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Low-carb diets

Share advice and experiences of following a low-carb diet.Mumsnet hasn't checked the qualifications of anyone posting here. You may wish to speak to a medical professional before starting any diet.

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Autumn Low Carb Bootcamp - The Questions Thread

338 replies

BIWI · 08/09/2013 14:12

Welcome everybody!

As there are lots of us signed up for the next Bootcamp, you will find that the chat thread moves very quickly! It can be the case, therefore, that questions get missed - hence starting this thread. If you have a specific question or issue, please post it here to make sure that it gets answered. I will do my best to check this thread as often as I can - and if others can answer your question then they will do so as well.

I thought it might be a good idea to start off with some FAQs that often get asked, just to help save a bit of time! So here goes:

How many carbs should I be eating per day to make sure that I lose weight?

There are a couple of points to make here. First, Bootcamp is designed to make low carbing as easy as possible. One of the things that I believe puts people off diets is having to weigh, measure and count everything that they are eating - and of course, this is impossible if you are eating out/on the go. If you make sure that you are following Bootcamp rules, then you should lose weight.

Second, we are different in terms of our ability to cope with carbohydrate. Some people can eat more carbs without gaining weight whereas others have to keep their carbs at quite a low level.

The initial 2 weeks of Bootcamp are designed to be sufficiently low carb for the vast majority of people to lose weight by following it. Although Bootcamp Light (for the remaining 8 weeks of Bootcamp) allows more carbs, it is still supposed to be relatively low carb.

Once you have completed Bootcamp and/or you have reached your target weight, then it's time to start to explore how many carbs you can tolerate before the weight goes back on. And the only way to do this is to experiment by re-introducing carbs. A gradual introduction, along with a vigilant eye on the scales/your waistband will soon tell you if you have overdone it!

Will I ever be able to eat carbs again?!

Absolutely you will - see the answer to the above question! However, if once you reach your target weight you revert back to eating the same level of carbs as you were before you started, then you will put all the weight back on. Carbs make you fat!

The best thing to do is to work out a WOE (way of eating) that keeps the carbs at a sufficiently low level such that you maintain your weight.

By the time you reach your target weight, you will also be ketogenically-adapted, i.e. your body has switched from carb-burning to fat-burning, so the odd night off will not do you too much harm.

How hard is it to eat out when you are low carbing?

It's easier to eat out when you are low carbing than if you are trying to count calories or eat a low fat diet. (As long as you don't find yourself in a restaurant that only serves pizza or pasta!)

The majority of restaurants will have something on their menu that is easily adapted for low carb eating. And it's always possible to ask them to substitute something high carb for something lower carb - so if something is on the menu being served with chips, or rice - ask if they will switch those for a salad, or extra veg. I have never been refused when I have asked this, and it is never an issue.

Some types of restaurants are harder to navigate - Thai is very difficult, not only because of the rice/noodles, but because many of their meals use sugar in the sauces as well as thickeners. At an Indian restaurant, poppadoms, rice, chappattis and naan breads are all (obviously!) out. Aim for a dry curry (so a tandoori or tikka dish), and have that with a side curry such as cauliflower, spinach or mushroom.

The best thing is to be prepared - if the restaurant has a website, have a look to see if they have posted their menu, so you have a chance to see what's available, what you can eat. And you could always ring them in advance to see if they can accommodate any particular needs that you have - mostly restaurants are happy to try and accommodate their customers.

Is it really possible to eat so much fat and still lose weight?

Oh yes! Grin Just ask anyone else who has done Bootcamp! Fat doesn't make you fat. When you eat fat, your body does not produce an insulin spike - unlike when you eat carbs. It is the insulin production that causes your body to lay down fat.

We need fat. It is good for our brains and for our skin.

Also, very importantly, eating fat is very satiating. It is what will help to stop you getting hungry. It's actually quite difficult to eat masses of fat, whereas it's very easy to eat masses of carbs.

Here's a very good piece from a site that's well worth following, all about fat and why it's good for us/isn't going to harm us

Do I have to do any exercise on Bootcamp to lose weight?

Not if you don't want to. Exercise, as a means of losing weight, is way over-rated. You have to exercise a lot and frequently to lose a significant amount of weight. For example, I have recently taken up running. My last run saw me burn 390 calories. That's quite a lot - but that was after running for 30 minutes, and for 5km.

On my plan (and on the advice of my osteopath) I am only supposed to run three times a week. That would mean that in the course of a week I have burnt off 1,170 calories. Not that much in the grand scheme of things - but that's a lot of running!

