Low carb for those of us who aren't hardcore enough for Bootcamp/Atkins induction etc

[QueenStromba]

This is a thread for anyone who wants to eat fewer carbs but has either failed on plans than start out really low carb or just doesn't want to eat very low carb for whatever reason. I'm of the opinion that the high carb diet recommended by the government is the cause of obesity and related diseases and that any reduction in carbs will boost health.

While the Bootcamp threads are fantastic, I think a lot of people find it difficult to dive straight into eating very low levels of carbs which leads to giving up by day five. I did this myself when I first tried low carbing last April. I wasn't even trying to eat induction level carbs, just cut out the obviously high carb elements of my diet (rice, potatoes, pasta, bread etc) and I still nearly killed my housemates. It was about six months before I tried low carbing again and I went about it in a completely different way and have ended up eating induction level carbs through preference.

First I cut down my carb portions slightly in each meal, waited a week or two then cut down the portions even further so I was only eating about half the starch element that I had been in each meal. The next thing I did was completely remove the starch from one meal - I think it was breakfast I did first. I had been eating a poached egg on a slice of toast with a slice or two of lean bacon and some mushrooms or spinach - all I did was cut out the slice of toast and replace it with more veg or an extra egg depending on how hungry I was feeling. Once I was happy with that I started on dinner. Instead of rice I had cauliflower rice, instead of potato mash I had cauliflower, swede or celeriac mash and instead of noodles/pasta I had either shirataki noodles or thin ribbons of courgette. For the first while I still mixed in half a small portion of e.g. rice with my cauliflower rice. I normally made enough dinner to have leftovers for lunch the next day. I lost really well on that without worrying about how many carbs were in veg and I still had milk in my tea and berries with yoghurt. I also had a couple of beers a week and the odd slice of cake or whatever. I only went very low carb after doing a lot of reading and deciding that eating a diet very low in carbs and high in fat (including saturated fat) is the healthiest diet for us.

Yep, sorry, I assumed it was a widely known thing. You half your courgette and then use a potato peeler to get thin strips off it. There's a knack to it so you don't end up with bits left over which I haven't yet mastered... I cook mine in salted boiling water for about 2 minutes, that's it.

Half? HALVE.

AArrgghhh!!! Have just realised am going camping to a youth event in two weeks' time, going in a big group that will be centrally catering, no proper onsite shop and no fridge!! What can I eat???

Viper - if you are hungry you are not doing it right! Eat lots of meat, fat, salad and you should not feel hungry. I've only been doing it for about 5 weeks, and can honestly say i'm not hungry - craving something sweet (fruit) yes, but not hungry. I even missed lunch today (never happens!) and only had bag salad with cheese and mayo for dinner and i can't face anything more today!.

That's the great thing about this WOE - you eat loads of stuff you never could before (cream, fat, mayo) and you really notice how not a diet it is.

Have fallen off the wagon today, been to a leaving to have a baby do at work and had cake plus a sausage roll, I am now paying for it , sneezing and wheezing.
If anything will make me stick to it the effect of three pieces of cake will do.

Things you can bring with you Jollymary:

Biltong (watch for added sugar - Lidl do a zero carb one)
Tinned fish and meat
Nuts
Jars of olives will keep for a while after opening out of the fridge
I've seen things like salami out of the fridge in Morrisons
Protein shakes
If you're going for a while you could take some unripe avocados with you

Will you be eating at a refectory or something? If you're lucky it will turn out to be a buffet and you can just pick and choose which bits you want.

Can I join please - have been doing low carb for a bit but still find I'm hungry
Breakfast - poached egg and ham and cheese
Lunch - salad and cheese
Dinner salmon and stir fry
Snacks berries, nuts
I have lost weight but do feel hungry. Might have some cream
Any advice - don't get this ketosis malarkey

Thankyou QueenStromba!! All advice so gratefully received! Never had biltong before, could be fun. Many thanks x

I know I'm not really hungry but just don't feel full somehow if that makes sense. Will keep trying or Stalin will have me shot soon I think!

I broke yesterday, went on a carb bender
But as I still only toatalled 134 for the day trying not to be too hard on myselfy. I've lost four pounds in almost as many days. It's hard not to let yesterdays slip stick. Back on wagon today.

Hi all
Weighed myself today in my new scale and.....I reckon I have lost half a stone :)
Today I am 11st 8oz.
A, pretty sure I was 12 st or poss more prior to last sunday!

Feeling vaguely despondent, fell off the wagon on thurs but ate low carb again yesterday. Not lost any more weight.

Have to say though I've noticed my skin looks quite nice, and haven't had a headache since starting this (am normally quite a headachy person espec in the heat).

