Low carb Diet

Would products like Nutty Doorstep / ready brek be OK in moderation - or should this stuff be knocked out completely? I assume they should be knocked out completely so what products would you advise as close substitutes?

Heinz Baked Beans? are they crap?

A sample day:

Breakfast:
Slice of brown bread + boiled egg + bacon + cup of tea

Lunch:
Chicked curry with rice

Dinner:
Salad (1/2 pepper, 3 scallions, lettuce, carrot shavings), Large Chicken Fillet, one boiled egg, handful cashew nuts, handful walnuts, and dark choc (80%) for afters be like as a low carb din?

2 ltrs of water throughout the day with about 3 cups of coffee. I know the rice is of concern but is only having it once a day low enough to reduce weight? How much carb do you need to cut out to reduce weight, I only need to loose a stone.....

I have been scouring the nutrition and Diet forum for the past hour to find exact answers to these questions but couldnt, any help would be very grateful

Oh yeah for got to mention do weights for about 50mins 3 times a week, and cardio for one hour twice a week - bike and threadmill... And maybe a 40 min walk twice a week..

My BMI is 1848 - taking into account moderate activity my calorie intake should be about 2800 !!

Im 5'10, 35, male, weigh 83KG, want to get down to about 75 to 77KG...

Jumpy

Sorry, but thats pretty high carb to me.

Dont eat the baked beans, take out the bread, take out the rice, take out the dark chocolate.

You can make bread out of ground almonds, eggs and butter if you need bread.

Curry can also be full of carbs.


Also you have very little fat in there. Most of your energy on a low carb diet comes from fat.

bearhugs

I managed to lose about a stone and a half doing the curves low carb diet about 2 years ago, it was excellent. Because I did muscle training as well, I didnt put the weight back on when I went back eating normally.

I would recommend you be very strict for the first week to ten days, that would mean cutting out the bread and rice. I aimed for between 20-30g of carbs a day. Its amazing how easy it is to take in this much even just by having milk in tea, sauces, etc.

After that first week or so, have the bread, or a bit of rice or whatever. That first week is important though cos it makes your body switch over from burning carbs to burning fat, and if you have too much carbs during that stage that wont happen.

Good luck!

Jumpy

My average daily meal is similar to the following.

Breakfast: 2 eggs cooked in virgin coconut oil (sometimes scrambled, sometimes normal)
Protein shake (be careful some of these can contain carbs, also the "fake" sugars can stall some people)
1 spoonful of pysllium husk mixed with water.
1 teaspoon of coconut oil

Lunch: Very large green salad with grated cheddar, 5 or so pickled onions, spoonful of mayonnaise and a ball of mozzarella.

Dinner: Chicken, Duck or Pork with a large green salad and cheese. Sugarfree Jelly with cream for dessert.


Sometimes I make almond bread to replace half the salad.

Thanks for the replies lads, I know their are carbs in there but would I be reducing them enough to loose the stone.... even if it is over a few months?

I read in another thread dark choc is OK in low carb diet ??

Jumpy

Depends on how many carbs you are trying to cut.

I aim for about 10-20g a day max. Thats carbs, not Sugars.

Even getting rid of most of the sauce on the baked beans, is it still bad? I just feel that I have been such a carb junky for soo long, large portions of veg wont cut it for me.... i find meat, beans, nuts etc very filling !

Jumpy

Well, with low carb you really need to cut out most of it for at least a month. Otherwise its really no point.

Either way, diet is only part of it. You need to exercise your ass off as well.

Anybody know roughly how many carbs in my sample day?

Jumpy - Just cutting out enough carbs so that my weight would be on a downward slope, event if it took 3, 4, 5 months to loose stone, that would be OK....

I would be looking at this as a lifestyle change as opposed to doing it for a few months then back to previous way !!

El_Dangeroso

I'd go cold turkey for two weeks with the processed stuff, just as a reset button for the appetite and tastebuds.

