Call me convinced: I'm going low carb

Personally i have changed my eatiing to higher protein and lower carbs. I am not counting carbs at all. Just trying to eat foods that are higher in protein and contain a 10 to 1 ratio with calories. Than the carbs just fall in line and i don't have to worry abt them. I try to eat very little processed anything. Mostly lean protein, greek yogert and good cheese and lots of veggies and fruit. i don't eat bananas though. My guide for fruit is this: I will eat it if it is colorful, crunchy and juicy. And, i try to eat more green veggies than fruit anyway. I don't really eat any bread, pasta and if i eat rice it is very little an brown or wild rice. I will eat a flat out type of bread if it is high in protein and low in cal and high in fiber. Fast food and candy are not even on my mind and never in my mouth. If i eat out i usually have a salad with lots of veggies and a chicken breast. i have lost almost 50 pounds since Jan 18 this year. Works for me!!!

I want to go low carb too but I don't know how to start. Which diet are you going to do?

I've been on a faithful (I say faithful because i tried for two weeks prior to that and didn't do so well) keto diet for two weeks now. I've lost some weight (about 9 llbs) but I'm not sure how much of it is water weight.

It was tough at first but now I think (and hope) its more of a lifestyle. I've learned how to make a whole bunch of meals low carb. I learned how to deal with my cravings and how to satisfy them in a healthy way. During these last two weeks I was able to successfully go out to eat with friends and make smart choices. I feel great! I try to keep my macros at 10% carbs (Aiming to get no more than 20g of carbs) 60% fat and 30% protein. I also try to have abt 2 cups of veggies every meal (for fiber) but I don't count them in mfp. Still losing weight

Tomorrow is my carb day and I'm not counting the hours. I'm not all excited to get my oatmeal, sweet potato, etc tomorrow. Bacon sounds better haha!

The only thing I still haven't figured out is how to get my chocolate low carb... I love chocolate haha.

i've been so tempted to do this as i keep halting after losing about a stone then abandoning for a year and trying again!
i've set my goals to 30/40/30 and will aim to lower even more in the future

bump, i reammy want to finish reading this when i am not at work.

I have started thinking about this. I know I can't do proper Atkins style low carb as a) I run a lot and b) I am vegetarian, but I do need to find a way of eating which doesn't leave me permanently hungry.

The way I see it, low CHO diets only make sense if you are very sedentary or have certain medical problems.

Lo carbing works but I prefer dieting on moderate carbs and only dropping them at the end of a diet myself and the guys I prep.

Sometimes I think this is more a semantic discussion. What do you mean by low carb? Is that your fundamental goal, and the reason the weight is coming off?

Oftentimes people extol the wonders of low carb "dieting" for weight loss, but when you look at their diet they cut out crap, started eating more meat, fish, lots of healthy veggies, fruits in moderation, etc. Now, yes, that's a low carb diet. But it's also a healthy diet. Or a "common sense" diet. You can just as easily say that you are convinced, and now going on a "common sense diet." My guess is that the food will look very similar... :-)

Don't get me wrong, I, too, eat foods that are typically low carb. I just don't think it's necessary to follow some rigid system to meet your dietary goals.

--P

I am in the "whatever works for you" camp. I don't do well on low carbs so I keep my intake moderate and avoid the white flours. However, I know plenty of people on MFP and in real life who do well on a low carb diet. Like anything, what works for some will not work for others. As long as it works for you and you don't get into the militant "My way is the only way when it comes to weight loss" frame of mind, I say go for it.

Sometimes I think this is more a semantic discussion. What do you mean by low carb? Is that your fundamental goal, and the reason the weight is coming off?

Oftentimes people extol the wonders of low carb "dieting" for weight loss, but when you look at their diet they cut out crap, started eating more meat, fish, lots of healthy veggies, fruits in moderation, etc. Now, yes, that's a low carb diet. But it's also a healthy diet. Or a "common sense" diet. You can just as easily say that you are convinced, and now going on a "common sense diet." My guess is that the food will look very similar... :-)

Don't get me wrong, I, too, eat foods that are typically low carb. I just don't think it's necessary to follow some rigid system to meet your dietary goals.

--P

The problem is that for years people were told bread, pasta, rice, and carbs in general were "health food." So a "common sense" diet ended up being horrible, especially with all the low fat processed carbs people ate.

I don’t think he meant all fruit are bad, but I agree that A LOT of fruit is bad. The problem we have compared to the way it use to be for many years is that all fruit are available all the time whenever we want it and our bodies are not designed to deal with a lot of fructose – the liver can’t process it and turns it into fat. Too much fructose is not good. I eat about 1-2 big portions of fruit a day and lots of veg.
What is fructose?