Why aren't I losing weight? I used to eat carbs for dinner followed by a family size bar of chocolate, had expected to lose loads in 1st 2 weeks given crapness of previous diet.

Anyway, just had mushroom omlette with sprinkling of grated cheese for breakfast hich was nice but wish I could have something carby too!

Can anyone answer my question please

Janx, if you still feel hungry add some more fat to your diet. Also follow QueenStromba's advice about electrolites/lo-salt. Low levels of potassium can cause food cravings and thirst which can be mistaken for hunger.

If that doesn't work then possibly dump the berries and nuts. They are a bit carby and might be stopping you from being in ketosis and therefore not getting the hunger suppression.

What was the question janxx? Ketosis? You will probably get a dry mouth even tho you should be drinking lots, some people get bad breath. You should feel good, not hungry, - my skin also cleared up and i stopped getting the bloated feeling after stopping carbs.

Your daily food looks ok, maybe a bit high in dairy (cheese) and berries and nuts can bump up the carb count. But if you'r not low-carb/bootcamping, loooks good.

Pyjama - are you drinking lots?

janx are you eating enough fat and protein? For instance, enough eggs/ham at breakfast or oily dressing and nuts/avocado with cheese salad at lunch.

I had been gradually reducing my carbs and once I stopped even a little oats at breakfast I found I needed to keep up the snacks to feel ok. It took me about 17 days to get into ketosis (fat burning), then I felt less hungry because my body is using the fat/fuel stores as well as the food I'm eating.

hth

Oh crosspost.

Thanks - will try those suggestions

pyjamalover if you fell of the wagon in a big way on Thursday then you'll have rebuilt some of your glycogen stores which comes with 4-5 times the weight in water added on. I reckon if you've stuck with it yesterday and today then you'll be down a bit again tomorrow. There is also the possibility that you've reached the week three stall that people often report. It's actually only physically possible to lose about 0.5-1 pounds of fat a week unless you are severely overweight. You can lose more weight on a low calorie diet because you are also losing muscle mass. On a low carb diet you lose almost pure fat so after the original big losses you aren't going lose massive amounts of weight each week. Console yourself with the fact that every single gram you lose is probably fat from now on.

134 isn't too bad for a carb bender pregnantpause. I imagine you feel starving today though? If you do then try to stick to things like meat, cheese and eggs so that your body will start remembering that it wants to burn fat rather than carbs.

I am sure my boobs are shrinking ... That was one area I wanted to hang on to

Viperidae - if you keep going then your body will turn from being able to tell that you are full due to the sheer volume of food in your stomach to recognising when you've eaten enough protein and fat. On a high carb diet the full feeling comes from your stomach being physically full but on a low carb diet the full feeling comes from hormonal signals. It will take you a while to not need the physical signal to be able to recognise when you are full.

Qs- yes I've been ravenous, and stupidly went to work without breakfast. Resulted in a chocolate bar and bag of crisps as apparently today the canteen (who always serve coldmeats and cheese) is being refurbished. So todays carb count is 77. But
I had a lovely supper of meatballs in a cream mushroom and onion sauce. Reminded me why I've chosen this woe. It's a work in progress for me but it'll become easier I'm sure the longer I stick at it.

Slightly bad day today.

2am I was craving like mad, got up and had an apple and some cheese.

11am had an omelette (bacon, cheese, mushroom)

Then had steak, mashed broad beans (added a tsp of tahini, which was lovely) and mushrooms fried in butter.

Then 2 squares very dark chocolate, but then NEEDED sugar, so had 100ml of Ben and Jerrys, which was 24g of carb by itself.

I think I'm still under 100g, but the rest of the week I managed on less than 30 or so, so feeling rubbish. Oh well, back on wagon tomorrow.

Getting slightly confused with what should and shouldn't be doing for good weight loss... am following Dr John Briffa's recommendations in his book, am on day 6, feel more energy, sleeping better and clearer skin, but still feel very podgy! Don't own scales so can only weigh in at gym, but tuummy feels the same at the mo. I think I've been quite strict,have had no grains/pasta/potatoes, but 2 half glasses wine this week, also drizzle of manuka honey daily with berries. Dr J. doesn't seem to major on achieving ketosis, do I need to be even stricter and cut out all dairy, berries, nuts, to lose weight?
Today, had:
B Strawberries, greek yogurt, drizzle honey, pate with cucumber sticks, cream cheese
L Sardines with mixed salad, olives, balsamic and olive oil dressing
T Bolognese sauce (homemade) on steamed cabbage and french beans, grated cheddar
Snacks : handful mixed nuts, 1 in am, 1 pm. Lots of water.
Some people seem to lose alot, even in first few days! Really want to sustain this WOE, but have tendency to get despondant... Anyone have a similar start but go on to lose the weight?