OMG- carbs are not my friend
carimiller7391
Posts: 1,091 Member
Carbs are definitely not my friend, but gosh do they taste oh so good. I was stressed this weekend and found myself turning to carbs (what a surprise-NOT). Not sure where the stress came from. Nothing on the home front and nothing with Reggie. Just stressed, like something is wrong. So TODAY is day 1 low carb. I'm not trying to go carb free, but as low as I can get by not eating processed foods, carbs, starchy veggies and fruits... so it should be pretty low. My friend @knitormiss suggested not tracking macros, but working on finding foods for LCHFMP for a few days. So here I am. I just wanted to put it out there. This is definitely hard. I didn't know of all the hidden carbs in foods. My gosh.
Question, I know going cold turkey on carbs is probably the answer, but how did you break your carb addiction (if you had one)?? I did have RNY in January. I eat greek yogurt for the extra protein and there are carbs in it but that is probably the only food I eat with carbs in it. Everything else is protein based.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Question, I know going cold turkey on carbs is probably the answer, but how did you break your carb addiction (if you had one)?? I did have RNY in January. I eat greek yogurt for the extra protein and there are carbs in it but that is probably the only food I eat with carbs in it. Everything else is protein based.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
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Replies
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Make sure to read through the launch pad -- http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10103966/start-here-the-lcd-launch-pad
As for cold turkey vs stepping down, that depends on you. Some people do better dropping slowly, while others do better just dropping down to 50 or so and just getting it over with like ripping a band aid off. Some do something in between and drop to 100g regardless of previous intake, then step down from there (or are just as happy to stay there).
You want foods that are less "protein based" and more "fat based." That's not to say that everything will always have more fat than protein, but there is a difference (albeit potentially subtle) between the two.
Your Greek yogurt, for example, can be "protein based" and not have any fat in it (such as Fage 0% Greek yogurt, which as 0g of fat and 18g protein). Or, it could be more "fat based" and have a fair bit of fat, as well as protein, in it (such as Fage Classic, which has 10g of fat for the same amount of protein). Of those two, you want the classic variety, not the 0% variety, because of the fat.0 -
I don't normally track, but lately I have been because I am new to actually counting the carbs. I found it helps because I had no idea they really are everywhere! It's ok though. I never plan on going "no carb" and just try to stick to under 100, under 50 being even better.
What works for me is filling up on fat and protein. I have been really trying to adhere to fatty snacks when I'm feeling hungry, and it has helped out a ton. I did not eat low carb yesterday because I was at a baby shower and there were tons of yummy looking cakes (although gluten free, lol) so I need my choices to be a lot better as well, regardless of the situation. Rather than starting over, just keep going. Take it one day at a time, it will seem less daunting
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My fall backs are bacon and eggs, add seasoning salts, drinking different waters. Yes, Knitormiss always has good advice, the key to success starts in the grocery store. I skip the yogurt now, some have sugary fruits, etc. too many hidden sugars, that I didn't realize. I find it's just not the carbs, but the sugars that through me off track. I try to find foods higher in fat, not just protein. For example, I added baby spinach, sprouts and mushrooms, as a side to my meat dinners and now that is cooked in coconut oil and butter to add fats. I didn't go cold turkey.- basically because I wasn't reading ingredients closely enough in the store. It just became a gradual reduction over time. Trial and error over finding different combinations that kept me feeling full longer. Playing a weekly game with my menus made it interesting to me and thus I lost interest in carbs and more interested in my reactions to what I was eating. I keep satiety journal as well as tracking just the numbers. Making notes like: crashed at 2pm; no hunger at 10pm; thirsty at noon; feeling energetic, I became more "in tune" and mindful of how my machine was working with what I was putting into it. It's been interesting.
One trick I learned about stress. When I get a stress feeling, I go for a walk and I walk with purpose. Holding my stomach in, shoulders back, head high marching as though I have a hundred people cheering me on. I pretend I just won the lottery and force myself to smile as I walk. Pretending to feel really great and confident, giving myself a positive mantra to repeat to myself as I walk. "I can do this, I feel great, I am great!". It's like mind over matter.
