Is there a diet plan like Whole 30 that is a bit more flexible?

[Vida Winter]

Specifically, is there a low carb plan that would be feasible for college students?

[Jacbeaumont]

After my last pregnancy, I did my own version of whole 30. Followed most things except used regular butter, not clarified. And had a little dairy.

Just ate mostly veggies with proteins. No grains, sauces with sugars, etc.

If your only looking for weight loss,it definitely works. But you don't get any other benefits to whole 30.

 

Like I said it's not a real whole 30. I dropped the weight I needed and that was good enough for me.

Still expensive though, as carbs are the cheap fillers for most meals. Veggies do add up. While I ate less meat per meal, I ate meat (or protein like eggs) more often. So that is $.

 

Listening in for other responses!

 

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[redsquirrel]

What about something like South Beach?  It is not exactly 'low carb' in that you eat lots of veggies..vegetables are carbs. But you do cut out starches and sugars. You eat a lot of eggs for breakfast, snack on cheese sticks, tuna and celery sticks for lunch.  I really, really liked it and found it quite workable. DH and I could follow it when we were flat broke new parents. The author is also quite realistic. He doesn't expect you to cut out your morning coffee. He says that if your morning cup of coffee is what is holding you back from the diet, then please, have the coffee! Just have it without sugar and a little milk or cream if you must.

 

It's not new so it's all over the internet, there are tons of websites and articles out there, or check the library.  It has three stages, the first is about 2 weeks but you can stay on it longer if you like. Then the second lets you try allowing in more types of food, like 'northern fruit' such as apples or pears (no super sweet ones like bananas or oranges) and the third is just living your life. Bu then you have generally made some good connections between your food choices and how you feel, so I think stage 3 looks a whole lot like stage 2 most of the time.

[SparklyUnicorn]

I don't know much about Whole 30 (but quite a bit about low carb diets in general).  What specifically are the limitations?

 

 

[SparklyUnicorn]

What about something like South Beach?  It is not exactly 'low carb' in that you eat lots of veggies..vegetables are carbs. But you do cut out starches and sugars. You eat a lot of eggs for breakfast, snack on cheese sticks, tuna and celery sticks for lunch.  I really, really liked it and found it quite workable. DH and I could follow it when we were flat broke new parents. The author is also quite realistic. He doesn't expect you to cut out your morning coffee. He says that if your morning cup of coffee is what is holding you back from the diet, then please, have the coffee! Just have it without sugar and a little milk or cream if you must.

 

It's not new so it's all over the internet, there are tons of websites and articles out there, or check the library.  It has three stages, the first is about 2 weeks but you can stay on it longer if you like. Then the second lets you try allowing in more types of food, like 'northern fruit' such as apples or pears (no super sweet ones like bananas or oranges) and the third is just living your life. Bu then you have generally made some good connections between your food choices and how you feel, so I think stage 3 looks a whole lot like stage 2 most of the time.

 

I never cut out coffee despite some diets claiming one should (and had no issues with that).  That's one of my few pleasures left in life!  :lol:

 

I think it's fine to modify diets to make it more realistic or doable.  Being reasonable/logical of course.  A daily slice of cake..no.  You can't afford or don't want to buy grass fed meat...no problem. 

[SamanthaCarter]

There's an obscure little book that I really like that came out during the whole Atkins thing. While I don't agree with everything in the book, it is still great. It is based on the idea of having 5 small meals a day, mostly meat and veggies. Recipes are good and meant for one person, two servings, one for now and one for later. 

 

https://www.amazon.com/Square-Low-Carb-Meals-Makeover-Delicious/dp/006058999X/ref=sr_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1482676018&sr=1-6&keywords=Five+squares

[Soror]

Depending on how low carb you want to go both Primal & Perfect Heatlh Diet are similar. PHD advocates certain starches, like rice and potatoes which bring the cost done and Primal is a less religious form of Paleo(of which W30 is an offshot) that advocates an 80/20 compliance and has allowance for dairy.

Edited December 25, 2016 by soror

[Guest]

I think South Beach is very doable.

[Pegasus]

 

I think it's fine to modify diets to make it more realistic or doable.  Being reasonable/logical of course.  A daily slice of cake..no.  You can't afford or don't want to buy grass fed meat...no problem. 

 

This is the key to success, IMHO. My SIL asked me lots of questions about my way of eating since I lost a lot of weight and she seemed very interested in trying it herself. A few months later, I asked her how it was going and she said, "I can't follow that way of eating because I like bananas too much to give them up."  It just didn't occur to her that she could still follow that way of eating and simply add a banana when she desired one.  

[Vida Winter]

I don't know much about Whole 30 (but quite a bit about low carb diets in general).  What specifically are the limitations?

 

I've done the Whole 30 a couple of times. It is very effective but hard to cut out so many things (can't have legumes, dairy, sugar, grains) and expensive. I think it would be especially difficult for a college student.

[Vida Winter]

There's an obscure little book that I really like that came out during the whole Atkins thing. While I don't agree with everything in the book, it is still great. It is based on the idea of having 5 small meals a day, mostly meat and veggies. Recipes are good and meant for one person, two servings, one for now and one for later. 

 

https://www.amazon.com/Square-Low-Carb-Meals-Makeover-Delicious/dp/006058999X/ref=sr_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1482676018&sr=1-6&keywords=Five+squares

 

I'm going to order this - thanks!

[SparklyUnicorn]

I've done the Whole 30 a couple of times. It is very effective but hard to cut out so many things (can't have legumes, dairy, sugar, grains) and expensive. I think it would be especially difficult for a college student.

 

Ah yeah that's right.  I once skimmed some info about it and thought if I did it, I'd not eliminate dairy.  The rest wouldn't be difficult for me to eliminate.  Even the whole thing about clarified butter?  Uh...no.  That's silly.

 

Maybe look into the No S diet with an emphasis on lowering carbs somewhat or as needed to control hunger.

[frugalmamatx]

I do paleo with tweaks - regular butter instead of clarified, small amounts of dairy either cooked or cheese {minimize issues}, and twice a week I allow rice or corn. That helps the budget a lot. 

 

What type of setup is said student using? College cafeteria? Prepping own meals? etc? That matters a LOT. I think you could do paleo in a college cafeteria, but it would be tricky unless you supplemented it with other meals. Maybe if they have a fridge and meals are announced in advance, get an extra dinner and fridge it for the next day when there isn't anything paleo friendly available. Also flip the big meal to breakfast - it's a lot easier to get paleo breakfast foods {bacon, eggs, potatoes, etc} than it is dinner foods. 

[Vida Winter]

Prepping own meals - not a cafeteria food plan.   We may buy her an extra mini-freezer to help store leftovers. She got an insta pot for Christmas, which may help, but it sounds like choice of foods is going to be the most important factor.

[Free Indeed]

Have you looked at Trim Healthy Mama?

[Free Indeed]

Sorry phone glitch and it posted again.

Edited December 26, 2016 by Free Indeed

[Vida Winter]

Have you looked at Trim Healthy Mama?

 

No but I will - thanks!