Does anyone else find the idea of low carbing depressing?

[losenotloose]

I'm sure it's probably effective but the thought of no bread, rice, pulses etc makes life seem miserable! For me food is obviously more than nutrition and I know I couldn't do it long term. Also, if carbs are the enemy, how come countries like Italy are known for good health?!

This isn't meant to dig at anyone who finds it suits them btw.

I took a long time to reconcile my love of chips / crisps with a low carb way of eating. I really couldn't get over the idea that if I couldn't eat crisps then life wasn't worth living.

I think what helped me get over that was reading a lot about nutrition and realising two things. 1. Carbs - especially processed ones - are very new additions to the human diet, and certainly the forms and quantities that we eat them these days bear little resemblance to the foods that humans are evolved to eat. and 2. Processed carbs, and cheap filler-uppers, were not bringing anything very useful to my body, nutritionally speaking.

I also watched The Men Who Made Us Fat - that was an eye-opener on the tricks of the food trade to get us eating crappy food.

Italians, traditionally, don't eat the same quantities of carbs in their meals. The pasta / rice dishes are only part of a meal, not the whole thing. They eat a shitload more veggies and salad than the average Brit does. It's a Mediterranean diet, not a pizza / pasta / risotto diet.

I don't ever think about low carbing, tbh. I've lost 5 stones (33% of my body weight) while still eating bread, pasta, rice, etc so just don't find it necessary.
It does seem to suit some people so I just let them get on with it while I get on with eating the food I like. I do comment on threads sometimes if people are suggesting it's the only way to lose weight - it really isn't.

I've read lots about nutrition over the years and tbh lots of it is conflicting! One book claims the most healthy diet is vegan, one low fat, another Paleolithic. It's all very confusing. I'm not overly fussed about giving up chips/crisps/cake it's the normal stuff like rice and bread that upsets me.

feeling how did you lose the weight if you don't mind me asking?

The thought of all and any diets depress me. Which is why I’m fat as fuck and depressed about it.

Low carb works for me but I miss other foods so much. It’s not even just obvious shit like McDonald’s, it’s not being able to have the falafels I made at the weekend or to have fajitas or potatoes.

I was utterly miserable when I tried it. And poorer (meat and fish cost a lot more than pasta!)

Weight loss is just calories in vs calories out. It doesn't matter where you get those calories from.

If you don't want to try it, don't. No one is making you.

What else do you want people to say?

Exactly Eliza! I'm not worried about junk food, I love healthy food! I suppose it's just that low carb is sold as the be all and end all of weight loss. If it's just calories in/calories out I'll just cut back. But I'm hearing more and more it's not. Confused!

I suppose I want to know exactly why low carb will work in a way other diets don't. I know no one's forcing me but it seems to be touted as the best way to lose weight. And best for long term health, which I care about.

It makes me so so depressed. Even more depressed that it is the only diet I have ever lost weight on/saw a difference/seems to suit me but I just can't seem to stick to it for more than a few weeks.

I did it for ages in the past but I just can't do it this time around, bread and especially pizza are life. I know all the science, the great benefits, the bloat totally goes, I feel rubbish after too many carbs but nope, nothing is making me do it as a 'lifestyle change'.

I could really do with losing a stone to get back to normal and feeling comfortable in my clothes. @feelingverylazytoday please share!

I know I can't do it. I'm starving if I don't have a reasonable amount of carbs as part of a meal. I just try to pick the healthiest options possible (brown bread, wholemeal pasta, etc), cook from scratch as much as I can, and get a good amount of fruit and veg into my diet.

Carbs won't do us any harm as long as we eat them sensibly as part of a balanced diet.

I’m 7 weeks post heart attack and have lost just over 1 1/2 stone with just cutting out the crap, increasing fruit/veg and trying to move more (until it bloody started this bloody rain non-stop!)

I say ‘just’ like it’s easy - it’s really not. My cravings for the bad stuff are still as bad, but I have very vivid memories of having a defibrillator slapped on me and literally raced into hospital. I’m back in on Monday as I have problems in another artery. And the heart attack damaged my mitral valve.

