Carbs
beccilou1991
Posts: 9 Member
I'm finding it a real struggle to avoid carbs and I'm sure that it's not just me. Anyone else in the same boat and thought of ways to avoid them or miminalise intake??
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Replies
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Well there really isn't a need to avoid that unless you have a medical issue, it's causing you to go over your calories or that it's taking away from other nutrients. Personally, I focus on calories and then protein and let carbs/fat fall in place (typically 250g of carbs or more a day). If anything, work on getting more protein and more fiber and it should fall into place a bit more.6
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I also have a problem with carbs, but been in a crash diets with no carbs, make me realise I can lose weight quick, but also I will get the weight back quicker...so I decide to cut portions and control what carbs to eat...one of my big carb problem is bread, so I am trying flatbread with low carbs and higher fiber...and I loved..another changed I did was make small portion on my intakes...b4 I have big plate of pasta, bread and sometimes rice .....so now I just eat the pasta alone or with a side of green salad...
I don't feel hungry....my big issue is anxiety...so I try to eat every 3 hours small portion, and drink a lot water, and sometimes I spice my water a little wt limo, cinnamon, ginger.. and why not some cayenne pepper....sounds funny but taste good...4 -
I don't avoid carbs. Do you have a medical reason to avoid them? If not then I wouldn't worry about it. If you find that a high carb meal doesn't leave you feeling satisfied then you might want to make sure you eat more protien or fat if that helps, but there is no reason to avoid carbs.2
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Unless you have medical issues there is no reason to avoid carbs. Just make sure you getting enough protein and fats.....carbs are whatever is leftover. Shift the focus slightly.
A well rounded meal (for me) includes ONE starchy carb, not two. An example, grilled chicken sandwich with a green salad OR grilled chicken breast and a baked sweet potato. The days of a sandwich (on bread) + fries......are gone.2 -
A lot of folks will tell you that there is no need to avoid carbs as long as you're eating the right amount of calories. While I definitely agree, I still try to limit carbs from pasta, bread, pastries, rice, etc and enjoy carbs from oats, veges, and beans. I average less than 100g of carbs a day and try to stay below 50 if I can. Again, this is a personal preference - Not necessary for weight loss. While I stay low-carb all week I still have 1 meal (pizza, sushi, hibachi) that is way higher in carbs and sometimes it results in losses on the scale.
I would find it really hard to have no carbs at all but here's some things I do:
-Use zucchini as noodles (with or without spiralizer)
- Cook saute peppers, onions, and zucchini in red sauce to pair with meatballs or really as any "noodles"
- Use a tortilla as a crust to make flat bread pizzas (top with cheese + whatever toppings and bake)
- Lean ground beef with broccoli & cheese (taste like hamburger helper to me)
- Make stir-fry without rice and extra veges (especially extra snap peas!)
Honestly, it may seem boring but I love just having a lean meat and veges. I often have just a chicken breast as a snack, or I'll pick-up a rotisserie chicken and steam veges for dinner.3 -
I'm doing a lower carb which I keep under 100g and higher protien and so far It's working out pretty well. You can check out my diary it's pretty repetitive food wise but I don't find myself as tired as I use to be and I'm not as hungry. I still let myself have what I want occasionally. I went on pinterest to look up lower carb veggies and other snacks. I eat alot of chicken and ground turkey, asaragus, eggs and cheese. I also found mashed and riced cauliflower in the frozen section I mix it with mushrooms and ground turkey it's pretty good. However you don't want to just cut carbs out, I've tried the whole 20g of carbs a day for a month and even though I lost weight I ended up gaining it back because that's not how I plan on eating forever so go a healthier route and just log what you eat and make healthy choices.