If I sit slumped over, frowning, indulging in stress, taking in that overwhelmed feeling, well.. I'll feel stressed and overwhelmed. When I do my power walk, I come back feeling in power and I gave myself the gift the power to do anything.0 -
carimiller7391 wrote: »Carbs are definitely not my friend, but gosh do they taste oh so good. I was stressed this weekend and found myself turning to carbs (what a surprise-NOT). Not sure where the stress came from. Nothing on the home front and nothing with Reggie. Just stressed, like something is wrong. So TODAY is day 1 low carb. I'm not trying to go carb free, but as low as I can get by not eating processed foods, carbs, starchy veggies and fruits... so it should be pretty low. My friend @knitormiss suggested not tracking macros, but working on finding foods for LCHFMP for a few days. So here I am. I just wanted to put it out there. This is definitely hard. I didn't know of all the hidden carbs in foods. My gosh.
Question, I know going cold turkey on carbs is probably the answer, but how did you break your carb addiction (if you had one)?? I did have RNY in January. I eat greek yogurt for the extra protein and there are carbs in it but that is probably the only food I eat with carbs in it. Everything else is protein based.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
The only thing that kept me from losing it was cold turkey zero carb. I can walk away from brownies and bread.....i can make them for my kids with no problem.
Honestly I know i will always have an addiction to carbs and sugar. I just have to stay away from my triggers.0 -
Thanks for the great advice. Will be taking this one meal at a time. @Dragonwolf... thanks for the tip on the yogurt. Will try the one's with fat in them. I'm so programmed that "fat is bad" that this is all new to me. @TiaBia9 thanks for the idea of fatty snacks. I have pepperoni and cheese today for my snack. Here's hoping it works and satisfies me just perfectly. @slimzandra thanks for the idea of the satiety journal. I'm going to give that a try. I journal everything else, so that should be a breeze for me.0
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carimiller7391 wrote: »Carbs are definitely not my friend, but gosh do they taste oh so good. I was stressed this weekend and found myself turning to carbs (what a surprise-NOT). Not sure where the stress came from. Nothing on the home front and nothing with Reggie. Just stressed, like something is wrong. So TODAY is day 1 low carb. I'm not trying to go carb free, but as low as I can get by not eating processed foods, carbs, starchy veggies and fruits... so it should be pretty low. My friend @knitormiss suggested not tracking macros, but working on finding foods for LCHFMP for a few days. So here I am. I just wanted to put it out there. This is definitely hard. I didn't know of all the hidden carbs in foods. My gosh.
Question, I know going cold turkey on carbs is probably the answer, but how did you break your carb addiction (if you had one)?? I did have RNY in January. I eat greek yogurt for the extra protein and there are carbs in it but that is probably the only food I eat with carbs in it. Everything else is protein based.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
I tried hard for Aug-Sept 2014 to limit carbs to <50 grams every day and failed. I got pissed and left them cold turkey the next month and still am very low carb as of June 2015. At my age (64 now) I was aware my time was running out to master an anti cancer eating lifestyle. I have lost some weight since then and the first two weeks were hellish. In the first 30 days of being off carbs my pain level dropped from 7-8 to 2-3 which is enough to let me know I had abused carbs so long that they were now abusing me.
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I needed the cold turkey approach.
While you are just focusing on counting carbs in the beginning, start paying close attention when you feel like eating when you aren't hungry: stress, boredom, emotions. Note them, and figure out what is triggering it. Sad, bored, lonely, pissed at yourself, work being evil, family drama...notice all that stuff and then come up with a go-to non-food stress relievers. Train yourself to go to something else instead of food for comfort or entertainment. Take a walk, go shopping, go see a movie, call/text a friend, read a book, fudge around on the internet, clean something? Anything you enjoy or that will give you a sense of accomplishment or fullfillment besides food will work to disconnect yourself from the trigger and distract the urge. Interrupting the well-worn path will re-train your thought paths. Now is the time to work on this. Mastering this issue will serve you well during the rest of your journey and for the rest of your life.0 -
carimiller7391 wrote: »Question, I know going cold turkey on carbs is probably the answer, but how did you break your carb addiction (if you had one)??
