Carbs

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SophRW
SophRW Posts: 93 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I've read numerous posts about how some people eat as little as 20 g of carbs per day. I'm wondering what on Earth people DO eat to reach 1200 cals with only 20 g of carbs.
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  • minadeathclutch
    minadeathclutch Posts: 375 Member
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    chicken. beef. ham. lol vegetables.

    salads.
    cheeses.
    etc.
  • minadeathclutch
    minadeathclutch Posts: 375 Member
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    ooh and eggs. lots of eggs
  • Icewolf_The
    Icewolf_The Posts: 308 Member
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    No grains, no fruit, a lot of vegetables actually are eliminated. Beans and dark green leafy veggies. Mostly meat, a lot of meat, and salad, and eggs, yeah eggs. Oh and nuts, well some of them. :)
  • shesnotthere
    shesnotthere Posts: 117
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    I aim for 1600 calories with 20 carbs or less. Although I have been caught up in summer stuff the past few weeks :( Too much chocolate.

    It really isn't that hard. I start with bacon, eggs, and coffee with heavy cream for breakfast. I love both, so that isn't hard for me. Although I do switch up between fried, omelet, scrambled.. and sometimes I get lox or sausage instead of bacon.

    For lunch I have 2 cups of romaine or spinach with about 4oz of meat. I dress the salad up however I feel like that day: cheese, blue cheese, avocado, bacon, nuts, onion, veggies... and I vary the dressing. I usually make something up with mayo and/or sour cream and spices, or a vinaigrette, but I often use Annie's organic dressings that are low carb.

    Dinner is usually grilled because it's summer here. Plus a side salad and a bunch of veggies like green beans, broccoli, asparagus, artichokes, etc.

    I could add some fruit in there, especially berries, but I have never loved fruit. I also often have wine with dinner.

    It's harder when I go out, but there is almost always a salad on the menu no matter what style of restaurant you're at.
  • beernutz
    beernutz Posts: 136
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    This week I've had fish, shrimp, eggs, cheese, chicken, steak, bunless burgers, broccoli, green beans, peppers, fruit (I like granny smith apples myself), salads, butter, bacon, even an Ultra or Miller Lite every once in a while. It's been horrible. ;-)
  • Jefster
    Jefster Posts: 48 Member
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    I eat upto 20g of carbs a day, and you'd be surprised how quickly the calories add up since you replace the carbs with increased fat and protein.

    The goal is to be in a state of Ketosis, which triggers the body to burn fat for energy instead of glucose.

    So, like today, I had alot of olive oil, coconut oil, a rib eye steak, and eggs.

    I try to avoid the nuts because of the varying range of carbs, but I'll add them back eventually. Macadamia nuts are awesome.
  • fastbelly
    fastbelly Posts: 727 Member
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    No grains, no fruit, a lot of vegetables actually are eliminated. Beans and dark green leafy veggies. Mostly meat, a lot of meat, and salad, and eggs, yeah eggs. Oh and nuts, well some of them. :)

    Doesn't sound like a very healthy way of eating... you cut on carbs but gain on cholesterol...
  • 4KidFather
    4KidFather Posts: 134
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    20g is extremely low carb - but I have done it for a few days at a time.
    Basically spinach salad under a pound of meat and butter is what it is to me.
    Lots of protein and fat from seafood is a great way to go.
    Never personally known anyone to go Very Low Carb (less than 100g or) for long- whilst being very active.
    However Very low carb always helps folks lose excess body fat if they need to. A useful tool, but not a permanent strategy.
  • Jefster
    Jefster Posts: 48 Member
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    Low-Carb/Keto is a very different approach than the "balanced" view of nutrition. So Cholesterol (Not the bad guy we have been lead to believe) is actually improved in most people who go on low-carb/keto.

    It's counter intuitive, until you start to get a grasp fo the science behind it.
  • SugarBaby1987
    SugarBaby1987 Posts: 62 Member
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    I don't eat as low as 20 carbs anymore ( right now I hover around 40-60 ) but when I did I ate things like eggs, grilled chicken, grilled fish, ( both cooked w/EVOO ) spinach, broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, different salad combinations, etc.
  • beernutz
    beernutz Posts: 136
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    No grains, no fruit, a lot of vegetables actually are eliminated. Beans and dark green leafy veggies. Mostly meat, a lot of meat, and salad, and eggs, yeah eggs. Oh and nuts, well some of them. :)

    Doesn't sound like a very healthy way of eating... you cut on carbs but gain on cholesterol...

    Maybe you should do some research on the topic?

    Reducing carbs in the diet generally has a positive affect on HDL, LDL, and triglyceride levels.
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16256003
    http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2008-07-16-1822321056_x.htm
  • SophRW
    SophRW Posts: 93 Member
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    Very interesting! This doesn't sound doable for me, but I'm glad it works for some of you! Sounds pretty yummy
  • Icewolf_The
    Icewolf_The Posts: 308 Member
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    My total cholesterol is 104, HDL is 33 (due to obesity), my LDL is 48, and my Triglycerides are 102... I wouldn't call that, unhealthy.

