Low carb?

lachin

Hi all, looking to shift a few pounds asap and just get back to better eating habits AGAIN after Christmas, so I'm thinking of low carbing it for a while. So my question is, is it ok to eat mainly sausages( lowest carb count ones) , eggs and chicken?

digme

you're going to get a shipload of silly replies to that question lol
eat less of whatever ya want,not rocket science,if it's unhealthy don't eat it for very long....

Macha

lachin wrote: »

Hi all, looking to shift a few pounds asap and just get back to better eating habits AGAIN after Christmas, so I'm thinking of low carbing it for a while. So my question is, is it ok to eat mainly sausages( lowest carb count ones) , eggs and chicken?

Yes, it's a good idea to cut out sugars and starches (bread, pasta, grains, potatoes etc) if you're trying to lose some body fat.

But I don't think it's a good idea that you get most of your calories from meat. Ideally, you should be trying to fill up on vegetables and then adding some good quality meat and fats. There's a low-carb recipe thread around here somewhere...aha..:

http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056098868

El_Dangeroso

Depends what you mean by 'mainly', if you mean calories, then most of your calories on a low carb diet come from animal sources, but that's only because veg is so low in calories. By volume you should be eating twice as much veg as meat. Just keep it to meat, veg and good fats like eggs, butter, olive oil and avocado, and nuts for snacks and you won't go too wrong.

columok

Get some high percentage pork sausages. M&S do some really nice 97% sausages (which have the benefit of being gluten free).

Cat.OR

Low carb is very hard to stick to but it really works. Limit to two portions of carbs a day and drnk loads and loads of water. Good luck

Sapsorrow

Cat.OR wrote: »

Low carb is very hard to stick to

You were doing it wrong then Nothing hard about fry ups for brekkie and steak for dinner!

Crasp

Macha wrote: »

Yes, it's a good idea to cut out sugars and starches (bread, pasta, grains, potatoes etc) if you're trying to lose some body fat.

But I don't think it's a good idea that you get most of your calories from meat. Ideally, you should be trying to fill up on vegetables and then adding some good quality meat and fats. There's a low-carb recipe thread around here somewhere...aha..:

http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056098868

Veg are full of carbs, that's why they're so tasty. They are usually tubers or some other type of storage mechanism for a plant to store all its carbs! They are necessary to eat for all the vitamins and minerals of which they are full, though.


High protein ftw.



But OP I wouldn't live off sausages, eggs and chicken!


Try some fish too. Just stay away from pasta/white bread/potatoes/sugars.

There should still be enough carbs in the meat and veg you eat.

DULLAHAN2

lachin wrote: »

Hi all, looking to shift a few pounds asap and just get back to better eating habits AGAIN after Christmas, so I'm thinking of low carbing it for a while. So my question is, is it ok to eat mainly sausages( lowest carb count ones) , eggs and chicken?

If i was you i would read this. It is what i am doing now and is not as hard as you might think. The forum is excellent especially the before and after pics. I think everyone should read that link that has posted here so far because thats what everyone is talking about. LOW carb means between 50 - 100 grams a day for weight loss. When doing it proper you will never get hungry.

lachin

Thanks to everyone for the replies, another question for you all, is fruit a big no-no?

DULLAHAN2

lachin wrote: »

Thanks to everyone for the replies, another question for you all, is fruit a big no-no?

You can eat fruit but not much

lachin

Define 'too much' please. I understand why all processed foods etc are so bad for the body but why does fruit get such a bad rap? Isnt it a natural food? Fair enough, it may be pumped with chemicals or stuff (that I am clueless about) but isnt it the same with meat and veg produce? Ok fruit has a natural sugar, fructose, but is that actually bad?

DULLAHAN2

lachin wrote: »

Define 'too much' please. I understand why all processed foods etc are so bad for the body but why does fruit get such a bad rap? Isnt it a natural food? Fair enough, it may be pumped with chemicals or stuff (that I am clueless about) but isnt it the same with meat and veg produce? Ok fruit has a natural sugar, fructose, but is that actually bad?

If you are doing low carb you want to aim for 50 - 100g per day. So an apple and 2 plums = 36g carbs. so if you had 2 apples and 4 plums a day which is easy to do thats 72g thats abit tight. Then you have to add in your veg. Stay clear of potatoes and load up on green veg and you should be grand.

Jumpy

My low carb is 10-20g a day.

100g is very high in my opinion.

lachin

Jumpy wrote: »

My low carb is 10-20g a day.

100g is very high in my opinion.

Wow, are you serious? Thats low!!! Would you mind giving a brief outline of your daily diet?

