low carbs not no carbs

robbie1958
robbie1958 Posts: 4
edited September 27 in Health and Weight Loss
can someone suggest a low carb eating plan to me. i don't want to go on a full no carb diet, because i exercise a lot, so i need energy to be able to work out without running out of steam.

i am burning off about 3-5 thousand calories in the gym each week and i cycle at least twice per week between 30 and 75 miles and burn another 2-7 thousand calories per ride. With the amount that i exercise, i should be ten stones. but i am 52 years of age, 16 1/2 stone or 231 pounds.

after reading some of the posts on here, i realise that my carb intake is really high. I love bread of any type, humous, milk (including soya) and so called healthy breakfast cereals like fruit and fibre (im in the uk so that might not mean anything to some of you folks) which is supposed to be healthy. i also eat flapjacks when i am cycling and cereal bars. i love stir fry's but once again i eat them with white rice,because i i find brown rice hard and dull.

in the ideal world i would like someone to tell me exactly what to eat each day, but in reality, i would like help pointing me in the direction of a healthy low carb diet. perferably one that i can use here in the uk.

Thanks
robbie

Replies

  • Missylydia
    Missylydia Posts: 304 Member
    Perhaps halve your grains and snack on fruit in place of that. Force yourself to swap to whole grain, you'll get used to it and it's definitely worth it.
    houmous is actually good, it's low gi so it keeps you full for ages. :)
    Hopefully that's some help.
  • rachypompa
    rachypompa Posts: 653 Member
    Hey Robbie

    I use My Fitness Pal and have my goals set to 30% Protein, 40% Fat and 40% Carbs, which is lower carbs than the 'standard' settings, I do struggle to stay below that, but find it's something to aim for. If I do a 'big ride' and burn lots of calories I would allow myself to go over on my carbs.

    I eat flapjack as my 'homemade' energy bars too! Love them, but you have to be careful with them as a small piece is pretty high calorie. I have modified my recipe a fair bit over the past few months to increase the protein and reduce carbs, especially sugar.

    Rachel
  • suziewoos
    suziewoos Posts: 5 Member
    HIya I am in the UK too and have to eat low GI as glucose intolerant/pre-diabetic. I use a lot of Rosemary Conley recipies(google it) which are low fat too. I agree brown rice is boring! (Sory brown rice lovers just my opinion lol) I use ribbons of courgettes instead of adding pasta to meals some times which takes a wee while to get used to but I am ok with it now.
  • suzitkd
    suzitkd Posts: 110
    Ditch some of the bread - replace it with something like nimble or weight watchers and just have 2 - 4(max) slices per day, have wholemeal pasta, brown rice (make sure you're cooking it for long enough with loads of water, it should be soft not hard!) and reduce the portion sizes of the carbs and replace with loads of veg and some more protein. For breakfast try porridge or small amount (40-50g) of granola - it will keep you going for a surprisingly long time! Oats make such a good carb because it takes a long time to go through your system and to release its energy. There are quite a lot of low gi oat/flapjack type 'diet' bars which may be a better choice than home made flapjack - yummy as it is, it's also very high in calories! It's worth looking around. Oh and ryvita make quite a good bread replacement and aren't so high on carbs either. Good luck - add me as a friend if you like!
  • Iusethistogetsmaller
    Iusethistogetsmaller Posts: 6
    My Dad bought this book and it's helped me a lot:
    http://www.amazon.com/Protein-Power-High-Protein-Carbohydrate-Health/dp/0553574752
    I was 230lbs a while ago, got rid of the 30lbs and then hit a plateau, I watched a film on netflix called 'fat head' that led me to that book as well as other authors. I am following his carbohydrates limits in the different phases the phase I am currently in is called the intervention phase which is no more than 30 grams of carbs per day. I hope this leads you to some diet that suits you!
  • runnergirl2027
    runnergirl2027 Posts: 15
    Have you ever heard of the South Beach Diet? It's one of my favorite. It's not no carb, it just teaches you to choose the right carbs - beans, fruits, whole wheat breads, oatmeal. I like it because it also focuses on lean meats and low-fat or fat-free dairy...none of the usual high-fat, greasy stuff you get on those no-carb plans. It's perfect for vegetarians, too - lots of bean and meat alternative dishes!
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