Stick to <30g a day for two weeks (all those carbs should come from green veg or dairy) and then start adding in one food a week and see how it affects your loss.

Kimia

Hey Rock drummer, the thing is, this diet that you've posted is actually high carb! What you were eating before must have been SUPER high in carbs if this is good!

The way you say meat, nuts etc are filling is a good thing - you should be eating lots of these!

To what you've posted above:
No to bread of any kind
No to rice of any kind

Your dinner is fine. If you are considering doing a low carb diet, you simply must come to terms with eating lots of veg, there is just no other way to do it.

To make it very clear, you should be aiming for less than 30g of carbs a day to start off with. I have put your details into my food tracker and you are eating approx 2,000 calories, 111g of carbs, 108g of fat and 130g of protein - so your diet is just high everything.

The fat and protein would be fine if there were less than 30g of carbs - so you can see you're actually eating about 4 times more carbs than a low carb dieter does.

Thanks Kimia,

yeah it was very high?

But would I loose weight on this diet, including the exercise (loose slowly but at least in the right direction?) Well 2000 calories is not bad, considering im allowed 2800 with exercise

What food tracker do you use?

Thanks

Kimia

Sparkpeople.com

I don't think you would lose weight on this to be honest, although I'm no expert. It's not very healthy is it?

its not that bad is it, if thats bad you wouldnt want to know what I ate before, but I still aint much over weight, just by a stone.

Im not planning on a strict low carb diet, just cut out enough carbs so that I can loose weight slowly.... but not too slowly..

This is gonna be harder that I thought...

Can you suggest a salad dressing? Im using the heinz salad dressing at the mo, and I know that's not gud !!

Thanks for the ink, will check it out..

brianthebard

rockdrummer4 wrote: »

Thanks Kimia,

yeah it was very high?

But would I loose weight on this diet, including the exercise (loose slowly but at least in the right direction?) Well 2000 calories is not bad, considering im allowed 2800 with exercise

What food tracker do you use?

Thanks

If the diet you posted creates a calorie deficit then you'll lose weight, doesn't matter particularly if its low carb or not in that sense. There's no reason to take out the chocolate btw, its fairly low carb. If after you lose some more weight you decide to go lower, then you might need to improve your diet but at the minute if its working then there shouldn't be a problem.

Hey, dont know if its working, only started this 2 days ago, getting ideas for meal suggestions... what foods I can eat and what not etc...

Thats what I thought if ya had calorie deficit you should loose weight regardless

Jumpy

rockdrummer4 wrote: »

Hey, dont know if its working, only started this 2 days ago, getting ideas for meal suggestions... what foods I can eat and what not etc...

Thats what I thought if ya had calorie deficit you should loose weight regardless

You would, but low carb takes away your hunger. I have to physically force myself to eat sometimes and trust me, that was no problem before.

You need to get the Atkins book, he explains it very well and by the first few chapters you will see why the diet you posted is very bad.

Low carbing means very low carbing and slowly bringing it back to a level where you dont gain anymore, but only when you have lost what you want.
I still barely eat more than 15g a day, I prefer it this way as I have no heartburn ever anymore (it used to be a big problem for me) and no hunger at all.
Its really hard to get right at the start. Its not going to be nice at the start though. You will feel like crap for a week, then suddenly you feel brilliant.

Jumpy

rockdrummer4 wrote: »

Can you suggest a salad dressing?

You can get Heinz "Deli" mayonnaise, it has flavoring like sundried tomato etc.

Mayo is best for low carb. Normal, not "light".

What cereal would you recommend, is fibre OK in a low carb diet?

Aslo, got recipe for low carb muffins, where would I get

2 tbs fine milled bran
1 tbl psyllium husk

Thanks alot

PS Im sure I will have plenty other questions, so please be patient

Jumpy

Both in a health food shop.

Fibre is essential, ahem, otherwise you could have problems.

