Low Carb Diet

[athena53]

My emphasis above. It's amazing what "they" can do with corn!

I just went shopping for soy sauce today. Two out of 3 brands had corn syrup; the store's house brand had high fructose corn syrup, LaChoy had regular corn syrup. Kikkoman had neither and that's what I bought. I hate it when they try to sweeten something that's not supposed to be sweetened.

 

[tmm99]

Last year at this time I weighed 245 pounds and I needed to make some life changes. I limit my carbs and have eliminated sugar and fried foods from my diet. I eat an 80% plant based diet now and lean proteins. One year later I weigh 170 pounds. I have kept the weight off now for 5 months. I feel like a different person. I walk at least two miles every morning.

Wow, that's impressive! Congratulations!!

 

[braumeister]

I just went shopping for soy sauce today. Two out of 3 brands had corn syrup; the store's house brand had high fructose corn syrup, LaChoy had regular corn syrup. Kikkoman had neither and that's what I bought. I hate it when they try to sweeten something that's not supposed to be sweetened.

My friend who owns a Chinese restaurant uses Kikkoman.

 

[googily]

Googily, could you share a typical day's food? I have a hard time getting a lot of protein in.

Sorry to be slow in replying. And right now it's hard to give you a typical day, since I'm still laid up from surgery.

But, breakfast is usually either scrambled eggs and bacon or sausage, or a cup of Fage full fat yogurt. (I do skip breakfast a lot, though.)

Lunch is usually a salad with a big hunk of protein (4 oz or so) and ranch dressing. And maybe a chopped up hard boiled egg if I skipped breakfast. Might also throw in a few strawberries or cottage cheese on the side.

Dinner is again a hunk of protein and vegetables. Or an omelette. Or ham and cheese rollups. And I might have a WASA multigrain wafer, which has a lot of fiber and even some protein.

I also have no qualms about throwing in a Quest bar or a protein shake if I'm running low. And I should amend that 105g is the high end of protein--I'm good with anything over 85, but I also don't worry about going over 105 either.

I use MyFitnessPal to track what I eat and the macros, which helps let me know when I'm low on protein. Generally lately I have been under 1,400 calories, and closer to 1,300 a lot of days.

 

[Lawrencewendall]

Been doing keto and 6 fiber tablets in the morning and evening since right before Thanksgiving. Went from an AC1 of 8.6 to this week's 5.3 and I lost 24 lbs since last Summer. Doc said I could cut back my Metformin or even go off it if I wanted.

 

[OnIslandTime]

I went low carb (not any particular named plan) starting on Valentine's Day.
In 15 weeks, I'm down 23.5 lbs.
BUT the best part is that after about 10 days I realized that my joints had stopped hurting! My joints feel better than they have in 15 years! I went looking online to see if the change in eating could have had that impact and found that both sugar and wheat tend to cause quite an inflammatory reaction in the body.
My way of eating does not include sugar, grains, bread, pasta, rice or potatoes.
I eat eggs, fish, meat, cheese, butter, heavy cream, sour cream, full fat yogurt, non-starchy veg, small amounts (because of sugar) of berries, and small amounts (because of the possibility of eating a LOT) of nuts.
I only eat when I'm hungry and then eat only to satiety (which is easy, because my meals are very rich).
The key is to stay away from carbs and don't be afraid of fat!
I can go many hours without needing to eat, because I don't have that whole blood sugar roller coaster thing going on. It is really quite amazing!

Have fun!

 

[mamadogmamacat]

Yes it is amazing. I'm so happy I finally embraced low carb. Sorry it took me until relatively late in life to drop the sugar potatoes and bread almost completely.

Congratulations on your very recent retirement.

 

[audreyh1]

I went low carb (not any particular named plan) starting on Valentine's Day.
In 15 weeks, I'm done 23.5 lbs.
BUT the best part is that after about 10 days I realized that my joints had stopped hurting! My joints feel better than they have in 15 years! I went looking online to see if the change in eating could have had that impact and found that both sugar and wheat tend to cause quite an inflammatory reaction in the body.
My way of eating does not include sugar, grains, bread, pasta, rice or potatoes.
I eat eggs, fish, meat, cheese, butter, heavy cream, sour cream, full fat yogurt, non-starchy veg, small amounts (because of sugar) of berries, and small amounts (because of the possibility of eating a LOT) of nuts.
I only eat when I'm hungry and then eat only to satiety (which is easy, because my meals are very rich).
The key is to stay away from carbs and don't be afraid of fat!
I can go many hours without needing to eat, because I don't have that whole blood sugar roller coaster thing going on. It is really quite amazing!

