Low carb 2 week trial

BraziliaNZ

hi all. I've never really commited myself to the lo-carb thing but i started yesterday and am going to keep it going for a couple of weeks and see what results i come up with.
I am currently about 93kg and 5'11''. I cycle to and from work which is about 7k each way, and train at the gym about 4 or 5 times a week, doing heavy weights and some cardio. So I have a lot of muscle but whatever way i'm eating means i also have higher body fat than i really want.

here is what i'll be eating every day

Breakfast - Omelette consisting of - 2 eggs, 2 mushrooms, tomato, a little cheddar cheese

Lunch - 200g can of tuna with some light mayo mixed with red peppers, red onion, and some sweetcorn

Dinner - Chicken breast/turkey breast/fish with stir fried veg - i.e. onions, peppers, mushrooms, brocolli

The serving of veg for dinner is pretty big

I'll prob eat an apple and a banana each day during the day as snacks and have a protein shake a day at some stage

Do you think this will be effective or are there still loads of carbs in there?

Thanks

bladespin

Very interested in how you get on, good luck, hope the results are good.

foodaholic

according to all the low carb diets i've read up on it advises you not to use low fat mayo, it has a higher carb content than full fat. Yum Yum. have a look at www.pig2twig.co.uk the forum has loads of ideas for low carb diets. starting mine next week after a hens this weekend

El_Dangeroso

Hi there!

I have been on a low-carb diet for 2 and a half years now and have lost 4 stone and kept it off.

Judging from your sample menu you're going to be famished without more fat.

Add fat to everything you can, olive oil, mustard and vinegar dressing on your salad, home-made mayonaisse, herb butter on your veggies.

Do you have a book? If not I recommend the diet of the website quoted above 'Neris and India's Idiot Proof Diet', It's based on real unprocessed food and has an amazing accompanying cookbook.

Prepare to feel absolutely crap for days 4-7 of the diet. I actually thought I had full blown flu, buts that's just your body detoxing from caffeine and sugar. After that time you feel fantastic, lots of energy, clear skin, better sleep and drastically reduced hunger.

I'd give it a month to get the full idea whether or not it's for you and buy a book, this point is vital, you need to follow all the rules of the diet or it won't work, or it will work but you will feel deprived and have no energy and generally be miserable, which isn't a recipe for long term success.

Best of luck and keep us posted with how you get on!

EileenG

Most of your meals look ok, but very low on fat. However, I'd replace the apple and banana with nuts or seeds, or something like an avocado or a bowl of vegetable soup.

Remember, steak is good for you.

BraziliaNZ

EileenG wrote: »

Most of your meals look ok, but very low on fat. However, I'd replace the apple and banana with nuts or seeds, or something like an avocado or a bowl of vegetable soup.

Remember, steak is good for you.

i know yeah i'm just not that keen on red meat, although i would still eat it maybe once a week. The problem with nuts is that anytime i buy a bag and keep them in my desk or something i can't help eating them too fast and a week's worth will be gone in a day!
They have avocados across the road here, 4 for 1 euro so i might get some of those today. Anyway so far so good, don't feel any different at all. Weighed in at 14st 7lbs last night so i'll measure next week and week after and keep y'all posted.

dudara

It might take a while to start losing weight, but keep at it, and then you should start to see the weight falling off.

mrsberries

Temple_Grandin wrote: »

Hi there!

I have been on a low-carb diet for 2 and a half years now and have lost 4 stone and kept it off.



!

Hi there

Im also following the Idiot Proof/ pig2twig diet and finding it great. However im finding it a slow burner. Im on it about 7 /6 weeks now and have only shed 5lbs. My question for you is was it a slow burner for you to lose all that weight or did it drop off quickly initially and then at a steady pace?

Am loving the foods i can eat and its great that i havent ate any rubbish or been tempted to!!


Regarding the snacking on the nuts, totally understand but what I do is buy big bags from Aldi and then portion them out into little tubs/ sandwich bags for work snacks. Works a treat

El_Dangeroso

mrsberries wrote: »

Hi there

Im also following the Idiot Proof/ pig2twig diet and finding it great. However im finding it a slow burner. Im on it about 7 /6 weeks now and have only shed 5lbs. My question for you is was it a slow burner for you to lose all that weight or did it drop off quickly initially and then at a steady pace?

Am loving the foods i can eat and its great that i havent ate any rubbish or been tempted to!!


Regarding the snacking on the nuts, totally understand but what I do is buy big bags from Aldi and then portion them out into little tubs/ sandwich bags for work snacks. Works a treat

I lost about an average of 2lb a week, but I stayed away from snacking, which I think is the key.. three square meals a day and nothing in between.

Also, you need to eat lots of fat, counter-intuitive I know but you need to eat it to burn it!

mrsberries

Temple_Grandin wrote: »

I lost about an average of 2lb a week, but I stayed away from snacking, which I think is the key.. three square meals a day and nothing in between.

Also, you need to eat lots of fat, counter-intuitive I know but you need to eat it to burn it!