I dont have cereal, I just mix a tablespoon of psyllium husk in a pint of water and drink it.

metamorphosis

I would suggest you read up on a low carb diet book - idiot proof diet although its a little girly its very good) or atkins. Then you can decide whether you want lower carb or low carb. You seem to have your heart set on having carbs. If you have a deficit you will lose. Some people work well on low carb, some work well with a 33/33/33 ratio, some work with higher carb. Its all about knowledge. The more you know, the better informed choices you can make for yourself that suit you rather than second guessing.

Any cereal that woud be OK tho? porridge oats or the like?

Thanks will have a look in health shop

Thanks ULstudent - I think Im just being realistic, carbs are in everything, tink it would be very difficult for me to cut down to 30g a day, thats why Im trying to gather a list of what are good on a low carb diet to see if I can get lower and lower all the time...

So far today sure Ive had probably about 60 or 70g, all that was was a bowl of ceral and some nuts !! So if I could find a low carb cereal then depending on the cereal I could halve that or even more....

One thing tho - what do you do if your out or on hols, how do you maintain a low carb diet then?

Jumpy

I dont, I eat what everyone else eats. I just go back to low carb after. Otherwise you have no chance staying on it.

Low carb is one of the hardest diets to follow as its so restrictive. It takes away hunger though, so the portion sizes are easily controlled, it just can be very boring.

You really need to read up on it. A forum is not going to tell you everything you need. A book on it will tell you the science behind it, and until you understand that, it wont work.

No cereal is low carb. Porridge has very little sugar but is very starchy. Its no good for a low carb until you have reached your ideal weight.

Kimia

Jumpy wrote: »

Low carb is one of the hardest diets to follow as its so restrictive. It takes away hunger though, so the portion sizes are easily controlled, it just can be very boring.

In my experience I found the total opposite! I find it the easiest diet to follow - but I think that you do have to be into cooking to follow it - well it helps anyway as you can experiment to make it less boring. For example, yesterday I had chicken wings and pork belly for dinner. Day before that was sole a la meuniere with asparagus. Fantastic food, and it doesn't look like diet food does it! (Compared to 'small bowl of weetabix, few grapes, undressed salad with chicken, fish with no sauce and some steamed veg' which would be a low fat diet)

You really need to read up on it. A forum is not going to tell you everything you need. A book on it will tell you the science behind it, and until you understand that, it wont work.

Agreed.

I just dont like the idea of dieting to the extrame (low carb), then eating normal then dieting again etc. Dont think that would be very healthy. I would like to find a balance, something I can maintain always.

Havent had potatoes, rice, bread in about 4 days and do feel better, may have been allergic to them or somthing, used to feel very bloated always

Jumpy

rockdrummer4 wrote: »

I just dont like the idea of dieting to the extrame (low carb), then eating normal then dieting again etc. Dont think that would be very healthy. I would like to find a balance, something I can maintain always.

Havent had potatoes, rice, bread in about 4 days and do feel better, may have been allergic to them or somthing, used to feel very bloated always

The first thing you lose on low carb is water. Also without sugar the bacteria in your intestines wont go nuts and produce loads of gas. Both of these will take away the bloated feeling.

Maintenance will come later, if your aim is losing weight, then you really need to cut the carbs as much as possible at the start.

poconnor16

Rockdrummer4 - check out the South beach diet, just google it and there is a lot of free info. Buying the book is even better, you could pick up a second hand copy on amazon.com.
The first phase you may not like as it is very low carb, but after that you re-introduce good carbs again, as much as your body can handle. Why not try going on the low carb for the 2 weeks and see how you go? See what meals or times of day prove most difficult and then post here for some advice?
I find it very hard to accept that porridge is out of bounds for these 2 weeks and have tried every excuse in the book ( not the South Beach book ) to say porridge is ok but simple fact - if you want low carb to work, you have to do it properly.
If it makes you feel any better, I'm back in that 2 week phase myself....