Low Carb and resetting my body questions

[Frontier Mom]

I have several people within my church that have lost weight and they all say the same thing, "I just started eating low carb, no sugar and it just came off." None of them did a "diet" so to speak so I am wondering, what would you consider a low carb number for the day?

 

One man told me his doctor advised about 30 to 40 carbs per meal. Another said they aimed for about 40 per day. I think this is really my problem because I crave carbs. Just wondering where to start.

 

I also was considering doing a two week reset. I am planning on eating raw fruits and veggies for two weeks. I may add juicing of them into this as well. I was told this was a very healthy way to reset your body. Just wondering...

[Ellie]

I do Atkins on a long-term basis. It's just how I eat. :-)

 

I don't count carbs; I just don't eat the foods that are major carbs, such as breads and potatoes and rice and starchy veggies. I use Splenda instead of sugar or honey (honey would be the healthiest, but it's still a carb). I rarely eat fruits, but when I do, it's the low-carb ones, such as melons and most berries.

 

I make wonderful bread (thanks to my grain mill and my Bosch), but I just don't eat it. Nothing is tastier than potatoes and gravy, but I don't eat it.

 

Because of thyroid issues, I don't lose weight :glare: but my cholesterol is low, low, low; it was once as high as 300, now is around 185, just by continuing Atkins.

 

It seems to me that if you were going to eat "normally," doing raw fruits and veggies would be fine; but if you wanted to do a true low-carbohydrate diet, that wouldn't be very helpful, and most fruits are definitely not low in carbohydrates, raw or not.

[MIch elle]

I suggest reading Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution, Revised Edition

 

Most of the info from the book is on this forum: http://www.atkinsdietbulletinboard.com/

[melissel]

I do Atkins on a long-term basis. It's just how I eat. :-)

 

I don't count carbs; I just don't eat the foods that are major carbs, such as breads and potatoes and rice and starchy veggies. I use Splenda instead of sugar or honey (honey would be the healthiest, but it's still a carb). I rarely eat fruits, but when I do, it's the low-carb ones, such as melons and most berries.

 

I make wonderful bread (thanks to my grain mill and my Bosch), but I just don't eat it. Nothing is tastier than potatoes and gravy, but I don't eat it.

 

Because of thyroid issues, I don't lose weight :glare: but my cholesterol is low, low, low; it was once as high as 300, now is around 185, just by continuing Atkins.

 

It seems to me that if you were going to eat "normally," doing raw fruits and veggies would be fine; but if you wanted to do a true low-carbohydrate diet, that wouldn't be very helpful, and most fruits are definitely not low in carbohydrates, raw or not.

 

I agree, especially with the bolded. Have you looked at the South Beach Diet? The first two weeks is a carb-free "reset," and it really works. It's hard as heck, but it works. And I felt great afterward--lost 8 pounds, no more heartburn, lots of energy. I didn't stick to it, but I should have, because that's really how my body feels best. January 1 is the big day around here too--actually, maybe January 10, after all the visiting family leaves *sigh*

 

ETA: If you're going to cut out carbs, you're also going to be fighting to break a sugar addiction. That's no walk in the park, so I don't think a two-week fruit and veggie diet will help you, ultimately. It might even make breaking the sugar addiction harder. That's one of the points of the first two weeks of the South Beach Diet--it's a jump start to weight loss and results, so you feel encouraged and driven to keep going, but it's also about how long you need to break the sugar/carb addiction. By day 8/9 of my first go-round on South Beach, I was finally feeling in control of my cravings (a little too in control, actually, since I fell off the wagon shortly thereafter). Consider that as well. Honestly, if you're considering going low carb, I can't recommend the South Beach book enough. It really made sense to me and changed my attitude toward carbs in general.

Edited December 26, 2011 by melissel

[AK_Mom4]

40 per day is insanely low - that person may not actually be counting carbs correctly.

 

I eat a low-carb, nutritionist approved diet that aims for 45g of carbs per meal and 15g of carbs for snacks (2x per day). The snacks are necessary because I am diabetic and on insulin so getting my blood sugar levels TOO low is a bad thing. But a diet that encourages you to nibble every couple of hours works just great for me.

 

Get familiar with the glycemic index and use that as a guideline. Stick to low-index choices. Add in lots of fresh veggies (peppers, celery, raw carrots, mushrooms). Avoid the potatos and rice - breads only in moderation for sure.

 

Low carb isn't difficult. But if you get hungry when eating low-carb, that's generally a sign that you need to eat something!

[praisefor3]

Frontier Mom - Here's what I have done.