Thanks a mil for that!!! Im eating plenty of fat, but have been a bit of a snacker I must admit! Usually a bit of peanut butter or piece of cheese. Im not good at going long between meals...

Im going to retract my slow burner comment. Ive just measured myself for the first time in weeks and Ive lost a total of 8.5 inches from my waist/hips/stomach/chest!! I was afraid to over the last few weeks as the scales wasnt budging. My faith has been restored in what im doing

BraziliaNZ

Day 4 all going according to plan, haven't cheated at all yet! I was thinking of zesting up my boring can of tuna mixed with peppers and chillies and red onion at lunchtime by having some cottage cheese with it. Is cottage cheese considered a non-carby food?

dudara

It's pretty low-carb - just read the nutritional information on the side.

EileenG

Cottage cheese is fine. You can combine it with all sorts of things to add protein.

bladespin

Any update BraziliaNZ, how did you get on?

BraziliaNZ

hi - yeah it's all going good, haven't really cheated, except one burger i ate at a bbq on saturday and some beers that's been the only carbs i've eaten. I haven't weighed myself yet but i definitely don't feel as big around the gut and think i look better even though it's only been a week and a half, so will update y'all with the weightloss, if any, next week!

BraziliaNZ

so i started on 15th June, weighed myself yesterday, 2kg gone! that's 4.4lbs. Will keep you updated.

El_Dangeroso

That's fantastic! Well done!

How did you find it, did you go through the dreaded induction flu?

BraziliaNZ

Temple_Grandin wrote: »

That's fantastic! Well done!

How did you find it, did you go through the dreaded induction flu?

Thanks! it's fine - i did seem to get some kind of a cold a few days after starting though, i dont know if that's coincidental, it wasn't a bad one, but still have a bit of the remnants of it now too. I'm going to keep going with it anyway will keep y'all posted next time i weigh myself.

bladespin

Thanks for the update and a big congrats to you, best of luck going forward, going to try this myself.

BraziliaNZ

ok so i was on and off this diet for a while and am back on it again the last few weeks, much easier now as I have my own place and I don't keep it stocked with anything nasty i can snack on etc! Anyway I think when i posted this I was 14st 7lbs, which is about 93kg, and the other day I weighed in at 86.something kg!
So it's working alright, not getting hungry anymore, and training/lifting just as hard/heavy. I want to get down to about 82kg so a few more to go before I'm properly fat free.

EileenG

Good going. Keep us posted on progress.

BraziliaNZ

Now I eat a small bowl of porridge with some yoghurt mixed in for breakfast, a tuna/salmon salad for lunch, and a turkey/fish/chicken stir fry for dinner. When I'm in bed at night there are rumblings in my stomach alright but they don't really bother me at least I know it's working.
Apart from the fish there are no fats in my diet though, what would be the best source? Flax seed or something? What can you do with that? Thanks.

EileenG

What about a salad dressing made with some nice vinegar and extra virgin olive oil?

A handful of nuts is a good high fat snack. Make sure it is only a handful, nuts are frighteningly easy to overeat.

You can actually make a sort of porridge from flaxseed. You pour some hot water over your ground flaxseed and let it settle for while. Some cinnamon or sweetener can improve the taste if you like. I normally need to reheat it, but that's your choice.

El_Dangeroso

Hey, well done!

That's really good progress.

For fats, I love hard boiled eggs with country butter , they come packed with a lot of vitamins too, so very healthy.

BraziliaNZ

yeah i use a fair bit of olive oil in my stir fry, i know i need fat somewhere, and i also buy (bloody expensive) tuna in olive oil (cans).
I'm getting too excited now though i want the weight to go quicker, but I suppose it's best to lose it over a longer period of time.

El_Dangeroso

It really is, I was very slow to lose weight too.. I'd lose 3lb some weeks and none for the next two, it's definitely not linear!

corkcomp

BraziliaNZ wrote: »

yeah i use a fair bit of olive oil in my stir fry, i know i need fat somewhere, and i also buy (bloody expensive) tuna in olive oil (cans).
I'm getting too excited now though i want the weight to go quicker, but I suppose it's best to lose it over a longer period of time.

you know you are not really on a low carb diet if having porridge for breakfast?? BTW i think porridge is an excellent idea for breakfast but if you are trying to get into ketosis (again, I am not recommending this) then the porridge may prevent this, and if you are consuming a lot of fat while not in ketosis you may not lose weight, or lose very much .. just a thought ...

BraziliaNZ

corkcomp wrote: »

you know you are not really on a low carb diet if having porridge for breakfast?? BTW i think porridge is an excellent idea for breakfast but if you are trying to get into ketosis (again, I am not recommending this) then the porridge may prevent this, and if you are consuming a lot of fat while not in ketosis you may not lose weight, or lose very much .. just a thought ...

well no but they are the only carbs that I take in really, and I mean I can't see how a small bowl of porridge would stop someone from getting in great shape if they are training well? Every second day I do 40-60 mins hard cardio, and the other days I lift weights, with maybe one day of a week. And I'm not consuming a lot of fat so I can't see it being a problem, I hope!

