Will eating carbs harm my loss?
CommanderEmily
Posts: 68 Member
I might have to temporarily reintegrate carbs back in my diet due to budgeting issues. I get paid every two weeks and with my job change pretty much every bill fell on this check. I might not have enough money for groceries at this point to keep on track. If I stay with or under my calorie goals will I still be okay? I'm not talking eating straight sugar, but things like rice.
I don't want to lose my progress. If I have to I'll just eat boat loads of eggs instead, since I am getting more from a family member with a hobby farm.
I don't want to lose my progress. If I have to I'll just eat boat loads of eggs instead, since I am getting more from a family member with a hobby farm. 0
Replies
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The best advice I can give is remember it's not always black and white. there are specific counts for carbohydrates that people use to describe keto, low carb, moderate carb, slow carb, and high carb diets "Low Carb" is relative and frankly subjective. Adding in beans, cabbage, sweet potatoes and other "slow carbs" during your tight time will likely help your budget and while you may see your weight loss slow down a bit with the addition of plant based carbohydrates I'd argue it's still healthier and better in the long run than other cheep[ fillers like pasts, rice, flours and other "white carbs"
If you can, get creative and flexible look at other cheep protein options including canned tuna, and less "desirable" cuts of meat. There are a bajillion things you can do with eggs Including one of my stumbled on favs: http://www.forkly.com/recipes/low-carb-breakfast-egg-wrap/
will you have to get creative and maybe out of your comfort zone? yes. will your progress slow? maybe. will you be ok? yes.3 -
@CommanderEmily, you can always fast. It's an easy option and very cheap (since your body will dine on your prepaid Strategic Energy Reserve!).
Meanwhile, olive and coconut oil give you a lot of calories per $, tuna a lot of protein. And low-carb vegetables are in season (at least in the northern hemisphere)!
Simple intro to Intermittent Fasting:
https://www.youtube.com/embed/videoseries?list=PL4Q5STdNYMWpUyn3pkZKWO6Edqiq1J5z8
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Rice will be less harsh on your body if you boil it, cool it, then eat it after. Something about resistant starch...
Eating eggs in a creative way would be better if you've been Keto a while...
But survival is more important than any temporary blip...1 -
Just remember you'll probably gain a few lbs of water weight. Should come off after your budget lets you get back to lchf.2
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Not seeing the budget thing....... ??0
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Salads are a cheap staple for me, but I'm low carb, not keto, so seasonal veggies in general are a staple for me...especially the ones on the "about to be rotten" cart where the grocery has marked them down to $1...my local grocery marks down meats on Thursday afternoons, so that's always a good night to shop for discount meats, if you freeze them immediately they don't go bad any faster than any other meats...I also like to cruise the farmers markets which there are a lot of where I live...and dry beans are generally as cheap as rice, and have more protein and fiber...plus, there are at least as many ways to use beans as to use rice for making meals.2
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CommanderEmily wrote: »I might have to temporarily reintegrate carbs back in my diet due to budgeting issues. I get paid every two weeks and with my job change pretty much every bill fell on this check. I might not have enough money for groceries at this point to keep on track. I don't want to lose my progress. If I have to I'll just eat boat loads of eggs instead, since I am getting more from a family member with a hobby farm.
Eggs are great and can be used in many ways, if you have a slow cooker you can make a fab meal out of almost nothing and go low carb instead of Keto till you are paid again? Shop late in the afternoon/evening to get the reduced food, use coupons if you can get them or look for special offers.
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So it sounds like you're not going out and buying rice, but making do with what you have on hand, right? Since eggs are available, I would stick to them as much as possible and limit your carbs as far as you can within reason. Do you have dried beans? I would eat those before rice personally.3
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Yeah, I'm mostly looking to eat what I have on hand, but when I go shopping i need to get the most out of my money. I have hugr containers of rice and oats. My old gym had a trainer who used to have me eat raw oats mixed with unsweetened apple sauce and cinnamon for taste before a work out because he believed my blood sugar was bottoming out during my work out. So I still have a boatload of oats. I have plain rice (My favorite foods used to involve rice, like kimbap) and then I have odds and ends like I think I have a box of quinoa, I have chia seeds, flax meal, a few other items like that. Stuff I picked up because I used to work at a grocery store and had a discount.