Hope that helps alittle ☺2 -
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As someone who has lost 125+ lbs in the last 1.5 years, I can faithfully tell you.. carbs do not matter as long as you stay under your calorie goal. Granted, if you eat too many of them you'll end up hungry and out of calories for the day, but they make no real difference other than that.2
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I just recently changed my dieting two doing low carbs it's hard to avoid them altogether so I figured trying to limit myself as a better option overall I found some things harder than others but have found some great substitutions such as cauliflower makes a good substitution for rice and mashed potatoes I have made zucchini fries in the oven instead of regular fries overall it has gone easier once I figured it out1
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I've lost over 100lbs in just shy of 4 months controlling my carb intake and I didn't do it because I had medical issues. I however was and I am still very heavy but i had no diabetes or high blood pressure and I did tons of research regarding many different lifestyle changes. There are strong opinions on both sides of the low carb / high carb debate but the most silly thing I hear is there is no need to avoid carbs if you don't have a medical problem. Simple CICO has been proven not to work on many occasions. You have to truly balance your macro's within the caloric restriction so that means watching lots of things...not just calories.
In the end focus on changing your diet for what you feel is sustainable for you. Don't be afraid to try different things. Stick to your caloric restriction goal and adjust your macro's until you find what fits best and then just focus on sticking with it.
Good luck with everything!
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If you want to go low carb then do it, but understand that it isn't necessary to lose weight or be healthy. I personally wouldn't sign up for a WOE if I had a difficult time applying it.
I eat a substantively plant based diet so I eat a lot of carbs as do the vast majority of vegetarians and vegans. I try to focus on nutrient rich sources of carbohydrates like oats, legumes, lentils, potato varieties, lots of veg, fruit, etc and I somewhat limit less nutritionally rich sources like breads and pasta, etc (but I do eat those things).1 -
LovelessFool wrote: »I've lost over 100lbs in just shy of 4 months controlling my carb intake and I didn't do it because I had medical issues. I however was and I am still very heavy but i had no diabetes or high blood pressure and I did tons of research regarding many different lifestyle changes. There are strong opinions on both sides of the low carb / high carb debate but the most silly thing I hear is there is no need to avoid carbs if you don't have a medical problem. Simple CICO has been proven not to work on many occasions. You have to truly balance your macro's within the caloric restriction so that means watching lots of things...not just calories.
In the end focus on changing your diet for what you feel is sustainable for you. Don't be afraid to try different things. Stick to your caloric restriction goal and adjust your macro's until you find what fits best and then just focus on sticking with it.
Good luck with everything!
Can you post proof that CICO is proven not to work?
OP, like others, I lost weight just fine without restricting my carb intake.4 -
hmm I lost weight eating carbs and some days I was eating over 300g of them.2
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LovelessFool wrote: »I've lost over 100lbs in just shy of 4 months controlling my carb intake and I didn't do it because I had medical issues. I however was and I am still very heavy but i had no diabetes or high blood pressure and I did tons of research regarding many different lifestyle changes. There are strong opinions on both sides of the low carb / high carb debate but the most silly thing I hear is there is no need to avoid carbs if you don't have a medical problem. Simple CICO has been proven not to work on many occasions. You have to truly balance your macro's within the caloric restriction so that means watching lots of things...not just calories.
In the end focus on changing your diet for what you feel is sustainable for you. Don't be afraid to try different things. Stick to your caloric restriction goal and adjust your macro's until you find what fits best and then just focus on sticking with it.
Good luck with everything!
Ironically, some of the healthiest diets in the world are fairly high carb...Japan has one of the lowest if not the lowest obesity rates in the world and they eat a pretty high carb diet.
"Simple CICO" is the math and works every time and is the underlying principle of any weight loss diet. Going low carb is just one of many ways to create a calorie deficit which is what is necessary to lose weight.3 -
LovelessFool wrote: »I've lost over 100lbs in just shy of 4 months controlling my carb intake and I didn't do it because I had medical issues. I however was and I am still very heavy but i had no diabetes or high blood pressure and I did tons of research regarding many different lifestyle changes. There are strong opinions on both sides of the low carb / high carb debate but the most silly thing I hear is there is no need to avoid carbs if you don't have a medical problem. Simple CICO has been proven not to work on many occasions. You have to truly balance your macro's within the caloric restriction so that means watching lots of things...not just calories.