El_Dangeroso

corkcomp wrote: »

you know you are not really on a low carb diet if having porridge for breakfast?? BTW i think porridge is an excellent idea for breakfast but if you are trying to get into ketosis (again, I am not recommending this) then the porridge may prevent this, and if you are consuming a lot of fat while not in ketosis you may not lose weight, or lose very much .. just a thought ...

Depends on the low carb diet to be honest, not all are ketogenic.

A bowl of porridge (40g dry) is 26g carbs so actually just a shade under the atkins induction limit of 30g, but that doesn't include veggies, which would clearly take precedence over porridge.

And induction is only for the start.

I was eating 60g a day and still losing steadily with a generous amount of fat in my diet. I choose veggies for my carbs as I've never been a massive fan of porridge without heaps of sugar in it, but porridge can be an option if you want.

Some low fat cottage cheese before bed might be an idea, to curb the hunger and stave off muscle breakdown for as long as possible.

EileenG

There was a study on women which found that a big breakfast, with carbs, and low carb the rest of the day, worked just as well as low carb all day. The only problem I would have with that was that they had a huge breakfast, and a tiny dinner, and sorry, I like something decent to eat in the evening.

corkcomp

BraziliaNZ wrote: »

well no but they are the only carbs that I take in really, and I mean I can't see how a small bowl of porridge would stop someone from getting in great shape if they are training well? Every second day I do 40-60 mins hard cardio, and the other days I lift weights, with maybe one day of a week. And I'm not consuming a lot of fat so I can't see it being a problem, I hope!

porridge WONT stop you getting in great shape, not in the slighest! What I was tryin to find out if whether you just want to eat healthily (which is the best long terms solution) or actually get into ketosis .... Im not an advocate of low carb diets, period. your strategy of eating carbs early is a great idea IMO .. if you want to get in plenty good fats then i would advise you to do so for every other meal of the day, I perosnally wouldnt go taking in a lot of carbs and a lot of fat in the same meal ...

BraziliaNZ

thanks for responses. Yeah well last time I was really fit and ripped and like 82kg or so I was definitely eating carbs. I can't remember what I had for breakfast but i know for dinner every day I would have a few baby potatoes and some mixed veg with a piece of meat. For me I think best progress is made by cutting calories and eating good healthy food, as opposed to going to scientific on it. I have stir fry most evenings with peppers onions shrooms broccoli etc which fills me, but I'm pretty sure most people have rice with things like that. Even if I make curry I just pack it with veg and skip the rice.

corkcomp

BraziliaNZ wrote: »

thanks for responses. Yeah well last time I was really fit and ripped and like 82kg or so I was definitely eating carbs. I can't remember what I had for breakfast but i know for dinner every day I would have a few baby potatoes and some mixed veg with a piece of meat. For me I think best progress is made by cutting calories and eating good healthy food, as opposed to going to scientific on it. I have stir fry most evenings with peppers onions shrooms broccoli etc which fills me, but I'm pretty sure most people have rice with things like that. Even if I make curry I just pack it with veg and skip the rice.

sounds like you have the right idea ... just give it time and dont try to lose too quickly ... keep up the hard cardio and lifting a couple of times a week ... by cutting out processed and packaged crap you are automatically cutting out most bad tings, as long as you are within approx calorie range ...

BraziliaNZ

another kilo gone last night . I'm thinking of getting down to maybe 81 or 82kg and then taking some protein supplements and creatine so that I can build up more muscle again, I've noticed I can't lift quite as easily as I could when I weight the few kilos extra these days, which I don't really mind I'm in it more for the aesthetics as I seem to be a total narcissist these days!

Khannie

BraziliaNZ wrote: »

another kilo gone last night .

You naturally lose a kilo overnight from sweat and peeing in the morning. Just don't go thinking that you've actually lost a kilo of fat in any kind of short space of time. A kilo of fat contains several thousand calories (around 6-7000 iirc).

I'm low carbing it since last night. I'll finish up tomorrow. Long story. Enjoyed my fatty eggs this morning though (2 eggs, a whopping lump of butter and some cheese as scrambler).

BraziliaNZ

no i mean i hadn't weighed myself in two days, and before I trained at the gym last night i was a kilo less than 2 days ago, does that count?

Khannie

You wouldn't lose a kilo of fat in 2 days so some of it was probably water weight. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. Even if you ate nothing, it would probably take around 3 days to lose a kilo of fat, give or take.

You would have lost some fat during that time though, a few hundred grams probably, so don't be disheartened! It sounds like you're doing great to be honest.

BraziliaNZ

ok but it's still nice to see it on the weighing scales

BraziliaNZ

84.5 yesterday hadn't weighed myself in a week. So it's going the right way, was 91 back in June.

BraziliaNZ

wow, 82.2kg on saturday. I am starting to see stomach muscles. Strength hasn't decreased in fact i broke personal record in squatting the other day. Can barely walk now. i still think i could lose maybe another 2kg then I'm not sure I could really get any leaner.