increasing protein/ reducing carbs on a low carb diet

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Good morning!

I know everyone's body is different but I have absolutely found that when I reduce processed carbs and up my lean protein and natural carbs, I lose weight. I am an avid calorie tracker and I have realized that on my "lower carb" days (~100grams), I am lower on my calories as well. I think processed carbs just get digested so quickly in my body and I get hungry sooner after eating a high processed carb meal as opposed to a lean protein meal mixed with natural carbs.

Also, I have a HUGE sweet tooth and I have found that I crave sweets less when I cut out processed carbs. Although, I cannot cut them out completely. Today I had a spinach, feta, egg white wrap from Starbucks and that has processed carbs.. but what can you do? I try my best to stick with the natural carbs as much as possible.

Good luck!

I'm the exact same way. The less carbs I have the less I crave them, and boy to they have a lot of calories! I used to never be able to resist a nutty butty bar or something like that in the middle of the day. It was a really weird and awful compulsion. Now, I don't even bat an eye at them (we have them in the house for my husband's lunches, the guy needs the calories).

I don't know about it helping with weight loss, but from my own experience, the more carbs I eat, the slower I lose weight. But I'm not talking about fruit and high fiber carbs, more the noodle and Stromboli carbs

I have lost 50lbs in 4 months by removing all refined carbs from my diet and upping my protein huge.

It's simple for me, in the places I'd normally have had refined carbs (bread, pasta etc) I just have more protein. I use proteing shakes and bars as well as good old fashioned meat, eggs, and dairy.

I'm on a low carb lifestyle change as of this week. I'm not calling it a diet because for me, this has to be permanent. I already feel better, and my craving for carbs is not nearly as bad as it used to be when I ate them. I'm telling you this, because I was a carb freak! I am also a serious chocoholic, so for me to feel okay about not eating them, feels pretty incredible.

Monica - what kind of protein shakes do you drink? I'm looking for options.

Monica, I would love to see your diary to see your daily food. I was placed on a restricted carb plan because I am Insulin Resistant. I have been on this almost a year. I was down 28 lbs from June to October, then the holidays came around and the carbs came in and the weight came on. I am back on track, finally. And I have seen a drastic change in my weight. However, I have absolutely NO ENERGY. Is this something that will pass?

I'm also still in Atkins Induction phase (20g net carbs a day), for almost a year. I'm down 67 pounds. My energy levels are through the roof (except this week because I've gone to bed late and am working on about 6 hours of sleep a night)!

Hi,

i want to increase my protein and lower my carbs. i have my diary set at 40/30/30 currently but i overheard someone talking about a 3-2-1 ratio per meal, as in 30g of protein 20g of carbs 10g of fat. has anyone done this? do they known what is involved, i assume its per meal, i would have asked more but i was in a rush to leave, have to see if i see the same people again

I am a veggie who has even started eating fish (which i hate the taste of) to try up the protein, find it impossible to keep my carbs low if i rely on beans and meat free subs, as these include carbs too. I don't want to rely too much on protein drinks etc.

please help how do i get the carbs down?

When i am busy at work carbs are the easiest thing to eat usually.

*read later*

bump to read later.

I did the Atkins diet for almost a year. Initially I lost lots of weight and got down to goal but in the long term I found it was so restrictive that I felt deprived for much of the time, which meant that when I did decide to have a blow out I really went for it. Gradually my weight crept back up and I became stuck in a yo yo cycle of having a blow out then returning to induction to lose the weight I'd put on over the weekend. I also suffered from a drop in energy which for somebody who is used to doing a lot of exercise was hard.

I've now swapped to a Mediterranean type eating plan, which I did 3 weeks ago and have lost 5 lbs. I am however limiting my starchy carbohydrates to just one portion a day (instead of every meal) and not using as much olive oil as advocated. I am replacing starchy carbohydrates with fruit, salad and vegatables instead. I'm eating mostly fish in terms of protein, chicken or red meat occasionally. I have lots of dairy in the form of yogurt but try to keep hard cheeses to a minimum.

My husband is delighted I've made the swap, he had always expressed concern at the possible negative consequences of the Atkins diet in terms of cholesterol and the links with cancer that processed meats have.

If you do choose to replace carboydrates with protein you may find that you do not in fact lose weight, the Atkins diet does warn against excessive consumption of protein. The other aspect to all this is that protein does not contain fibre and therefore the side effect of a high protein diet is difficulty with bowel movements. Do not under estimate how unpleasant this difficulty can be. :embarassed:

I'm glad to have seen this. I've been wondering the same thing. So I may have to give this a try (of lowering my carb intake and upping my protein intake). Good luck to all who gives this a try.

I agree.... I was obsessed with Atkins over 10 years ago. lost 67 lbs. in a little less than 4 months..way tooo drastic!
was keeping my carbs some days down to 9-10 , needless to say I ended up in E.R. with kydney stones and the Dr. seemed to be discusted at all the patients he seen with stones on the Atkins (the old version).the most important thing is to exersise which I did not do, so not to lose the musle mass on low carb and had to have tummy tuck to rid the skin and drink-drink as much water as you can and be careful with the salty process foods. (which I am not sticking too) :mad:

I am now low carb.. 35 and under a day
on it 4 weeks yesterday and down 18 lbs. as of this morning

I have a question about "net carb's" vs. carbs. What's the difference? I picked up an atkins protein bar yesterday and on the front package it said net carbs xx amount but on the nutrition list the carb count was way higher. Can someone explain that to me please?

The difference is fiber. Fiber is carbohydrates that your body can't absorb, so the "net carbs" is total carbs minus fiber.

I am on restricted calories and carbs. It has worked great for me.

I eat almost no breads, pasta, potatoes, rice, etc. The only carbs I get are from veggies and the occasional fruit I eat. It has not hurt my energy or anything else. The only thing it has done is help me lose over 85 lbs in 6 months. It worked for me. Not saying it will work for all and you have to be very diligent and focused to cut carbs down. And eating out is very hard (so I don't do it).

Increasing protein is easy, just eat meat. I also do protein shakes because I am lazy and don't like to cook.