In the end focus on changing your diet for what you feel is sustainable for you. Don't be afraid to try different things. Stick to your caloric restriction goal and adjust your macro's until you find what fits best and then just focus on sticking with it.
Good luck with everything!
You changed your macros and stayed within your calorie goal.. this is still called CICO..
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I'm not here thumping go low carb. I focused in my post more on macro balance and what works for them. Simply restricting calories without balancing your macro's IMHO doesn't work. Use google and look at any longer term study. Again I'm not saying eat less carbs (It's what I did and worked for me and I have no medical issues). To me It's about balance. Depending on where you get your energy from it's all relative so no need to go on some attack spree about low carb vs high carb. My post wasn't about that.
The post was about maintaining balance of your macro's within your restriction. I don't think 90% carbs and 0% fat and 10% protein works. I don't think 10% carbs and 80% fat and 10% protein works either but that's my opinion. There are extremes at either end of the debate but honestly I believe it's about balance. How we eat and what we eat does matter and how we exercise does to. Many times eating out of balance can still have you losing weight but it can damage your metabolism or cause other issues.
At the end of the day no one has a magic pill that says "poof" you are healthy. I was just saying restriction isn't the only factor. It's not that simple IMHO.
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Human diets are all over the place and pretty much any macro breakdown will work. People do successfully lose on 80% fat, 10% each protein and carbs, and they also lose on 80% carbs, 10% each protein and fat. People lived fine on super low carb diets (like the Inuits) or super low fat/high carb diets (like the traditional Okinawan). If you think about it there's no physical reason why you wouldn't lose just fine on any of the above.
Some ways of eating are more satisfying and easier to sustain than others, of course (although this depends on the person), and going too low protein when losing will affect loss of muscle vs. fat, but on the whole calories are what matter, especially if one has any kind of sensible diet.3 -
LovelessFool wrote: »I'm not here thumping go low carb. I focused in my post more on macro balance and what works for them. Simply restricting calories without balancing your macro's IMHO doesn't work. Use google and look at any longer term study. Again I'm not saying eat less carbs (It's what I did and worked for me and I have no medical issues). To me It's about balance. Depending on where you get your energy from it's all relative so no need to go on some attack spree about low carb vs high carb. My post wasn't about that.
The post was about maintaining balance of your macro's within your restriction. I don't think 90% carbs and 0% fat and 10% protein works. I don't think 10% carbs and 80% fat and 10% protein works either but that's my opinion. There are extremes at either end of the debate but honestly I believe it's about balance. How we eat and what we eat does matter and how we exercise does to. Many times eating out of balance can still have you losing weight but it can damage your metabolism or cause other issues.
At the end of the day no one has a magic pill that says "poof" you are healthy. I was just saying restriction isn't the only factor. It's not that simple IMHO.
these things may not work for you but they can work for others(and they have),as for what we eat it matters health wise but weight wise it doesnt,its still about about CICO. I ate like crap and still lost weight, restricting calories(or being in a deficit) does work even if all you ate was twinkies(not saying you should at all),again its not as healthy but people have lost weight eating crap foods,as for damaging your metabolism eating out of balance,could you post a link backing this up? because there are other things out there that can ruin your metabolism besides a screwed up diet(WOE)2 -
I aim for, and usually achieve, macros of 50% carbs, 30%, 20% protein. Today I hit the 70lbs lost mark in just over 7 months, dropping from 250.5lbs to 180.5lbs. I regularly eat over 300g of carbs in a day. Low carb is not necessarily necessary. CICO works well for me, and many others, regardless of carb intake. I agree that too many carbs vs protein and fats will probably leave you pretty hungry. If anything, I advise to avoid refined carbs as much as you can. Have steel cut oats, not quick oats. Whole grain breads, not white. This won't necessarily impact weight loss, but it is healthier, and leaves you feeling full longer, I find.
