Low Carb Diet?

Enjoy the hounds.

I've been low carb for 3 months, and have lost 25 pounds. I do work out also. Here is a website with great information: www.dietdoctor.com. They have 2 week meal plan that is good, and will get you going in the right direction. It will change the way you look at food completely.

Beef, pork, poultry, lamb, fish, game, eggs, butter, coconut oil, palm oil, olive oil, leafy green veggies, crucifirous veggies, low sugar fruit (like berries), savory fruit (avocados, tomatoes, peppers, squash, eggplant, cucumbers, etc), seeds and nuts, full fat cheeses, full fat yogurt (plain -added small amounts of fruit yourself), heavy cream. You can have processed meats (bacon, sausage, ham, etc), but it's probably best to keep those to a minimum. For a treat good quality dark chocolate (at least 70%, but the higher the better).

You will find lots of low carb recipes for traditionally high carb things, and it may be something to look into, but personally I avoid those - they rely heavily on artificial sweeteners and alternative flours (almond flour, coconut flour, etc). I hate the taste of artificial sweeteners and alternative flours tend to be quite expensive. If you're just starting out it's probably better to get used to eating a basic low carb diet before trying to replace things (quite often the replacements are disappointing at best, and can cause cravings for some people).

The low carb group can give you more ideas and specifics. Make sure you get enough fat in your diet, and you may need to add salt and/or magnesium and potassium at first because people tend to lose a lot of water in the first week or so (and along with that water, a lot of electrolytes). The loss of electrolytes can make you feel pretty crummy (low carb "flu"). It will pass, but increasing sodium can help.

Did the doctor tell you a specific reason you should try low carb? Do you have a medical condition that requires it? If so, see if he can refer you to a dietitian so you can have someone work with you around your needs.

If it is just because you need/want to lose weight, do know low carb is not required. Many doctors have limited nutrition education so arwnt the best to ask how to lose weight. He may have suggested low carb because that is all he is familiar with and says that to anyone who asks. I would ask your doctor WHY he reccomended low carb and work from there.

You can get the book: The South Beach Diet
Phase one is more or less like this:
Beef, chicken, seafood, eggs, cheese, olive oil, avocado,
Broccoli, tomatoes, spinach, eggplant, kale, squash, asparagus, brussel sprouts,
South beach snack bars and such are available in grocery store

chiciebee wrote: »

kommodevaran wrote: »

If you just want to lose weight, and don't have to do low carb for health issues, all you have to do is log your food eating anything you want, and hit your calorie goal every day.

Not a recommended practice for your health, or sustained weight loss, FYI.

Says who? There's lots of us who have done this and not only have we lost the extra weight, we've improved our health in the process as well. Focus on eating a varied diet, learn how portion sizes work (get a kitchen scale to help with this), accurately track your calories and stay within your calorie parameters. You don't have to drastically change your diet or cut out the foods you like. That's not realistic or sustainable long term.

Just google keto recipes. There are tons of good ones, with low carb substitutes for almost anything you can imagine.

this ^^^^^

We eat low carb for medical reasons. Our Friends on South Beach eat non low carb south beach. But their carbs are things like sweet potato, squashes, carrots and oatmeal.

Join the group or get the book and have a good look. You will be restricting plain sugars, flours, any junky treats and packaged goods in particular.

Our friends are older and they use it to manage weight gain. She is 70, active and a healthy and strong size 2-4 with no medications.

OP, just log into MFP every day. Weigh your food. Log it. Rinse. Repeat. The weight will fall off as soon as you're in a calorie deficit. You don't have to deprive yourself of yummy carbs. Carbs is proof that God loves us

GaleHawkins wrote: »

salyerssommer wrote: »

Thanks everyone!!!!
He did not give a specific reason for me to try low carb, just that I am borderline obese.
I will set an appointment Monday and ask him if there are any reasons why and ask about the dietian/meal plans.
Thank you guys so much. I would have never thought of this stuff.

Side note: I'm guessing calorie-intake is more important than low-carb?
I am concerned about why he did choose a low-carb diet for me?

Low carb high fat is becoming the eating standard in some countries today hoping to reduce their health care costs.

dietdoctor.com/swedish-expert-committee-low-carb-diet-effective-weight-loss

Thanks for sharing Gale

Calories drive your weight loss, but carbs drive your hunger. When you go low carb you stop having carb/sugar cravings. When you increase your protien and fat intake you are eating more satisfying foods. Think how easy it would be to eat fewer calories if you aren't hungry and you aren't having cravings! Dropping the carbs has made me feel liberated from food--I eat if I'm hungry and don't if I'm not. I eat for fuel.

Pollywog_la wrote: »

kommodevaran wrote: »

salyerssommer wrote: »

Thanks everyone!!!!
He did not give a specific reason for me to try low carb, just that I am borderline obese.
I will set an appointment Monday and ask him if there are any reasons why and ask about the dietian/meal plans.
Thank you guys so much. I would have never thought of this stuff.

Side note: I'm guessing calorie-intake is more important than low-carb?
I am concerned about why he did choose a low-carb diet for me?

Yes, calories is what drives weight up/down; you keep a stable weight when your calories in equals calories out.

Low carb is a "hot" diet now, and your doctor may think that it's more effective than just cutting calories all over (it isn't. It may help with satiety (unless if it doesn't), and is often recommended for pre-diabetes, PCOS, hypothyroidism etc. For the ordinary dieter, macro split and meal timing aren't very important.

I don't take issue with most of what you say here, but while low carb is getting more press now, but it is not new.
Close to the modern versions have been around since the 1800's.
It was fairly standard for many doctors prior to the dietary recommendations change in 1976 as part of the McGovern hearings. Correlation does not equal causation, but obesity seems to have risen very closely-tied with that hearings recommendations to reduce fat and increase grains/starch. Amd closely tied with the upsurge in processed foods.

It is a fact that most people fail when they diet. I think part of it is one diet will not work for everyone, and a diet based solely on calorie restriction may be ignoring other issues...like why the person is hungry enough to even eat over what their body theoretically needs. Restricting calories will work for most people while they do it...the trick is not staying with it.
I track my calories but the bigger issue for me is where they come from. I am more successful when they do not come from starch/sugar sources but from fat with protein. And since I feel satisfied, I can stay with it (3 1/2 years now, over 100 lbs lost). Other people are successful with the exact opposite diet.
Calorie restriction plays a part and shouldn't be ignored, but I still maintain the sources are a bigger issue and are different for different people.

Yep, I have been a yo-yo dieter all my life, until I started reading up on low carb diets. A ketogenic diet was the only diet I ever managed to stick to for a significant amount of time, and that largely amounted to the fact that I stopped having cravings for junk food, and I was virtually never hungry. I counted calories until I realized that I didn't need to simply because I was always eating below my goal just naturally.

Simple calorie restriction may work for some people - those with high enough willpower to ignore cravings and hunger. But to anyone who finds themselves finding it hard to stick to a diet and routinely going over your goal calories, I would recommend giving low carb a try.

I think low carbing could definitely help you then... for me all desire for food went straight out of the window for the most part! Give it a week... see what happens!