New to low carb - can you do low-ish?

[hillyhilly]

I have always been very firmly of the low fat, eat less, move more frame of mind and to be fair it works for me but my DH who is obese, has been advised to low carb to keep his sugars under control. Its taking a bit of work to get my head around it!
I had a look on the diabetes website and it advises that moderate carbs is 130-225g per day so as he was eating a lot of carbs previously this is what we are currently aiming for. We also use mfp and so are trying not to go over the calories for the day as I am concerned that if he swaps to a load of high fat food but doesn't get his carbs low enough he will just get fatter!
Will this work? He has several stone to lose and does a lot of eating out so cannot excercise total control over what he eats but on the face of it its far more doable and better for him than low fat.
Thanks all

I don't do ketosis but do moderate carbs - but to me moderate carbs is around 100g a day. 225g to me sounds v high! I don't eat high fat (ie don't add butter to veg like you might on atkins) but I do eat healthy high fat foods, like olive oil in salads, avocado, nuts and seeds (small portions though). I generally eat low fat dairy but don't worry about the fat in meat / fish etc.

I lost weight on around 60g-75g carbs a day I stick to around 100g for maintainance but have more at the weekends.

Day for me in weight loss mode:
B:2 egg omelette, 100g low fat natural yoghurt plus 20g oatbran
L: Tuna/ smoked salmon / mackerel/cottage cheese salad, possible with dressing
S: 25g cheddar or nuts or low fat greek yoghurt if no dairy at lunch
D: Meat/fish etc and loads and loads of veg

Maybe a piece of fruit (ideally cup berries) if less dairy - but sometimes prunes (around 5) if constipated.

I would have said not to increase fats too much unless you can get carbs lower than 40g day (ie ketosis) - for 225g carbs would be a v high carb day.

Moderate carbs (ie around 100g) high protein (ie over 100g) lowish fat (what I do) works.
LOw carb (ie 20g-40g) and high fat works.
Moderate to high carbs and high fat does not.

Thanks forever, that's kind of what I was thinking, I needed to hear it from someone who's been there done that already. Although at first it seemed v difficult actually getting to or under 100ish carbs shouldn't be too bad, though I will need to get up a bit earlier if we're to have eggs instead of our beloved cereal.
Also, though up to 200g carbs sounds a lot, does it change relevant to weight in the way that calories do? He is a big bloke so surely 100g is a lot less to him that to you or I?

I Have Impaired glucose tolerance and was advised to read food labels. Most state carbs and carbs of which are sugars. The high carb but not from sugar foods are fine (those with a low GI). Noodles are a good.

I have lost four stone in the past year.

I find very low carb diets just make my blood sugar crash and cause bingeing.

The body needs around 75g-100g carbs a day, so if you get carbs very low body forced to make carbs from fat etc. At 75g-100g you are giving the body the carbs it needs but not eating extra which gets stored as fats, I guess someone more overweight could get away with a bit more, so maybe 100g-150g?

re: cereal - don't eat it - the carbs he does eat should be unprocessed - eg fruit, veg, dairy, pulses and not cereal! If he must have cereal chose a muesli with no added sugar, and weigh out portion. Porridge will take as long as eggs!

re: eggs, honestly I can make an omelette in less than a minute, go and buy a good non stick pan, I spray with fry light. I manage to make an omelette despite get breakfast sorted for 3 small kids.

hilly - have you done any reading about low carbing? I can thoroughly recommend Gary Taubes' book "The Diet Delusion". This might convince you of the validity of low carbing and how it can help your DH.

And I hope you're reading all my Bootcamp threads?

Thanks forever, I'll try it, I've always made our porridge the night before, and the kids will want eggs too if they see them but I will definitely give it a go to see how we get on I think maybe boiled is the way to go.
I know cereals are high carb but he is at least eating mini shredded wheat which are pretty unprocessed and lower carb than most

Biwi, I'm working my way though the boot camp threads - it's taking some doing!!
I also saw the recipes thanks and it's all been very helpful. He is doing really well, I just hope it works when he weighs in in Wednesday. (if not before) as he is currently in the "well I'll try it but I bet it doesn't work" mindset, probably because he's eating foods that don't feel diet-ish.

It is really hard to take the first step into low carbing, after all the years of being told that we should be eating low fat! I remember it feeling like a real leap of faith - I couldn't believe that I would lose weight after eating bacon and eggs for breakfast!

But it does work. Let's hope he has a good result on Wednesday!

Look, I'm sorry but can we clear this up once and for all?

The body does not NEED 75-100g of carbs a day. It just doesn't. It is perfectly possible to function extremely well on far less than that. I personally rarely eat more than 20-30g per day. If you want or like to eat more, and it works for you, then by all means do so! Forever has done brilliantly on a moderate carb diet and that's great. Ketogenic diets aren't for everyone. But please can we stop telling people they NEED what is for many a too-large amount of carbs in their diets - it's simply not the case.

Sorry, mildly unhelpful rant over .

I agree, tea!

And actually, reading through Taubes' stuff, the body doesn't need any carbs at all, and can function perfectly well without them, and without any adverse effects on health.

Hmmm. Where did I say I was carb FREE, lizard?

I'm sorry to hear about your daughter. I assume from what you say that she has underlying health issues that necessitate an entirely carbohydrate free diet, given her regime of tests etc. I wouldn't be able to comment on her situation, but I very much doubt our diets are similar.

Good luck to your DH Hilly. Aim for lots of leafy veg, lots of greens - oily fish, eggs & cuts of meat that haven't had every spec of fat removed. This way you'll be getting plenty of naturally occuring fats. Go easy on the cheese & cream & you should be fine. Make sure he drinks plenty of water too.

Lizard, I'm sorry to hear about your daughter's health issues - but I think that may be colouring your opinion.

The human body does not "need" a particular amount of carbohydrate. I eat less than 40g most days & often even less than that and have been doing so since 2nd Jan & have only witnessed health benefits.

With regard to B vits, red meat is a great source. Red meat contains a number of B vitamins: thiamin (vitamin B1), riboflavin (vitamin B2), pantothenic acid, folate, niacin (vitamin B3), vitamin B6 and B12. Meat, fish and animal-derived foods, such as milk, are the only foods that naturally provide vitamin B 12.

Low carbing is not about cutting out carbs. It is about changing the proportions of foods that we eat from:

carbohydrate/protein/fat

to

fat/protein/carbohydrate

However, all the evidence would suggest that most vitamins can be derived from other foods and that carbohydrates are not essential for long-term health.