 

I did South Beach for my first ever diet 7 years ago. I didn't count anything - just followed the guidelines in the book. Lost a much needed 12 pounds and was content. Until...Surprise pregnancy four months later in my 40's. I have been left with about 25 pounds I couldn't shed. I tried My Fitness Pal and counting calories but even with just 1200 calories a day I was not losing anything. So...back to South Beach phase 1 but I ALSO entered my foods on My Fitness Pal. This worked great. For the first time I was able to see what a South Beach Diet would result in as far as the number of carbs I was eating. For 2 weeks I ate low carb, entered everything on My Fitness Pal, stuck to 1200 calories a day AND low carb, and finally started losing. Most days my carbs were around 40 total. I ate no sugar, ate eggs/omelet for breakfast, no bread, no pasta, no alcohol, ate sugar free popsicles for a night time snack...that kind of stuff. You can easily find the SB guidelines on the internet without buying the book. I would highly recommend entering your calories on My Fitness Pal...I am amazed at how many foods are in the data base so you don't hardly ever have to try to track down the calories. While I am a HUGE lover of danishes and desserts, I gave them up and used sugar free flavored creamers with my afternoon coffee for a treat (when I was craving something sweet) and I did not feel "deprived" at all.

 

Hope that helps.

[praisefor3]

BTW - I don't agree that 40 carbs is insanely low...except for long term maintenance. I was never hungry, felt better than I have in a long time and for two weeks it is what my body needed. I do agree that you don't want to stay that low (I didn't) but it certainly wasn't harmful for two weeks and shed me of so much sugar storage.

[marcyg]

Most low carb diets call for about 40 - 50 grams per day for the first 2 weeks - the induction period - and then increase somewhat after that phase. You may also want to look at some of the Paleo diets as they are also low carb. There is a great website www.carbsmart.com that also has informative articles listed under the carbsmart magazine section. You will find that after the first week or two on low carb, you no longer have the carb cravings.

[Tigger]

40 per day is insanely low - that person may not actually be counting carbs correctly.

 

I eat a low-carb, nutritionist approved diet that aims for 45g of carbs per meal and 15g of carbs for snacks (2x per day). The snacks are necessary because I am diabetic and on insulin so getting my blood sugar levels TOO low is a bad thing. But a diet that encourages you to nibble every couple of hours works just great for me.

 

Get familiar with the glycemic index and use that as a guideline. Stick to low-index choices. Add in lots of fresh veggies (peppers, celery, raw carrots, mushrooms). Avoid the potatos and rice - breads only in moderation for sure.

 

Low carb isn't difficult. But if you get hungry when eating low-carb, that's generally a sign that you need to eat something!

 

45g per meal is not low-carb.

 

Under 40g carbs per day looks like this for the carbs (as one example):

 

1 cup cooked spinach 3g (net minus fiber)

 

Salad with:

2 cups romaine 1g (net minus fiber)

6 cherry tomatoes 3g (net minus fiber)

1/2 cucumber sliced 1g (net minus fiber)

1/2 cup shredded red cabbage 1.5g (net minus fiber)

1/3 cup shredded carrots 2g (net minus fiber)

1 stalk celery chopped 0.25g (net minus fiber)

2 green onions chopped 0.25 (net minus fiber)

 

1 cup cooked asparagus 2g (net minus fiber)

 

Dinner salad with:

1 cup romaine 0.5g (net miinus fiber)

2 cherry tomatoes 1g (net minus fiber)

1/4 cucumber sliced 0.5g (net minus fiber)

 

1 cup broccoli cooked 6g (net minus fiber)

 

1/4 cup salad dressing (throughout day) 4g

2 or 3 eggs 1.5g

2 ounces cheese 2g

1/4 cup half & half for coffee or tea 2g

3 Splenda packets (or equivalent AS) 3g

 

With all the above, you'd be at 34.5g net - so you'd still have 5.5g available for additional vegetables if you wanted more. In addition to the above, you'd also eat your choice of meats for protein & fat.

[Ellie]

I might also add that Atkins isn't just low carbohydrates; it's also high protein (otherwise you get vegeterian, which isn't bad but it isn't the complete picture), and you don't even think about the fat. I know you didn't ask about Atkins specifically, but since Atkins is the granddaddy of all low-carb diets, it must be discussed. :)

[KrissiK]

I lost 10 lbs. that way. I don't count carbs. Basically, this is what I try to do.

1) Stay completely away from sugar and flour. That is my bare minimum. If I can't do anything else, I do that. It's hard the first several days, but you just have to exert a lot of will power. If I sweeten, I use Stevia. That's supposed to not mess with your blood sugar levels.

2) Don't eat a lot of grains in general. I'll eat oatmeal maybe only 1-2 days a week for breakfast. Other days it's yogurt or crustless quische. If I really need pasta, I'll eat rice pasta. If I really want rice, I'll eat brown rice.

