 carbs per serving) with meat, cheese.

    it's very easy for him. sometimes, I just have to eat fruit! LOL

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