Carb Conscious Peeps - May 2009

Heya guys!

I'm looking forward to my high day--it's Friday! I love it when it works out like that.

I base my plan off Tom Venuto's carb cycling plan. He is a natural bodybuilder who wrote the bestselling fitness ebook of all time, Burn the Fat Feed the Muscle.

I find that I function better on moderately low carbs than almost no carbs. Venuto's plan has me on three days of 30% carbs, then one day of 50%. It's in conjunction with a lot of physical activity. Venuto himself discourages a long-term low carb plan for anyone who's not incredibly sensitive to them, because he supports the theory that your body stops being able to process them well (ie, touch the bread and it's straight to your *kitten*). For me, three days of lower carbs depletes the glycogen and the high day refuels it, keeping my metabolism up and my body unable to totally adapt.

It's working VERY well. I don't do "cheat days," but I let myself be a wee bit more indulgent on my high day. The way I plan my meals I sort of automatically keep them low carb, so I'll be like "crap! need carbs! Lucky Charms to the rescue!"

Tomorrow, I have a very high quality piece of dark chocolate that I can't WAIT to indulge in.

Hello MTGirl---Sounds like you are a busy girl. And what a nice family time in store for you with your 2 mile walk or run. I need to plan something like that. Itook my little dog with me the other day but all he wanted to so was smelled all the other dogs where they had been, and didn't like the ducks. Will leave him at home next time.

I had my Stress test this morning. It wasn't bad a lot easier now than 3 years ago. But they gave me some peanut butter and cracker and a bottle of water after the test and broke my 2 Weeks Phase 1 of SBD. Maybe it didn't hurt me too bad. Plan on having nice grilled pork chop and fried cabbage for lunch.

Chipper, when you get the afternoon blahs fix a nice glass of water with ice in it. And get
your feet up and just enjoy the the pure confort of it. Just think you are in Hawaia Oh how pleasant.
A nice 10 or 15 minutes just for you.

Crys---doing ok?

Lioness---Still busy digging up recipes for us. I planning on making the pumpkin pudding today.


A good day to all that follows.

Marie

May I joing your thred please? Since Monday, I have been following a diet that is a combination of SB and Atkins. I have already lost 2 pounds. I know some would say its water weight, but I have been doing the calorie watching, drinking tons of water and exercising regulary since January. I started Atkins back in late November and lost consistantly for a 2 months. Then I decided to try just watching my calories and exercising. The weight was still coming off but very slowly like 2 pounds a month. So now I am back to counting carbs. This seems to be the most efficient way for my body to lose weight. Loved reading the ideas on this thread already.

My I'M Caliecat
I have been on the SBD for 1 and 1/2 week now. And have lost 4 lbs, And love it. I have lost 4 lbs since then. I haven't change my ticker yet for Sat. is My WI Day. I don't know what i will do come Monday for I will be off Phase one. I missed my fruit most of all, I think I can live without bread. Althought Hot bread is a big weakness of mine. Will have to stay away from the resturants.

Lets how A dicussin' on how to handle ourseff when eating out. . My husband is taking me out Friday night for Mother Day.

I don't think my body can handle all these carbs anymore. I can really see a differnce

Caliecat

Hi all, Hd a wonderfu sinner. I amde Linda's crust pork chops very good. I think she said it had 3 grams of carb. be making it again for sure.

Hope you all had a womderful day.

Hey I have been on it 11 days too. and loving it.
Caliecat

Missed you yesterday Lioness. Hope all is well with you and your family. I went to Linda's site and what a collections of low carb recipes. I tried the crusted pork chop last nite and out of this world.
For those who want to have a look. Tim posted this on the low carbs recipes threat And I thank him very much. Here is the link:

http://www.genaw.com/lowcarb/recipes.html

I am making the chicken . pizza tonight without crust.

I have made up my mind I am going low carbs come Monday when my two weeks is up. I am really please so far. But I want a strawberry.

Hope to hear from everyone today.
Caliecat

Sounds so good! I'm going to have to check it out. I too am missing my strawberries. My mum brought some to me a couple days ago and I cut them up and threw them in the freezer. Those babies are coming out Monday.

Since I'm feeling pretty good today...I'm off for another run. :flowerforyou:

Ok I don't have diabetes but I have what they consider pre-diabetes so I have to eat fewer carbs than the average person. I didn't realize how many carbs I had been eating til I started tracking them!! No wonder I gained weight! I am on Metformin and I hate the way it makes me feel (upset stomach or nauseous most of the time), I was just wondering if anyone else has this problem. I just joined myfitnesspal this week and I already feel like it is a huge motivator. I thought being a part of this thread might help have a support of people that understand what I am going through.
I know the basics of cutting carbs, the only thing I find is that I kind of stay hungry throughout the day. If I eat veggies or fruit as a snack it just doesn't seem to stick with me. Does anyone have any good ideas for healthy low carb and calories snacks that are filling? I am also watching my calories. I was also going to see if you guys think that just watching your carbs and not worrying about calories works best or if lowering both works the best? The doctor told me to eat 30g of carbs per meal and 15g per snack, does that sound about right? Sorry so long, I just have lots of questions and you all seem to know what you are talking about.