El_Dangeroso

Jumpy wrote: »

My low carb is 10-20g a day.

100g is very high in my opinion.

I did really low carb to lose the weight (4 stone) but I do find I feel better on about 80-100g carbs a day, it's still miles less than the recommended 300g! I feel great and being able to have potato and a little rice is great and makes my diet ten times more varied.

Your mileage may vary of course but it's always good to switch it up to see what works best.

DULLAHAN2

Jumpy wrote: »

My low carb is 10-20g a day.

100g is very high in my opinion.

That has you in Ketosis and is not recommend for long periods

columok

DULLAHAN2 wrote: »

That has you in Ketosis and is not recommend for long periods

There is nothing unsafe about ketosis.

NOTE ADDED at 11.08: Sorry you probably weren't inferring that longterm ketosis was unsafe so apologies. I meant to say that longterm ketosis can be perfectly healthy.

Macha

El_Dangeroso wrote: »

I did really low carb to lose the weight (4 stone) but I do find I feel better on about 80-100g carbs a day, it's still miles less than the recommended 300g!

When you say really low carb, do you mean less than 50g/day and did you count calories as well?

alibab

10 to 20g would be induction Atkins .Even he recommends you eat the whole 20 g on induction .I lost 3 stone on low carb last year and i am maintaining since august on around a 100g of carbs a day which suits my lifestyle .I gradually worked up from 20g to 100g and i did not gain any weight but continued to lose .

Macha

Thanks for that, I can't really stick to 20g/day as I eat mainly vegetarian plus I only have about a stone to lose so am staying at about 30-40g/day & at around 1500-2000/day and hoping it works!

poconnor16

Any low carb runners out there? I like to follow the South Beach diet and have gone back to the more strict phase for a 1 or 2 weeks to correct the mad cravings left behind from the xmas binge!
However I'm a bit knackered on my runs. I eat plenty of greens, beans, lean protein, fish, take supplements, drink water and I even cheat with some fruit given I run everyday.

I love my low carb lifestyle, I'm never hungry, and never crave junk. My IBS is even better. Just my running is a bit dubious. Any low carb runners out there willing to share experiences?

DULLAHAN2

poconnor16 wrote: »

Any low carb runners out there? I like to follow the South Beach diet and have gone back to the more strict phase for a 1 or 2 weeks to correct the mad cravings left behind from the xmas binge!
However I'm a bit knackered on my runs. I eat plenty of greens, beans, lean protein, fish, take supplements, drink water and I even cheat with some fruit given I run everyday.

I love my low carb lifestyle, I'm never hungry, and never crave junk. My IBS is even better. Just my running is a bit dubious. Any low carb runners out there willing to share experiences?

I will be one from next week out injured at the min. How many carbs to you consume on the days that you run?

El_Dangeroso

Macha wrote: »

When you say really low carb, do you mean less than 50g/day and did you count calories as well?

Yep, no calorie counting is involved, your appetite is naturally surpressed on low carbs so the portions tend to take care of themselves, except with nuts and cheese for some people.

I've lost weight on higher carbs too, common denominator for keeping my appetite in check is lots of protein and lots of nutrient-dense food.

poconnor16

DULLAHAN2 wrote: »

I will be one from next week out injured at the min. How many carbs to you consume on the days that you run?

I honestly dont count carbs. I'm more of a South Beach type than Atkins. Here would be an average day to give you an idea:
Breakfast - 2 egg omlette, mushrooms, done in olive oil.
Snack - pear
Lunch - tuna salad, heap of veg.
Snack - chesse
Dinner - grilled chicken breast, mashed cauliflower and as many veggies as I can fit in!

I drink water all day plus a few cups of green tea. No alcohol. After a run I might make a smoothie of skim milk, whey protein and some raspberries.

So plenty of carbs I think, just no starchy crap.

El_Dangeroso

poconnor16 wrote: »

I honestly dont count carbs. I'm more of a South Beach type than Atkins. Here would be an average day to give you an idea:
Breakfast - 2 egg omlette, mushrooms, done in olive oil.
Snack - pear
Lunch - tuna salad, heap of veg.
Snack - chesse
Dinner - grilled chicken breast, mashed cauliflower and as many veggies as I can fit in!

I drink water all day plus a few cups of green tea. No alcohol. After a run I might make a smoothie of skim milk, whey protein and some raspberries.

So plenty of carbs I think, just no starchy crap.

