Low Carb Diet

[youbet]

they can each polish off a bottle of wine in no time so eliminating that alone probably makes them feel a little better

You betcha!

In my 12+ years of FIRE, I admit to developing a craving for cocktails, wine or craft beer most evenings. Ditto a lot of our friends which, when we were with them, just aggravated the situation.

Once I started calorie counting to lose some weight, most of the alcohol had to go to allow room for some real food in the calorie budget. And with that I did start feeling better, much better.

I'm hovering around my goal weight now so 8 - 10 drinks a week is back on the agenda, but that's still way down from where I was.

 

[RAE]

Now I eat what I call a lower-carb/slower-carb foods. It seems to work well for me. Very little in the way grains, more whole food, and no freaking out over fat that is naturally in the food I eat. I do not intentionally eat 'fat bombs' as some low-carb people do.

And I do not make use of those low-carb bars, high protein bars, protein water, protein shakes, etc. etc. etc. Frankenfood is just not high on my list except as a very occasional convenience item.

My diet is very similar to yours, Chuckanut. I mainly try to eat real, whole foods, and stay away from anything that is highly processed. I did cut way back on carbs for a while after I retired, as I needed to lose some weight (basically switched to a paleo-type diet). And it worked very well.........I lost the 20 lbs. I needed to lose in just a couple months. Then I went back to eating a few more carbs, in the form of things like potatoes, sweet potatoes, some rice - in addition to lots of veggies, a moderate amount of meat, and moderate amount of healthy fats - and have basically eaten that way ever since. I don't count calories, and I don't count grams of carbs either. My weight has stayed at the new lower level for several years now, and I feel good. I really think that cutting out highly-processed junk foods is the key to a healthy diet.

 

[ER Eddie]

Carnivore here, zero carb (well, close). Been doing it 4 months. Lost 30 pounds, more lean, less fat, mood is much better, mental sharpness is much better, energy is much better.

I just feel better overall.

I transitioned from the SAD, so my first week was rough, lots of brain fog. But it's been a great change. I feel 100% better.

So much interesting info in this area! I've been listening to the HPO podcast lately, and they've had some great guests. Tim Noakes, Amber O'Hearn, Nina Tiecholz, Ben Bikman, Dave Feldman, Phil Escot, Charles Washington, and plenty of others. Lots of great information out there.

It's so interesting, "waking up" from all the medical/govt. dogma about nutrition.

 

[txtig]

Whole 30 sounds like it is based on this concept. I've looked at it only briefly but it looks like the program restricts all dairy, grains, sugars, alcohol, and artificial sweeteners, but allows fruits, vegetables (including potatoes), meats, eggs, fats (butter must be clarified). Looks like you don't have to portion control the allowed items.:

After our doctor recommended it to us, DW and I did the Whole 30 back in June. I really didn’t think I could give up alcohol and bread for 30 days. But, we did it. We both felt a lot better after the initial thirty day period. Since completing the first 30 days, we try to remain as compliant as we can, but indulge two or three days per week. Still, we have completely changed the way we eat and the way we think about eating. So far, I’ve dropped about 35 pounds and DW has lost about 30. And, we are still gradually losing weight. I would recommend the Whole 30 to anyone wanting to make positive changes in their eating habits and wanting to lose weight.

 

[braumeister]

my first week was rough, lots of brain fog.

IMHO, this is the main reason so many people who try low carb give it up without really giving it a chance. The initial week or two is tough.

 

[Bestwifeever]

....

Once I started calorie counting to lose some weight, most of the alcohol had to go to allow room for some real food in the calorie budget. And with that I did start feeling better, much better.

I'm hovering around my goal weight now so 8 - 10 drinks a week is back on the agenda, but that's still way down from where I was.

That’s great you’re feeling so healthy! I love a fancy cocktail when we go out or will have a glass of wine when we have guests but that’s it—we have three opened bottles of decent wine in the fridge right now from two weeks ago, which I’ll be cooking with as DH doesn’t drink at all. But OMG these young women—they are way worse than I was in my wild days—so impressive that they cut it out completely for a month.

After our doctor recommended it to us, DW and I did the Whole 30 back in June. I really didn’t think I could give up alcohol and bread for 30 days. But, we did it. We both felt a lot better after the initial thirty day period. Since completing the first 30 days, we try to remain as compliant as we can, but indulge two or three days per week. Still, we have completely changed the way we eat and the way we think about eating. So far, I’ve dropped about 35 pounds and DW has lost about 30. And, we are still gradually losing weight. I would recommend the Whole 30 to anyone wanting to make positive changes in their eating habits and wanting to lose weight.

