low carb?

This content has been removed.

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/394-low-carber-daily-forum-the-lcd-group

A link to the low carb groups, you should get plenty of help and advice there

catscats222 wrote: »

try this instead? no carbage - easier on you
stay away from anything processed like cakes, cookies, donuts, twinkies, chips, etc.
But go ahead and eat the good carbs like beans, quinoa, baked sweet potato, quick oats, lentils, even brown rice
i'm at 200 carbs a day or less, but stay away from carbage

reducing or eliminating the consumption of nutrient and fiber poor, heavily refined carbs, and focusing on nutrient dense foods was the approach I took when I lost my weight.
But, it's not quite what she asked, and it's not a popular approach on mfp.

KatoGirl73 wrote: »

I do pretty well about staying away from the doughnuts and twinkies (twinkies are THE nastiest things ever lol)
I tend to eat large quantities and not exercise. I have low back pain with muscle spasms plus knee pain so i try to exercise but pay for it for days or weeks.
I started trying to buy salad items and sugar free jello and cottage cheese. A few fruits but so many carbs in them...
I like coffee but have cream and sugar so that negates weight loss effort too. Kinda frustrating.

You don't need intense exercise to lose weight. Practically speaking you don't need any exercise to lose weight. It is helpful for overall fitness and health though.

That being said, I do not exercise regularly either. I too have back issues (burst disc and some paralysis) and knee and hip arthritis, which I've told my body I am too young for but it didn't listen. If I do exercise it is usually a brisk walk. Every week or two I seem to forget that pushing it will result in days of pain and do too much when coaching basketball or soccer. I hbble for a week, limp for a few days and then promptly forget and think that the next time will be different. I'll call it optimism. LOL

When people go low carb (less than 150-100g of carbs per day) successfully, they usually do not replace carbs with low-carb marketed, processed items, or at the very least they minimize those foods. (Personal observations.) Generally, low carb foods are replaced by healthy fats or a bit more protein. That way most people are satiated by the fats and protein.

I eat very LCHF. My carbs are usually below 50g per day. I felt tired and headachy for a few days before I finally balnced my electrolytes and felt better again. Going LCHF will result in water loss (carbs cause water retention) which will also deplete your electrolytes. Low carb eating increases magnesium and potassium needs, and sodium (salt) should be raised to 3000-5000 mg per day, which can be done by drinking broth, salting foods, or even drinking salted water every day. It makes a big difference within hours.

Going low carb may affect your exercise performance for about a month. Your glycogen stores may get depleted and your body will be relying on fats for fule more. This is especially true for people who follow the ketogenic (<50g carbs per day) diet; those who are simply LCHF may not experience this. It doesn't last though and most find it doesn't impact their performance after that adjustment period.

The foods I focus on are coconut and coconut cream (great in coffee with a drop of stevia or some protein powder), cream, butter, and hard cheese, meats, seafood, eggs, nuts and seeds, avocado, olives, olive oil, greens, veggies (broccoli, cucumber, peppers, snap peas, celery, mushrooms, squash, etc.), and berries.

I tend to avoid starches which includes potatoes, rice, noodles, bread, all baked goods, and generally any foods made using flour. I limit root veggies (beets, parsnips, carrots, etc) since they are higher in carbs than other veggies. I avoid most fruits, or have a very small helping such as a slice of apple rather than the entire apple. I do not eat table sugar or foods with added sugars. For sweetener I use Stevia drops.

I know skipping the above foods can seem hard, but once I did it, my cravings for thos foods disappeared within days.

I would say your foods are on the right track but your fats are probably too low. Most of us were taught to believe that eating fat makes us fat and is bad for you, but for the vast majority of peole, that isn't true. Eating too much makes us fat, and for some eating too many carbs is a health problem (insulin resistnace).

Consider adding more fat to your diet. Your fat macro will probably end up being over 50% of your diet. Mine is about 75% and I have lost a good 30 lbs in the last 3 months, so I know fat is not bad.

Ditto the others who suggested the Low Carber Daily group. They're good people there.

Good luck.

you don't need to do low carb, nor exercise insanely. Since you're a newbie, I would suggest using the calorie calculator on this site to work out the maintenance calorie intake for the weight you WANT to be (not what you are now). Then eat the same foods you eat now, but keep a food diary and try to keep as close to that maintenance calorie intake as you can.

This way you'll get in the habit of eating the amount of food you'll need to be eating if you want to stay your desired weight forever.

As for exercise, just start slow, 30 minutes weigh training twice a week, 30 minutes easy cardio 3 times a week.

I guarantee if you follow this plan for a couple of months you'll be in a much better place, and can review again then.

I'm also doing low carb, high fat. The biggest benefit of it is really that it keeps you full and satiated longer. The hardest part of dieting is being hungry. I did basic calorie counting without carb restriction before, and it does work but it's a lot harder, because you inevitably end up hungry. Or at least I did. LCHF makes it a lot easier to resist snacking. nvmomketo offered a lot of good advice above if you're interested in pursuing this way of eating. I'm actually eating <20g net carbs. It sounds extreme but it's actually been pretty easy because of the lack of hunger. You don't have to eat as few carbs as that of course, unless you're aiming to go keto. The point is that fewer carbs and more fat/protein = less hunger, easier diet!

