Advice please - a low carb-ish life! Will it work?

[Warmwoollenmittens]

I have previously lost 2 stone on a fairly strict Atkins style plan. All the time I did it, it worked but I find it increasingly hard to stick to and so the weight crawls back on. I'm now nearly back to where I started. I think I'm at a time in my life where I want to FEEL I'm eating healthily and I can't face a high protein, fruit-free approach to eating.
So - here's my plan. Cut out the big bad five; pasta, bread, rice, potatoes and wheat BUT eat fruit, yoghurt, low fat meat, chicken and lentils. I LOVE vegetables and salad so no problem there.
Will this work - albeit more slowly than a carb-free life?

My Dad has always struggled with weight and depression and started the dukan diet in November. It is very restrictive and is very much a high protein no Carb diet to start with with very little fruit.He stuck it for about 6 weeks and said he was genuinely not hungry and didn't crave chocolate etc which for him was unheard of. The plan was to pick it back up after Christmas, which he didn't really do but those 6 weeks have changed the way he eats. He no longer eats bread at all previously ate most of a loaf a day, doesn't snack which was a frequent habit. Eats more protein than previously and smaller amounts of potatoes/pasta with more veg. He has lost 2 1/2 stone in just over 3 months and now has a sustainable diet. Good luck!

Yes it wil work and be more healthy too. I have yoyo'd all my life including on Atkins. I was very successful n Atkins, losing over 60 pounds. Twice. But it is not sustainable.

This time around, I stuck to the low carb principles that I knew worked and made sense. I ate low carb: meat, veggies (loads of salad), healthy fats like olive oil and avocado, some lower carb fruits (no bananas). At the beginning I also ate sweet potatoes and oatmeal. I lost 103 pounds doing this. The key was that I had to reduce portion size and overall calories as I got smaller as I needed less. I am still eating this way now to maintain my weight. I also added in lots of exercise.

Just for your info, my current menu is something like this:

Breakfast- a bowl of fat free plain yoghurt with two different fruits mixed in (usually blueberries and mango) a tbsp of sunflower seeds, and 2 tablespoons of oats. In the past I also ate eggs for breakfast, or oatmeal.

Lunch - it is almost always a big bowl of salad with avocado, tomatoes, carrot onion etc. with homemade olive oil and balsamic vinegar dressing. Served with protein. Either two eggs, or smoked salmon, or whatever meat is left from the night before.

Dinner - always meat and veg. Whatever the family is having but without the grains.

I drink two coffees a day with milk and sugar (I swore off artificial sweeteners about 6 months ago), lots of herbal tea and also water.

Smetimes I snack in some fruit if hungry. Or a little protein. Sometimes after dinner I have a square or two of very very dark chocolate (90% usually).

Hope this helps.

Yes it will work and more importantly is a lifestyle change rather than a short term diet.

I did something similar. Like you did Atkins and lost but couldn't sustain it and put it all back on plus more. Then I did "no crap carbs". Lost well and felt great but didn't stick with it. I am currently doing weight watchers but trying to incorporate the "no crap carbs" principles as well once i get into the swing of it all and get my head around portions which is one of my issues.

I basically cut out anything made with wheat or sugar which cuts out a lot of crap. Breakfast would be a healthy wheat free granola or porridge or pumpernickel bread. Lunch would be soup and or salad with some protein. If I hadn't had the bread for breakfast I would have a slice for lunch with tuna salad or hummus or goats cheese and tomato. Dinner would be protein with veg and pulses. Snacks would be fruit and natural yoghurt or oatcakes with hummus or Philadelphia or peanut butter.

Oh - also even with Atkins you are supposed to gradually reintroduce healthy carbs in once you reach your target weight so that you end up eating a much more balance diet of protein, vegetables, fruit and healthy carbs.

Thanks for the replies - Wiifitmama I think I'm envisaging a very similar approach. I don't mind if it is a bit slower but I do need to see the scales moving on a weekly basis :)
I add a mixture of linseed, sunflower and almond to my morning yoghurt and it keeps everything moving beautifully (sorry tmi!)
Really grateful for your eating plan and would welcome more!

I wouldn't have said it was especially slow. I lost the vast majority of the 100 pounds in about 13 or 14 months. You haven't said how much you need to lose. Rate of loss will partly be dependant n how big you are in the first place.

Eat plenty of fat, even saturated fat, as long as it is from natural sources. Avoid vegetable oils, marg, trans fats, hydrogenated fats as these are unnatural. Eat olive oil (unheated), butter, coconut oil, animal fat (preferably organic)

This will not make you fat, it will keep you from craving carbs, and keep you full. The body uses all the good fat you eat in repairing your body as it is full of nutrients and vitamins, and the body only stores fat in the presence of too many carbs.

make sure you eat veg with butter as many vitamins are fat soluble so you need fat to absorb them.

No, don't 'make sure you eat veg with butter' to help you absorb them. Yes, certain vitamins are fat-soluble, but that one of the worst pieces of advice I've heard in a long time!

Low carb is a good way to eat. But take care with how much fruit you eat. That will tip you over pretty easily. Or stick to berries rather than bananas.

The rest - especially lots of vegetables and salad is good.

I have lost and maintained weight through moderate carbing.