3) I try to snack on almonds and cheese. It's monotonous, but it fills me up.

4) Desserts are sugar-free fudge-cicles.

5) I try to eat lots of salads with meat in them. I try to eat soups for lunch - veggie soups with beans.

6) I eat fruit, but not a ton.

[Grover]

I've been eating low carb for a couple of months now (and just over 15kg / 33 pounds) down.

 

Initially I was under 30g of carbs a day, alongside high protein levels. After the induction phase (2 weeks) I no longer felt hungry and the cravings disappeared (weird)!

 

Now I'm in maintenance phase I have played around with the carb levels to work out where I am best - still losing weight, no cravings back. I seem to sit best somewhere around 60g of carbs a day - I find the manageable and still lose weight. There is no bread / potato/ rice in my day anymore (and there used to be a lot) and I eat very little fruit. Mostly meat / eggs and low carb veges... and I feel fantastic.

 

Just adding - I couldn't get my head around how to get started so I invested in a three weeks worth of "Optifast" so that I did not have to think about food at all during the initial difficult stage - I think if I'd tried to do that with real food I would have ended up giving into the cravings and grabbing "just a little" extra - but with the sachets I didn't think about other food at all and I think that helped.

Edited December 26, 2011 by Grover

[ScoutTN]

I have gotten away from it (and put on weight), but am going back to low carb eating.

 

I don't count carbs. Way too complicated for my life!

The Suzanne Somers' plan, "Somersizing", has worked well for me. The books have lots of good info and recipes too. Her plan includes food separation - not eating carbs with proteins and fat, which I do for level one, but not much otherwise.

 

The way I do it works out to be this:

 

No sugar or sugar substitutes. Zero.

 

Level One - weight loss and break the cravings

Protein and fat as you like.

Unlimited non-starchy veggies.

Fruit in moderate portions eaten alone on an empty stomach.

Limited whole grain carbs - 2 or 3 servings a week, usually breakfast.

 

Level Two - maintenance

Protein and fat as you like.

Unlimited non-starchy veggies.

Fruit in moderation, eaten alone.

Moderate servings of whole grain carbs - brown rice, oatmeal.

 

 

I try to keep my evening meals level one most of the time. Easy to add a grain or ww bread for my family and not eat it. I try to have my carbs at breakfast - whole grain, no sugar cereal usually.

 

If I cheat and have a dessert, it is dark chocolate or more rarely cheesecake or very good ice cream.

[Holly IN]

40 grams of carb per meal :001_huh::001_huh:That is NOT low carb. I would actually gain weight if I had that much per meal. My highest carb count for the day that I can handle is 80 grams. Anything over that I gain and feel yucky.

 

I did Atkins (the old version) and did induction and lost total of 12 pounds in two weeks. Then continued with Atkins doing Ongoing weight loss for 6 months. Lost all of my weight during that time. Then went to maintence which I determined my highest carb count I can get away with without gaining. This number is different for everybody. It is best to go 20 - 30grams of carb a day for first two weeks to kick the carb cravings.

 

Now I am going primal however I do limit honey and maple syrup. Still sugar free but do have a treat with honey or maple syrup. I do not use artificial sweeteners at all. If I can't have honey, maple syrup, palm sugar or coconut sugar then no treats for me. If I do have a treat that have granulated sugar but not grains then I will go ahead and eat it but will up my protien during that time.

 

You also have to make sure your fat content is high and must come from animals only with exception of coconut oils. Coconut Oils is a plus for fat!!

 

Holly

[mom2hunangirls]

I've lost 50 lbs by getting away from processed carbs. Bread, spaghetti, French fries, potatoes (yeah, I know French fries are potatoes...but for me they were a food group)....and "box food" ( hamburger helper, Mac and cheese,etc). This was a HUGE change for me. But I had to for my health.

I was sent to a nutritionist who, God bless her, tried not to scare this carb-addict away but in the end she said 2 things that I "heard".... "If you eat one (carb), you will crave two." And "consider detoxing. You are addicted. It will take 3 weeks and it will be miserable.

That night I joined Weight Watchers (mostly because I needed to track and their way made sense to me.) I cringe at all the members trying to find a fake chocolate cake that fits points and lament why nothing changes. I was determined to change food habits and eat my veggies etc.

I also read Mastering Your Metabolism. The science of what was going on in my body when I ate carbs made total sense....not to mention other things. Carbs, especially processed carbs, mess with you. Period.

And...I committed to exercise 30 mins at least 3 times a week.

Eat "real food" as much as possible. Get 3 veggie servings a day. 2 fruits. Protein. Exercise. That's my diet. Eat right and exercise. Its still the best plan out there and free!!!