Just remember to still eat plenty of non-starchy vegetables. Here is a list of keto-friendly foods, helpful for identifying low carb foods even if you're not keto. I do get cravings for sweets and there are a lot of recipes out there that use things like almond or coconut flour and artificial sweeteners that satisfy my sweet tooth and desire for baked goods.

KatoGirl73 wrote: »

I do pretty well about staying away from the doughnuts and twinkies (twinkies are THE nastiest things ever lol)
I tend to eat large quantities and not exercise. I have low back pain with muscle spasms plus knee pain so i try to exercise but pay for it for days or weeks.
I started trying to buy salad items and sugar free jello and cottage cheese. A few fruits but so many carbs in them...
I like coffee but have cream and sugar so that negates weight loss effort too. Kinda frustrating.

On LCHF you can absolutely have cream in your coffee, in fact it's encouraged! And you can sweeten it with stevia or the sweetener of your choice. Also, make making good low carb food choices easy by prepping low carb friendly casseroles in advance that you can just heat up at your convenience. Here is the one I've been eating this week. I just steam some veggies to go with it. I also tend to eat cut up deli meats, cheeses and nuts for lunch along with some chopped veggies. Eggs are your friends for breakfast. I make a crustless quiche I can heat up portions of in the morning.

Good luck, you can do this! Weight loss is possible low carb or not, but you may find that experimenting with low carb makes it easier for you.

Please note that Ketogenic diets used in the 1920's for seizures did work - but they required a trained dietitian to very precisely provide measurements for the food - so be carefull using the "over the counter" keto diet. Read and research a lot.

see http://www.charliefoundation.org/

KatoGirl73 wrote: »

I just read today going into keto might help stop my eplilptic seizures. Between diet restriction, no alcohol, correct sleep, low stress and exercise i could go off medication or reduce it at least. I would rather do keto then look for liver donors in the future....ijs

KatoGirl73 wrote: »

Dark meat? Yuck. Lol. Its slimey. Any tips to use avacado? I liked it blended in my protein smoothie. Hated it sliced on a sandwich.

Eat white meat chicken. Cook with oil.
If you dislike the texture of avocados, skip them. The point is that when you go low carb, you increase fats and oils.

I've followed low carb and it works for me when I follow it very strict. Only problem is constipation but I take a fiber pill and that helps. My body feels so much better on low carb and lots of energy.

I've lost 5.3kgs in 16 days and feel amazing as i am no longer addicted to sugar and carbs. Try it, dont try it. (its something you'd have to purchase as it is designed specifically for you).. You think 50grams of carbs is extreme? Mine requires a max of 20-25g a day. And it's awesome. Google Tim Noakes and his diet and you'll see why. GL HF


[link removed by MFP mod]

I started eating lower carb a year or so ago due to digestive issues. I can't begin to describe how much better I feel! As far as weight loss I do think it's helpful. Eating lower carb seems to keep my blood sugar much more stable. I do get hungry but it's just a feeling to be noted, not the "OMG I have to eat something right now or I'm gonna pass out" feeling I often used to have. FWIW the carbs I reduced were almost all of the healthful variety--whole wheat bread, fruit and things like that. I've never had a sweet tooth or any blood sugar issues. I'm not obsessive about my carb intake by any means. The changes I made were things like having eggs instead of toast and fruit for breakfast a few times a week, salads for lunch instead of sandwiches, more veggies at dinner and less rice, etc. Those changes made a huge difference in the way I feel.

I end up eating low-carb sort of naturally when I focus on adding more protein, healthy fats, and vegetables rather than focus on taking things away. I have a calorie limit, so once I'm full up on those three things there just isn't a lot of room for processed carbs -- I end up under 150/day by default and I don't even have to think about it.

walker1world wrote: »

My belief is all diets are a low carb diets, when comped to the average American diet. Lol.

avskk wrote: »

I end up eating low-carb sort of naturally when I focus on adding more protein, healthy fats, and vegetables rather than focus on taking things away. I have a calorie limit, so once I'm full up on those three things there just isn't a lot of room for processed carbs -- I end up under 150/day by default and I don't even have to think about it.

On this basis most diets (other than LCHF) are probably low fat too.

SAD is something like 50/15/35, but with excessive calories.

I began the low carb lifestyle when my daughter was diagnosed as a type 2 diabetic this past June (A1C at 15 and glucose readings over 400). We initially tried to follow the ADA diet but could not get her BS readings under 250! I started to search for an answers and stumbled upon the Paleo (caveman) way of eating, except we still eat dairy. I decided we would get our carb intake from veggies and fruits. We cut out all the whites (flour, sugar, rice, potatoes). We now use coconut and almond meal flour when needed and coconut palm sugar as a sweetener, we have also gradually added in the occassional serving of whole wheat sandwich thins, sweet potatoes and brown rice. At her doctors appointment this past Friday her A1C was at 6.2! Her doctors were floored and super excited as her excessive numbers had caused retinal swelling and bleeding in both eyes and a severe strain on her kidneys. I count calories for myself but not for her. She's lost over 20 pounds and I've lost a few (I'm not as strict when I'm away from her). I intend to buckle down and do better. But I rambled on to simply say a low carb way of eating does work!! Best wishes on your journey!!