Should I Cut Out Carbs All Together?

ehte_h
ehte_h Posts: 297 Member
edited September 28 in Food and Nutrition
Someone suggested that I should give up ALL potatos, pasta & bread etc... to help speed up the weight loss, since i've been stuck on a plateau for 2 weeks?? What do you guys think?

Replies

  • FairyMiss
    FairyMiss Posts: 1,812 Member
    you could try it for a time see what happens
  • TheKitsune6
    TheKitsune6 Posts: 5,798 Member
    If it works for you. Personally I'd rather go the route of smaller portion sizes because I don't want to cut out a bunch of stuff I love that I will eventually crave and then binge therefore leaving me feeling defeated and depressed which will cause me to give it another half hearted try before I give up completely gaining back all the weight I lost and then some and take a few months to build up motivation to start again. /run on sentence
  • HoopFire5602
    HoopFire5602 Posts: 423 Member
    No. Zig zag your calories instead. You body needs a shock. Or bump up the intensity of your workouts. Or do both. :)
  • JWeaser
    JWeaser Posts: 302
    This is just my opinion. I am not a doctor or a trainer. I don't believe it is healthy to completely eliminate any one thing from your diet. Your body will just stock up on what it has. There are carbs in a lot of good foods, fruits and veggies for example. Dieting is about moderation in all things. Secondly, it is important to loose the weight in such a way that you can maintain after you've reached your goal weight. Is it practical that you will NEVER eat another carb again? Probably not. I would look at your current situation, calories, workout schedule etc and try changing that up. If you are eating below the daily suggested caloric intake. Try upping it to what you are supposed to be at. Others may have more informed opinions. This is just mine.

    Good Luck!
  • alohabrie
    alohabrie Posts: 204
    Not just "no" but "hell no!" Smart carb choices are important for our health. Whole grains, fruits, vegetables all provide phytochemicals (can't get those in a pill) and fiber. Watch your choices - watch your calories and don't go to low either. That can cause your body to get all sorts of efficient on you and hold onto the weight. Good luck!
  • miss_ally08
    miss_ally08 Posts: 167 Member
    I did a no carb diet for 2 weeks and let me tell you, it was hell. H-E-L-L. First off, you are cranky like nobody's business. Secondly, all you want to do is sleep 24/7 because you have zero energy to do anything. & lastly, its really hard to not eat anything bread related and find things low in carbs. I personally wouldn't recommend it because our body needs whole grains/whole wheat to give us energy and keep us going. But, that's just my two cents :)
  • JWeaser
    JWeaser Posts: 302
    I just took a peek at your food diary and you are leaving A LOT of calories on the table over the last week (Except Saturday, please tell me that the Pizza Hut was gross! Help a gal out here. haha). You should be eating closer to your goal, especially on the days you work out.
  • aling01
    aling01 Posts: 163
    EXACTLY what alohabrie said.

    you're body uses carb as fuel. you just need to be wiser in what kind of carbs you eat and the portion.

    if you're like me who can't give up pasta, rice or bread, eat those kind of carbs AFTER
    Not just "no" but "hell no!" Smart carb choices are important for our health. Whole grains, fruits, vegetables all provide phytochemicals (can't get those in a pill) and fiber. Watch your choices - watch your calories and don't go to low either. That can cause your body to get all sorts of efficient on you and hold onto the weight. Good luck!
  • aling01
    aling01 Posts: 163
    EXACTLY what alohabrie said.

    you're body uses carb as fuel. you just need to be wiser in what kind of carbs you eat and the portion.

    if you're like me who can't give up pasta, rice or bread, eat those kind of carbs AFTER
    Not just "no" but "hell no!" Smart carb choices are important for our health. Whole grains, fruits, vegetables all provide phytochemicals (can't get those in a pill) and fiber. Watch your choices - watch your calories and don't go to low either. That can cause your body to get all sorts of efficient on you and hold onto the weight. Good luck!
  • aling01
    aling01 Posts: 163
    sorry, my hand pressed enter before i was even finished! lol