Ideally, I might have just under 50 dollars to get me and my partner through til the 7th, and we eat different diets. The money hoarding side of me says better to spend a dollar on a bag of rice or comparable bulk foods than a dollar on a bag of cauliflower that will only last me two meals.
I'll happily eat cheap protein and skip the volume veggies if I have to. I can't afford to give up my progress anymore than I can afford to buy all the best foods lol.
Going to check out that fasting vid, I've never done fasting. Any tips?0 -
You didn't mention any health issues so my answer assumes keto or low carb for weight/fat loss only.
Calories are king. Stay within your calorie limit and you should be fine. Millions of people lose weight on high carb diets.
I personally lost every ounce of excess weight/fat that I've lost on the high end of low carb (150 grams or less). Legumes and eggs were staples in my diet for protein. Generic plain Greek yogurt was also but that can be greater than or equal to the cost of meat.
I'll "ditto" what everyone above said. It all makes sense and will add: if you're not currently getting any exercise you might want to consider doing so for many reasons:
1) Might relieve the stress of the new job.
2) Might relieve the stress of your current financial limitations.
3) Exercise burns a few more calories.
4) Exercise burns up some of the added carbs.
5) Walking is free if you have a place to do so.
6) Youtube exercise "at home" videos are free.
7) Time spent stretching or stepping or moving is time not eating.
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Ground beef is often less than $2 a pound.
You still have to buy food.
Meat and frozen veg are cheap.0 -
CommanderEmily wrote: »Going to check out that fasting vid, I've never done fasting. Any tips?
Well, assuming you're not on any meds with hypoglycemic tendencies and you're already fat-adapted and have some reserves to spare on board...
1. Knowing your options and having some idea what to expect would be helpful. The "Be A Loser" YouTube vids on Intermittent Fasting are short and simple, and the guy who does them has been through it personally.
2. There's an Intermittent Fasting group on MFP.
3. @Steph_Maks recently wrote up a vivid account of an entire week of fasting. (Not intermittent fasting, but very interesting.) I'll bump it for you. There are plenty of other fasting threads, as well.
Though I don't do a lot of it, fasting is very helpful when my blood glucose or weight starts to creep up.
But the best thing about being fat-adapted and able to fast whenever is that it is soooo liberating when you're away from home to have the option of skipping a meal or two if there are no good LC options. (People give you awestruck looks when you say, "Thanks, but I'll be fine till breakfast." And they don't even know that breakfast may not be until the next afternoon.....
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Batch cooked super cheap taco meat can stretch too. 3-4 pounds for about $10, taco seasoning, then can use a dozen or more ways. Same for chicken breasts... I cook 3-5 pounds at a time, then we eat on them, prepping them however... Breasts are under $2 per pound here regularly. Thighs and drumsticks can be found as low as $0.50 per pound on sale, usually closer to $0.75 per pound... but paprika chicken is a good dish that can be carbified by a side of grains ala choice for your partner and eat an extra thigh or two yourself... Just baking them gives more options for you... But if you just brown hamburger meat, you can make some taco meat, stir some into eggs to make breakfast scrambles, and then either make faux pizza or burger in a bowl or something for lunch. I can take some cheap burger and make it last me the entire week! Just saying to think outside the box might be fun here...
P.S. Adding rice to something like this, for me, makes me hungrier, like if you did stuffed bell peppers with rice and ground meat, I'd want to eat 2-3 times as much with the rice in it... Just based on how my hunger reacts to carbs... Otherwise meat, a little sauce/sour cream, cheese in a bowl and I'm golden...
Stir fry, especially with cabbage, makes large portions, too....2 -
i was craving fruit one week SO BAD, so i ate fruit all week. i didn't lose any weight that week. not sure if it is a direct result (i still stayed w/in calorie goal) but i have been much better about curbing the fruit since then.2
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KnitOrMiss wrote: »
P.S. Adding rice to something like this, for me, makes me hungrier, like if you did stuffed bell peppers with rice and ground meat, I'd want to eat 2-3 times as much with the rice in it... Just based on how my hunger reacts to carbs... o....
