How to low carb without No carbing?

I did low carb yesterday, have a look at my diary

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/food/diary/EatLikeAnAthlete?date=2013-04-17

Lots of meat, eggs, cheese etc.

I have PCOS also..............and this was the recommended way of eating by my Endocrinologist.

I highly suggest you see an endo doctor too! Because we are all different with different test results and answers, our meal plans are not going to be the same.

Are you insulin resistant? Not everyone with PCOS is. Your doctor can do the tests, but an endo doctor can figure out the best plan of action. S/he can also see if you have any other metabolic disorders causing the stubborn weight to stick around.

I eat roughly 20-30 net carbs a day.

Breakfast is usually eggs and bacon or sausage. Sometimes I will make bulletproof coffee. Sometimes I will make a whey protein shake. My powder has 1 carb per serving. I use raw almond butter and sugar free coffee syrups with unsweetened coconut almond milk for flavor.

I stay away from sugar and white flours and most starch.

Lunch is a salad with salmon, tuna, or chicken.

If I do a bread or wrap, which is very rare, its a high fiber low carb wrap or 100% whole grain bread.

Dinner is salad, vegetables, and meat.

Snacks are boiled eggs, cheese (no more than 4oz a day), celery with cream cheese and green olives or pork rings with avocado smashed.

Dessert is always sugar free and low carb. I buy organic super dark chocolate. A few small pieces go a long way.

If I do fruit is raspberries, blackberries or strawberries because they have lower carb and its only a few pieces/serving.

Metformin did nothing but give me a stomach ache.

I have more energy. My adult acne has cleared. I have moisture in my face again! I sleep better so my bouts of insomnia are less and less. My chronic migraines are far and few between. I suffer from degenerative disc disease in my lower back and osteoarthritis in my hips. The pain has been unbearable until I cut carbs this year. It has helped with pain and inflammation a great deal. I have had two cycles this year - on my own. That's more than I have ever had in a year on my own. I'm off all medication. To me, that's success and my way of eating is working.

Even on my most painful days I still work out like everyone else. Energy/endurance isn't an issue for me. Its the pain that slows me down.

Carbs for fuel is a huge myth/misconception. You dont have to have them to survive/be fueled. And if you have PCOS it's likely what's causing the weight to stick around.

Good luck!

Here is a great resource: http://www.dietdoctor.com/lchf

I'd ask if you can get a referral to a registered dietician. You might find that really helpful in finding a way to eat that helps with your PCOS.

To adjust macros, though, what I find really helpful is (1) focusing on getting a balance of macros at each meal, and (2) increase or decrease the various components of the meals to get the macro balance you want. For example, I usually have meat, veggies, and some kind of starch (potato, sweet potato, corn, pasta, etc.) with dinner. To decrease without eliminating carbs, I'd increase the meat and veggies (veggies are carbs, but the carbs are still pretty low since they have such few calories) and decrease the portion of the potatoes or whatever.

After a while it's pretty easy to know if something is going to fit your preferred macros or not and you can add in other foods if you want to make up the calories from cutting back the carbs a bit (avocado or cheese or nuts or olives or whatever you enjoy).

Looking at your menu above, my thought is that you could adjust the macros by bumping up the protein and fat contents and reducing the serving size of the carbs. For example:

B: add an egg or some full fat yogurt (or nuts or cheese or a bit of leftover meat) and have half a bowl of the cereal or oatmeal or half the waffle.

L: half sandwich with veggie soup or salad with protein plus fruit

S: yogurt (full fat, smaller size) with nuts instead of the crackers

this is basically my example above

There are lots of things you can do once you get used to playing with the macros.

Not sure if you guys noticed this post is 2 years old......

I have PCOS too and low carbing really helped me more than anything (not that I'm eating particularly low carb at the moment haha, maybe half the week).

Ok after writing this I see this is an old post but you bumped it so I'm not sure if you're still in the same conundrum so I'll post anyway.

A few tips:
- Don't count fiber carbs. Some people say you should count them, Atkins' followers and others say you shouldn't, I've been low carbing on and off for half my life and fiber really does not seem to mess up low carb. So if you're concerned with how to eat low carb while still eating carbs, then I'd say don't count fiber. Purists may count fiber carbs but you don't have to. Count net carbs, or total carbs minus fiber.

- Consume more fat for energy. You say you get really sluggish but you are eating a rather low fat diet just looking at the sample menu in your post. Fat packs way more energy per gram. You will also need to increase protein. Low carb and low fat at the same time is hell on earth for me. It is hard for people transitioning from normal diet food to low carb to understand that they need more fat.

- Either drastically simplify the variety in your diet or learn to cook low carb alternatives to the foods you love. Again, purists say just eat "clean" and cut out carbs and carb substitutes. I did fine on low carb eating my almond flour breaded chicken tenders and baking my own flax bread so whatever. I think the "purer" way is a good way if you don't have time to do all that cooking and baking and it's simpler. But I'm dirty.

- Drink more. Especially important if you start consuming a lot more fiber as a result of going low carb.

- Most importantly: low carb !=! keto or Atkins. Low carb is anything under 150 grams of carbs a day (although I'd say stick to around 100 net carbs to be safe). You don't have to get under 50, or, as I did, 20, in order to cut down on carbs and improve PCOS symptoms.

Juice plus is fab, I'm an odd one who doesn't like the texture of a lot of fruit (don't ask) so the capsules and chews really help give me a boost! If anyone wants some more info send me your email address or email me at ahudd24@hotmail.com