Don't get bogged down too much in other people's opinions - find what works for you. For me, it is CICO. It works. Low carb seems weird to me - fruits and veggies are carbs, why would I limit those? I don't know what most eating plans are - Keto? Paleo? No idea, and I don't need to know. I've lost my weight eat pizza weekly, chocolate almost daily...whatever I want to eat, really, just in moderation, and under my calorie limits for every. single. day. I mix in a lot more healthier foods than I used to eat, and a lot more exercise, and I don't cut anything completely out of my diet. There is no need to, really.
Good luck on your journey, and, again, focus on what you can handle doing, and see what works for you. If low carb is too tough, see if higher carb intake works while sticking to CICO works. It almost definitely will, and, if more carbs is easier for you and still works, go with it. It'll make you more likely to stick to it and lose weight. People will disagree with my views on carbs. I'll disagree with some of theirs. There is one thing we all agree on - we all want you to reach your goals. Go get it done!3 -
LovelessFool wrote: »I'm not here thumping go low carb. I focused in my post more on macro balance and what works for them. Simply restricting calories without balancing your macro's IMHO doesn't work. Use google and look at any longer term study. Again I'm not saying eat less carbs (It's what I did and worked for me and I have no medical issues). To me It's about balance. Depending on where you get your energy from it's all relative so no need to go on some attack spree about low carb vs high carb. My post wasn't about that.
The post was about maintaining balance of your macro's within your restriction. I don't think 90% carbs and 0% fat and 10% protein works. I don't think 10% carbs and 80% fat and 10% protein works either but that's my opinion. There are extremes at either end of the debate but honestly I believe it's about balance. How we eat and what we eat does matter and how we exercise does to. Many times eating out of balance can still have you losing weight but it can damage your metabolism or cause other issues.
At the end of the day no one has a magic pill that says "poof" you are healthy. I was just saying restriction isn't the only factor. It's not that simple IMHO.
We all agree that it's about balance, finding a sustainable diet that works for the individual, and one that addresses satiety, but all diet.. literally all diets, follow CICO. CICO is a simplification of energy balance. People believe that CICO doesn't work is because they can only make progress when they change macros without realize that macro changes have lead them to be more consistent, increase satiety driving decrease in calories, or addressed medical conditions that alter metabolism.1 -
I won't go quoting any one comment because what I stated was my opinion but there is much more to weight loss than "Simple CICO" I still do not agree and if you google things you'll see many common sense examples. Take Michael Phelps for example. He eats over 12,000 calories a day Calories In and He doesn't burn 12,000 Calories out but yet he still is in shape.
So Simple...and yes I repeat Simple which is what I said in my post isn't all there is to it. There are about a million other different variables to take into account. I guess I should have expected this to turn into a right vs wrong debate but that's fine. I know what's worked for me and I've enjoyed my loss. I hope the OP uses google to help educate themselves on all the different ways of weight loss and doesn't subscribe to just one ideal from any one single source.
I have many friends who have lost weight many different ways and I never push my opinion on anyone. High carbs work for some, low carbs work for some, high fat vs low fat works too, but I don't believe anything to do with weight loss is simple. Also to say you don't need to avoid carbs as a blanket statement unless you have something medically wrong with you is silly. It all depends on the individual. Yet I don't believe I quoted a single individual who said that because it's their opinion and they are entitled to it.2 -
LovelessFool wrote: »I won't go quoting any one comment because what I stated was my opinion but there is much more to weight loss than "Simple CICO" I still do not agree and if you google things you'll see many common sense examples. Take Michael Phelps for example. He eats over 12,000 calories a day Calories In and He doesn't burn 12,000 Calories out but yet he still is in shape.
So Simple...and yes I repeat Simple which is what I said in my post isn't all there is to it. There are about a million other different variables to take into account. I guess I should have expected this to turn into a right vs wrong debate but that's fine. I know what's worked for me and I've enjoyed my loss. I hope the OP uses google to help educate themselves on all the different ways of weight loss and doesn't subscribe to just one ideal from any one single source.