I tried "moderation" at first. Just a little bread. Just a taste of that cookie. FAILED. It's a slippery slope.
So for me, it was cold turkey. But only for grains and processed sugary stuff, and only for a couple of months until the habit was established and I found my cravings had waned.
After that, I could occasionally have some sushi or some pho without going nuts. I no longer have cravings, and even an occasional taste doesn't seem to be a slippery slope any longer, but I don't push my luck.
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Interesting perspectives
I wonder about carbs. There was a time when I ate lots when I ran regularly.
But I think inactivity hurt me not carbs. Now as a result I need fewer carbs when I am active.
So unless I am going to be running or a long time duration bike ride, river rafting trip, etc. I eat my 60-80 or so a day from vegetable sources mainly, and I'm fine.
It works out for me personally, sugar spikes are bad. My Dr showed me research that type 2 diabetes is most often a lifestyle disease. We do it to ourselves. Spiking sugar too much and too often, getting fat, we become resistant. How I was told and how it worked for me.
I like my nutrition strategy. It works for me.
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I went cold turkey, 20g of net carbs. I had a "flu" which i didn't know about prior to starting, i thought i was going to die and kept telling myself i need to eat carbs, lots of carbs.... but, i survived, it became easy, i lost cravings and gained hundreds of benefits. I started working out and finally getting in shape. Going on 5 month i still keep it at 20 net carbs
You can do it, you need to train your brain to a new way of thinking. People seriously forgot what REAL food is and eat boxed food/sugars and other crap that is killing them slowly... Change your mind, change your food, change your life.
Best of luck!!0 -
I went to <50 Carbs about 4 months ago. I was very careful about anything high carb and my cravings were not a factor at all after 10-14 days. At this point I do have the occasional high carb "treat", a caramel, 1/2 cup of ice cream, etc... This weekend I actually had a 1/2 cup of potato salad. These no longer trigger a binge for me, although I do seem to add a few pounds after a particularly high carb day, recovery is quick.
I believe I was lucky to begin this WOE before I had done too great a level of damage to my metabolism.0 -
Thanks everyone for your perspectives. So far today with everything in my lunch bag, I've had 11g of carbs... so I feel like I'm doing well. Coming here and the launch pad and reading is helping A LOT. Also seeing the big picture.. I have a goal pic on my desk of where I'd love to get to... big motivator. I would love to get to the point that carbs are not a trigger for me, where I do not want/crave them. I know this is going to take time, so until then, I plug along.0
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Either way. Gradual or cold turkey. Because I didn't know at all what I was doing at first (last Sept), I ended up doing it somewhat gradual. It took me a while to start reading labels and figuring out what foods were lo-carb. As soon as I learned, I changed. Been Ketogenic ever since. If you eat good rich (fatty) foods, you won't miss the carbs ~ as much.
Feel free to read my blogs linked below, to see my journey...
I hope this helps,
Dan the Man from Michigan
It's Ketogenic or Bariatric! How I Found the Ketogenic Diet
Blog #10 Keto: Abbreviations, Acronyms & Terminology Used on the LCD & Keto Discussion Groups
Blog #13 DittoDan's Milestone's, First's And Good Changes Since Starting the Ketogenic Diet
DittoDan's Keto Blogs
How I got Off of Diabetic Prescriptions Drugs Since I Started Keto
Blog #11 Really Good Keto Websites
Low Carb Discussion Group on MFP (LCD)
Ketogenic Diet Discussion Group on MFP
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Personally I had what I would call an addiction to sugary sodas, I used to drink Dr Pepper all day long and almost no water... for years. Along with an awful diet that included a lot of poor fast food loaded with carbs. I found I had to break the soda habit by itself, without worrying about anything else I ate. It took me months before I was confident that I actually had the soda habit kicked, then I started working on other things.
