The Pretty Extraordinary Low Carb Diet Thread

[QueenStromba]

A continuation of The Rather Amazing Low Carb Diet Thread.

Hi, can I join? I lost alot of weight on ww in the past but can't quite shift the last 1 1/2 stone and am fed up of being hungry so I have decided to give low carbing a try. The science behind it makes sense. I started two weeks ago tomorrow by having diet whey (body building shakes) as a meal replacement twice a day then having protein and veg in the evening. I was really surprised at how my appetite dropped off so looked more into low carbing and decided to do atkins. I am reading the book at the moment so haven't started properly but have been limiting carbs to 20g a day. I have finished all the shakes too so am on real food.
I weighed myself last wednesday and had lost 3lb, then felt thinner and lighter wednesday night (odd i know) so weighed again thursday morning and had lost another 1.25lbs. Since then though I have stayed exactly the same. even my body fat% and muscle % have stayed the same so I am abit disheartened. Is it usual to plateau after only a week?

I admit I have been eating foods that are not on the induction list (as not starting properly till finished book), so may have made a few mistakes but I have been keeping to 20g of carbs. I even think I may be in ketosis as I am drinking loads, have a permanent funny taste in my mouth and my appetite has dropped.

I feel loads better though, i have even energy, no cravings and can still manage my high intensity weights routines at the gym. It's just frustrating that I have not lost anything this week when I expected to lose quite a bit in the first 2 weeks.

So, I have come on here for support and I have followed a few of you on twitter.

A few questions, Is corned beef ok on induction of you count the carbs?
What about chorizo? Can you have too much cream? (have been mainlining double cream on sugar free jelly, counting carbs of course)
And also do we count net carbs in the UK? The atkins book is a little confusing with the figures compared to my collins little gem calorie counter, so just wondering which figures to go with or will net carbs on the atkins site be the same value as carbs on uk info?

Thanks for taking the time to read my mammoth post (sorry )

As I said ^^, I definitely have an issue with dairy, especially cream - so you may want to monitor that.

And, vnmum, it's not uncommon for weight loss to stop in weeks 3, 4 and/or 5 - no idea why - just keep on keeping on, and you should find that the weight loss starts again after that.

But definitely make sure you're doing it 'properly' - this is an unforgiving way of eating, and any cheating will impact on your achievements.

Welcome, by the way - along with all the other newbies to the thread!

Hello VN

I think corned beef must be OK as custardo eats it (her blog is linked to at the top of the thread, have a look as it is very useful for the basics).

Those diet whey shakes are pretty good - DP uses them and I have one from time to time, they are very low carb (I think 2g a shake isn't it) so handy for when you don't have time to cook. Plus they are good as you make them with water and not milk. Don't do what I did which was assume I could have the chocolate flavour with hot water and have a hot chocolate, it didn't work and was vile.

I personally keep a a lid on the calories as well as low carbing - I try not to go above 1200 a day on myfitnesspal (and any exercise cals I count as a bonus and don't take into account when counting the total).

I too just total the carbs, I can't be doing with doing sums to work out net carbs and all that jazz.

Good luck - I really recommend the Escape the diet trap by Dr John Briffa which BIWI recommended - it is great, and really outlines the complete nonsense of more conventional diets. The India Neris diet book is also worth a read, but more useful is the atkins website I find.

UK carbs are net carbs - you only have to subtract the fibre if you are in the US or canada.

I've been low carbing for lent almost a week now; also gave up alcohol. I know scales can't be trusted as they can vary but moving in the right direction. Down 3 pounds. Off to eat lunch hoping miso soup not too carby (will read packet) will add some prawns & mushrooms. Otherwise I will make eggs.

GOML - I'm a smoked salmon fan too, and am eating a plate of salad with a lavish amount of it draped on top.

I realise from a lot of the posts on this thread that I'm a lot less strict than many of you (so ignore me, newbies, if I start talking about eating tomatoes etc). I've never bothered counting carbs (WHAT?), as I really don't have the patience, but simply eliminating the stodge and refined sugar, and reading nutrition labels, has given me a slow and steady weight loss that suits me fine. It took nearly six months to lose the 1.5 stone when I did this diet originally, which is a lot slower than if I'd been stricter. I clearly dip in and out of ketosis, because I recognise the weird taste and slightly high feeling, but I don't specifically aim to be in ketosis. Having said that, following a strict induction phase is pretty essential to get things started.

But I love all the ideas and inspiration, as I am such a greedy pig foody......

Cointreau, I am very similar. I guess the strict induction is important, maybe I need to work my way up to it? I just can't bring myself to do it yet.

I'm a bit scared to combine it with so much running mileage. I must google low carb/high protein running...

Although I have serious lightheadness and a weird taste in my mouth.

I was so bloated before yesterday and almost immediately that feeling is gone. Sugar and flour really are the devil aren't they?

Question for for you LC experts!

I'm day 9 now and still getting a slightly weird lightheaded/ headachey feeling. Is this normal? It's no where near as bad as last week though, also I'm still absolutely knackered. In my book it said you should feel like a new person by day 4, but I'm still waiting

Induction isn't so bad. I've been on it since 2nd January. Lots of meat, green veg and cheese & gallons of water / herbal tea.
I'm sure you can run & low carb - but I know that some people find the sugar / carb flu that you can get when you first start, impossible to exercise through.
There is a good web site www.livinlavidalowcarb.com/ which has a forum that covers lots of queries on low carb.