I have many friends who have lost weight many different ways and I never push my opinion on anyone. High carbs work for some, low carbs work for some, high fat vs low fat works too, but I don't believe anything to do with weight loss is simple. Also to say you don't need to avoid carbs as a blanket statement unless you have something medically wrong with you is silly. It all depends on the individual. Yet I don't believe I quoted a single individual who said that because it's their opinion and they are entitled to it.
I definitely agree with the gyst of this. Again, I believe everyone giving advice here is doing it based on what has worked for them, which makes sense. I listened to the "Cut the Fat" poscast series (great, btw), and one thing they say a lot is "there is only one true weight loss formula, and it is different for everyone". I believe this to be true, to a point.
My recommendation for the OP, and for everyone, is take all info and ideas in that you can. Start using the stuff that you see yourself actually committing to. If that works - great! If not, try something else until you find your plan. It doesn't necessarily have to be low carb. It may be as simple as CICO, like it was for me.
Again, good luck to all
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Are you able to eat only the "veggie" carbs, i've stepped away from "rice", potatoes and pasta but do enjoy and frequently eat the non-processed carbs.
Some people replace potatoes with veggies they enjoy , have you tried riced cauliflower?
The thing is, it always comes down to choices and you are thinking about what you need to do so, in that regard, you're already ahead of the game.
Good Luck0 -
I definitely agree with the gyst of this. Again, I believe everyone giving advice here is doing it based on what has worked for them, which makes sense. I listened to the "Cut the Fat" poscast series (great, btw), and one thing they say a lot is "there is only one true weight loss formula, and it is different for everyone". I believe this to be true, to a point.
My recommendation for the OP, and for everyone, is take all info and ideas in that you can. Start using the stuff that you see yourself actually committing to. If that works - great! If not, try something else until you find your plan. It doesn't necessarily have to be low carb. It may be as simple as CICO, like it was for me.
Again, good luck to all.
Rick I completely agree with both of your posts. It's very individualized and that's all I really meant. I respect all opinions no matter what they are and I've taken many sources of information and adjust it for what's worked for me. The journey to be healthy has many roads and I don't believe only one works and many times you have lane changes, off ramps, on ramps, traffic and construction all on the way to building a better you.
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LovelessFool wrote: »I won't go quoting any one comment because what I stated was my opinion but there is much more to weight loss than "Simple CICO" I still do not agree and if you google things you'll see many common sense examples. Take Michael Phelps for example. He eats over 12,000 calories a day Calories In and He doesn't burn 12,000 Calories out but yet he still is in shape.
So Simple...and yes I repeat Simple which is what I said in my post isn't all there is to it. There are about a million other different variables to take into account. I guess I should have expected this to turn into a right vs wrong debate but that's fine. I know what's worked for me and I've enjoyed my loss. I hope the OP uses google to help educate themselves on all the different ways of weight loss and doesn't subscribe to just one ideal from any one single source.
I have many friends who have lost weight many different ways and I never push my opinion on anyone. High carbs work for some, low carbs work for some, high fat vs low fat works too, but I don't believe anything to do with weight loss is simple. Also to say you don't need to avoid carbs as a blanket statement unless you have something medically wrong with you is silly. It all depends on the individual. Yet I don't believe I quoted a single individual who said that because it's their opinion and they are entitled to it.
First, Michael Pheleps doesn't eat 12,000 calories, its more like 8,000 and you have no clue what he actually burns. Second, I agree there are many factors, that goes without saying. In fact, I covered that in my previous post. But I do not think you understand what CICO is. In fact, CICO isn't a diet, it's an energy balance and all things come down to energy balance. How you address energy balance is personal preference.1 -
LovelessFool wrote: »I won't go quoting any one comment because what I stated was my opinion but there is much more to weight loss than "Simple CICO" I still do not agree and if you google things you'll see many common sense examples. Take Michael Phelps for example. He eats over 12,000 calories a day Calories In and He doesn't burn 12,000 Calories out but yet he still is in shape.
