Thread: Started sw but afraid of carbs.

Hello everyone started slimming world last week was on a vcld which I did lose weight but put in back on and more, so trying to do it slowly and sensible now. Still got it in my mind to stay away from carbs, so I have been sticking to Red days. My consultant said that is fine as red and green were the original plans and a lot of people still follow them.
But i haven't told her i have become afraid of carbs. So a typical day for me is prawn, broccoli omelette, chicken stir fry no noodles and fish salad on evenings. I want to eat potato, pasta rice or bread but I am so afraid. I won't eat much fruit either but lots veggies and salad.
I know I,m being silly but I can't do it. How did I mentality get to this, I am so annoyed with myself.
Dolly x

Hi! You're not alone - carbs have become scary for a lot of people! Try to build some into your diet gradually - you'll be surprised that your weight loss continues steadily and that eating carbs may even boost your losses. I used to be a SW consultant and I used to tell my members to have at least 2 green days a week to ensure that they were getting plenty of fibre and starch for energy - their losses nearly always increased!

I know it can be difficult to change your mindset, but take it one day at a time. I live on green days and will get to target one plate of chips at a time! Xx

I totally agree with Capri.

Is it a particular carb you are worried about? I have lost 5st 7lbs in a year, and I eat pasta and potatoes all the time, sticking to the Extra Easy principle of at least 1/3 of my plate being superfree, so you can still lose when eating carbs. I don't eat any bread at all, for the same reason you don't eat carbs I think - I love it so much that I am scared to start eating it again incase I put all the weight back on. That's a mindset I haven't got myself out of yet, but we'll see.

Could you start reintroducing carbs in small steps, starting with whatever scares you the least? Presumably on the VLCD you didn't have any carbs at all, but, being blunt, it also didn't work, if you put the weight back on when you started eating normally again. My view is that VLCD's aren't sustainable and the beauty of SW is that you can eat a bit of everything (including carbs) and still lose weight.

Take one small step at a time and you will get there!

I'm the opposite, I love my carbs, can't fill myself up enough with them. They are my best friends: pasta, rice, and couscous. I'm not big on potatoes so I just don't have them often.

It's the meat I'm afraid of, as I know I gain weight with what I call complex protein ie meat. I can eat eggs, cheese and soya without a problem. I follow only green days as both red and EE have meat and I much prefer pasta any day anyways.

I would say don't be afraid of something, try green days and see how you do. If you gain weight on mostly green days you know you're body doesn't like carbs as much and switch back to red or EE. You might find that you do much better on green days compared to Red or EE. If you gain then at least you know what you can and can't handle.

Before SW I used to cut out carbs for a quick WL so when I started I naturally stuck to red days or would revert back to a red week for a boost. If I am honest I have never seen a bigger loss with red than EE so am enjoying eating carbs now. Think it takes a little to get your head around it. Good luck x

Really interesting post as i have been slightly scared of trying green and having carbs but going to give it a bash. Green day today actually!

Thanks everyone yes it as become a mindset thing, I will try green day next week. I was ok few years ago loved my red and green days but these silly VLCD are not good, yes you lose massive amounts weight very quickly but once you start even eating an if you don't do it very slowly and properly you put it back on. This time I'm happy to go very slow 1-2 lb per week and it stay off. Nice to now in a bad way that a lot of us are carb shy. But carbs are good for us I read the only one source of food you can live on without dying is potatoes. Good luck everyone on your journey.

Originally Posted by Dolly1971

Thanks everyone yes it as become a mindset thing, I will try green day next week. I was ok few years ago loved my red and green days but these silly VLCD are not good, yes you lose massive amounts weight very quickly but once you start even eating an if you don't do it very slowly and properly you put it back on. This time I'm happy to go very slow 1-2 lb per week and it stay off. Nice to now in a bad way that a lot of us are carb shy. But carbs are good for us I read the only one source of food you can live on without dying is potatoes. Good luck everyone on your journey.

All we can do is try carbs. I absolutely love them! Good luck too hun x

I love my carbs but after doing other diets where they were quite restricted I am now more careful about how much I have despite them being free on sw.
i love potatoes, pasta and rice and I could eat mountains of them but I try to have sensible
portions now.
it will be hard converting from a low cal diet to something like sw because a lot of the time you may think on the other diet this was a bad food lol! But I think everything in moderation is good ccx

I have to stay away from pasta,potatoes,rice,bread etc as they make me bloated and I do put on weight easily when eating them.

We are all different and you have to find what suits you.

Agree its about finding what suits u best.

I did the red only diet and found myself stuck as I didn't want a massive gain when I ate carbs, but it didn't quite agree with my tum, small amounts of carbs with a healthy load of vegetables will balance it out like half plate veg, quarter carb/protein, good luck

I have found myself hungry on red days.

Interesting thread. I lost three stone on Atkins/pig to twig plans.

Long story short, I used to get acute ibs. After a lot of trial and error and medication for intestinal spasms etc it was noticed by my then house mate I suffered after pasta dinners the most. Doc said I was probably slightly wheat intolerant. So I cut white processed carbs out for two years nearly.

Have slowly re introduced them but always brown/wholewheat and the best quality I can get.

Just don't go nuts and you should be fine :-)

Made a curry so will have small amount of rice, red days do suit me but prob green day would as well but haven't tried it yet. Your right I think we have to find what foods suit us best. X