How to cut down on carbs

CA2333
CA2333 Posts: 18 Member
edited April 2015 in Health and Weight Loss
suggestions?

Replies

  • azulvioleta6
    azulvioleta6 Posts: 4,195 Member
    In what ways are you finding it challenging?

    What is your daily goal in grams?
  • megomerrett
    megomerrett Posts: 442 Member
    You just want to eat less rather than cut it out? Up your protein and veg in meals, weigh out smaller portions of carbs. I'm not an expert (as you no doubt can tell!). Someone is bound to mention cauliflower rice.
  • suruda
    suruda Posts: 1,233 Member
    um, stop eating carbs.

    Seriously, instead of a burger with a bun enjoy the patty grilled, topped with cheese and tons of sautéed mushrooms.

    Instead of a burrito in a tortilla, treat yourself to a huge taco salad

    Grill up some chicken and veggies and enjoy!

    Now, if you are meaning hardcore no carbs....that is not my specialty! :smiley:
  • suruda
    suruda Posts: 1,233 Member
    Tonight for dinner I am making sautéed spinach with feta cheese and then grilling salmon and having tsatsiki over the top (yogurt, cucumber, garlic sauce)

    I'll probably cook some rice or orzo for hubby who can eat all the carbs he wants!
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,151 Member
    Is there a medical reason you're doing this?
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    In what ways are you finding it challenging?

    What is your daily goal in grams?

    Same questions.

    But look at your logs, see where your high carb foods are, if you don't know already, reduce portions of those while increasing portions of the items that contribute protein and fat. If you need to add volume without lots of calories, veggies are mostly carbs but still don't have very many carbs, so swapping them in to replace part of a serving of a starch (potato, corn, bread, rice) will generally reduce both carbs and calories.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    Liftng4Lis wrote: »
    Is there a medical reason you're doing this?
    This.

    Or, are you trying a low card dietary plan?
  • CA2333
    CA2333 Posts: 18 Member
    I'm just trying a low carb high protein dietary plan. I'm just trying to find ways to get the carbs that my body needs without over doing it.
  • Kristyann624
    Kristyann624 Posts: 38 Member
    Use smaller portions. I've been doing "lower" carb since last summer. And by that, it's brining that total to where it is supposed to be, not Adkins low.

    Other things I do...for lunch I might have frozen meatballs with other frozen veggies with a little Parmesan cheese. It has some carbs to keep you going but not over doing it. At dinner I may swap out a carb side with mashed cauliflower. Boil cauliflower in chicken broth, mash it, add a little butter and then cheddar cheese and mash it. Also, remember peas and corn are both starchy carbs.
  • Camo_xxx
    Camo_xxx Posts: 1,082 Member
    The first step is learning what all foods are, protein, fats, carbs.
    Then it is just a matter of choosing which foods to eat to meet your goals.
    One way to build up your skills is to pre logs meals and study each foods macros. Over time it just becomes second nature which foods to choose for the desired macro.
  • futuremanda
    futuremanda Posts: 816 Member
    I'm just trying a low carb high protein dietary plan. I'm just trying to find ways to get the carbs that my body needs without over doing it.

    If you're trying LCHF, you want to make sure you get enough fats and water. Do up meals with protein, veg, and fruit, plus some oil when cooking to get the fat up. Look up low glycemic index veg and fruit, and use that mainly.

    Cut down or mostly out on grains and dairy. (How far down or out is going to depend on the numbers you want to hit and what you like and such. If certain foods work well for you for certain purposes, try to work them in. When I tried LCHF -- and I did like it, I just can't do it right now -- I still had feta, goat cheese, some yoghurt, and unsweetened lattes as part of my regular diet. My plan was not rock bottom carbs though, not like Atkins.)

    You can probably google around for some template meals for LCHF or join a group. It would get you started or give you some ideas. But say, steak & veggies that you like, cooked up in a frying pan with olive oil, and a fruit you like on the side.

    You may want to find some low carb staple carbs if that makes sense? Like something like a Ryvita cracker, then you can do things like fried egg and avocado on it, or smoked salmon and avocado on it... or use a bread you like but less of it.

    (I tend to go by starting more or less with what's prescribed by a plan, then making the adjustments I find I want to make for it to suit me better. You may find you like eating that way, with a few exceptions. Make the exceptions, see how that goes.)

    (And imo, I'd still plan to do the odd treat day. Holidays, events, a dinner out. But you may very well find you feel better eating a certain way on the regular, so aim for that as your regular diet, and deviate when life happens.)

