Low carb?? What do you eat??

hilarysgiants
hilarysgiants Posts: 132 Member
edited December 18 in Food and Nutrition
Just curious if you are on a low carb diet, what you eat? A lot of my carbs come from fruits and veggies, so what do people eat if they are only eating 20 carbs or around there? I am trying to lower my carb intake, but won't give up on my fruits and veggies :)

Replies

  • cramernh
    cramernh Posts: 3,335 Member
    Put it this way, I dont eat potatoes, rice, corn, pasta, breads, flour, etc. I also dont eat frozen foods, prepackaged, preprocessed.

    All foods must be fresh. I purchase meats in bulk and trim them up on my own.
    All vegetables must be fresh.

    The only fruits I am able to digest are strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and black raspberries... thats it.


    I dont go all Dr. Atkin's - I have a calorie requirement daily, I have a restriction of no more than 100-120g of healthy carbs per day and I am told by the physicians overseeing my care that it is ok (for my medical circumstances) to go over on protein and fat intake daily.

    My half-way point, Ive dropped 63lbs. My total cholesterol panel went from 252 down to 117 in under four months....
  • brkwv5
    brkwv5 Posts: 6 Member
    I am relatively new to the lower carb lifestyle (just 1 week in) and usually eat about 100 grams of carbohydrates daily. My carbs come from lots of vegetables, some fruit (usually apples or oranges, which are not the lowest carb options), and from condiments like ketchup or sweet chili sauce. I haven't yet been able to get rid of those sauces, but otherwise eat whole/unprocessed foods as much as possible. My main protein sources are chicken breast, eggs, fish, and ground beef.

    I must say that I have found that for me, going with fewer than 100 grams of carb per day leads me to get dizzy, have headaches, etc. I don't think that's true for everyone, and each person needs to do what is best for them, BUT adequate hydration seems to be the key to keeping negative symptoms from showing up. :-)
  • PaleoPath4Lyfe
    PaleoPath4Lyfe Posts: 3,161 Member
    Just curious if you are on a low carb diet, what you eat? A lot of my carbs come from fruits and veggies, so what do people eat if they are only eating 20 carbs or around there? I am trying to lower my carb intake, but won't give up on my fruits and veggies :)

    It is not hard to have a meal plan with plenty of vegetables and be at 20 carbs per day.

    I have omelettes with spinach, onions, peppers, tomato, brocolli, cauliflower, cheese and ham with a splash of fresh salsa on top almost every morning.

    I eat broccoli, cauliflower, celery and such with sour cream ranch dip for snacks.

    Dinner salad with home made dressing for starters before every other meal and then protein, fat and green leafy vegetables for lunch and supper.

    And most people are only giving up the higher carb vegetables and most fruits TEMPORARILY.

    If you follow any of the more structured controlled carb plans (i.e - Atkins, South Beach) you will find they are elimination plans and then you build from there.
  • cramernh
    cramernh Posts: 3,335 Member
    And most people are only giving up the higher carb vegetables and most fruits TEMPORARILY.

    But for folks like me, this is a permanent situation where health problems required the elimination of the previously mentioned foods that I listed. I know Im not alone....
  • CoachXthea
    CoachXthea Posts: 75 Member
    You can get a list off of atkins or south beach or dukan diet websites. If you inbox me your personal email I will forward you some stuff. KISS - is meat veggies not carrots corn or potatoes. For induction - meat protein yogurt green veggies. Hope this helps.
  • PaleoPath4Lyfe
    PaleoPath4Lyfe Posts: 3,161 Member
    And most people are only giving up the higher carb vegetables and most fruits TEMPORARILY.

    But for folks like me, this is a permanent situation where health problems required the elimination of the previously mentioned foods that I listed. I know Im not alone....

    I have no doubt that you are not alone, however I would be confident in saying you and others that have the same condition are in the minority.
  • cramernh
    cramernh Posts: 3,335 Member
    And most people are only giving up the higher carb vegetables and most fruits TEMPORARILY.

    But for folks like me, this is a permanent situation where health problems required the elimination of the previously mentioned foods that I listed. I know Im not alone....

    I have no doubt that you are not alone, however I would be confident in saying you and others that have the same condition are in the minority.

    Minority: I wish that were true... Insulin Resistance is becoming more and more prominent in the medical community - even with my patients where I work.... My personal Endo has a large case-load of IR patients and she has her head going crazy because each severity is different... unfortunately I was blessed with a pretty extreme case but yet my thyroid is "golden" according to her, LOL!
  • hilarysgiants
    hilarysgiants Posts: 132 Member
    Thanks for all the suggestions! And good luck on your journey :)
  • leanby2013
    leanby2013 Posts: 137
    Im not THAT low carb, usually around 50-100 then on saturday i go big with 300+ where i eat anything i want.
    But from sunday to friday i eat chicken, fish, nuts, veg and fruit. No bread, cereal, pasta, rice, none of that during the week. pretty much 100% clean sun-friday
  • Emma7830
    Emma7830 Posts: 7
    I've been eating low carb for about 50 days now (<20g net carbs/day). It's actually surprising how many options are available with tons of recipes online, including some substitute options (like flax crackers, "cheesecake," cauliflower mac & cheese...). I primarily eat vegetables (I should admittedly aim for more), meat, cheeses, oil, and nuts. Eating out is also easy since there is typically a meat option available. The first week can be rough but once you get used to it cravings for sugar go away.
  • runs_in_heels
    runs_in_heels Posts: 97 Member
    i probably eat a greek salad 5 times a week. love them, and love a lot of greek foods.

    i've also recently become obsessed with Tofu Shirataki (and stuff like it)
    http://www.house-foods.com/tofu/tofu_shirataki.aspx

    it's basically a tofu-based pasta-like product that i can enjoy when i'm craving pasta.
    granted, it's not amazing, (you HAVE to rinse it first as per instructions) but it's pretty darn good.
    i dont eat meat, so i'll regularly have faux-pasta with faux-chicken parmesean... not too shabby...

    **also, spaghetti squash is yummy too, although my prep skills have been pretty lacking.
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