Eliminating carbs/processed sugars
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Anonymous
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I see that a lot of you have lost weight by removing carbs and sugars from your diet. Did you eliminate them completely, a la Atkins/South Beach, or just lessen them? What specifically did you cut out? All pastas, breads, sweets, etc. or some other combination?
I have an extra 15lbs (ok, 20) from my pregnancies that I'd like to get rid of, but am still breastfeeding my 9mo who has some feeding issues, so an all-out diet isn't in the cards for me right now. Many years ago I dropped some weight using South Beach, so I know that carb elimination works, but would I be able to make a good dent by just eating less pasta and bread? I'm a bit of a carb addict, so moderating will be tough (and will require probably cooking three different meals many nights to accommodate family needs) and I don't really want to try if it'll only work as an all-or-nothing approach. Can you describe exactly what you cut to lose weight? Thanks. |
Anonymous
| I eliminated all rice, bread, cereal, and pasta. Still have dessert or a small side of potatoes occasionally. It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. |
Anonymous
it really is best way to lose weight and just be healthier and have more energy all around! If you can limit your carb in-take to just before 12pm, that helps a lot. And if you can totally eliminate all white carbs (white breads, pasta and sugar) and replace with whole grain substitutes, it makes a big difference too. I think it's fine to splurge on a nice pasta dinner once a week or so, though
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Anonymous
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Op again -- So a gradual cut-back can work?
Limiting carbs to before noon sounds like a good place to start. I think I'll give it a try (given that I just finished a bagel sandwich and chai, at least that means I don't have to say I'll start tomorrow). When I did South Beach, I recall being a complete wreck those first two weeks -- zero energy, very moody. I can't afford to be like that now with two babies, so eliminating (aside from the drop in my milk supply that would likely result) seems like a disaster waiting to happen.... |
Anonymous
| I have managed to do this partway (cut out as much sugar as I can) but as a vegetarian I find it hugely difficult to cut carbs. Am I missing something? Does any one have any tips? |
Anonymous
| I'd recommend starting out by substituting whole grains for white flour. The Bionaturae whole wheat pasta (available at Whole Foods) is actually pretty good--my family eats it without complaint. We do brown rice instead of white rice (takes a little longer to cook, or you can use the precooked frozen brown ride from Trader Joes). 100% whole wheat bread isn't hard to find, and lots of other whole grains are good substitutes for starchy sides (e.g. quinoa, barley, farro). Once you've made that change you can experiment with reducing carb intake further . . . |
Anonymous
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This is a great way to lose weight for a photoshoot or a contest. Other than that, it's temporary and will come back the second you eat carbs again. Do you want to maintain a low carb diet the rest of your life?
There's a huge difference between simple and complex carbs (fruit, sweet potatoes, whole grains, nuts, seeds, legumes, etc.) Sure, cut out all the junky ones. But eliminating healthy carbs is not healthy at all. |
Anonymous
FYI, some people do better avoiding carbs in the morning and having them instead in the evening. It just depends on how your body deals with carbohydrates. Why not spend three or four days writing down (or "apping") your average carb intake - how much, when - and then step down day by day? When I was nursing I didn't want to risk messing with my supply at all. |
Anonymous
Most people who do life-long low carb do add back all those things in varying degrees. The only people I know who never really return to the healthy carbs are the people who gain wait and/or have blood sugar problems while eating the . It really bugs me when people totally misrepresent or misunderstand what a long-term, low-carb diet is. The only things they generally exclude completely are sugar, white potatoes, white rice, and white flour. From a nutritional standpoint, no one needs that. |
Anonymous
| Ugh. Gain weight, not gain wait. |
Anonymous
It is really, really hard to do low carb vegetarian because all (or nearly all) of your protein sources come with carbs, too. |
Anonymous
It is hard, but you don't need to cut out all carbs -- just focus on white sugar and white flour. That's 80-90% of it. Beans are awesome and whole grains (quinoa, brown rice even whole wheat) are not a problem. Other protein sources without an issue are eggs (if you eat them), tofu, cheese, other dairy without sugar (milk is ok, honestly). You can do this, too, just focus on cutting sweets and empty carbs. |
Anonymous
| I lost over 100 pounds by cutting out all flour and processed sugar. I still do some carbs (potatoes, rice, fiber one). The hardest part is finding out which foods contain added sugars (cane juice, apple juice, molasses, dextrose, sucrose, etc.). Basically, I eat all fruits, veggies, meat, beans, seafood, poultry, etc), but I don't eat processed foods. |
Anonymous
| Lean proteins. Good carbs. No bad carbs (except occasional "celebration" treats). That's my lifetime diet. |
Anonymous
can you give example of good vs bad in a daily diet? |