Miss out the heart attack bit and just eat for health, not weight.

Good luck

I did a protein and veg only diet and felt dizzy, nauseas and incredibly grumpy. I was also exhausted and hated every second of it.
I’ve since lost 3 stone by eating everything I want but just having strict portion control. I eat things like pasta, chocolate, crisps etc but i make sure I don’t go over 1500 calories and do 30 mins of exercise every day

I eat whatever I want. Just not a lot of it. It’s the amount of calories going in that makes a difference to your weight.

I wouldn’t deny myself anything if I want a taste of it. Low carving seems like a faddy trend that is going to be unrealistic in coping with over a long period of time but might offer a short term fix.

I’ve never been overweight but as I’ve gotten older I have had to accept that I must eat less in order to stay slim. I decided instead of going down the no this or no that route I would just carry on eating what I like but reduce the portion size.

Works for me and my husband although he can eat significantly more than me!

I don't mind low carb foods. I find I naturally eat less carbs now I'm in my 40s. I simply don't fancy them so much. However, I tried a low carb diet last year and my God, the constipation! I ate chia seeds, probiotic yogurt, fibrous vegetables and some pulses, loads of water but I was still completely clogged up. It was horrific. We're all different but my body really needs wholegrain carbs to keep it regular.

I'm very attracted to the theory of low-carbing, but the reality is it just doesn't suit me. I've tried it twice, and both times I did lose weight, but felt exhausted and miserable, with gut issues and my blood sugar was harder to control, not easier.

I find I do better with a balanced diet containing all the food groups including unrefined carbs, but with strict limits to refined carbs, so a low GI approach, essentially.

I suspect in time we will find that some genetic types do well on it, while others do better with a different approach.

It made me miserable when I tried it. I was obsessing over food to an unhealthy degree and hated feeling guilty when I ate any carbs. It made my mood low as well.
Once I started eating carbs again it was like a light switched back on.

It works for other people but definitely not for me. I’m not sure how many people can stick with it long-term though.

Carbs are just so bloody wonderful.

Low carb OK. No carb not OK.

Having said that, my father has reversed his type 2 diabetes on a low-carb diet, so it definitely worked well for him.

No.

Low carb (not no carb) was the only thing that helped me lose weight that didn’t feel like I was undergoing a hardship. No skimmed this, zero calorie that, fat free the other. Just proper food. With the odd few squares of dark chocolate thrown in at the weekends.

Horses for courses!

I get quite miserable with no carbs. If I cut them down a bit I know it does help me lose weight - but just because I'm generally eating less!

So I'll have a normal sized portion of wholegrain rice rather than a bucket of white basmati. Or even just a normal sized portion of rice full stop rather than a bucket. A normal sized jacket with a bit of butter rather than something the size of my head with sour cream and butter and bacon bits.... just purely for example.

It really is calories in vs calories out. But to get the most nutrition it’s balance. Carbs are fine. Fats are fine. Just get the balance right.

I think low carb is a bit of a fad.
yes, it's been known for ages that very processed white carbs are not ideal, but carby foods can provide good nurtients.
a potato for example is almost a complete food and contains a good amount of protein.

The problem with the 'eat what you want but limit the portion' approach that works so well for some people is that I could no more so this than an alcoholic could stick to 2 glasses of wine.

Removing high carb food is the only way for me to be healthy. Which is sad as I do love a nice sandwich.

@fuzzyend

That was our problem too. Carbs are so easy to overeat - there's no mechanism in your brain / body, other than being genuinely stuffed, to tell you when you've had enough / too much. It's really really easy to overeat carbs. So we have to rely on willpower / being strict etc, to control portion size, which doesn't come easily to everyone.

Whereas a moderately sized steak, topped with garlic butter, and served with a large dressed salad, triggers all the "satiety" buttons in the brain and we stop eating more easily when we've had enough.

I'm definitely low-carb rather than no carb these days. The benefits are that I eat tons more salad / veg than I used to (to replace the carbs), I have lost weight, and my IBS has vanished since cutting out bread. I don't get a "must eat something" lull in the mid morning, or that mid afternoon sleepiness and my moods are much more consistent.