^^ i am the same way.
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Buying a full chicken, here in the UK you can get one for 2.99. You cut it up yourself and get two large chicken breast a, 2 large chicken legs and 2 chicken wings. You also get some lovely chicken skin that you can crisp up and use in salads or as a topping on various dishes and chicken bones.
Boil up the chicken bones to make stock and you have the makings of a great soup. Put some chicken in it (trim a bit from those big breasts) a few veg and you can feed the two of you for 2 dinners each. In his portion put in some boiled rice. Serve with the crispy chicken skin drizzled on top.
2 dinners later and probably a full 5 pounds/dollars spent, you still got two large chicken breasts and two large chicken legs.
Serve him a large chicken breast with rice and steamed veg, you can have the same but without the rice.
You are left with two large legs, and wings you can either cook/roast/pork these or make a casserole. Let's say 7 dollars spent now. Buy a bag of minced beef, think I saw it at 2 dollars mentioned? That is 9 dollars, then get some tinned tomatoes, onions and a packet of pasta and a zucchini. Max 11 dollars later and you got a massive portion of pasta bolognese, he gets pasta and you zucchini noodles. Now we are 6 dinners in, depending on how much bolognese you made, you can put extra tomatoes and mince in and you got 7 dinners for 11 quid.
With all those eggs, make breakfast muffins. Whisk up eggs, pour into muffin tins, mix in some of the leftover steamed veg and some mince into each, cook in the oven for 20mins. 4-5 eggs can make up to 8-12 muffins. 1-2 is enough for a lunch. You already got the ingredients, so these lunches are free. Play around with the muffins. You can add bacon or grated cheese if you have any. That is 2-3 lunches/breakfast or afternoon snack AND you still got 39 dollars left for breakfasts (omelettes? Devilled eggs?) and extra bits you want to add for dinner and lunch and you are still low carb, your partner can enjoy rice, maybe a roll or two with his lunch and breakfast cereal and you will still have monies left over.
I am sure there are lots more excellent ideas out there. But you can do this with some imagination.
Homemade burgers with onion and tomato salad is also scrummy, get him a soft roll for a bun.
Chicken curry, easily made low carb and he can have rice on the side. Cheap and filling.
Eggplants, halved and stuffed with mince meat. Healthy and scrummy, served with stuffed peppers (leftover mince with boiled rice and onions etc. Looks fab served but also healthy and filling.6 -
Not seeing the budget thing....... ??
Actually, she's right... There was a report in a UK newspaper stating that following specific diets (Mediterranean, Atkins) is actually marginally more expensive than eating according to a regimen with no conditions, exclusions or special points.
If I may speak bluntly, this is why the 'poor' are 'fat'.
Because sodas, chips, crisps, fast foods and processed foods are cheaper. Because they're bulky, filling and flavour-enhanced to appeal to those who want inexpensive food, and lots of it.
Fresh, unprocessed and (preferably) organic foods are far dearer. And they require storage, either by being frozen, or refrigerated. In which case they have to be consumed within a time-frame. Any food not eaten within that time-frame often spoils, and can only be thrown away.
A tin of inexpensive own-label chopped tomatoes lasts longer than a bag of fresh ones. Which are always dearer....
A single potato will make two or three bags of chips. Which can keep for months.
The fresh potato, however....
"Two can live as cheaply as one. But only for half as long."
I DO get where the OP is coming from....
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Sunny_Bunny_ wrote: »Ground beef is often less than $2 a pound.
You still have to buy food.
Meat and frozen veg are cheap.
Dang, where do you live? Its not at my local grocery stores.0 -
AlexandraCarlyle wrote: »Not seeing the budget thing....... ??
Actually, she's right... There was a report in a UK newspaper stating that following specific diets (Mediterranean, Atkins) is actually marginally more expensive than eating according to a regimen with no conditions, exclusions or special points.
If I may speak bluntly, this is why the 'poor' are 'fat'.