When I decided to try keto, I went cold turkey on the rest of the carbs.0 -
After reading all these posts, it might seem like we need to re-name this group Carbivore Anonymous. We're already a support group trying to break an addiction!
To answer your question, I started by gradually raising my fats without worrying about carbs. However, I was of the thinking of no-fat was good. Once I made the decision to go low carb, I did it cold turkey. I wanted to get it over with, and I knew my cravings were too bad for me to have to the control of some not all. However, after almost a year, I am starting to include some carbs - no more than 100g/day. (I work out and lift intensely, and the scale has stalled. I'm trying to shake things up.) I feel in control and not addicted, so mission accomplished?0 -
Another yogurt alternative, if you can tolerate artificial sweeteners is jello fat bombs. The gelatin still has protein, albeit not as much...but you could use more. You could even use all unsweetened gelatin instead of boxed jello and add extracts or what-have-you... So many possibilities. This recipe resembles the taste and texture of the "creamy" "custard-style" yogurts...
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/KnitOrMiss/view/recipe-jello-fat-bombs-7317430 -
It's a DAILY struggle for me. I just had special K this morning instead of egg whites! Soo.. as you can see I fight urges daily myself. I find that staying strick during the week and just keeping Saturday as a cheat day allows me to really keep on track better. I feel better. Some don't have cheat days.. I do. I need it. OR. I will BINGE!! And we can't have that. I dropped from 235 to 194 so far. It's a slow progress. But, hey, it's PROGRESS! Add me if you like 0
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My only struggle is breakfast. Getting kind of tired of eggs. Need to find a way to mix it up. Along with that I'm a picky eater. I'm on 22 carbs a day so it is a challenge for sure! KnitOrMiss can't wait to try the jello-fat-bombs! Thanks so much for sharing.0
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Oh crumbs - Special K really isn't special enough to waste all those carbs on! If you can, get that stuff out the house or at least where you can't see it and put some low carb easy foods right where you see them when you open the fridge!0
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Breakfasts I alternate between eggs wrapped in bacon baked in a muffin tin, BPC, scramblers with smoked salmon, or smoked salmon/bacon with avocado. That's enough variety to keep me interested at the moment. I also sometimes make egg and bacon muffins if I have to leave early and want to eat breakfast on the move.0
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Carbs are fuel to me. Specific activity fuel.
I get my 40 or 50 in veggies.
I add in more With some dark chocolate.
So 60-80 does not leave me feeling cravings for anything. I do enough exercise to burn it off
It seems to be the sweet spot of balance
If I do less I need a few less calories and some of them are carbs
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I'm eating moderate carb - 100 net carbs (carbs - fiber). I'm doing that because I have IBS and need to keep a bit in there, but have found reducing carbs to this level not hard at all. I could probably cut them a further without missing them too much, except for the aforementioned gut issues. (and I guess I also love dairy and higher carb veg like tomatoes, and want those nutrients).
I've had a much harder time with hunger and headaches when I've cut them abruptly, even with high fat.
Starch-wise, I have half a piece of the kind of bread I can eat with my breakfast - eggs; greek yogurt (or feta or halloumi cheese), and maybe a tomato or half an avocado. With lunch and dinner, 2-3 baby potatoes with a bit of butter, or 1/4-1/2 cup brown rice (cooked portions). I do find these sides really "round off" my hunger - as does increasing soluble fiber (I go for raspberries - 8 g in one cup for only 37 cals! And delicious to boot).
The advice given here to add broth (I think bc of the sodium?) has also helped me. I'm using individual packets of miso soup, love it.
Cabbage is great if you can take it. I have just a little, cooked, these days - sometimes I add it to that miso soup - but it's very filling raw as well, and nice as a salad.0 -
craziecritter wrote: »My only struggle is breakfast. Getting kind of tired of eggs. Need to find a way to mix it up. Along with that I'm a picky eater. I'm on 22 carbs a day so it is a challenge for sure! KnitOrMiss can't wait to try the jello-fat-bombs! Thanks so much for sharing.