That’s impressive, and really helpful for me to hear about this program—I downloaded the book to get some idea of what we’ll be doing and what we might expect. I could stand to lose ten pounds so I’m hoping that will be one benefit!

 

[googily]

Today is actually my one-year anniversary of cutting way back on carbs and trying to eat more protein and fat, and I am 40 lbs lighter, maintaining a weight I haven't been at since college. (I've actually been stalled at this weight for two months, but that's okay. )

There's no question that it's easier to keep calories down with this approach to eating and that I feel better overall. I lost 40 lbs nine years ago by cutting calories and then maintained that, but I still ate an extremely carb heavy diet.

Need to lose another 25 lbs at least, but we'll see how the body feels about that. Being 80 lbs down from my highest weight is pretty amazing, even if it took nine years to do it!

One thing that I find harder about this way of eating is that I go through phases of being really into cooking and then wanting no part of it, plus getting bored with the food options. But even then I didn't slip back to carbs--just have been subsisting on cheese, peanuts, wings, and Quest bars. So it's a shocker that I'm stalled.

 

[Rianne]

At least low carb means some carbs. Everything in moderation. Vegetables are carbs, fruit is carbs. I'm at my best weight. I did not get here by exercising like crazy. I walk, swim, clean the house...average everyday exercise. I learned to pay attention to portion sizes. That seems to be the most important feature of losing weight. Watching the additives in processed food. One serving of canned soup, 3500 mg of sodium. Two Tbls. of salad dressing, 180-300 mg of sodium. Fat is good for a diet, nuts, seeds, olive oil. Nothing wrong with fat. It's more than just calories, it's getting the best calories. I'd say sugar is the culprit. Non fibrous sugar. Pasta has fiber and protein.

 

[ER Eddie]

I love how much I'm learning.

Here are some examples, off the top of my head:


- Vegetables have toxins to protect themselves from being eaten. We eat those toxins. Most veggies have been cultivated for reduction in toxins, but there's still plenty of phytochemicals (e.g., salicylates?) that can aggravate people's guts.

- Grains are a bad idea. Best to avoid them entirely. This includes "healthy" "whole wheat" breads.

- Sugar is the main culprit. Bread = sugar.

- When grains were introduced 10K yrs ago, human beings shrunk, and so did our brains.

- LDL cholesterol is meaningless as a risk factor for heart disease. A certain subtype of LDL particle is a risk factor (sugar-ized VLDL particle, I think). However, there are much better markers of heart disease than that. Lab values in general are over-valued, over-used.

- If you don't take any carbs in, your dietary requirements change significantly. Many of the RDAs are based on people with med/high-carb intake.

- For example, you don't get scurvy if you only eat meat, which is counter-intuitive, since meat doesn't have much vitamin C. But, Vitamin C and glucose compete in the body. So if you don't eat carbs, you don't need as much Vitamin C.

- People have lived well on an all-meat diet for decades. Tribes have done it for centuries. There is good evidence that we're primarily carnivorous. Our guts are certainly designed for meat, not vegetables and grains.

- A lot of the fear-mongering around meat was undeserved. Most of the studies purporting a link to heart disease or cancer were based on bad science. There are multiple confounds in all those epidemiological studies (e.g., "meat eaters" are usually getting their meat from McDonalds, as part of a high-carb combo).

- Modern fruits have much higher sugar content than natural.

- Lots of bad science in this area. Lots. Do not trust "expert" opinion. Research it yourself.

- Trust what works for YOU.

- In figuring out what works for you, it helps to start with what worked for the species for millions of years. That's meat and fish as a first choice, with eggs, fruits, berries, nuts, etc. That's why I like the paleo, keto, and carnivore stuff. It gets back to basics. Back to the stuff we're designed to eat.

- Big 4 to avoid: processed foods, processed carbs, sugar, and vegetable oils.

 

[youbet]

Let me begin by saying, I have no problem with temporary diets or the people that find them useful in losing weight. I just didn't go that way. You need to find something that works for you and doing one thing temporarily and then switching to something else didn't fit my outlook on the situation. I used two temporary diets in the distant past. Both worked great for a while. But both times I celebrated reaching goal by going back to my old habits and put the weight back on.

I used a program paid for by Medicare where I received help from a dietician. At our first session, she explained that she would not work with me if I insisted on any diet where I would temporarily eat differently than how I needed to eat for the rest of my life. I had to go with a permanent switch to healthier eating and the only change would be lower calories in the beginning and more calories after reaching goal weight. (Calorie counting while eating so-called "healthy" foods.)