Fructose is a monosaccharide (simple sugar), which the body can use for energy. Because it does not cause blood sugar rise tremendously (has a low glycemic index), it was once thought that fructose was a good substitute for sucrose (table sugar). However, the American Diabetes Association and nutritional experts have changed their minds about this.
Is fructose bad for me?

A small amount of fructose, such as the amount found in most vegetables and fruits, is not a bad thing. In fact, there is evidence that a little bit may help your body process glucose properly. However, consuming too much fructose at once seems to overwhelm the body's capacity to process it. The diets of our ancestors contained only very small amounts of fructose. These days, estimates are that about 10% of the modern diet comes from fructose.

What happens if I consume too much fructose?
Most of the carbohydrates we eat are made up of chains of glucose. When glucose enters the bloodstream, the body releases insulin to help regulate it. Fructose, on the other hand, is processed in the liver. To greatly simplify the situation: When too much fructose enters the liver, the liver can't process it all fast enough for the body to use as sugar. Instead, it starts making fats from the fructose and sending them off into the bloodstream as triglycerides.

Why is this bad?
This is potentially bad for at least three reasons:
• High blood triglycerides are a risk factor for heart disease.
• Fructose ends up circumventing the normal appetite signaling system, so appetite-regulating hormones aren't triggered--and you're left feeling unsatisfied. This is probably at least part of the reason why excess fructose consumption is associated with weight gain.
• There is growing evidence that excess fructose consumption may facilitate insulin resistance, and eventually type 2 diabetes. However, some of this effect may be from chemicals in soda which reacts with the high fructose corn syrup.

What are the major sources of fructose?
Fruits and vegetables have relatively small, "normal" amounts of fructose that most bodies can handle quite well. The problem comes with added sugars in the modern diet, the volume of which has grown rapidly in recent decades. The blame has often been pinned to high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), which is made up of 55% fructose and 45% glucose. However, sucrose is half fructose and half glucose. So, HFCS actually doesn't have a whole lot more fructose than "regular" sugar, gram for gram.
High fructose corn syrup has become incredibly inexpensive and abundant, partially due to corn subsidies in the United States. So, really, the problem is more that it has become so cheap that it has crept its way into a great number of the foods we eat every day.

Is corn syrup fructose different than fructose found in other foods?
No, all fructose works the same in the body, whether it comes from corn syrup, cane sugar, beet sugar, strawberries, onions, or tomatoes. Only the amounts are different. For example, a cup of chopped tomatoes has 2.5 grams of fructose, a can of regular (non-diet) soda supplies 23 grams, and a super-size soda has about 62 grams.
Which foods have high fructose corn syrup and other sugars?
Today, almost all packaged foods have sugar added in some form, which almost always includes a lot of fructose. Honey has about the same fructose/glucose ratio as high fructose corn syrup. Fruit juice concentrates, sometimes used as "healthy sweeteners," usually have quite a lot of fructose (never mind that the processing of these concentrates strips away most of their nutritional value). Look at the ingredients on packaged food labels and you will probably see sources of fructose. See my article, Sugar's Many Disguises, to learn what to look for.


10 reasons to limit fructose consumption
1. Fructose can only be metabolized by the liver and can’t be used for energy by your body’s cells. It’s therefore not only completely useless for the body, but is also a toxin in high enough amount because the job of the liver is to get rid of it, mainly by transforming it into fat and sending that fat to our fat cells.
2. Excess fructose damages the liver and leads to insulin resistance in the liver as well as fatty liver disease. In fact, fructose has the same effects on the liver as alcohol (ethanol), which is already well known as a liver toxin.
3. Fructose reacts with proteins and polyunsaturated fats in our bodies 7 times more than glucose. This reaction creates AGEs (Advanced glycation end-products), which are compounds that create oxidative damage in our cells and ultimately lead or contribute to inflammation and a host of chronic diseases.
4. Fructose increases uric acid production, which, in excess, can cause gout, kidney stones and precipitate or aggravate hypertension.
5. While most of your body’s cells can’t use fructose as a source of energy, the bacteria in your gut can and excess fructose can create gut flora imbalances, promote bacterial overgrowth and promote the growth of pathogenic bacteria.
6. In part because of the damage done to the liver, chronic excess fructose causes dyslipidemia, which means that your blood lipid markers tend to shift towards numbers that indicate a risk for heart disease.
7. Fructose rapidly causes leptin resistance. Leptin is an hormone that controls appetite and metabolism to maintain a normal weight. Leptin resistant people tend to gain fat and become obese really easily.
8. Excess fructose alone can cause all the problems associated with the metabolic syndrome (diabetes, obesity, heart disease, …).
9. Cancer cells thrive and proliferate very well with fructose as their energy source.
10. Excess fructose also affects brain functioning, especially as it relates to appetite regulation. It has also been shown to impair memory in rats.

Rather than going low carb I go "low glycemic index". Fruit have low glycemic index, so they are fine.