Created by MyFitnessPal.com - Easy Calorie Counting

I dont know anything about it. Tell me more.
Calie

Leslier, I posted this list of snacks a few days ago. Hopefully there will be something on here that suits you. I find the raw lentils really stick with me, and they are a great source of fiber, something we don't get enough of on a low carb diet and if you like to eat raw peas fresh out of the garden, this is pretty close to that taste.

haha...we are here!!! I've been doing a LOT of packing lately. Found a place to live yet I might have to go back to dial-up since there's no other service up in the mountains yet. :noway:

I have started my good ole monthly interuption and am having a real hard time with this. I have NOT cheated but I want to so badly :ohwell: I feel so tired and don't even want to think about working out. I am looking foward to the week for the weather is supposed to be in the 80's and I plan on taking some nice runs (or walks) :happy:

Anyone have any ideas on snacks?? Lately for me it's been pickles, peanuts or even altered deviled eggs.

Hope everyone had a great weekend!!

Crys

I've been snacking on raw lentils lately. Just rehydrate them and munch. They taste a little like raw peas, which I love. 96 cals an ounce. 16 carbs, but 9 grams of fiber, so effective carb count is actually 7. Also, 8 grams of protein, so nice source of protein. And, it really helps get your daily fiber! :happy:

Here are some carb bargain snacks:

fewer than 3 carbs:
1/4 cup blackberries
6 fresh asparagus spears
1 cup chopped raw broccoli or cauliflower florettes
1/2 a cucumber
1/2 cup raw or cooked mushrooms
1/2 cup boiled summer squash

fewer than 5 carbs
1/2 medium avacado
1/4 cup blue berries
1/2 cup strawberries
1 med. carrot
1 med tomato
1/2 cup wax or snap beans
1/2 cup chopped fresh fennel
1 oz sunflower seeds
1 oz walnuts
1 oz macadamia nuts
1 oz peanuts
1 oz sliced lean meat
1 oz string cheese
1 hard bolied egg
1/4 cup cottage cheese
apple with cheddar slices (1/4 apple, 1 oz cheese)
Jerky (depends on type)

EDIT: Oh, one other thing - DRINK a lot of water. When you feel hungry, drink a glass of water first. And, make sure you are eating something about every two to 3 hours. Don't let yourself get so hungry.

I have been on a low card track for a month (since the deployment of my husband). A frined, who was a professional body builder has designed a general diet and workout plan for me. One of the things he has me to is ude the Ketostix to test whether or not I am in ketosis (fat burning mode). Since I have a free day every week, and it takes about 3 days to get back into ketosis, I usually have 3 days a week that I am in fat-burning mode...yada yada, yada. I am finding that as the weeks go by, the first day of ketosis every week, is at a higher level (he tells me this is a good thing, but my scale hasn't budged, although I am building muscle like a mad woman).

Ileana

So, if you are in your first month, maybe the thing to watch is not the scale, but how your clothing is fitting, what the tape measure is telling you, and how you are feeling generally. You will find pretty excited discussions on MFP about the fat vs muscle weight thing. I think they are really just semantics. The bottom line is BY VOLUME fat is bigger than muscle. Leanlioness actually posted a picture, which will put you off eating anything with any fat in it for months! :laugh: on another thread. Sounds like you are doing great! How much weight do you want to lose? The less you have to lose, the longer it will take to come off. Welcome! Glad to have you with us!

Thanks Stillkrisi and Lean Lioness! I have been low-er carb for years, having lost over 100lbs. but I was also obsessive and spent about 2+ hours in the gym 6 days a week with a 30 mile bike ride on my day off. In the last 2 years (since the big weight loss) I have maintained, eaten carbs within limitation and gone to the gym 3 times a week with some external activities. I have about 30-35 lbs to go, which I want to just shed before my husband returns from a year long deployment (we were married 2 weeks before he deployed, so the honeymoon waits for his return).

Since I know my body holds on to fat and carbs as if it they were going out of style~I must keep them to a minimum. Meaning no white foods (the italian in me still shudders) and no carbs (other than green veggie carbs) after 2pm. My clothes aren't fitting very differently, but I am building muscles (I joke that I will be a squishy looking body builder if this keeps up). My arms and legs are getting much more definition. Don't get me wrong, I am not weak (just did another sprint triathlon last weekend) but I wnat to get these stubborn 35 lbs off!!! darn it!

phew... am better now~

ileana