Questions about low carb diets

mirandashell said:

I was thinking of checking out the baby food counters as I've found that snacks are often healthier. My local supermarket sells a range of organic and processed-sugar-free snacks that are a little expensive but taste fantastic!

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That's a good idea.

Things that are portioned are a real boon for controlled eating. I've found that although the packaged cheese sticks are much more expensive than buying a block of cheese, it's easier, quicker and portion controlled to buy the sticks. 1 aged cheddar cheese stick is 80 calories (if I sliced it from the block I'm never sure) I will often cut it up into pieces and eat it with an apple and a couple of crackers for a snack or because I love cheese at any time, I'll have it for my breakfast protein, along with a bowl of oatmeal (plain single serving microwaveable packaged) again probably more expensive but the ease of preparation and portion controlled works very well for me.

I've also learned that I don't need to jump to the fridge to ease a twinge of hunger, I wait until I'm sure that I'm actually in need of food and not bored or thirsty (a cup of tea often fixes it) or influenced by what I've just seen on tv. This was a huge part of eating in the evening because up until I cut back on what and when I ate, I've never noticed before how much fast food advertising there is. Every block of commercials there is always at least two or three adds for food - it all looks fabulous and I don't even eat much fast food but it sent me to the kitchen in search of something.

I lost a ridiculous amount of weight in a very short period of time eating nothing but fruits, veggies, high fat yogurt, cheese, and peanut butter. Granted I did a lot of hot yoga at the same time, but I dropped 15 lbs in less than a month.

If you're unsure about serving sizes, you can get a half decent kitchen scale and measure for a week or two so that you can get an idea of the volume to weight ratio. Also, doing things like prepackaging your own food... small cheap containers filled with yogurt, cut and wrap chunks of cheese, baggies of carrot sticks, etc. so that when you open the fridge you can immediately grab and close.

With regard to the timing of eating... I've never been one for the breakfast-at-7, lunch-at-noon thing. I eat when I'm hungry. Which, on the above diet, meant about every hour or so. lol The guys at work would hassle me about the constant eating, but it puts your metabolism into overdrive.

Regarding stopping eating: I don't stop when I'm full. I stop when I'm not hungry any more. These are two *very* different things.

where are your veggies coming from? Just the one helping at dinner? That doesn't strike me as nutritionally sound.

If I were you, I'd go more with cutting out simple carbs than carbs. Low carb overall and veg is hard and, imo, pretty unsustainable in the long term. Also, longitudinal studies show people put the weight back on so...

You can do simple stuff that's good and filing and with complex carbs and protein and fibre that will give you good, steady energy.

Like, you can make white veggie pita pizzas - whole wheat pitas, with a little ricotta mixed with some spices on the bottom, then some spinach leaves, sliced mushrooms, blanched broccoli and feta crumbled over the top. Bake like 20 minutes til crispy. That's got a lot of fibre, veg, protein from the cheeses, little fat (which you need with greens, as some vitamins like K are fat-soluble), complex carbs, not a lot of calories and it's good and you can do 2000 variations.

If you do steel-cut oats for breakfast and throw in some almond milk, some nuts, some berries, cinnamon, you've got a lot of the same in there too.

If you like desserty things, you can just alter a bit - take fruit that's got fibre and dip into plain greek yogurt you mix with a little vanilla and maybe a little sweetner. Think whole grains and nonprocessed and yes, cheese is good.

Yes. It takes about 3 weeks for your body to adapt to a low carb diet.

This is due to the shift from burning glucose as the primary source for fuel (with minimal ketone use for fuel) to a higher degree of ketones (oxidized fatty acids) used for fuel.

Good on you for quitting smoking. That's awesome!

Dunno if this has been mentioned yet (because I only read the first page and got excited to share my knowledge) but spaghetti squash is really good for replacing pasta.

Well, I liked it. My husband refused to try it.

I think the biggest trick to keeping healthy eating is to keep the crap out of the house. If you have to go out and get it, you'll really have to think about whether or not you really want it.

Good luck! You'll be awesome!!

Spaghetti squash is terrible for replacing pasta. I've never understood that claim. lol It's too soft, the strands are too short, it tastes really squash-y, and the colour is all wrong.

Instead, use a vegetable peeler to take long strips off a zucchini (yes, still squash, but a different sort) and make ribbons. Sautee for 3 minutes in butter or oil. I make no claims that it replaces fettucini in terms of flavour or texture but it tastes a lot better than spaghetti squash if you want to pretend you're eating pasta.

Do, pat yourself on the back!

And, I hope this is not just throwing temptation in your path which I would not want to do, but, as far as pasta goes, and IF you are permitting yourself complex carbs, there are now brown rice pastas in every shape egg and wheatflour pastas come in. You can find them with the whole rice bran in there too. The texture is almost indistinguishable from ordinary pasta and the flavor is perfectly okay to park sauces and pasta accompaniments of your choice on.

I've also run into soy or mung bean pasta, which is very low carb and has more protein than pasta made from grains.

The texture might not appeal though.

That's the big plus about brown rice pasta: the texture is quite adequate if not perfect.

mirandashell said:

I just had a plate of collywobble cheese with salad and I am in heaven.........

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We'll miss you....

*goes to google up collywobble*

Thank you.

Because I had utterly failed to find any sensible answer.

mirandashell said:

I'm on my third day and I'm hungry.

Hungrrrrryyyyyyyyyyyyyyy! Hungry hungry hungry.






This wears off, right?

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I think it's good to feel a mild hunger but not be ravenous. In the evening I feel a tad "peckish" but not hungry. I'll have a cup of decaf tea to see if it helps and if not then a yoghurt or some cheese and an apple.

If you are hungry, hungry, hungry! that's not good, don't let yourself be in that state because that means that your new way of eating is unsustainable in the long run. You will be better off not allowing yourself to feel that way by making sure you have adequate amounts of food for meals and a few snacks in between to maintain your blood sugar levels. I like nuts (a handful of almonds) or cheese with some high fibre crackers and some berries or a small apple cut into 8 pieces - and something to drink - water or tea (hot or cold). I also recommend making some soup to have on hand - a veggie laden, herby, tomato based soup has very few calories but is filling and because its hot, you eat it slowly which helps your body recognize satiety. To make it lower carb make sure to not use too many carrots or peas in it. Lots of low carb soups on the net.

As for low carb pasta you might want to check out "shiratake" noodles. They are made from soy and are low carb, low calorie with the noodle texture and are very filling.