Have fun!

Probably a combination of reduced inflammation and less stress on joints since you lost weight.

 

[OnIslandTime]

I would expect less stress on the joints with weight loss would make them feel better, but after 8 or 10 days I hadn't lost that much weight and I weighed less than I weigh now only 4 years ago and my joints were achy (I'd resigned myself to just living with it) so at that point it had to have been the drastic change in my eating.

Have fun!

 

[simple girl]

A friend of mine swears her joint pain stopped after she went gluten-free. Maybe it really is something with the inflammation for some people.

 

[Chuckanut]

When I went to my lower-carb diet, my GERDS went bye-bye.

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.

 

[braumeister]

When I went to my lower-carb diet, my GERDS went bye-bye.

Same here, but the more surprising side benefit was that I also stopped snoring (according to DW so it must be true).

 

[Ronstar]

A friend of mine swears her joint pain stopped after she went gluten-free. Maybe it really is something with the inflammation for some people.

I agree with your friend 100%.

I used to have joint pain in my 2nd and 3rd toes, left foot, where they meet the ball of my foot. No pain just sitting around - only after walking of running more than 5 miles or so.

I went gluten free and the pain disappeared. No pain even in a marathon. Now I have fallen off the gluten-free diet and the pain is back. And the area is now swollen.

I think the inflammation is at least partially due to gluten in my diet.

 

[googily]

I was hoping that low carb would get rid of my many aches and pains, but alas it hasn't.

I am, however, 30 lbs lighter than I was in mid-November, so it's still worth it.

 

[CountryGal]

If you still have inflammation even with low carb, another consideration is nightshades. Sadly I am sensitive and can't eat them. Things like tomatoes, peppers, etc.

 

[googily]

The Tom Brady diet! I really don't eat nightshades much. I think alas my joint pain is actual joint pain, from years of misalignment due to leg length discrepancy, disc issues, hip dysplasia, and more. I'm getting better, though! (and I weigh 70 lbs less than I did at my height in the mid-2000s, so at least there's a lot less stress on my body).

I basically lived on carbs for most of my life, but my low-carb-but-not-insane approach has made it easy for me to not pay the good stuff any attention. Most of the time!

And my triglycerides dropped 90 points within three months.

 

[audreyh1]

A friend of mine swears her joint pain stopped after she went gluten-free. Maybe it really is something with the inflammation for some people.

My experience wth joint pain disappearing was going dairy free.

 

[MRG]

Same here, but the more surprising side benefit was that I also stopped snoring (according to DW so it must be true).

We both lost GERD and stopped snoring after losing 50+ pounds apiece. Amazing how that helps.

Our diet wasn't low carb however I'm curious about lower carb for inflammation.

 

[mexexpat]

I am not surprised and I am quite aware of the added sugar. I sometimes get the "half-the-sugar" craisins. Nevertheless, I don't go overboard. A 5 ounce bag of craisins lasts me at least 15 days of meals. Plus I will get sugar from fresh fruit anyways.

A few decades ago when Moms started buying the then new mini-boxes of raisins or their kids snack time or boxed lunches, my DDS friend said they were one of the worst foods for dental health. He said the raisin texture (same as craisins) stuck to teeth worse than a candy bar. I mention this because as we age, dental health becomes a huge issue.

 

[Chuckanut]

I think the inflammation is at least partially due to gluten in my diet.

There is enough empirical data around to think that there might be something to this. And it also might be the large amount of highly processed foods many people eat.

Almost every time I travel to Italy, I hear a few fellow American travelers say something like this "At home if I have to watch what I eat or I end up with all sorts of aches, pains, digestive issues, sinus problems, etc, but here I can eat what I like and not have any problems. There must be something different."

Maybe it is the food (less processed, different hybrids, etc.). Or maybe it is the result of having a good time every day while on vacation.

 

[Chuckanut]

Another win for true low-carb diets.

