Carbs

Lostris

Serena's title didn't fit
I was just wondering since my CDC is quite adamant about me eating less carbs, do carbs make you gain weight?

I'm in maintenance now and find my weight fluctuates in very weird ways and just trying to find out why. I think it may be carbs but.. :confused:

I know you regain glycogen and... all that but do you keep regaining it when you introduce more carbs into your diet? (Obviously not due to overeating carbs etc but a normal level of carbs)

Coz if so, I do need to cut down in carbs again...

I'm just confused. :p

x
 
Hi Lostris

I dont think you keep regaining weight due to carbs themselves. Yes there will be a weight gain when your glygogen stores re fill. This will be a few pounds of water. But once filled again thats it.

However the thing with carbs are they lead you to eat more calories than your body needs. They dont fill you up as much as fat or protien and may cause you to overeat. After eating carbs our bodies release insulin to process the starch(sugar). When this is done our blood sugar levels, which were raised due to eating carbs, fall quickly leaving us feeling tired and in need of another sugar hit. Its my opinion that carbs are very addictive and if eaten in any quantity that addiction becomes stronger.

Some people believe that there are good and bad carbs. Good carbs would be wholegrains, oats, brown rice and pasta. These foods have a lower Glycemic Index(GI) than white flour, sugar etc as they dont pass into the blood stream so quickly. However personally I'm not sure about this.

I also think if you are a fairly active person you can get away with eating more carbs. However if your body does not use the energy from carbs it is stored as fat.

I hope I haven't confused you anymore than you were already.

Jac
 
Hi

Thanks for the detailed info! Not confusing at all! I am not very active, currently, but I plan to go to the gym 2x a week for 2hours... but, because I'm currently sick (been for a while now :() I can't do much that's more intense than walking.

Just went for a long walk with roommate which is lovely as I really needed it. Think I will be going for walks more myself :) She told me this website on which you can calc the calories of you walking from x to x.

Anyway, getting of course.. I think I see what you mean, thanks for the explanation :)

xx
 
Yes, as Jac says, carbs wont make you put on weight any more than fat or protein. The only way you put on fat (which is all that matters really) is to eat more calories.

By the way, if you work out how many calories you get from walking, make sure it takes into account how much you would burn doing nothing. If it doesn't you will need to deduct that :)
 
You have to fill in your weight for it to calculate it... so I think it does somehow calc that... Maybe hahah.

Confusing stuff tho :)

x
 
Hiya,
The other day I fell off 810 wagon as I had run out of CD bars (CDC was on hols & didn't bring enough supplies last time I saw her to cover the break) and was out working all day, far from home, & not even with a 'base' to mix up a shake. After a full-on morning I was tired & hungry & in this small town, no good options for a veggie CD-er hoping to avoid carbs... to cut long story short I chose a baked spud with baked beans in Tesco. (I know, I know.)

I couldn't eat it all... tasted so bland & not nice. But all afternoon I was ravenous and had the worst ever evening once I did get back home, had to keep myself out of kitchen & finally had two shakes to try & shut down the hunger pangs. Sounds crazy, but I am blaming that spud... it made me hungry in a way that quorn & green veg never could.

So... no clever answers at all, but I know carbs are a danger point for me and will maybe always need to be watched & taken in moderation! Would rather do that than feel hungry all the time for 'more carbs'.
xxx
 
but I am blaming that spud... it made
So... no clever answers at all, but I know carbs are a danger point for me and will maybe always need to be watched & taken in moderation!

Hang on though. The potato would have taken you temporarily out of ketosis, and you would be having the effects of a low calorie diet along with the hunger that can accompany it. You may find that when you are eating maintenance calories, you wont be so hungry after a potato.

Protein is the satiety nutrient for most people, but it's getting the balance.
 