Exercise can help you, but it's not essential.

I do a lot of regular exercise, and I'm advised by my trainer/the gym to eat plenty of carbs and/or to carb load before I run/cycle/train - what should I do if I'm low carbing?

Once you are ketogenically-adapted, you will be able to train quite happily whilst following a low carb diet. Your body will be using fat as its fuel source - and let's face it, most of us have plenty of fat readily available for that. Whereas with carbs, our bodies actually only store a limited amount in our muscles and our liver. Once these have gone, and we have emptied our glycogen stores, that's when you will find yourself 'hitting the wall' or 'bonking'. This is why serious athletes often have to carry various gels and drinks - so that they can replenish their carbs/glycogen very quickly. This won't happen if you are burning fat.

If you're in doubt, there's a very good book called "The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Performance" by Drs Jeff S Volek and Stephen D Phinney. Here is a description of the book from the Amazon website:

"A Revolutionary Program to Extend Your Physical and Mental Performance Envelope. Our recent book 'The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Living' was written for health care professionals, championing the benefits of carbohydrate restriction to manage insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome, and type-2 diabetes. In response, our athlete friends asked "What about us?" This companion book is our answer, and it could be titled: 'The Art and Science of Avoiding the BONK'. But actually, it is much much more than that. The keto-adapted athlete benefits from superior fuel flow not only when nearing glycogen depletion, but also during training, recovery, and in response to resistance exercise as well."

OP posts:
captainmummy · 16/09/2013 13:18

Don't like oil in salads - but do like it otherwise? So you do fry stuff? There is not much food there at all, badgirl
Vegetable stir-fry - you could use low-carb veg and fry them, but lose the noodles. You can get a low-carb noodle (made from yam I think ) but not sure you'd like them... they have no taste at all though. You could make noodles out of courgette or rice out of cauliflower.
Chocolate is out I'm afraid. So is the banana - and all fruit for bootcamp.

How much do you need to lose?

ImABadGirl · 16/09/2013 13:29

I fry with the fry light stuff, don't like my food greasy or oily. I have a stone to lose but would like to lose 2 before Christmas.

I'll have a read of the recipe thread, I don't really want to be miserable as I'm more likely to give up, I can handle 500 cals every other day, it's because I know I can have whatever I like tomorrow!

captainmummy · 16/09/2013 14:08

I'm amazed that you have 2 stone to lose Badgirl. Your non-fasting days can't be more than 500 cals. Unless it's a ton of chocolate - in which case you know the answer - ditch that!

ImABadGirl · 16/09/2013 14:23

yep, chocolate and sweets are my downfall, I've given bread up as it bloats me.

I think the only way for me to lose is exercise, exercise and a bit more on top!

I'll give low carbing a week and see how I get on, I might get bored with omelettes though!

captainmummy · 16/09/2013 16:23

Well if you want to low-carb, you will need to eat fat. No question. You cannot low-carb and low-cal, it just doesn't work. And you know yourself you need to ditch the chocs and sweets - you don't need to low-carb to do that, it's a basic. You don't need the processed sugar.

And doing it 'for a week' - what's that going to do? You either lose a load of water-weight, or you don't lose anything (cos you're not eating the right foods) and you'll go back to eating - well, not much, but mostly sugars.

The great thing about low-carbing is the amount of fat we eat - it fills you up, it is a natural food and it doesn't raise your blood-sugars. If you can't eat fat, i don't think it will work for you.

Have a read of the rules (on the spreadsheet) and see if you can do this. If you can't, then maybe the 5;2 would be better, as you don't seem to like food anyway. If you want to really give it a go, we will all help .

Exercise BTW will only work if you are doing insane amounts of it. It counts for only about 15% of the total weight loss.

halfthesize · 16/09/2013 16:41

ImABadGirl you can eat lots of things bar omelettes trust me, check out the recipe thread.

The reason people gain weight is because they eat sugar and are not mindful of what is going in their mouths, I was definitely someone who did this before Low Carbing. I work out alot and whilst it tones me and keeps me motivated, I dont think I actually loose weight from it.
You need to stick with it for longer than a week, its not a diet but a way of eating(WOE) I think it could work for you but you need to read through the rules and see what you think??

spreadsheet

captainmummy · 16/09/2013 16:54

Oh and it's the Wheat in bread that bloats you; Fact.(there isn't much else in bread!) You still eat wholeWheat noodles. These will also bloat you. Anything made with flour will bloat you. It's one of the reasons I gave up carbs - i felt like a balloon most evenings.