The new study in the BMJ was elegant in its design. It did not rely on volunteers reporting what they ate. People have notoriously bad memories when it comes to detailing their caloric intake.


For this study, researchers recruited overweight volunteers from Framingham State University in Framingham, MA. These hardy souls included students, faculty and staff.



They agreed to eat only the food supplied by the investigators and they weighed themselves daily with a sophisticated WiFi scale (Withings) that sent the data directly to the researchers.


There were three dietary patterns that were tested. People were randomly assigned to receive either a high-carb diet, a moderate-carb diet or a low-carb diet for 20 weeks.

https://www.peoplespharmacy.com/2018/11/15/the-low-carb-diet-wins-diet-warsagain/

If you with, take some time to listen to Dr. Ludwig's interview. It's an eye opener from a guy who has the creds to be taken seriously, IMHO.

https://www.peoplespharmacy.com/2017/04/13/show-1020-how-to-lose-weight-without-feeling-hungry/

 

[W2R]

Interesting, Chuckanut! I loved that the article defined these in percentages of calories from carbs:

20% low carb
40% moderate carb
60% high carb

I have averaged 35% over the past 7+ months of weight loss efforts so I was right, I have been eating low to moderate carbs but closer to moderate. It's nice to have numerical definitions. I have been wanting to get my carbs down lower than that but despite the best of intentions, haven't accomplished that yet.

To me (a type 2 diabetic) it is amazing how drastically my A1C has corrected itself just from losing weight even with this many carbs instead of going strictly low carb. I guess I am one of the lucky ones, since I know some Type 2 diabetics are not even overweight.

As for extreme feelings of hunger, these sometimes catch me by surprise although I am generally less hungry on days of more high protein foods. I do know that if I resist the urge to eat more, such feelings often disappear in an hour or two.

 

[Chuckanut]

Interesting, Chuckanut! I loved that the article defined these in percentages of calories from carbs:

20% low carb
40% moderate carb
60% high carb

I have averaged 35% over the past 7+ months of weight loss efforts so I was right, I have been eating low to moderate carbs but closer to moderate. It's nice to have numerical definitions. I have been wanting to get my carbs down lower than that but despite the best of intentions, haven't accomplished that yet.

There is a chunk of the low-carb movement that has sort of redefined themselves into the slow-carb movement. By not eating the carbs that spike insulin very high (processed grains, added sugar, white potatoes and rice mostly) one is still allowed to eat things like sweet potatoes, legumes and most fruits. Ludwig's book - Always Hungry - explains it better than I ever good.

The best thing about it is that I find it sustainable since 80%+ of what I used to eat is still available to me, though sometimes with different ingrediants and often with less added sugar (GASP! Is that yummy flavor what sweet potatoes really taste like without 1/4 cup of brown sugar poured over them!)

 

[youbet]

To me (a type 2 diabetic) it is amazing how drastically my A1C has corrected itself just from losing weight even with this many carbs instead of going strictly low carb.

Congrats W2R!

I'm not diabetic, but I was quite overweight. Prior to losing 60 lbs this past 14 months, my fasting blood sugar was running in the mid to upper 90's. Now it runs mid-80's. And I'm completely off my BP meds. Losing weight has been a good thing for me too.

I did it by calorie counting and keeping carbs in the moderate range. (I love, love, love carbs, so no easy task for me!) I record everything I eat using myfitnesspal.com and carbs generally run around 45%.

 

[Bestwifeever]

There is a chunk of the low-carb movement that has sort of redefined themselves into the slow-carb movement. By not eating the carbs that spike insulin very high (processed grains, added sugar, white potatoes and rice mostly) one is still allowed to eat things like sweet potatoes, legumes and most fruits. Ludwig's book - Always Hungry - explains it better than I ever good.

The best thing about it is that I find it sustainable since 80%+ of what I used to eat is still available to me, though sometimes with different ingrediants and often with less added sugar (GASP! Is that yummy flavor what sweet potatoes really taste like without 1/4 cup of brown sugar poured over them!)

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. DH and I are going to follow it after the New Year. I don't eat much of the restricted items any way but DH is sure going to miss his granola and yogurt! Some young friends of mine follow it faithfully for 30 days at a time and they feel there are huge benefits, but they can each polish off a bottle of wine in no time so eliminating that alone probably makes them feel a little better