    EXACTLY what alohabrie said.

    you're body uses carb as fuel. you just need to be wiser in what kind of carbs you eat and the portion as well as when.

    if you're like me who can't give up pasta, rice or bread, eat those kind of carbs AFTER you're workout.

    for breads eat like ezekial bread or something...not white. if you want noodles, try miracle noodle.
  • FairyMiss
    FairyMiss Posts: 1,812 Member
    If it works for you. Personally I'd rather go the route of smaller portion sizes because I don't want to cut out a bunch of stuff I love that I will eventually crave and then binge therefore leaving me feeling defeated and depressed which will cause me to give it another half hearted try before I give up completely gaining back all the weight I lost and then some and take a few months to build up motivation to start again. /run on sentence


    actually once you cut that stuff out completely I have found you don't tend to crave it at all
  • 2112540
    2112540 Posts: 71
    I stopped eating things with flour and now I use ezekiel bread and once they're toasted they are better than bread and fill me up more!
  • Shua456
    Shua456 Posts: 211
    Here's the thing about cutting out all carbs: yes, you will lose weight for as long as you stick to it. The problem is you can't maintain that kind of diet long-term and as soon as you add carbs back in the weight will come back and it often brings friends. :(

    There are variations of low carb that do work. A body builder at work doesn't eat carbs after 2 PM but then about once a week he carb loads and eats tons of them. That works really well for him.

    South Beach is a form of low carb but keeps your multi grains and fruits in your diet. A much healthier option of low carb.

    The other thing about cutting out all carbs is it knocks down your immune system. My dh and I were on it years ago and it was working great until he got meningitis. It took him months to recover and the doc said that his system was too weak from the low carb to fight it. I've been very leary of low carb since then. The low carb diet didn't almost kill him but it did compromise his system enough that the illness almost killed him.
  • marysmartypants
    marysmartypants Posts: 7 Member
    Let me preface this with "everyone is different....blah blah blah..." I did low-carb (under 15 grams per day) for two weeks and while I lost weight like crazy (about 1 lb. per day), I was miserable and became quite food-obsessed because of the limitations. I had horrendous headaches and felt "blah" for the lack of a better word. The worst part is that it was not a lifestyle change, it would be impossible for me to maintain that way of eating. So as soon as I stopped, I gained it all back (plus an additional five pounds) in LESS THAN A WEEK! I actually weighed more after the fact than had I not even done THE STUPID DIET AT ALL!

    Good luck to you on whatever path you choose!

    Mary
  • mynameisuntz
    mynameisuntz Posts: 582 Member
    EXACTLY what alohabrie said.

    you're body uses carb as fuel. you just need to be wiser in what kind of carbs you eat and the portion.

    if you're like me who can't give up pasta, rice or bread, eat those kind of carbs AFTER
    Actually, the type of carb you eat really doesn't matter. Whether it's a simple carb, complex carb, starchy, whatever: it all has the same fate assuming it is the same type of carbohydrate (glucose vs. fructose vs. galactose, etc.). The only difference is the speed in which it reaches that destination, but the overall NET change in your body will remain the same.

    OP - set your caloric deficit, get ample protein (1g per pound lean body mass), and fill in the rest of your diet with a mixture of fat and carbs. That's all you need to do. If that isn't working then you're doing something wrong and/or probably miscalculated your intake/maintenance.
  • wildon883r
    wildon883r Posts: 429 Member
    EXACTLY what alohabrie said.

    you're body uses carb as fuel. you just need to be wiser in what kind of carbs you eat and the portion.

    if you're like me who can't give up pasta, rice or bread, eat those kind of carbs AFTER
    Actually, the type of carb you eat really doesn't matter. Whether it's a simple carb, complex carb, starchy, whatever: it all has the same fate assuming it is the same type of carbohydrate (glucose vs. fructose vs. galactose, etc.). The only difference is the speed in which it reaches that destination, but the overall NET change in your body will remain the same.