How much wheat did you used to eat flipflopflap? Wheat addiction can take a few weeks to clear in some people.

flipflopflap, took me two weeks to feel like a new person this time. Felt exhausted and as though an animal had died inside my mouth but eventually after 2 weeks, I was full of beans & raring to go. Haven't looked back since (started 2nd Jan).

Thanks for the answers and warm welcome everyone. I did try tracking using myfitnesspal but i found it included carbs from meat etc that i wouldn't be counting on atkins and that the total on MFP was different to the total I had worked out myself so have been tracking it myself so far.

I will lay off the cream. I think the novelty of being able to have double cream after so long of doing low fat was just too much and i pigged out abit

I got some ketostix from the chemist today and tested after lunch. I had trace -/+. Is this enough to be burning fat? also is there an optimal time of day to test? i.e in the morning before you've drunk too much or before or after food?

Today I have had:
Dukan galette (1.5 tbsp oat bran, 1.5 tbsp greek yog, 1 egg) with 70g total greek yog (I need the bran until I can get some psyllium husk)
Pork burgers (pork mince and 1 egg) with 30g cheddar and some cauli and broccoli with a knob of butter.

getorf The shakes i had had 8g carb per serving plus some extra things for weight loss like CLA and green tea extract. They were really nice chocolate orange flavour but I was having 16g of carbs from those alone which wasn't leaving me enough for veg to keep me regular, so I cut back to one a day till the pack was empty.

cointreau I also had a slightly high feeling, for about a day I was buzzing, lol.

The fact I can go into a cupcake shop and not even want one is a definate improvement. Haven't tried baking them at home yet, the smell and raw cake mix may be too much so I am holding out for now.

encyclogirl I am sure I have been in ketosis for at leat a week and I have done some high intensity gym sessions and not got any weak feeling halfway through like I used to. In fact I felt like I had the energy to go all day. I have also done some sprints on the treadmill and hill sprints (bastard trainer!) and i found them ok. I haven't been for a long run yet though so couldn't say about that

Have found really great link to why we get fat & why low-carb is the answer. It is in lovely 1950s style artwork too.

lowcarbistheanswer

Slow day at work today!

There are no carbs in meat, by the way ...

Also, re exercise, the view about carbs is changing. My personal trainer is a real advocate for a low carb way of eating.

That is a major flaw on MFP in that some of the entries are bollocks. I remember finding one where porridge was classed as having no carbs. . You need to use the user verified entries I think.

vnmum this is the one which I have got - 2 carbs a shake (if you only use one scoop). It's a good idea because I have early starts and sometimes don't have time to make breakfast, so if I have one of these it fills me up til lunchtime (don't do any low carb breakfasts at the work cafe) www.phd-supplements.com/store/p/45/1/Diet-Whey.html

I am very paranoid about bad breath - so am cutting down on the coffee.

Thanks guys,

PostBellum, I will take a look at that website, thank you. I think I need to figure out which kind of low carber I am.

Vnmum, good to know you feel okay exercising on Phase 1. I am so engendered with the whole 'carbs to run' ethos, I can't quite believe I won't just die 3 miles in.

I will admit I fear cream, butter and all those really high in saturated fat items. I couldl do serious damage with those in my diet. I know I could. If I have peanut butter in the house it calls to me like Gollum and 'the precious', and I have to eat the whole jar.

I need to learn portion control on this way of eating too.

It's not just as simple as high protein/low carb, eat as much as you like of the food on the list is it?

Eat when you're hungry. Eat enough to satisfy your hunger.

Just eat what's on the list and avoid what's forbidden.

Was just looking for a recipe for stuffed peppers and found these Nigel Slater recipes online - all of them look pretty good for low carb (there is one for a meatloaf which has breadcrumbs but sure those could be left out) www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2008/oct/19/recipe-foodanddrink

QueenStromba I didn't eat loads of wheat really, but I did tend to go on binges, where I'd eat every carb in sight. I did this the weekend before I started the diet

PostBellumBugsy Thanks for the re-assurance, I'm going to keep going and hope the 'new person' feeling kicks in soon!

I never used to eat a great deal of chocolate or sweets, but I did used to eat a huge amount of savoury carbs, such as baguette (which in the diet trap book has nearly as much a high GI as sugar, shockingly), doritos, bread, rice, pasta and worst of all potatoes in all their forms. I always had huge bloody portions, and used to snack a lot, so after a pretty large meal, would then have snacks of doritos with houmous in the evening. No wonder I got fat.

I didn't get carb flu, luckily, just a vile taste in my mouth and a bit strange feeling. I feel fine now. My skin and hair look very good, I normally look reasonably pasty after a winter of being indoors, but I am much improved and I put that down to all the oily fish I am eating.

Oh, there is a lovely recipe in the Jamie 30 mins cookbook for stuffed peppers with Manchego cheese, almonds and herbs. It also uses breadcrumbs but I think you could easily leave them out. They were amazing at my NYE party - demolished even by all the meat-eating boys.

Oh great I will have a look at that tonight, thanks free.

Oh GetOrf lovely Nigel recipes. He's my favourite serial killer cook.

Had plain yog for breakfast, skinny chicken burrito for lunch, 6 almonds for a snack.

Dinner is bavette steak, garlic spinach (YUM!) and mushrooms and brocolli. yum yum yum.

Also going to go for a run (Bah, boring)