Tips for a Newbie?
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raelynnsmama52512
Posts: 1,184 Member
Hi!
So, I've been on and off with MFP for awhile, but I started back and I've actually got a goal of at least 10- 20lbs lost by May 25th (my daughter's birthday). I've seen and heard a lot about low carb, but I'm a little lost on how it all works. My husband and I want to change our habits and establish more healthy habits for our family. I've noticed most of our diet is starchy/carby items, and I want to change that. I went to the grocery store yesterday and bought more fruits and veggies along with meats. Is there more that needs to be done, or are we starting off right? I would love some recipes as well, since I'm basically re-doing how I cook and how we eat. Thanks!
(p.s.-sorry if I seemed to ramble there, just trying to give as much info as I can lol)
So, I've been on and off with MFP for awhile, but I started back and I've actually got a goal of at least 10- 20lbs lost by May 25th (my daughter's birthday). I've seen and heard a lot about low carb, but I'm a little lost on how it all works. My husband and I want to change our habits and establish more healthy habits for our family. I've noticed most of our diet is starchy/carby items, and I want to change that. I went to the grocery store yesterday and bought more fruits and veggies along with meats. Is there more that needs to be done, or are we starting off right? I would love some recipes as well, since I'm basically re-doing how I cook and how we eat. Thanks!
(p.s.-sorry if I seemed to ramble there, just trying to give as much info as I can lol)
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Replies
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Welcome! In some ways LC is very simple and in others there is a lot to learn. You should visit the Launch Pad for resources. LC is different for everyone but its usually <100 gr of carbs a day, moderate protein, and the rest of your diet will be filled in with fat. Some here do little to no carbs and some are slow carbs, meaning they eat fewer carbs than the standard diets but more than 100 gr. I would suggest slowly reducing your carb intake if you aren't sure its something you can do long term or if you aren't sure how low you want to go.0
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Thank you! I'll try that, I have my macros set on here for carbs at 25% (84g), protein at 35% (118g), and fat at 40% (60g). Is that too much or reasonable amounts?0
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I think that would be a good place to start, but don't worry about going over on fat at first, even if it makes you go over on calories. The fat will help make the transition a little easier and after awhile your body simply won't want as much to eat. Also, don't worry about cutting back too much on sodium at first. When you start cutting carbs your body will let go of a lot of water and this can give you the low carb "flu" that you may have heard about.0
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Ok, I've never heard of the "flu", but I'm glad you said something lol! Thank you for your help! 0
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Welcome to the LC club, I'm glad to hear that your family wants to embrace healthier lifestyle, kudos!
There is a lot of info to educate yourselves and learn as you go into this wonderful journey. I'm pretty healthy person, but my family not so much, my dad has T2 but he's listening to what I have to say, though he is stubborn lol. Anyway, decide how low you want to start on carbs, Google Keto calculator and input your numbers based on your goals, this will give you some good starting numbers and go from there. Befriend people from this group and see their diaries, we all share recipes and advice to motivate and help each other. When we lose, we are happy and when we don't we complain but we have great support around here. Stick around, ask questions and you'll be on your way 0 -
I went over on my goals tonight, I thought having a small bowl of cereal with almond milk wouldn't be too much, but I wound up going over my carbs. I love my cereal lol! But tomorrow is a new day, I suppose. 0
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Fifteen years ago I lost a ton of weight and totally made over my meal plans. My "healthy" breakfast three or four days a week became a bowl of Cheerios, skim milk and a banana. Over the years my weight climbed from 160 to 220. Just a pound or two per year but always upward. I also developed high cholesterol, gout, arthritis and finally T2.
It only took a few tests with my new blood glucose meter to realize what my healthy breakfast was doing compared with other options. My last bowl of Cheerios was Oct 2014. As of this morning that 160 weight is only one and a half pounds away.
There are other benefits as well. I can now carry a grandchild up a flight of stairs without my knees or breath giving out. I also have a reasonable expectation of holding a great grandchild someday. I think that's a reasonable trade for a bowl of Cheerios.0 -
Low carb high fat is great because it stops the hunger, I set Mfp to 10% carbs, 60% fat and 30% protein. Knowing it's fine to put double cream in your coffee and have butter on veg is so different from high carb low fat where you can't wait for next meal and think about food all day long. Add me as a friend if you like, I'm in the UK.0
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I have lost 105 pounds since July 21. I think low carb is so easy. I stick to under 20g of carbs a day. The first 2 weeks I did have the carb flu (felt like a mild hangover) After that was over all my cravings for carbs/added sugar went away. I eat mostly meat, cheese, eggs, green vegetables. I do eat some sugar free candy once in awhile, but not often. If you search low carb recipes a bunch will come up. There are plenty of things to cook for meals and desserts.0
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raelynnsmama52512 wrote: »I went over on my goals tonight, I thought having a small bowl of cereal with almond milk wouldn't be too much, but I wound up going over my carbs. I love my cereal lol! But tomorrow is a new day, I suppose.