The exception was booze (DARN!). Cut it out close to completely for a number of months but have now returned to a few drinks a week. I have learned that "delicious" and "light beer" are an oxymoron!

We reviewed my current eating habits (lotsa booze, cold pizza for breakfast, fast food, chips and other processed snacks by the barrel full, etc.) and she decided the fix was obvious. She put me onto "Myfitnesspal.com" and gave me a little booklet that took me back to high school health class in the 60's. I started recording everything I ate (this got applause from my primary care doc!) and the free online tool kicked out the statistics regarding nutritional value.

Today, about 63 lbs down in 14 months, I'm averaging about 1.7k cals/day (+/- 300 cals) and typically have carbs around 45%, protein around 25% and fat around 30% weekly average. So, definitely not "low carb" by most definitions. But way down from where I was and numbers that are currently considered healthy by my doc.

Permanent changes include:

Very few processed carbs, white rice, potatoes, etc. This includes zeroing out my beloved chips and snack crackers.........

No fruit juice. Fruit in moderation.

Lots of fish, skinless poultry, colorful veggies, fat free Greek yogurt, salads, etc.

Less booze. No soda pop.

And record everything! I use an app on my smart phone and a web site on the PC. The free version of the program gives you all the stats you need.

It's worked for me so far. I've pretty much come to grips with things like passing up the basket of dinner rolls at the restaurant, tumbler sized manhattans, pizza (I can't just have one, modest slice and quit so go with nuttin'), sweets (see the pizza problem), etc. The bad news is that I don't have a more liberal "change" to look forward to other than I'm slowly adding calories as I approach my goal weight range.

Edit: Confession - I really need to get additional exercise. I belong to a health club but rarely go. I prefer to just take walks and be active around the house with outdoor chores, etc. But clearly, I need some strength training as there is some obvious loss of muscle mass.

 

[Elbata]

Just saw this. Not sure it makes any sense:

https://greensmoothiegirl.com/exper...DMF1Xgw9ooS7ABq-AoHah2c#.W_UIljIL61M.facebook

 

[JoeWras]

Just saw this. Not sure it makes any sense:

https://greensmoothiegirl.com/exper...DMF1Xgw9ooS7ABq-AoHah2c#.W_UIljIL61M.facebook

It makes sense for her so she can sell her stuff.

One of the problems we have here is that low carb frequently crosses the streams with vegan. Hidden agendas may conflict. Politics intrude.

In my experience, the only way I ever got down in weight was to cut the carbs. Period.

 

[RAE]

- Big 4 to avoid: processed foods, processed carbs, sugar, and vegetable oils.

Very true. Most people have a hard time avoiding all of these, however, since they are ubiquitous in the food supply (at least in most developed countries). If you go to the grocery store, all of the inner aisles are full of processed foods. Sugar is hidden in all sorts of things. And perhaps the worst processed foods of all to consume, in my opinion, are the industrial seed oils. Most people do not realize just how bad this stuff is for you.....I'm talking about soybean oil, vegetable oil, canola oil, corn oil, etc. (the "jug" oils). And virtually every restaurant around cooks food using these oils, because they are cheap. Personally, I'm convinced that this stuff is a major contributor to heart disease. Here are a couple of articles about that, for those interested (including how these industrial oils are made........yuck.


https://foodbabe.com/cooking-oils/


https://articles.mercola.com/sites/...a-6-vegetable-oils-promote-heart-disease.aspx


https://drhyman.com/blog/2016/01/29/why-oil-is-bad-for-you/

 

[Chuckanut]

The other day I purchased a can of crushed tomatoes - Organic. When I looked at the ingredients I noticed they contained organic sugar. ?!?!?! I went back to the store a few days later and looked at the regular crushed tomatoes - no sugar. I make my own pasta sauce and I will decided if I add sugar to it and how much.

Low-carb is not easy for everybody. If one struggles with keeping on it, may I suggest slow-carb instead. More carbs but in a more natural form that does not spike the insulin and then crash it leaving one feeling slow and hungry. It works for me. As usual, YMMV and do what works for you.

 

[JoeWras]

Yikes, I landed on the "How It's Made" for Canola oil. Maybe this is some revenge that Canada is imposing on us in the USA! I went from frequent user of canola to rare, but now it is out. I don't need opinions or editorials, just watching the process from "How It's Made" was enough for me.