That's pretty low carb! I'd eyeball 40g at a push, prob closer to 30g.

poconnor16

Really? Wow, I never thought it would be that low.
I plan on adding in an extra carb as my training schedule gets more intense, especially before the long runs. So might throw in some porridge or some wholegrain rice. Or sweet potatoe which would be better. I swear anything with white flour makes me crave crappy food and binge eat.:rolleyes:
1 week done clean eating and training and 2 pounds have gone already.

DULLAHAN2

El_Dangeroso wrote: »

That's pretty low carb! I'd eyeball 40g at a push, prob closer to 30g.

poconnor16 wrote: »

Really? Wow, I never thought it would be that low.
I plan on adding in an extra carb as my training schedule gets more intense, especially before the long runs. So might throw in some porridge or some wholegrain rice. Or sweet potatoe which would be better. I swear anything with white flour makes me crave crappy food and binge eat.:rolleyes:
1 week done clean eating and training and 2 pounds have gone already.

If you could have a 2 sweet potatoe at your lunch that is about 50g of carbs right there

DULLAHAN2

poconnor16 wrote: »

I honestly dont count carbs. I'm more of a South Beach type than Atkins. .

I dont do atkins either but since you are very active you need a lot of carbs to keep your body fulled

Bottle_of_Smoke

lachin wrote: »

Define 'too much' please. I understand why all processed foods etc are so bad for the body but why does fruit get such a bad rap? Isnt it a natural food? Fair enough, it may be pumped with chemicals or stuff (that I am clueless about) but isnt it the same with meat and veg produce? Ok fruit has a natural sugar, fructose, but is that actually bad?

Some fruit like bananas are high GI - this means they digest really fast and there's a load of sugar available to the body in a short period of time. If you are not burning up this through exercise or general activity the excess sugar gets stored as fat.

Somehow strawberries despite tasting deadly are low GI

Here's a nice list and site. Stick to the low GI ones


Fruit can have a high-GI, Intermediate-GI or low-GI value. Fruits with low-GI values include: apples, blackberries, cherries, grapefruit, grapes, lemons, oranges, peaches, pears, raspberries and strawberries. High-GI fruit includes: cantaloupe, dates, honeydew melon, raisins and water melon. Other fruits are intermediate-GI foods. The good news is, most fresh fruit has a high nutritional value and therefore even if higher on the glycemic index should be part of a healthy diet, especially if you are trying to lose weight. Eating more fruit is associated with improved insulin sensitivity, better glycemic control and a reduced risk of cancer and cardiovascular disease.

http://www.carbs-information.com/gi-value-fruit.htm

Cat.OR

Quote:
Originally Posted by Cat.OR
Low carb is very hard to stick to
You were doing it wrong then Nothing hard about fry ups for brekkie and steak for dinner!

Ha - cant fault that logic:D

Torakx

Hey folks.
I didnt want to create a second thread because im also on a low carb diet.
I was on it originally because i had candida albacans and needed to cut nearly everything out.I then went on to start adding potatoes or basmati rice a little with meals.
But just today i went the whole day without eating my regular carbs like rice,porridge,potatoes.

Breakfast (11 am -12pm) was 3 strips of fried bacon and 2 boiled eggs (tomorrow will do this but with salad covering the other half of the plate)

Lunch Actually cant remember if i had any haha But i think if i do tomorrow it might be a boiled egg wth a slice of bacon fried and some more salad.

Dinner is about 200-300 grams fried mince beef burger 15%fat (homemade with garlic herbs spices and onions YUM!) and a seperate 12" diameter massive plate of salad lettuce cucumber onion garlic and some homemade dressing.I also fry an egg and st it on top of the burger when i have them.
I also have for desert a 1/4 pot of probiotic glenisk yogurt with a chopped up apple and maderine.
As a snack between meals i eat pumpkin seeds.
Im planning on doing alot of exercise as many days in the week as my body can take.
So im wondering is this an ok diet to more or less stick to every day if im very active?

Ive been interested in this primal diet for doing mma training and jogging.
But im hearing all sorts about ketosis and Gluconeogenesis (wiki).
And because i am recently or maybe not fully recovered from candida i am wondering should this effect my decision to go for this ketosis and switch to fat and protein for energy by eating lots of these packs of tesco meats.

They are about 500 gram packs containing i think about 15% fat.
Or is that kind of fat very unhealthy from beef? and should i be looking at some other type of fat?
I ask about this beef because i am broke and need cheap protein and these burgers with a massive salad is very very tasty and easy to eat.And only carbs i get is from the salad i think.

If i am able to live on that diet it will save me money messing around each week wondering what to cook each day.I need to build a routine but want to eat healthy.