Halfthesize is right - this is a Way of Eating, not a quick fix diet.

giraffeseatpineapples · 16/09/2013 17:20

I'm a bad girl you could with and eat spoonfuls of coconut oil they sell it in jars in the healthfood shop. I think lots of people on the 5:2 facebook page also do this. Not quite sure of the science why they do think it is because it doesn't break the fast. You will prbably find those other foods more appealing when the option of a sneaky bar of chocolate isn't there Grin

giraffeseatpineapples · 16/09/2013 17:20

sorry I meant cook with

ImABadGirl · 16/09/2013 22:07

thanks for your replies, I meant I would see what foods I could eat and whether I can stomach eating fat, not give it a week and give up...I need to sort my food issues out and find stuff to eat, not processed rubbish I'm used too.

I'll look on the recipe thread and see if I can adapt some to meet my tastes, I'll get some coconut oil and see what that's like.

can you have sunflower/vegetable oil or is this too processed?

goodasitgets · 17/09/2013 03:15

I can't remember who asked about lunches but I'm enjoying salad box type things at the minute. Basically whatever is in the fridge tipped in a box Grin
So egg mayo, prawns, some cold roast chicken, cucumber chunks, avocado, mayo for dipping stuff
It's great if you have a few little bits left over and no idea what to do with them

captainmummy · 17/09/2013 08:28

BAdGirl - if you really want to give it a real go, then READ THE RULES (on the spreadsheet) . Don't start off eating high-fat low-carb and then have a banana, or bag of sweets. That's the very worst thing you can do.
Sunflower/veg oil is fine. Fat will fill you up and help ensure that you don't want to snack on sweets/chocolate. Your diet at the mo is all carbs, so it will be a total 180degree change for you (as it was for me too!) and you will need to find a way to incorporate more fat and protein - ie real food.

Follow us on the Bootcamp thread and see if you can do this - we will help.WEEK2 HERE

silverangel · 17/09/2013 09:29

Biwi - I have a question - I get that this woe is low carb and you need to eat to fat, and its working for me so all good. But just wondering, Dukan is low carb, low fat and that works too - so would you see that as a 'diet' as opposed to a woe long term? Just pondering really...

BIWI · 17/09/2013 09:34

I don't, personally, think that Dukan is actually that low carb. I think it's a low fat/low calorie diet pretending to be a low carb one! The oatbran that he advocates, for example, must add a fair few carbs. And I also don't like the way that he advocates low fat foods - e.g. low fat, flavoured yoghurts (which are pretty high in carbs I think) and diet drinks.

On the days when you're only eating protein, I suspect that those are pretty low calorie days. Yes that will also make them low carb, but I don't think that's actually how his diet works.

Ultimately, I do see Dukan as a diet rather than a way of eating, because it isn't modelling 'normal' eating. I'd far rather eat more consistently than knowing that one day a week I can only eat protein. And I'd far rather base my meals and drinks on natural, unprocessed stuff.

But it's like everything - it's what works for you. It doesn't really matter what I'm doing!

OP posts:
silverangel · 17/09/2013 09:56

I agree - was just trying to work out the biology of it! I tried dukan and lasted two days - way too restrictive and the oatbran you have to eat every day in the first phase goes against low carb principles anyway.

Low carbing is for me:)

BIWI · 17/09/2013 10:48
Smile

I tried it too, and couldn't bear that bloody oatbran!

OP posts:
giraffeseatpineapples · 17/09/2013 11:23

I read it and bought some oat bran - lets just say the oatbran is unopened in the cupboard.

Woolfey · 17/09/2013 16:00

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Message withdrawn at poster's request.

halfthesize · 17/09/2013 16:47

pork scratchings, home made!

BIWI · 17/09/2013 17:04

Olives?

OP posts:
Woolfey · 17/09/2013 17:17

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Woolfey · 17/09/2013 17:17

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Message withdrawn at poster's request.

captainmummy · 17/09/2013 17:21

You can still snack on cold meat even if you have it for lunch! Cold chicken, ham/smoked salmon rolled up, radishes with cold butter, cold meatballs...and have you tried macadamia nuts? much lower in carbs than cashews.

captainmummy · 17/09/2013 17:23

Or what about Kale crisps? Fried courgette slices with chili/curry powder dusting? Soup? Celery and mayo/oil-and-herb dip? Cold sausages.

BIWI · 17/09/2013 17:24

Is there no way that you could have your lunch later and your dinner earlier? So you don't need to snack?

OP posts:
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