No Carb Diet?

I am in a cast for 5 weeks which means I need to really watch what I eat so I won't put on a lot of weight. A friend of mine told me to do a no carb diet? Has anyone tried this? Seems tough to completely eliminate carbs from your meals.

Replies

  • OMP33
    OMP33 Posts: 308 Member
    No need to go low carb. Once you introduce carbs back into your life after your bed rest, you'll gain some weight back. Just don't eat as much because you are more sedentary than before.
  • QueenofHearts023
    QueenofHearts023 Posts: 421 Member
    You should know - no carb means you can only eat meat and oil basically.
  • ClosetBayesian
    ClosetBayesian Posts: 836 Member
    I am in a cast for 5 weeks which means I need to really watch what I eat so I won't put on a lot of weight. A friend of mine told me to do a no carb diet? Has anyone tried this? Seems tough to completely eliminate carbs from your meals.

    Depriving yourself of nutrients while you're recovering from an injury is not a great idea. Don't overeat, but don't feel like you have to demonize an entire macronutrient while you're at it.
  • RodaRose
    RodaRose Posts: 9,562 Member
    Meat and seafood and olive oil or other oil for zero carbs.
    For health, add some low carb greens: spinach, kale, romaine, Swiss chard, cabbage.
  • leosmith66
    leosmith66 Posts: 69 Member
    I'm going to assume that you normally have a stable weight, but you are afraid that, due to inactivity while you have your cast on, you won't burn the exercise calories that you're accustomed to. This is why it's a good idea to eat less on inactive days all the time; when you can't be active, your body already knows the drill. So this is one more vote for just eating less. Zero carbs is very extreme.
  • Yi5hedr3
    Yi5hedr3 Posts: 2,696 Member
    Forget it! Way too hard to do, and especially to stay on. Set macros to 20/20/60. You be fine! :)
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
    I am in a cast for 5 weeks which means I need to really watch what I eat so I won't put on a lot of weight. A friend of mine told me to do a no carb diet? Has anyone tried this? Seems tough to completely eliminate carbs from your meals.

    Your friend may have meant miss the pasta, fries, potato, pizza, rice and bread. ie cut out the foods that are mainly carby fillers.

    Eat meat, fish, cheese, yoghurt, eggs and non-starchy vegetables and you will have a very low carb intake but it won't be zero.
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    It seems tough because it's tough, in fact, it's close to impossible; as others have mentioned, you'd have to eat only meat, seafood and oil, and that is no way to aid recovery from whatever you are in cast for. You have to eat less than usual if you go from active to sedentary, and it's a good idea to cut most of your calories from carbs, because you'll still need approximately the same amount of fat and protein, but cut down, not out. Also, cut more on the junk than the real food, because you'll need the calories you eat to be as nutritious as possible. At the same time, eat food you like and don't try to eat no junk at all, if you usually et some junk. Variety, balance, moderation.
  • RuNaRoUnDaFiEld
    RuNaRoUnDaFiEld Posts: 5,864 Member
    Your body uses more calories to heal its self.
    Change your settings to maintain at a sedentary lifestyle.
    Eat slightly higher protein for the repair but you don't need to cut out carbs altogether.
  • trjjoy
    trjjoy Posts: 666 Member
    yarwell wrote: »

    Your friend may have meant miss the pasta, fries, potato, pizza, rice and bread. ie cut out the foods that are mainly carby fillers.

    Eat meat, fish, cheese, yoghurt, eggs and non-starchy vegetables and you will have a very low carb intake but it won't be zero.

    Potatoes contain very little calories. And they're yummy.
  • RodaRose
    RodaRose Posts: 9,562 Member
    edited February 2016
    Actually, if you are recovering from a broken bone, you need to eat at maintence and above. :)
  • nvmomketo
    nvmomketo Posts: 12,019 Member
    edited February 2016
    I eat a very low carbohydrate diet and am trying a close to zero carb diet now. I would advise you not to cut carbs and do a major dietary change around an injury. It takes a while for the body to get used to relying on fats. During that time you can end up with an electrolyte imbalance from the water loss (low sodium, magnesium, and potassium) and you will feel more fatigued as your body adjusts. That can be hard on a body so I wouldn't add that onto the stresses of injury.