So Simple...and yes I repeat Simple which is what I said in my post isn't all there is to it. There are about a million other different variables to take into account. I guess I should have expected this to turn into a right vs wrong debate but that's fine. I know what's worked for me and I've enjoyed my loss. I hope the OP uses google to help educate themselves on all the different ways of weight loss and doesn't subscribe to just one ideal from any one single source.
I have many friends who have lost weight many different ways and I never push my opinion on anyone. High carbs work for some, low carbs work for some, high fat vs low fat works too, but I don't believe anything to do with weight loss is simple. Also to say you don't need to avoid carbs as a blanket statement unless you have something medically wrong with you is silly. It all depends on the individual. Yet I don't believe I quoted a single individual who said that because it's their opinion and they are entitled to it.
First, Michael Pheleps doesn't eat 12,000 calories, its more like 8,000 and you have no clue what he actually burns. Second, I agree there are many factors, that goes without saying. In fact, I covered that in my previous post. But I do not think you understand what CICO is. In fact, CICO isn't a diet, it's an energy balance and all things come down to energy balance. How you address energy balance is personal preference.
And I think you assume completely way too much about what I know or don't know. Much like your comment "there really isn't a need to avoid that unless you have a medical issue". Also currently Michael Phelps doesn't eat 12,000 calories but look at Mens Health, The Wall Street Journal and the New York post during his 2008 Olympics because that's exactly what he ate back then, but I won't post a reply further in this thread because I will just agree that we disagree and leave it at that. Google is your friend, but nice attacking me with how I "Have no clue" and telling me how you think I "don't understand". Well done.3 -
CICO is a scientific fact. There is also documented proof that some people can't handle carbs the proper way. This deficiency does make CICO "not work" for some people....making carb control necessary. I stuck with MFP for 6 months, staying within CICO, and did not have a lot of success because of my food choices. Now, I watch my carb intake and am having a much better result.0
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CICO is a scientific fact. There is also documented proof that some people can't handle carbs the proper way. This deficiency does make CICO "not work" for some people....making carb control necessary. I stuck with MFP for 6 months, staying within CICO, and did not have a lot of success because of my food choices. Now, I watch my carb intake and am having a much better result.
if you lower your carbs causing a deficit,you are still eating in a deficit so that is still CICO.I have a metabolic disorder and I still lost weight doing CICO,its been much slower but it still worked,I cant do too low of carbs because I cant have high fat due to my health issue.for CICO it doesnt matter how you eat or what way you eat,what matters is being in a deficit. so if low carbs work for you thats great. but if say your TDEE is 1800 and you eat low carb but still go over your TDEE calories you will gain weight.The only thing with low carbs is you lose a lot of water weight and glycogen in the beginning0 -
LovelessFool wrote: »I've lost over 100lbs in just shy of 4 months controlling my carb intake and I didn't do it because I had medical issues. I however was and I am still very heavy but i had no diabetes or high blood pressure and I did tons of research regarding many different lifestyle changes. There are strong opinions on both sides of the low carb / high carb debate but the most silly thing I hear is there is no need to avoid carbs if you don't have a medical problem. Simple CICO has been proven not to work on many occasions. You have to truly balance your macro's within the caloric restriction so that means watching lots of things...not just calories.
In the end focus on changing your diet for what you feel is sustainable for you. Don't be afraid to try different things. Stick to your caloric restriction goal and adjust your macro's until you find what fits best and then just focus on sticking with it.
Good luck with everything!
you lost weight because you replaced calorie dense carbs with less calorie dense foods, which is CICO, so CICO does work, and in fact, is working for you. If CICO did not work then it would be possible to eat 5000 calories a day, be in a surplus, and not gain weight.
Funny, that no one ever claims that "I ate and ate and ate and never gained a pound, so CICO does not work" it is only when people fail at weight loss that they try to blame CICO.
Please link us to this "proof" that CICO does not work ...1
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