I got burned out badly on eggs too, eating them breakfast and lunch for a few weeks. However, I add them in the primal tea/coffee recipe that went around recently, and it doesn't taste like eggs, it tastes like custard, so I'm back on the egg thing!I'm eating moderate carb - 100 net carbs (carbs - fiber). I'm doing that because I have IBS and need to keep a bit in there, but have found reducing carbs to this level not hard at all. I could probably cut them a further without missing them too much, except for the aforementioned gut issues. (and I guess I also love dairy and higher carb veg like tomatoes, and want those nutrients).
I've had a much harder time with hunger and headaches when I've cut them abruptly, even with high fat.
Starch-wise, I have half a piece of the kind of bread I can eat with my breakfast - eggs; greek yogurt (or feta or halloumi cheese), and maybe a tomato or half an avocado. With lunch and dinner, 2-3 baby potatoes with a bit of butter, or 1/4-1/2 cup brown rice (cooked portions). I do find these sides really "round off" my hunger - as does increasing soluble fiber (I go for raspberries - 8 g in one cup for only 37 cals! And delicious to boot).
The advice given here to add broth (I think bc of the sodium?) has also helped me. I'm using individual packets of miso soup, love it.
Cabbage is great if you can take it. I have just a little, cooked, these days - sometimes I add it to that miso soup - but it's very filling raw as well, and nice as a salad.
There was an article complete with medical studies I saw recently in passing about treating/curing IBS by going super low carb. If I run back across the link, I'll repost it, but it might be worth a google or three!0 -
I have not seen any medical studies but my 40 years of IBS cleared up a few months into LCHF and has not returned. I was only trying to address my arthritis and muscle spasms when I evolved into this WOE.0
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I'm with you Gale. Started VLC and then ketogenic because I read that it might help my psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis. Except for those rare days when I overwork my hands, I haven't had pain in months. The psoriasis has been far more resistant to change, but at least now, I know its not diet related.
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KnitOrMiss wrote: »craziecritter wrote: »My only struggle is breakfast. Getting kind of tired of eggs. Need to find a way to mix it up. Along with that I'm a picky eater. I'm on 22 carbs a day so it is a challenge for sure! KnitOrMiss can't wait to try the jello-fat-bombs! Thanks so much for sharing.
I got burned out badly on eggs too, eating them breakfast and lunch for a few weeks. However, I add them in the primal tea/coffee recipe that went around recently, and it doesn't taste like eggs, it tastes like custard, so I'm back on the egg thing!I'm eating moderate carb - 100 net carbs (carbs - fiber). I'm doing that because I have IBS and need to keep a bit in there, but have found reducing carbs to this level not hard at all. I could probably cut them a further without missing them too much, except for the aforementioned gut issues. (and I guess I also love dairy and higher carb veg like tomatoes, and want those nutrients).
I've had a much harder time with hunger and headaches when I've cut them abruptly, even with high fat.
Starch-wise, I have half a piece of the kind of bread I can eat with my breakfast - eggs; greek yogurt (or feta or halloumi cheese), and maybe a tomato or half an avocado. With lunch and dinner, 2-3 baby potatoes with a bit of butter, or 1/4-1/2 cup brown rice (cooked portions). I do find these sides really "round off" my hunger - as does increasing soluble fiber (I go for raspberries - 8 g in one cup for only 37 cals! And delicious to boot).
The advice given here to add broth (I think bc of the sodium?) has also helped me. I'm using individual packets of miso soup, love it.
Cabbage is great if you can take it. I have just a little, cooked, these days - sometimes I add it to that miso soup - but it's very filling raw as well, and nice as a salad.
There was an article complete with medical studies I saw recently in passing about treating/curing IBS by going super low carb. If I run back across the link, I'll repost it, but it might be worth a google or three!
Thank you I've seen a few things on that idea. I can see it working for some (there are different types of IBS, or different symptom expressions, anyway). I did an elimination diet and found that I needed to keep some starchy foods in there for things to work properly (namely potatoes and rice). I can have a bit of some kinds of bread, with other food, and that's ok too. More than a bit of bread and I'm in trouble, similar with pasta. 0
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