    Give it a chance. If you don't like it, don't stick with it. Make changes that work for you across the board in terms of weight loss, satiety, a sense of wellbeing, enjoyment, energy, etc. Maybe all you'd need to do is decrease carbs a bit, or change your type of carb, or change your carb balance in meals/snacks, or change when you eat carbs.
  • alabrake44
    alabrake44 Posts: 3 Member
    Perhaps try eating carbs in the morning then limiting carbos the rest of the day.. Then none for dinner.
  • livingleanlivingclean
    livingleanlivingclean Posts: 11,751 Member
    alabrake44 wrote: »
    Perhaps try eating carbs in the morning then limiting carbos the rest of the day.. Then none for dinner.

    Why?

    If I was trying to eat less carbs, grains (and sweetened stuff like icecream, cake, biscuits) would be the first to go. Then switch carb dense vegies and fruit for lower carb options. I like volume, so choose foods that give me a meal the size I want
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
    suggestions?

    It would be helpful if you provided some context.
  • This content has been removed.
  • suruda wrote: »
    Tonight for dinner I am making sautéed spinach with feta cheese and then grilling salmon and having tsatsiki over the top (yogurt, cucumber, garlic sauce)

    I'll probably cook some rice or orzo for hubby who can eat all the carbs he wants!

    Omg!!! This sounds amazing ;)
  • azulvioleta6
    azulvioleta6 Posts: 4,195 Member
    Anesquibel wrote: »
    suruda wrote: »
    Tonight for dinner I am making sautéed spinach with feta cheese and then grilling salmon and having tsatsiki over the top (yogurt, cucumber, garlic sauce)

    I'll probably cook some rice or orzo for hubby who can eat all the carbs he wants!

    Omg!!! This sounds amazing ;)

    With a half cup of brown rice, that would be totally appropriate for a moderate-carb diet. I hadn't thought of tzatziki with salmon--interesting idea!
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    if you want to cut down on carbs you simply don't eat as many. This is very difficult to answer without any context. What is your issue with carbs?
  • upgradeddiddy
    upgradeddiddy Posts: 281 Member
    MrM27 wrote: »
    I'm just trying a low carb high protein dietary plan. I'm just trying to find ways to get the carbs that my body needs without over doing it.

    How many grams of carbs are you trying to eat?
    How many grams of carbs Resort you eating now?
    How are you determining how many grams of carbs you need for the lifestyle that you live?

    Veggies, veggies, veggies. Don't have to completely live without grains just substitute a meal where you are having a bread/pasta/rice with broccoli, spicnach, carrots or whatever. However like MrM is saying without telling us more about you, your lifestyle or your goals it's hard to give you more detailed answers
  • chrisdavey
    chrisdavey Posts: 9,834 Member
    you need to provide more information to get any sort of useful answer.

    Currently, my answer is to eat less carbs.
  • TiffanyR71
    TiffanyR71 Posts: 217 Member
    I try to only have grains as a treat on the weekend- some sushi or the like. My carbs during the week are made up of fruit (even bananas), vegetables, and dairy. The reason I stay away from grains during the week is because I tend to over-do, and also don't find them as satisfying long-term as proteins w/veg... However, when going super low-carb, my head has been known to spin (think "Exorcist") - not pleasant.

    And that salmon w/spinach & tzatziki sounds amazing- must try! Salmon rocks!
  • jenakle
    jenakle Posts: 3 Member
    I've taught myself what a serving of pasta is, and realized its WAY smaller than what I was eating on my own. I help it out by filling the empty bowl void with more veggies: mandoline + zucchini = noodles, or steamed broccoli slaw, or sauteed onion peppers etc.

    For sandwiches, smaller bread, even the rounds make a nice PB for breakfast.
    I stopped adding a bread as a side, or rarely eat potatoes instead of several times a week, etc. Try to vary your grains: whole grain couscous or brown rice pilaf (half a cup is still a nice serving), and the salad instead of sandwich is nice too (steak, taco, ham, turkey, chicken all turn into a great salad).
  • Sarasmaintaining
    Sarasmaintaining Posts: 1,027 Member
    edited April 2015
    I actually started experimenting with a lower carb woe last week (aiming for around 100 grams a day). My diary is open if you want to take a look. Several days I went totally grain free and then I've just reintroduced limited grains back in.

    Two things I've noticed-the low carb foods I've been eating have been ridiculously filling and because of this I've been hitting below my calorie goal ever since trying the experiment. I'm not hungry, at all. 6 days in and I've lost 7lbs. Mostly water weight from the reduced carbs, but I'm actually in maintenance so it really needs to stop now or I'm going to have to ditch the experiment :*

    2nd thing I've noticed from reducing carbs (and maybe the grains)- crazy oily skin. Like I'm glowing. Yeah, not too excited about that one :s

    Otherwise pretty much same old same old. It's been fun eating foods that I normally don't chose (like veggies hehe). It hasn't been difficult to go lower carb at all really.

    eta: don't pay attention to my diary for today if you do take a look-unexpectedly ended up in urgent care earlier tonight and my planned dinner of chicken, veggies and fruit went out the window sigh... that really messed my numbers up, but it is what it is.