Because sodas, chips, crisps, fast foods and processed foods are cheaper. Because they're bulky, filling and flavour-enhanced to appeal to those who want inexpensive food, and lots of it.
Fresh, unprocessed and (preferably) organic foods are far dearer. And they require storage, either by being frozen, or refrigerated. In which case they have to be consumed within a time-frame. Any food not eaten within that time-frame often spoils, and can only be thrown away.
A tin of inexpensive own-label chopped tomatoes lasts longer than a bag of fresh ones. Which are always dearer....
A single potato will make two or three bags of chips. Which can keep for months.
The fresh potato, however....
"Two can live as cheaply as one. But only for half as long."
I DO get where the OP is coming from....
Too true, feels like BS how the system is rigged to keep you poor and fat. I can feed us for longer and cheaper on boxed, bagged, and canned goods than I can on a healthy diet. The price of beef lately is outragous, and chicken is barely better. Pork and turkey are most economic but my girlfriend has been complaining about them lately. I live on one of the great lakes and even the dang local fish is expensive. If I had the time I would try and fish now and then to put some alternatives in the freezer.
I make 8.75 and after bills and groceries I'm lucky to make it to next pay day, let alone save. Not to mention this past paycheck that panicked me they shorted 8 hours. Before taxes on yesterday they still didnt put the backpay. I made 700 and paid almost 200 in taxes. And I have more bills to worry about. It was easier to save money when I ate ramen and easy cheap center aisle crap. But I am at the point where I can't afford letting my health stay on this road. I gotta find a way to budget my diet better.
Calorie counting alone wasn't working too well for me, low carb changed the game. For the first time I actually started losing real weight. So I want to stick with it. My version is more of a protein focus, keeping low carb and lower fat than most. I don't go out of my way to eat more fat, and I don't restrict my carbs too much (50-80).
I'm hoping to use some tips this time around from here and stretch my paycheck further. I discovered that since switching some carbs do NOT agree with my stomach anymore
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I wonder if this thread has anything helpful:
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10511502/lower-carb-on-a-shoestring#latest0 -
CommanderEmily wrote: »Sunny_Bunny_ wrote: »Ground beef is often less than $2 a pound.
You still have to buy food.
Meat and frozen veg are cheap.
Dang, where do you live? Its not at my local grocery stores.
I'm in Ohio. Meijer stores have it on sale regularly for as little as $1.77 sometimes. Usually it's $1.89. Last week was $2.89 or something close to that. I didn't buy any then.
They have chicken thighs or legs for about $1 (sometimes less) too.1 -
CommanderEmily wrote: »Sunny_Bunny_ wrote: »Ground beef is often less than $2 a pound.
You still have to buy food.
Meat and frozen veg are cheap.
Dang, where do you live? Its not at my local grocery stores.
I only find it that cheap when buying a "tube" of 75/25 that is 5 or 10 pounds. I don't know if you have an Aldi near you, but they generally have great prices. Right now 80/20 ground beef is $2.19/pound. $2.99 or $3.29 per pound regularly.
Something you can try is to mix ground beef and ground turkey together. It stretches them, but you still get real been flavor. Another thing is to mix garlic powder in when cooking ground turkey. It really cuts the "gamey" flavor you get from it. Look at random places like Walgreens and CVS... Sometimes their 1 pound frozen tubes of ground beef or turkey are literally $1-$2. It may or may not be advertised.
Even a $4 per pound piece of steak can make 2 meals for 2 people (including my carnivore fiance who things meat is all that should be in anyone's diet sometimes) if paired with the right frozen veg and sides... Pork can be stuffed, rolled with cream cheese and fresh veg/herbs/etc., pan fried, etc. Chicken can be stuffed, rolled, pounded thin, used in soup, etc.
Sending the best of luck...
P.S. Believe me, I know the struggle. I tend to stock up in my tiny freezer when chicken breasts are $1.79 per pound or ground beef is $2.19 per pound, pork tenderloins are $2 or less per pound, etc.0 -
If you have a smaller local meat market in town check there as well. Sometimes they will have bulk buys where they will sell you a variety of meats at a lower price if you buy them all at once.1
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I'm loving this thread. Keep those tips coming!0
