Low-carb? "Yeah, but what do you eat??"

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Meganne1982
Meganne1982 Posts: 451
in Food and Nutrition
A lot of the time, people considering (or just questioning) low-carb lifestyles wonder what the heck you can eat with such a diet. They wonder how you can have any variety once you cut out bread and pasta...

Well, I thought I'd share this entry from one of my favorite blogs:

http://www.fathead-movie.com/index.php/2011/05/04/2848/

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  • katheern
    katheern Posts: 213 Member
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    I eat a ton of veggies and will substitute them for carbs. For example, last night I made asian lettuce wraps with ground turkey meat and romaine lettuce to wrap the food. All recipes has a lot of awesome low-carb recipes on their site:

    http://allrecipes.com/Recipes/Healthy-Cooking/Low-Carb-Diet/Main.aspx
  • TayJoMama
    TayJoMama Posts: 348 Member
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    OMG! thanks for sharing, I've wondered that myself.
  • ka_42
    ka_42 Posts: 720 Member
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    Bump! Thanks for posting :)
  • katheern
    katheern Posts: 213 Member
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    No problem! I definitely love that site and I since my old diet was so carb heavy I was feeling so restricted so I got bored with my meals. Now I am so much more excited about my meals since I have a lot more variety.
  • Shalott
    Shalott Posts: 2
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    Not to sound uneducated, but..... aren't vegetables almost 100% carbs themselves?
  • Hellsbells42
    Hellsbells42 Posts: 8
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    Not to sound uneducated, but..... aren't vegetables almost 100% carbs themselves?

    Well, depends. As a rule of thumb, those growing beneath the earth are high on carbs (potatoes, carrots).
    There's a great website listing all vegetables and how high on carbs, protein etc they are. Unfortunately for most (if not all) of you, it's in German, so I won't post the link here. You can eat tomatoes, radishes, cucumbers, celery stalks etc.
  • MissKim
    MissKim Posts: 2,853 Member
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    awesome blog..

    when people say low-carb, most of the time they are referring to the bad carbs, like grains/sugars. Vegetables are healthy carbs. low-carb, just means lower than the standard american diet, not necessarily no carbs.
  • katheern
    katheern Posts: 213 Member
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    Sorry, yeah I should have clarified. When I mean veggies I meant like lettuce, celery, cucumbers, etc. Leafy greens. I don't consider potatoes or carrots as veggies since they are more starchy.
  • kathyhull
    kathyhull Posts: 327 Member
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    I think the thing a lot of people miss is that you want to eat the complex carbs and leave the processed and simple carbs alone. Eat all the brocoli, cauliflower, green beans, celery, etc... you can. It's the breads, rolls, biscuits etc.. that you want to limit when you're trying to cut carbs. Processed foods and high starch foods turn to fat more quickly while high fiber complex carbs actually make your body work a little bit to digest, make you feel fuller. I even try to somewhat limit the whole grains, rice, corn and potatoes. But, don't cut them out all together. Any time you tell yourself you can't have something, that's the thing you'll crave the most and then you'll binge. Just try to cut back on them and fill in with low fat proteins and vegies.
  • Meganne1982
    Meganne1982 Posts: 451
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    Not to sound uneducated, but..... aren't vegetables almost 100% carbs themselves?

    Well, keep in mind, LOW carb isn't NO carb :)

    When all your carbs come from veggies and a little fruit it's hard to get a "high" carb total.

    I eat fruit or veggies with each meal and less than 10% of my cal are from carbs.
  • Shalott
    Shalott Posts: 2
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    Thanks for the clarification. I had carrots/broccoli in mind --- those are some of my favorites.
  • LaJauna
    LaJauna Posts: 336 Member
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    Not to sound uneducated, but..... aren't vegetables almost 100% carbs themselves?

    Yes, but they are low carb compared to grains, fruits and sugars.
  • LaJauna
    LaJauna Posts: 336 Member
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    I think the thing a lot of people miss is that you want to eat the complex carbs and leave the processed and simple carbs alone. Eat all the brocoli, cauliflower, green beans, celery, etc... you can. It's the breads, rolls, biscuits etc.. that you want to limit when you're trying to cut carbs. Processed foods and high starch foods turn to fat more quickly while high fiber complex carbs actually make your body work a little bit to digest, make you feel fuller. I even try to somewhat limit the whole grains, rice, corn and potatoes. But, don't cut them out all together. Any time you tell yourself you can't have something, that's the thing you'll crave the most and then you'll binge. Just try to cut back on them and fill in with low fat proteins and vegies.

    But if you cut them out completely.....you stop craving them. That is the point. It breaks the cycle of cravings. Most people who have given them up do not miss them. If you eat more healthy fats...all fats are healthy except the man-made hydrogenized ones, then you will feel full faster and more satisfied with what you eat.
  • jenn2782
    jenn2782 Posts: 47
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    Bump
  • helenmelon29
    helenmelon29 Posts: 787 Member
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    Ive been trying to have low carb (didnt go too well last week tho). But do eat some.

    I have Peanut butter on wholemeal toast or porrage for breakie.
    Lunch I have soup or chill with beans
    Supper often fish, ham, cheese and boiled egg, prawn/tuna or smoked salmon and salad
    I also have natural yogurt, sugar free jelly made with berries in it..
    Snack on apple, pear, banana, cheese, cottage cheese, peanut butter (with a teaspoon)

    Im aiming for more protein too.

    My diary is open but last week is not good as I had a tooth infection so ate what I could and didnt exercise.

    xx
  • georgiagorwell
    georgiagorwell Posts: 101
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    You can also check out some recipes from the "Stop counting calories and start losing weight" recipe book. The diet is based on eating fats and carbs and separate meals to avoid either being stored as glycogen.
  • georgiagorwell
    georgiagorwell Posts: 101
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    In the British system potatoes are never classified as veg. I was shocked to see on Jamies American School Dinners that and American school was classifying fries as veg!!

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