Thanks KD... there is hope yet!!! That actually makes a lot of sense... I was feeing a bit pathetic for being scared of a lil' ol' spud, as well. I was trying to make the best choice but maybe an egg sandwich would have been better? I could have just eaten the filling maybe! The moral I guess is to not let yourself be without supplies... this has only happened to me once before and it created the same panic, mostly I over-buy as my CDC can be erratic and also I work away a fair bit, so it takes a bit of planning.

But thanks for the explanation... I am still on 810 so letting the carbs back in the next task ahead, however, need to get closer to target before I am up for that challenge.

Your pics are AMAZING KD, really inspiring, and it's nice to know who I have been taking to this last few months!

xxx
 
I was trying to make the best choice but maybe an egg sandwich would have been better? I could have just eaten the filling maybe!

:D sounds good. A breadless sandwich. I know some low carbers make their sandwiches with lettuce leaves on the outside. Having said that, I tend to try to have some protein with carbs, and you did do that with the beans.

There's evidence that if you've been without/reduced a food group for a while, including it again can cause a water gain and other side effects (IBS symptoms, bloating etc). Not just glycogen gain. I'll spare you the science cos it's too early :D

Some people will be without wheat, then introduce it and the body goes temporarily wild They assume they are intolerant of wheat and cut it out for life, when in many cases, if they continued they may well find that it settles down again. Same goes for carbs

Your pics are AMAZING KD, really inspiring, and it's nice to know who I have been taking to this last few months!

xxx
Thanks Katy :)
 
Hi Katy

I got told some useful information once re carbs/cals in relation to a bagel.

If you are on a low calorie diet the conventional choice would be a fat free plain bagel with salad.
However if you were doing a GI diet it would be better to have that bagel and salad with cream cheese and salmon as the fat and protein in the cheese and fish would balance out the sugar in the bagel. Sure it would have more cals than a bagel with salad but it would be more filling and stop you being hungry later therefore you eat less calories overall.
If you were low carbing you would ditch the bagel and just have the salad, cheese and fish. This has the same amount of cals as the bagel with salad but keeps you going even longer than the bagel with cheese and salmon as you stay in ketosis.

Not straightforward is it!

Jac
 
No... head starting to ache!!! But thanks Jac. I think I come unstuck as I can't have meat or fish, and low carb is not easy for veggies as quorn, my lifeline protein food, is never to be seen in cafe!!!! My options in that Tesco cafe were wilting cheese/egg sandwiches or macaroni cheese or baked spud... I got what I thought would be the healthiest, but you are so right, so many different ways to weigh it up... Actually, drinking a latte might have been the best thing! I did NOT like that being knocked out of ketosis feeling... but at least now I know what happened!
xxx
 
Pretty interesting stuff coming out of my 'omg I gained weight carbs are le-evil'-thread :)

x
 
I know... sorry Lostris!!! That baked potato really scared me... I was all for agreeing that carbs are evil, but KD & Jac have calmed me down a little... phew!!!
lots of love,
The Scary Spud Eater
xxx
 
I know... sorry Lostris!!! That baked potato really scared me... I was all for agreeing that carbs are evil, but KD & Jac have calmed me down a little... phew!!!
lots of love,
The Scary Spud Eater
xxx

Ohhh no worries, wasn't an accusation just a 'oh , wow, never thought it could go this way'-surprise-comment :p

xxx for you Scary Spud Eater :D
 
It makes me sad:cry: I love carbs I love pasta and bread and potatoes I love love love them more then all the chocolate and sweets in the world. If they can put man on the moon and clone a sheep why can't they make carb free potatoes bread and pasta lol:cry:
Love emma xxx
 
I'll second that... and add in fat & cal-free chocolate too... sigh. In our dreams!

Good to know that the carb-curfew is not forever, though, so thanks for this thread which has made it all much clearer... learning all the time! And the further I get with Cd the less I want to add choc back into the picture, truly, so maybe having carbs again one day is a good trade off for saying no to the chocolate demon...
xxx
 
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