Funny how 30 years ago coconut oil was considered the ultimate poison. Times have changed... Our medical researchers have all our heads spinning like tops. Can't keep up with it.

 

[razztazz]

I remember about 10 - 15 yrs ago they were saying canola oil was as good as olive oil for "heart health". And even better because it was cheaper & had a higher smoke point so was better for sauteeing. Now it's crap. A-mazing!

And I can't tell if I'm using too much or am within some sort of "Safe" limit. If I switch to all olive oil there'd be a slight spike in grocery bills.

 

[Nemo2]

I remember about 10 - 15 yrs ago they were saying canola oil was as good as olive oil for "heart health". And even better because it was cheaper & had a higher smoke point so was better for sauteeing. Now it's crap. A-mazing!

And I can't tell if I'm using too much or am within some sort of "Safe" limit. If I switch to all olive oil there'd be a slight spike in grocery bills.

Where "You should have done it sooner" and "You shouldn't be doing it at all" collide.

 

[razztazz]

Where "You should have done it sooner" and "You shouldn't be doing it at all" collide.

Like the sign says outside the dentist's office on The Simpsons:

Springfield Dentistry

No matter how you're brushing, you're doing it wrong

 

[RAE]

And I can't tell if I'm using too much or am within some sort of "Safe" limit. If I switch to all olive oil there'd be a slight spike in grocery bills.

Once I found out how canola oil (and the other jug oils are made) several years ago, and read about what they do in your body when consumed, I stopped buying them completely. Yeah, it costs me a few bucks more to buy olive oil or other more healthy oils, but I figure my health is worth it.

 

[braumeister]

Yeah, it costs me a few bucks more to buy olive oil or other more healthy oils, but I figure my health is worth it.

No question about it in my mind. Plus, you can get very good quality olive oil very reasonably at Costco. Coconut oil too.

 

[audreyh1]

Awesome olive oil selections at Costco. I buy their “vintage” special release every year - different source countries.

 

[razztazz]

Once I found out how canola oil (and the other jug oils are made) several years ago, and read about what they do in your body when consumed, I stopped buying them completely. Yeah, it costs me a few bucks more to buy olive oil or other more healthy oils, but I figure my health is worth it.

Not nit picking but.... so you "found out" how these earls are made and what they do when we eat them.

How do you know that that is good information? Or true but exaggerated? It's like the whole low fat vs everything else. We can read studies and studies and yep, they do in fact say whatever the proponent is claiming but at the end of the day how can I know it's true or to what extent it really is bad? Sunshine is nuclear radiation - BAD! Tobacco had fluoride in it - GOOD! And then there's hidden money behind a lot of this as we already know. Oh, someone mentioned Ornish here recently (?) I think. For 30 years he's been saying ANY AND ALL FAT is bad. NOW apparently he's recommending olive oil, nuts, and of all things, cheese?! A Saturated fat BOMB!

I'm a low carb guy and just by happenstance low saturated fat too. Yes, I feel better and that's where the science I find most credible leads no matter what the other "studies show." I do use some canola oil because yes, it's cheap and they said it was good! But I doubt I use very much by any reasonable standard unless it's toxic in small doses....?

I am half jacked to dispense with it and switch to the low-grade olive oil for high(er) heat situations. It won't hurt my global budget

 

[mamadogmamacat]

I'm one of those rare birds who does not care too much for the taste of olive oil. And I find canola to be too heavy and that it adds a kind of "tackiness" to cooked food.

I now for the past couple yrs in fact cook only with coconut oil and on rare occasions with butter. For my daily salads I drizzle a bit of avocado oil. Both oils are light and tasty to my palette YMMV

Avocado oil is unfortunately more expensive even than olive oil. My current brand of choice is Kroger private selection in a tall glass bottle.

 

[flintnational]

..............Avocado oil is unfortunately more expensive even than olive oil. My current brand of choice is Kroger private selection in a tall glass bottle.

We buy avocado oil, coconut oil, Kerrygold butter and EVOO all at Costco. I would hate to itemize what we spend on oils. Along with the seed oils, we have ditched commercial mayo and make our own with avocado oil. Tasty!! While we are low carb, we occasionally splurge with popcorn cooked in coconut oil.

 

[TromboneAl]

I was at an event with about fifteen younger people. There were the typical hi-carb snacks at the front:

No surprises there.

But one guy mentioned that he was a type 2 diabetic. He said he'd tried a ketogenic diet (another name for low carb), and that he'd lost weight, improved his blood sugar, etc. Said he wasn't on that diet any more.

Later, I see him chowing down on Doritos.

I don't understand people.