El_Dangeroso

Beef fat is perfectly fine, the more the merrier, cheap nutritious cals in my book.

Re: cheap food, can't beat:

Irish veggies, onions, carrots, parsnips, turnips, broccolli, potatoes. soooo much cheaper than stuff imported from kenya. Other than fresh jarred pickled veg like beetroot, tinned tomatoes.

Canned sardines (an acquired taste I'll admit)

Omega-3 eggs

Pork Belly (very cheap per calorie)

Fresh mackerel.

Stewing beef.

Liver and heart (Heart is really nice when you cook it right!)

poconnor16

DULLAHAN2 wrote: »

I dont do atkins either but since you are very active you need a lot of carbs to keep your body fulled

Thanks - yeah I was thinking I need to up the carbs a little alright. I'm fine for last week and this week, as my mileage is still quite low but from next week on it will be increasing. (I'm on a 10 mile training programme).
I will try stick in a good carb at lunch to fuel my evening run I think. I usually have a salad so maybe I add some chopped up sweet potatoe

Lex Luthor

I've started to cut all carbs after 6:30pm in the evening from 1st Jan. Also I've knocked all junk food on the head and keep to Fri night for my take away.

Also ditched the cornflakes for breakfast with a breakfast bar which was coming in at about 450kcal to a bowl of porridge and some melon about 1045.

Have also started skipping for 5-10 min a day in conjunction with my usual weekly excercise. I train for an hour on Tue & Thurs night so I up my carb intake a little on those days with a banana mid afternoon instead of an apple.

Already lost 1kg in the first week and confident on target for another 1kg next week.

Bottle_of_Smoke

Lex Luthor wrote: »

I've started to cut all carbs after 6:30pm in the evening from 1st Jan. Also I've knocked all junk food on the head and keep to Fri night for my take away.

Also ditched the cornflakes for breakfast with a breakfast bar which was coming in at about 450kcal to a bowl of porridge and some melon about 1045.

Have also started skipping for 5-10 min a day in conjunction with my usual weekly excercise. I train for an hour on Tue & Thurs night so I up my carb intake a little on those days with a banana mid afternoon instead of an apple.

Already lost 1kg in the first week and confident on target for another 1kg next week.

Sounds like a good plan. Just know to expect you will make the biggest losses in the first few weeks and then the amount you lose each week will reduce as time goes on. Fair play to ya

Lex Luthor

Bottle_of_Smoke wrote: »

Sounds like a good plan. Just know to expect you will make the biggest losses in the first few weeks and then the amount you lose each week will reduce as time goes on. Fair play to ya

ya I heard that happens alright. Plan is to lose about 8kg before middle of May and then hopefully keep it off after that.

I didn't think I'd even lose the 1kg in the first week as I had pigged out over Xmas...was only expecting 0.5kg, so was a good surprise

Torakx

Is that why the atkins diet was/is supposed to be so good,because you go into ketosis and your body just eas fat for energy instead of carbs?
Or does weight loss still slow down as you lose it?

columok

Torakx wrote:

Is that why the atkins diet was/is supposed to be so good,because you go into ketosis and your body just eas fat for energy instead of carbs?
Or does weight loss still slow down as you lose it?

In my experience you a)stop storing fat b)you start burning fat c) you run on a slight calorie deficit. If you stick with low carbing the fat will continually drop off until you hit an equilibrium weight. Stick with it!

Torakx

Well i need to put on weight, but was mainly curious incase it came up somewhere again, thanks.
Im on a primal diet due to an incoming hardcore fitness regime and recovery from candida.

Considering all im reading if someone is over weight i guess the healthy way first is to continue with a few carbs until most of the weight is gone(i read toxins stay in the fat layers so im guessing ketosis might be dangerous in some cases) then any risidual that is slow to burn could be lost with a primal diet and some moderate to good exercise.
Would that be right? hypothetically speaking.

I like to know these things incase the topic comes up or with a friend later i can at least be confident in my responses

rocky

If you can gain weight with a low-carb diet, let El D know

You never really stop storing fat, on a caloric deficit (how many times am I repeating this expression ), after a big enough meal, you store some of it as fat, it's just that on a 24-hour basis you burn more fat than you store, result: fat loss!

Torakx

Ah and the rest goes down the shoot lol
I will be hopefully putting on more muscle for weight in my case as im just muscle and bone right now and a bit too thin for my height.

Does that mean i can eat as much animal fat a si like and it will either be used for energy or passed through without highering my colesterol or whatever animla fat is supposed to be bad for?

rocky

I'm not an expert on cholesterol, but my understanding is that you won't really excrete any macronutrient (unless you're sick), so you either burn it or store it for later use.

