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I've been having breakast burritoes instead of eggs on toast or muffin. Diet sodas instead of sugar. Onion rings instead of fries, on the rare occasions I go for a burger. Not talking No-Carb, just lower carbs. Easy prep, not expensive.
Some people think low carb is an outrageous amount of bacon and eggs every morning and steaks every night. It's not. Reader's Digest main cover story was about this recently. They won't let you read the full article online or maybe you have to sign on. But here are some details. The Myths of Losing Weight | Reader's Digest Version
One of the difficulties is the comfort food are almost all high carb: potatoes, bread, rice, pasta, all sugared sweets.
Btw, I'm keeping fruit because I figure vitamins and not dripping in added sugar the way most manufactured sweets are. Green veg is good for fiber, vitamins. I like something dull to eat with something flavorful. That's usually been the carb of the meal. Bite of meat, bite of potatoes or whatever. Now thinking: bite of meat, bite of plain steamed broccoli or yellow squash.
The other night we had shrimp and broccoli and rice. I just had the shrimp and broccoli. But I like rice and am wondering if can keep it. It's not from grains like bread and pasta. Nor is it a starch pod like potatoes. Lots of cultures that serve a lot of rice don't have a lot of heavy people, but that may be due to an overall reduction of calories available.
Lastly, I can resist almost all sweets as long as they don't involve chocolate.
I'm not trying to make a case for whether low carb works or not. It worked for me years ago, and it works for others too. But I stopped doing it and would like to restart and stay on it. Nothing drastic, just healthy eating without the huge amount of carbs available to us.
My question is, if you're trying to lower carbs what are some of the things you do that others might find helpful? Anyone else tried or doing this type of thing?
Starchy items all fall into the "high" carb bucket: rice, sweet potatoes, potatoes, corn, pasta
Some people even count beans as a high carb food.
Some tips: you can always use the plate method. On your plate: 50% veggies, 25% grains, 25% protein.
You can also replace your starches with beans or lentils.
I just try to skip the starchy carbs 1 or 2 meals per day. But you need to replace them with 3x the veggies to feel full.
I focus on the eat clean or eat whole foods plan. Stick with packaged food where I recognize all of the ingredients and avoid most processed stuff if I can help it.
Have you tried brown rice and wheat pasta? My diet is high protein, but for me, giving up the foods I love the most is a mistake. I would just end up over indulging and gaining all my weight back. I have found ways to make all my favs higher in protein. And when I put my fork on the plate - I grab the protein first. So I'm really having only a few bites of the carbs. But I have found that wheat pasta has come a long way. I'm looking for a good brown rice.....if only they'd come up with a low carb potato!
Jade, your list of carbs is similar to mine, except I left out corn. I kinda count beans as a carb, too. But, I'm not trying to eliminate carbs, just control them.
I don't like vegetables that much. Some I do like, but I'm not going to fill up on them to feel full. My plate is gonna have more meat, some veg, and far less carbs. I'm not trying to replace carbs, but to minimize them.
Nic, I haven't tried the whole-wheat pasta, but am willing to try it. I like brown rice, not a problem. And that's something to think about. And, again, I'm not giving up carbs.
The foods we eat that make us fat are the ones our ancestors didn't have available. Sweets for more recent times. Grains going further back.
The good thing about eating more protein and less carbohydrates is you don't feel hungry as frequently, so it's not as difficult to prevent overindulgence. Recently, I've found that when I would have wanted ice cream or some other indulgence, I just no longer felt I needed it.
I'm gonna have to look out for the whole grain pasta and get some brown rice, though I really like white rice. As for potatoes, yes, we can put a man on the moon, but we can't have a low-carb potato.
Bread: Stay away from bread, even the light varieties. All they do is add water to make a bread light anyway. For example, if you were going to have tuna on rye or cold cuts (cold cuts are bad for the reason they are processed and contain high amounts of sodium), you can put that tuna or cold cuts over salad.
Pasta: I don't eat a lot of this at all. I generally reserve this for special occasions
Starch: Substitute baked potatoes for fries, Sweet potatoes are even better. You also might try making mashed turnips instead of mashed potatoes
Lean chicken is the protein I rely on most. I stay away from red meat for the most part. I would eat more fish as well but you should limit this to a couple of times a week due to the metals content of many fish due to polution.
Eat slowly
Don't eat after 10 pm
eat alot of vegetables. I think you are only supposed to have about 4 ounces of protein a day in total.
Exercise, exercise, exercise cardio( eliptical and cycling) and pushups is my regiment these days.
Not true at all. I eat low carb and I mainly eat protein and vegetables. So I stay away from processed foods. Yes my fruit intake is really low...I only eat 1/2 an apple for dessert if I'm craving it.
I have never felt better...I do not get a sugar crash that I used to get at 2:00pm.
I still try and eat as low fat as possible and I keep my calories below 1200.
I do not eat ANY bread, pasta, tortillas, potatoes, corn, peas or chips...etc...
This is what a typical day is like
Breakfast- 1/2 cup egg beaters for breakfast with 1/4 cup shredded cheese, 1/4 cup mushrooms, 1/4 pepper
Lunch- romaine lettuce shredded 1/2 shredded chicken, broccoli, cucumbers, celery, peppers
snack- celery and a low fat cheese stick
snack = protein drink with unsweetened almond milk
Dinner= salmon on the grill salad, cucumbers/celery/broccoli
There is some truth to what he/she is saying however its not that clearly cut.
Often with these low carb diets people actually are eating less calorically without realizing it since they are cutting out a huge chunk of the food pyramid. Eating less calories = losing weight.
But then again if you just eat less without thinking about what you are actually eating, that can also lead to the skinny fat look. If your intention is to look toned, fit, muscular, and reduce body fat not just body size then you have to look at what you are actually eating as much as how much you are eating. You don't want to lose muscle instead of fat!
Quote:
Originally Posted by DrEarth
Low carb diets are BS.
Calories in < calories burned = weight loss
Forget low carbs, and just eat healthy.
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