Thread: How many carbs is low carb????

Low carb veggies
Alfalfa, artichoke hearts, avocado, French beans, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, celery, celeriac, chicory, Chinese cabbage, chives, cos lettuce, cucumber, iceberg lettuce, bean sprouts, mushrooms, olives, onion, pak choi, parsley, peppers, radishes, rocket, spring onion, spinach, tomato, asparagus, aubergine, Brussels, courgette, leeks, mange tout, pumpkin, rhubarb, sauerkraut, and turnips.

All in moderation, check carbs of portion size to ensure you stay within limits.

Taken from Atkins book, all recommended for all phases of Atkins.

Originally Posted by primalmark

IMHO low carb means high binge lol!

I eat unlimited carbs now. NO OIL, no animal products.

When I want sweet, I eat fruit. Its heart healthy too!

Sorry but couldn't read n run.

This kind of post is neither constructive nor helpful for people already doing or considering starting a low carb way of eating/life.

If u don't agree with low carb may I suggest u please take ur opinions elsewhere. End of conversation.

Hi, I'm new to site and I'm finding your posts encouraging. I have been trying to maintain VLCD but it doesn't seem to be working for me. If possible can someone please give me an example of their day on low carb ? I have impaired Glucose intolerance so I need to limit fats .
Thanks
Robyn

It is hard to limit fats on a very low carb diet, but you can certainly have lowER carbs. I suggest going to the Atkins board on here, there are several threads with menus, recipes etc.

Dukan, South Beach and the Harcombe diet all have a higher carb threshold than Atkins (the initial stages of Atkins, anyway), they might be worth looking in to.

Originally Posted by boggins

It is hard to limit fats on a very low carb diet, but you can certainly have lowER carbs. I suggest going to the Atkins board on here, there are several threads with menus, recipes etc.

Dukan, South Beach and the Harcombe diet all have a higher carb threshold than Atkins (the initial stages of Atkins, anyway), they might be worth looking in to.

Thanks ,
Between menopause and IGI I can't seem to find something that works . Grrrr

I was prescribed a high protein diet from the Hospital, it was Low Fat & Low Carb. Closest Commercial Diet was South Beach, I didn't like their diet book but the recipe book is great, Healthy Nutritious foods, only downside I felt was it does take more planning & is expensive. However when I stuck to it felt amazing, currently on VLCD aim to maintain with Low Carb, Cauliflower Rice is a revelation.

Thanks TT . Will look up the diet plan . Struggling to get my head around dieting in general , I keep treating it like a punishment . The cauliflower rice sounds interesting. I'm a huge pasta and rice fan which is one of the problems . Maybe I'll ask on here what other substitutes there are .thanks again

Another one to consider is the Dukin diet, a few of my pals have raved about it, tough but good for getting carb cravings under control,
Good luck

Hi everyone, i am new to the forum. i lost about 30 pounds doing low carb two years ago and about a stone has crept back on, mainly due to starting a new relationship, and having to live as a vegitarian for 10weeks. Low carb has been the only successful weightloss method i have tried. i started it using the go lower diet plan, but as i am used to home cooking, the packaged meals didn't go down well. The principles and the portion sizes helped a lot though and so i did most of it on my own. i lost the first stone in three weeks and the second in another six weeks giving me a BMI of 24! I hope to get back there.

Following the discussion, an excellent mashed potato substitute is celariac! It is very good for you too. you just peel and boil it like you would a potato, you will need a hand blender to mash it though. It has a nice savory slightly celeryish taste. i mash up two at a time and freeze it in portions.

I tried the dukan too when i plataued doing low carb. It certainly is a nice change especially the oatbran pancakes, but beware it can really bung you up because of the lack of fibre, i did it for two days to kick start my weight loss and was using sennacot by the end!!! It is also quite a limited diet in my experience so may not be very sustainable.

europabug, welcome! Check in on the Atkins board here, it gets a lot more traffic and it's not just Atkins folk on there, it's a bit of a low-carb hub!

In general, any diet that is below 300g of carbohydrates a day is low carb, although the concept is more appropriate to say, under 100g a day is low carb.

Ultra low carb diets are based on the effects of ketosis, a state in which our bodies release ketone bodies that can be measured on ketone test strips. In general, carb intake needs to be around 20g, possibly up to 50g for some individuals, sometimes less than 20g. This low of an intake is often monitored by using the test strips to be sure one is showing the ketone bodies. The benefits of being this low is a significant decrease in appetite, more energy and sense of well being. However, to be this low consistently, it is important to drink plenty of water and be sure to get the healthy fats, quality meats and other low carb veggies and foods. This is not where you have many carbs to play with and the bars, shakes and other processed carbs can easily undo the efforts to stay low. Atkins starts out ketogenic and ups the carbs over time and slowly until you find the number of carbs it takes to lose weight and eventually to maintain weight.

Moderate low carb diets are often easier to sustain for most people. The paleo types rely on eating only whole foods: meats, veggies grown above ground, eggs, nuts, seeds and fruits and honey in limited amounts. Grains, dairy, root veggies, legumes are not eaten. The premise behind it is that IF you can eat it raw as it is grown (without processing), without cooking, it is edible. It is okay to cook the food, the premise is just the help in selecting foods. Dairy is hotly debated, but the principle is that man didn't consume milk until the agricultural stage, when keeping livestock first came into practice. Primal allows dairy.

Common problem area's for low carbers is processed foods, like sugar free products. Commercially prepared low carb versions of high carb foods like tortilla, cookies, breads, etc can keep those cravings alive, even at a lower carb count. Too many low carb desserts can stall weight loss.

I prefer a mixture of paleo and ketogenic. I do go as low in carb count as I can and stay in ketosis most of the time. I do have dairy and wine. I try to stick mostly with whole foods cooked from scratch. However I am also flexible and make the best choices I can with what the circumstances present.

Hope you find the right combination for your successful weight loss journey!

There are many, many types of low carb, the best one is the one that matches your philosophy and eating preferences. If you like convenience foods,

Hi Onesmallbowl!

I think it must vary between people a lot. When i did go lower, we were told to keep our carbs below about 60g a day and i still got a fairly high reading on the ketostick when i was doing that. I accidently ate about 14g one day and felt awful, like a was having another carb withdrawal but much much worse, so maybe there are different levels.

I'm with you on the processed food, one of the big advantages of going low carb is that you end up eating far less processed food. Why oh why is it all so bad for a low carb diet! I have banned myself from beige food completly as this seems to cover all the big bad ones!

Bug X

I'm on day 5 of the Go Lower diet. I have to say that I am not feeling hungary but I crave carbs!! When I sleep I dream of going into a cake shop and eating lots of cakes but cant feel satisfied. I'm hoping that I will lose this want. Otherwise I'm feeling ok, little headachy, drinking lots of water!! Pam x

It should get better, you will probably crave somethings but i find that when i go off diet i crave the blood sugar stability and control more. plus knowing that i will need to go through the initial withdrawal again puts me of going off!

I dream of food all the time. Last night i ate loads of pizza (in the dream) and felt guilty while still dreaming! i can't even enjoy dream carbs! At least it has put me off eating pizza today.

dieting is a constant balance between the immediate desire and the long term goal. The immediate desire is to eat chocolate for example but you know you will regret it afterwards and even more the next weigh in. On the otherhand i get a kick when i have had a good day and feel proud.

X