[kitten18]

I would definitely try to do something like Atkins Induction to start. There are MANY websites that can give you the basics. Basically, you're eating less than 20g of carbs/day for the first 2 weeks. The first 4-5 days are rough but it gets much easier after that. The most important thing *for me* is to eat plenty of fat, it keeps me from getting really grouchy.:001_huh:

 

Like Ellie, I don't really count carbs anymore. I just eat low-carb foods: meat, low-carb veggies, nuts, olives, fats, and berries.

[Frontier Mom]

Wow, great information. I agreed that 40 per meal did not seem very low carb to me. I found this site which looks sufficient. South Beach

 

Looks like I will just use SB induction and go from there. The person I was speaking to about raw fruits and raw veggies was also having some major hormone issues. I think she did this to avoid any meat that could potentially have hormones and now she only eats hormone free chicken and other meat.

Edited December 26, 2011 by Frontier Mom

[Elinor Everywhere]

The Suzanne Somers' plan, "Somersizing", has worked well for me.

 

My mother-in-law used the Somersizing plan, too. She lost quite a bit of weight, and kept it off for YEARS (never did gain it back before she died).

 

I restrict my carbs, too, by following a Primal (Paleo) lifestyle. Love the book and website by Mark Sisson, The Primal Blueprint.

 

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/#axzz1hgFw0Hl5

[kitten18]

Wow, great information. I agreed that 40 per meal did not seem very low carb to me. I found this site which looks sufficient. South Beach

 

Looks like I will just use SB induction and go from there. The person I was speaking to about raw fruits and raw veggies was also having some major hormone issues. I think she did this to avoid any meat that could potentially have hormones and now she only eats hormone free chicken and other meat.

Many people have great success with SB. I DO NOT! The combination of low-fat and low-carb makes me incredibly grouchy. I was ready to tear someone's head off. I NEED Fat.

[melissel]

Many people have great success with SB. I DO NOT! The combination of low-fat and low-carb makes me incredibly grouchy. I was ready to tear someone's head off. I NEED Fat.

 

I don't recall SB being particularly low fat, but maybe that's because I just didn't do it that way. Then again, the SB diet was designed to prepare cardiac patients who were at the point where they needed surgical intervention but couldn't have it because they weren't healthy enough, so you may be right.

 

I ate plenty of fat when I was on SB :lol: However, I'll be doing it this time around without dairy, so that will be harder :(

[kitten18]

I don't recall SB being particularly low fat, but maybe that's because I just didn't do it that way. Then again, the SB diet was designed to prepare cardiac patients who were at the point where they needed surgical intervention but couldn't have it because they weren't healthy enough, so you may be right.

 

I ate plenty of fat when I was on SB :lol: However, I'll be doing it this time around without dairy, so that will be harder :(

It's been several years since I've looked at the book but I was thinking of the low-fat/fat-free dairy and salad dressings. I really enjoy those things full-fat. I would have a really hard time giving up dairy.:crying:

[mchel210]

I have a question...Can you do LOW carb in the beginning..very close to NO carb...but still get benefits of that shock to your system? I dont eat a ton of carbs to begin with...but I like my morning yogurt and coffee with sweet cream. It is 20 carbs...but the rest of the day I dont have almost any carbs. (my plan for my 2weeks)

 

(For the most part we eat lots of veggies already with very little rice and some potatoes. I usually have kashi cereal or fage yogurts, sandwiches etc. Those are what I am removing.) It seems that everyone I know is successful with cutting carbs like this for 2 weeks then just going back to low carb.

 

My husband is doing no carbs...or as close to it as possible...but I dont want to do that full shock. Do you think I can still jumpstart my weight loss like that?

 

Im just tired of being stuck at the same weight. Im not really very overweight...I just cant shake these last 10-15lbs. I guess it is also my thyroid wants me at this weight.

Edited January 4, 2012 by mchel210

[Photo Ninja]

I've been losing weight by eating low carb, ant trying to keep in a specific calorie range each day. It has not been difficult, and I aim for about 100-115 g carbs per day. For me, it means cutting out sugar (not too difficult for me), and cutting way down or eliminating grains, potatoes, pasta, and rice. I eat lots of fruit and veggies, and don't worry that there are carbs in carrots and apples. I count those carbs, but I'm not going to eliminate fruit from my diet. I tend to eat low glycemic index fruits when I can. I will have rice about once a week, and eat brown rice instead of white, and only have 1/2 - 1 cup of it, and not on the same day as I have a sandwich. I cut out bread, except for the whole grain Sandwich Thins when I want a sandwich or a pizza. I just count the calories and the carbs, and have not done any subtracting of fiber. I'm keeping it simple.

 

I have not read any low carb books or Atkins diet, but simply cutting back on carbs has made me feel much better, and I'm losing weight.