    Reducing carbs will cause some water loss, maybe a couple of pounds, but keeping excess weight off comes down to not consuming excess calories. If you were active you may only need to cut back a couple of hundred calories per day. That being said, lower carb diets can help reduce the appetite in some people so it can be helpful that way.

    If you want to go lower carb, I would not go below 150-100g of carbs, especially at first. I wouldn't go with a drastic cut to ~5g per day. Not while recovering. Try that in a month or so from now if you are still interested.

    Good luck with your recovery.
  • leosmith66
    leosmith66 Posts: 69 Member
    trjjoy wrote: »
    Potatoes contain very little calories. And they're yummy.
    They are nutritious, yummy, but very high in carbs. They make my BG spike like crazy, so I rarely eat them, and when I do, I eat them in moderation.
    RodaRose wrote: »
    Actually, if you are recovering from a broken bone, you need to eat at maintence and above. :)
    Very good point!
  • QueenofHearts023
    QueenofHearts023 Posts: 421 Member
    leosmith66 wrote: »
    trjjoy wrote: »
    Potatoes contain very little calories. And they're yummy.
    They are nutritious, yummy, but very high in carbs. They make my BG spike like crazy, so I rarely eat them, and when I do, I eat them in moderation.
    RodaRose wrote: »
    Actually, if you are recovering from a broken bone, you need to eat at maintence and above. :)
    Very good point!

    Potatoes every night... with eggs or chicken :tongue: potatoes are one of my safe foods.
  • leosmith66
    leosmith66 Posts: 69 Member
    Potatoes every night... with eggs or chicken :tongue: potatoes are one of my safe foods.
    I assume you aren't diabetic, and/or have no need to control your BG. "safe" food - are you a follower of PHD by any chance? I used to eat about 1 lb of either potatoes or white rice every day. Loved that diet. Had to give it up though.

  • QueenofHearts023
    QueenofHearts023 Posts: 421 Member
    leosmith66 wrote: »
    Potatoes every night... with eggs or chicken :tongue: potatoes are one of my safe foods.
    I assume you aren't diabetic, and/or have no need to control your BG. "safe" food - are you a follower of PHD by any chance? I used to eat about 1 lb of either potatoes or white rice every day. Loved that diet. Had to give it up though.

    No I have IBS. Potatoes, rice and oats are among the very few carby things that are gentle on my digestion.
  • RoseTheWarrior
    RoseTheWarrior Posts: 2,035 Member
    Your body needs carbs. I would also advise not depriving your body of a whole area of nutrients when you're healing, as another poster mentioned above.
  • Equus5374
    Equus5374 Posts: 462 Member
    What kind of cast are you in? I ask because there are exercise programs for people with limitations -- upper body workouts for people with lower limb mobility issues and vice versa. A friend of mine has MS and has created a workout program for those in a wheelchair.
  • NaturalNancy
    NaturalNancy Posts: 1,093 Member
    Eat lots of protein, veggies and fruits!
    Try soups and salads!
    Nuts, fish, eggs etc.
    I would just stay away from highly processed foods like white sugar and white carbs... But organic potatoes would be good.
    Track your calories.
    I think low carb but not no carb.
    Hope u get well soon!
  • rankinsect
    rankinsect Posts: 2,238 Member
    RodaRose wrote: »
    Actually, if you are recovering from a broken bone, you need to eat at maintence and above. :)

    Yeah, your body needs a lot of extra calories to repair itself. Worry first about healing. You have a lot longer than 5 weeks to get the body you want, but you only have these weeks to let this injury heal correctly.
  • leosmith66
    leosmith66 Posts: 69 Member
    No I have IBS. Potatoes, rice and oats are among the very few carby things that are gentle on my digestion.
    Ahh, that makes sense then. Have you ever tried supplementing potato starch? It took a while for me to get used to, but in the end(pun intended) it really helped my SIBO.