    OP - set your caloric deficit, get ample protein (1g per pound lean body mass), and fill in the rest of your diet with a mixture of fat and carbs. That's all you need to do. If that isn't working then you're doing something wrong and/or probably miscalculated your intake/maintenance.

    Carbs are not just carbs. Both are treated significantly different in your body. Carbs don't make you fat. Over eating/drinking does. Complex carbs should make up the MAJORITY of your caloric intake. I don't eat junk and i rarely if ever hit my 50% carb goal a day. In fact i rarely reach my 25% cals from fat or protein and i eat exceptionally healthy and much more food daily then i did when i was at my heaviest. I just quit eating junk.
  • mynameisuntz
    mynameisuntz Posts: 582 Member
    Carbs are not just carbs. Both are treated significantly different in your body. Carbs don't make you fat. Over eating/drinking does. Complex carbs should make up the MAJORITY of your caloric intake. I don't eat junk and i rarely if ever hit my 50% carb goal a day. In fact i rarely reach my 25% cals from fat or protein and i eat exceptionally healthy and much more food daily then i did when i was at my heaviest. I just quit eating junk.
    I never said carbs are just carbs. I said glucose is glucose, fructose if fructose, etc.

    The differences between complex and simple carbs, however, are drastically overestimated in regards to body composition. In regards to body composition and fat loss, it really does not matter whether you eat simple or complex carbs.
  • jlm7183
    jlm7183 Posts: 7 Member
    A no carbohydrate diet is virtually impossible since carbohydrates are found in all vegetables, fruit, and dairy. No starches is possible short-term, but not no-carbohydrate. Simply put, decreasing calories, regardless of whether those calories are carbohydrate, protein, or fat, will lead to weight loss. If you have a starch "addiction" it could be beneficial to cut out or limit starches short term in order to learn new habits but that is where the benefit of a low/no carbohydrate diet lies.
  • ImperfektAngel
    ImperfektAngel Posts: 811 Member
    Dont cut them out! but do go for the better choice such as veggies :D
  • pandafoo
    pandafoo Posts: 367 Member
    It's not a good idea to cut out a complete food group, plus carbs are important sources of fuel for the body. However, the quality and quantity of carbs that you eat are most critical, and I would say, the most important determinant of weight loss success. Gary Taubes is a well-known author and has written a book titled "Why We Get Fat" that argues that bad carbs make us fat, and it's not really because we eat more calories than we burn (lots of studies to back it up). It's interesting - I'm in the middle of reading it.

    I also met with a nutritionist for four sessions, and in one of them, he focused solely on quality and quantity of carbs. I wrote up all my lessons learned on the following thread - it may be helpful for you! :)

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/210249-consult-with-a-dietician-key-lessons-learne
  • JennieAL
    JennieAL Posts: 1,726 Member
    I'd try to cut out all refined and processed carbs. Then eat a small or moderate amount of potatoes, corn, whole grains. Those would probably be the wisest choice for carbs if you decide to keep them in your diet... otherwise, you can get your carbs from veggies & fruits.
  • DianaPowerUp
    DianaPowerUp Posts: 518 Member
    Unless you eat a very high fat, high protein diet, you really can't get rid of ALL carbs. Carbs are in fruit, veggies, and dairy (and grains, of course). However, restricting your carb intake, ESP in processed foods, can really make quite an impact.

    I personally get my carbs from just the veggies, dairy, and a bit of fruit that I eat. I've found that by cutting out grains (yes, even whole grains - the impact on insulin production is the same, just doesn't hit as fast, and that's really what it's about (your insulin response to certain foods)), I have a much more chiseled physique. I was able to shed those last 10 lbs than would never go away. And I feel better, overall. No more hunger pangs, the sugar lows, shakes etc. So for me, I wish I'd started this 10 yrs ago, at least!
  • ehte_h
    ehte_h Posts: 297 Member
    Thanks guys, some very helpful responses :) I think i'll go with the popular opinion and cut back on white pasta, potatos & get the carbs through more fruit and veg
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