Google pork rind cereal. There are a couple recipes that will come up and I have heard they are good. I have never actually tried them, but I am going to next time I get to a store.0 -
I've never heard of that, but I do love pork rinds, so I'll have to check that out! Thanks!kristenlarkin wrote: »raelynnsmama52512 wrote: »I went over on my goals tonight, I thought having a small bowl of cereal with almond milk wouldn't be too much, but I wound up going over my carbs. I love my cereal lol! But tomorrow is a new day, I suppose.
Google pork rind cereal. There are a couple recipes that will come up and I have heard they are good. I have never actually tried them, but I am going to next time I get to a store.
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Random question, is it ok or safe for a child to eat a low or somewhat lower carb diet? We want to go that route for our diets, but we aren't sure if it's okay for children or not.0
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If you reduce carbs below 100g or so, it seems to suppress some growth hormones. So if your kids are still growing, I wouldn't go too low carb with them. Also, they do "fortify" bread with vitamins, so if you exclude bread from their diet, make sure they eat all their veggies.
It's 100% fine to exclude just about all processed foods from their diet. Sugary drinks, including fruit juices, are probably the worst offenders.0 -
If you reduce carbs below 100g or so, it seems to suppress some growth hormones. So if your kids are still growing, I wouldn't go too low carb with them. Also, they do "fortify" bread with vitamins, so if you exclude bread from their diet, make sure they eat all their veggies.
It's 100% fine to exclude just about all processed foods from their diet. Sugary drinks, including fruit juices, are probably the worst offenders.
Thank you! I'll probably just reduce the amounts of carby and starchy foods for her instead of cutting them all the way out, as well as excluding processed foods as much as I can. Thanks again!
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You can easily cut processesed junk food for your kids. They can still eat bread, rice, meat, fruits and veggies. The culprit is low fat stuff that is laden with sugar and High fructose syrop, and advertised as "healthy", pretty packaged poison. If I had young children they won't be having any of that, no cereals or any other boxed "goodies"0
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The keto diet was originally promoted for children with epilepsy, so there's actually a lot of info out there for children and keto diet / recipes. I believe the goals and implementation vary, though, so you may want to do more research and discuss it with your doctor.
An interesting story about "what kids crave":
I have been told all my life that children love white bread and turn their noses up at that weirdo whole wheat bread. When I was raising my daughter, I pretty much only fed her wheat bread. She still prefers it to this day (she's 23 years old). I also didn't feed her a lot of sodas and junk. She still prefers to drink milk and V8. I'm so proud of her!
Her breakfast of choice when I visited her last: Scrambled eggs and cheese.
-T.
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The keto diet was originally promoted for children with epilepsy, so there's actually a lot of info out there for children and keto diet / recipes. I believe the goals and implementation vary, though, so you may want to do more research and discuss it with your doctor.
An interesting story about "what kids crave":
I have been told all my life that children love white bread and turn their noses up at that weirdo whole wheat bread. When I was raising my daughter, I pretty much only fed her wheat bread. She still prefers it to this day (she's 23 years old). I also didn't feed her a lot of sodas and junk. She still prefers to drink milk and V8. I'm so proud of her!
Her breakfast of choice when I visited her last: Scrambled eggs and cheese.
-T.
The biggest challenge comes from the fact my daughter has severe sensory processing disorder, so texture is a big deal and she doesn't adapt to new changes in her environment (including food). I'm hoping that easing her in slower than us will make it easier on her, but I guess time will tell.
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If you reduce carbs below 100g or so, it seems to suppress some growth hormones. So if your kids are still growing, I wouldn't go too low carb with them. Also, they do "fortify" bread with vitamins, so if you exclude bread from their diet, make sure they eat all their veggies.
It's 100% fine to exclude just about all processed foods from their diet. Sugary drinks, including fruit juices, are probably the worst offenders.
Do you have citations for that? The only research I've seen that suggests such are the classical keto studies, where the kids were fed 60-75% of the calories they needed and what essentially amounts to fortified soybean oil. Everything else is the same myths that people tried (and failed) to apply to adults on LCHF. On the contrary, there seems to be a fair amount of evidence in favor of children eating lower carb (and in at least certain cases, even keto).
Then, of course, there's always the Inuit example. It's not like Inuit children had more access to carbs than their parents did.
And the fact that one of the things children need most are fats, to support their growing brain. Oh, and it's the presence of K2 in the diet (found in fats) that has the most profound effect on skeletal development, not so much calcium (after all, the US has the highest intake of dairy and its accompanying calcium, and yet most of us don't have jaws large enough to accommodate our wisdom teeth).
http://people.csail.mit.edu/seneff/adhd_low_fat_diet.html
http://christinecronau.com/health-benefits/healthy-children/
http://www.drbriffa.com/2009/05/08/higher-fat-rather-than-high-carb-diet-appears-to-have-benefits-for-nursing-mothers-and-their-babies/0 -
ok im new to no or low carb (as in today) so im seeing some say 20 g a day some are saying 100g is the 100 g a week then or what cause its not saying exactly. i know today according to the goal thing i went over my carbs so im gonna watch that starting tomorrow. but i was like 500 under my calories. didnt do that on purpose its just what i happened to eat today. im thinking i might lose more if i try to watch the carb thing. so how do i know whats good an whats bad carbs. I didnt realize there was such a thing as good carbs til recently and still dont quite understand that but i am willing to learn.0