I eat:
meat / poultry / fish / eggs / quorn mince & chicken style pieces / dried soya mince / tofu
natural yoghurt (ideally greek) / cottage cheese or quark (rarely have milk)
vegetables - huge amounts but no potatoes
pulses / nuts / seeds (in moderation - pulses high in carbs, nuts and seeds high in fat)
fruit - 2 pieces a day, rarely bananas or other higher sugar fruit
oatbran (20g) each day

I don't eat:
wheat (ever, well very rarely)

I rarely eat:
rice / potatoes other grains eg oats (apart from oatbran) quinoa / buckwheat unless training for triathlon (ie 10km runs!)

I try to keep sugar to a minimum. I have small amounts of agave / honey.
I try not to eat margarine or refined veg oils (although do have occasionally). Oils of choice are olive oil / coconut oil & butter.

I do think though, (in contrast to previous posters) that if you want to lose weight doing moderate carb (ie not low carb) you do need to be careful with fats and not eat too much, or the number of calories you are consuming will prevent weight loss. I'd never ever add butter to veg, terrible advice (unless maybe doing atkins). But I am not worried about fat soluble vitamins as I eat protein with each meal and there is generally some fat in the protein (ie egg yolks, oily fish etc.)

If you hit a plateau cut the fruit, and the non greek yoghurt.

Why mychildneedsleep? How do you absorb fat soluble vitamins without fat?

Thanks for all of the above :)
Want to lose about 2 stone/28lbs/12 kg and would like to make a dent in it before Easter!
Re fruit; love oranges and grapefruit, less keen on apples and tend to avoid bananas. Will try and include more red fruit when it comes into season.

BuongiornoPrincipessa - you don't need extra butter. Still think terrible advice.

Assuming you have the vegetables with a meal, and the meal includes protein (every meal should include some protein) there will be some fat in the protein eg oily fish, egg yolks, fat in the meat. Even chicken / turkey has some fat. If the protein has no fat (and even white fish has some fat) can add some healthy fat eg seeds, olives or avocado to the meal if you are especially concerned. I also take an omega 3 supplement every day with my main meal.

Oh, forever, you got in there first!

There's nothing wrong with fat though - the right sorts of fat that is. If you are restricting carbs then upping the fat is a very sustainable way of maintaining a low carb lifestyle as you won't go back to carbs. Fat provides an awful lot of nutrients per gram, and it is nutrients your body and brain need.

see here

Plus it's very difficult to eat too much fat when you're not eating carbs - its very self limiting as you will feel full.

Thanks for that link. Looks like an interesting website. Have bookmarked to read later.

I'm converted ;)

I know it sounds really wrong, but the more I look into it the more it makes sense

BuongiornoPrincipessa If you are doing atkins etc then yes you do need the fat in your diet to get enough calories and feel full, but if you are moderate carbing and getting calories from dairy / fruit / pulses then you don't actually need to add extra fat to your diet.

My diet is something like 45% from carbs, 30% from protein and 25% from fat.

But I don't add extra fat like butter and I do eat fat free dairy. I get the fat from oily fish, meat, nuts, seeds, olives, avocado. I use coconut oil and butter for pan frying etc. Olive oil in salad dressings.

There is nothing wrong with fat provided its not processed fats (ie most vegetable oils and margarine) other than if you eat more calories than you burn you won't lose weight.

Well I'm not trying to lose weight but I am low carbing for optimum health, as far as I can work out, carbs (refined, from grains, and from starchy vegetables) are not actually required by the body as they are low in nutrients, difficult to digest, and the glucose they contain can cause you to become insulin resistant which can cause weight gain.

If you provide your body with the nutrients it needs then you won't eat too many calories. Fat contains a lot of essential vitamins and minerals, carbs don't. So I prefer to think of food in terms of how many nutrients it contains rather than calories. Just looking at calories is flawed as you can eat too many "empty" calories which don't nourish the body so you will crave more nutrients and therefore eat more food.

I agree - also now moderate carbing for optimal health, having reached my target weight. I only eat grains when I am in full triathlon training mode (ie after doing 10km runs).

But still wouldn't add extra butter to food - I'd rather add seeds and nuts as I think they are even healthier and more nutritious than butter!

Marking my place on the thread- my current diet is moderate carb, puts you into a limited ketosis, but when I get closer to my goal (3st down, 3-4st to go) I intend to follow a low-carb lifestyle. I'm reading all the books I can get my hands on!

Scarf could you give me some idea of what you are eating - it sounds like you are doing really well on a moderate carb diet.

OP, you have pretty much described my diet.

Yes, it does work.

Think there are problems associated with consuming sunflower oil and it's in lots of processed foods -it contains high levels of omega 6. Too much Omega 6's which will affect the ratio of Omega 6 : Omega 3 balance in your body - and you'll need to increase Omega 3 to get the balance back. I struggle to consume enough Omega 3's as it is, so I use rapeseed oil also known as veg oil as it's lower in Omega 6's and therefore healthier.

Warmwoolenmittens I'm on a VLCD, similar to Cambridge/Lighter Life. Really not for everyone, you have to be very commited and meet some requirements (must have over a stone to lose, must be above a certain BMI etc) It's food replacement, I'm loving it I feel soooo much better on this plan but not everyone can or wants to do it. Plus I live alone so it's easier for me to have my little meals etc without cooking for everyone else! It's classed as moderate carb as it gives you around 60g carbs a day, depending which meals/veg you chose. I think Atkins starts off at 20g a day, a lot lower.

Website is- slim and save