    I also didn't say an entire side of cow every day for meat either. Turkey, Chicken, Lean Pork, Lamb, Tofu is protein. There are many things that count as 'meat'. So does my zero carb Protein powder. Well. In theory. Doesn't taste nearly as yummy however. I agree with the rest of the people posting, sometimes it's better to do research than just knock something on face value. Although I don't maintain the massive low carb limit any more, I do try and maintain below 80. Sometimes I don't make it, it is summer fruit season.
  • shesnotthere
    shesnotthere Posts: 117
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    Eh.. my cholesterol is fine and I have been eating like this for months. To be honest, I don't put much stock in cholesterol numbers anyhow. I'm really sensitive to carbs, so this is what works for me. I'm much more frightened of type 2 diabetes than cholesterol. I don't really care what anyone else thinks about it.
  • Jefster
    Jefster Posts: 48 Member
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    Shesnotthere,

    I am with you on that view. Type2 diabetes is very real and highly likely on a normal Carb diet, while the positive research for lowcarb seems to offer a better outcome for me.

    Everyone has their own goals and fears, so we all take a different approach.
  • hyenagirl
    hyenagirl Posts: 206 Member
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    You eat steak, eggs, bacon, lots and lots of meat. Now yes, you intake a higher amount of cholesterol, but your HDL's go up too. Women (majority) are better equipped then men at utilizing fat for energy, where as men (majority) are better at utilizing carbs for energy. Many Women usually do very well on low carb, high fat and high protein diets. That's what I'm aiming for. Some days I eat 100-120 g of carbs, but I try to stay under 60-70 and eat 40+ grams of fat a day. You would be surprised once you start eating lots of fats, your skin (might) becomes younger looking. I've had fine lines disappear on my high-fat diet and look several years younger now, see my profile for pics.
  • martinah4
    martinah4 Posts: 583 Member
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    I aim for 1600 calories with 20 carbs or less. Although I have been caught up in summer stuff the past few weeks :( Too much chocolate.

    It really isn't that hard. I start with bacon, eggs, and coffee with heavy cream for breakfast. I love both, so that isn't hard for me. Although I do switch up between fried, omelet, scrambled.. and sometimes I get lox or sausage instead of bacon.

    For lunch I have 2 cups of romaine or spinach with about 4oz of meat. I dress the salad up however I feel like that day: cheese, blue cheese, avocado, bacon, nuts, onion, veggies... and I vary the dressing. I usually make something up with mayo and/or sour cream and spices, or a vinaigrette, but I often use Annie's organic dressings that are low carb.

    Dinner is usually grilled because it's summer here. Plus a side salad and a bunch of veggies like green beans, broccoli, asparagus, artichokes, etc.

    I could add some fruit in there, especially berries, but I have never loved fruit. I also often have wine with dinner.

    It's harder when I go out, but there is almost always a salad on the menu no matter what style of restaurant you're at.

    I think we could be food buddies--my diary looks a lot like this! Except for the eggs...not a big fan of eggs, ever since I had a child. My taste changed with my hormones, I guess!
  • martinah4
    martinah4 Posts: 583 Member
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    I've kept it at 20 net carbs a day for almost 6 months now. My calories are between 1100-1600 a day. Most of it comes from meat and fat, but also lots of veggies and salads. It's pretty easy, and it works for me! I'm down 50 pounds so far!
  • Elle408
    Elle408 Posts: 500 Member
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    I'm on a moderate carb diet (about 100g a day) and find that my diet is the best it's ever been. I have two portions of fruit a day and at least 4/5 portions of vegetables a day. I'm rarely hungry, don't have huge energy bursts and crashes and find that I don't crave sugar or junk food any more. A win-win all round really!

    I could lessen that to about 60g a day but I love my breakfast cereal too much to give it up.

    My macro's stand at 40%protein, 30%carbs and 30%fat... and I am satisfied with that and fully happy with my diet! If I plan to do some sort of cardio for more than an hour then I will eat more carbs beforehand so don't have issues staying highly active.
  • Qarol
    Qarol Posts: 6,171 Member
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    I've read numerous posts about how some people eat as little as 20 g of carbs per day. I'm wondering what on Earth people DO eat to reach 1200 cals with only 20 g of carbs.
    It's not hard at all. Maybe eating 2000 calories would be hard, but I average around 1400 calories daily. I eat lots of lean meats (I can't stand the fatty meats) and non-starchy veggies. I don't gorge on anything. And I try to keep my carbs between 30-40g daily. I also watch that I don't go overboard on protein, usually keeping it around 40% of my calorie intake. And I feel fantastic!

    What's ironic is my sodium intake is way down compared to when I was on a traditional diet. Eating the real stuff (not the "low fat" labeled stuff) really keeps me satisfied.

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