If you eat more than you consume (which you should if you want to gain weight), and train hard with weights 3 times a week, there's no way your muscles won't increase

High blood cholesterol doesn't tell the whole story, LDL (with different types), HDL etc are more indicative of heart problems than single cholesterol. You could have high blood lipids if for example you follow a diet to get rid of fatty liver... I'll let someone more in the know explain it.

PS. (Animal) saturated fat was shown to limit fatty liver (due to alcohol abuse for example), among other things. Of course, coconut oil is very good in may respects too, it also being a saturated fat. And egg yolks along with animal liver contain choline which allows the liver (yours ) to get rid of unwanted fat.

Kimia

rocky wrote: »

If you can gain weight with a low-carb diet, let El D know

You never really stop storing fat, on a caloric deficit (how many times am I repeating this expression ), after a big enough meal, you store some of it as fat, it's just that on a 24-hour basis you burn more fat than you store, result: fat loss!

Hey Rocky, what do you mean by the bolded part?

I mean, if I was to eat a low -carb diet but have 1000grams of nuts every night (and I could do this, i love nuts), then I'd be way over my calorie requirements but still relatively low carb.

Would I still lose weight?

Bottle_of_Smoke

rocky wrote: »

I'm not an expert on cholesterol, but my understanding is that you won't really excrete any macronutrient (unless you're sick), so you either burn it or store it for later use.

If you eat more than you consume (which you should if you want to gain weight), and train hard with weights 3 times a week, there's no way your muscles won't increase

High blood cholesterol doesn't tell the whole story, LDL (with different types), HDL etc are more indicative of heart problems than single cholesterol. You could have high blood lipids if for example you follow a diet to get rid of fatty liver... I'll let someone more in the know explain it.

PS. (Animal) saturated fat was shown to limit fatty liver (due to alcohol abuse for example), among other things. Of course, coconut oil is very good in may respects too, it also being a saturated fat. And egg yolks along with animal liver contain choline which allows the liver (yours ) to get rid of unwanted fat.

I think unused protein is excreted. It can only be stored as muscle so you'd have to be working out to do that. Could be wrong but I don't think it converts to fat, not so easily as sugars anyhow

rocky

Kimia, just a follow-up from the porridge is fattening !!!111eleven thread.

El D(angeroso) would have liked scientific studies proving that a low carb diet can result in weight gain.

I think you would gain weight on your diet, do let us know

Kimia

rocky wrote: »

Kimia, just a follow-up from the porridge is fattening !!!111eleven thread.

El D(angeroso) would have liked scientific studies proving that a low carb diet can result in weight gain.

I think you would gain weight on your diet, do let us know

Yes that's what i thought

I am hoping to go the other way so I'll stay away from all those nuts!! Delicious as they may be.

I think what El D means is the natural appetite suppresant which I most certainly have experienced. However I have found that I don't only eat when I'm hungry....

columok

rocky wrote: »

If you can gain weight with a low-carb diet, let El D know

You never really stop storing fat, on a caloric deficit (how many times am I repeating this expression ), after a big enough meal, you store some of it as fat, it's just that on a 24-hour basis you burn more fat than you store, result: fat loss!

You can definately gain weight on a low carb diet. You just have to be creative and eat comedically large amounts of fat and as you say move heavy things a bunch of times a week. For this purpose butter, coconut milk, full fat cheese, cream and all kinds of calorie dense fun can be worked into to thousandcalorie-ise the simplest meals!

rocky

I think some low-carb dieters experience a plateau in their weight loss after the initial shock of reducing carbs to the point of elimination has passed and they get used to eating more protein- and fat-rich foods.

As some people find it easy to overeat carbs (hence why reducing the entire macronutrient works initially), others would find it easy overeating fat and need to keep an eye on calories if they want continuing results.

Last night I could have eaten 2kcals in one meal of pork chops fried in coconut oil before feeling satisfied! Luckily I'm bulking

In the end, the energy balance equation rules all !

El_Dangeroso

rocky wrote: »

In the end, the energy balance equation rules all !

Thats true! If only we were able to control it for longer than 5 years we'd be sorted. Oh well

alibab

Very true rocky .I have lost a lot on low carb etc and never really needed to watch calories .Now that i am 7lbs off ultimate goal i now have to low carb and calorie watch to see a decrease in weight at all .I am at a good bmi and the last half stone is really only to give me a cushion but i would like to get there .I try to balance my fat ,protein and carb intake and keep them at optimum levels for loss