Anyone low carbing it?

bcgal00

bcgal00

Active member
Good to see a forum for weight loss/health. I did WW for yrs and lost the weight but always had problems with bloating, discomfort, etc until I went low carb about 3 mths ago. I don't eat much sugar, am gluten free and only eat a bit of GF flour products, no white rice or flour and little potatoes. I eat more fat and savory foods with lots of veggies and fruit. I feel 100% better these days. I try to keep my carbs under 60 a day. I think my diet most closely follows South Beach but I've tweaked it to suit my lifestyle.

Anyone else eat low carb?
 
I don't, but I'm leaning toward it. I'm really trying to lose weight right now. I've been on a salad kick and I've been jogging/hiking a bit since March, but it doesn't seem to be working. I haven't lost any weight the past 3 months! UGH. I'm thinking of joining WW or Jenny Craig.

Were you able to keep the weight off after WW (except for the bloating)??
 
Twice I lost 25-40 lbs but then put it back on. The past 2 yrs I've kept it steady, within 5 lbs or so but had headaches, bloating, stomach flab, occasional upset stomach cramps and gastro problems. I went off wheat and noticed a difference within less than a wk. So went gluten free. Felt better but still had some bloating and flabby stomach even though I work out 2-3 times a wk with weights and doing core exercises, plus going to zumba. So then I read about lower carb diets and tried it about 3 mths ago. For me, that was the golden ticket. I dropped another 5 lbs, started burning off the stomach flab and feel better with more energy, no stomach problems and don't have the crazy food cravings that I used to get. It is definitely the best diet for me. I don't each much sugar, GF flour, rice or potato and eat much cleaner than I ever used to (very little packaged foods), eat tons of veggies and a moderate amount of fruit. I eat chocolate, but usually dark chocolate and don't use artificial sweeteners (use Stevia, plant based sweetener) in my coffee/tea. I buy Stevia flavored liquid to put a few drops in my water and find I drink a ton more water now b/c I enjoy it more. My daughter had packed on about 20 lbs once she hit her late 20's and hadn't been able to lose it. She got a gym membership to go with me for weight lifting and core classes so dropped a bit of weight but still remained pudgy and mid section heavy. She became very interested in my diet so she tried low carbing it for the last 6 wks or so. She's dropped 15 lbs and losing the belly flab. She's almost back to her normal weight that she was 10 yrs ago. So, yes, WW does work b/c the basic principle of calories in, calories out is the basis of any diet and they provide great support and motivation. But....I needed more. They endorse way too much processed food, artificial sweeteners, carbs and snacks and that always seemed to sabotage me eventually. But for many they do just fine on WW. Not everyone can low carb it either. It's not easy giving up some foods you love...but I was able to replace them with other foods that I love now. I eat a lot of avocado, bacon, full fat dressing (mixed with plain greek yogurt), larger portions of meat and eat a lot more beans and nuts than I ever used to. I roast chickpeas with oil and spices and love to snack on those. If you try low carbing it, be prepared to miss those carbs for the first week or two or even a bit longer but most people (like me) say they get over the craving and don't really care about carbs once they get past that initial detox. Feel free to talk here or message me if you have any questions.
 
That was great advice, thank you! I just realized I don't know your name, it's not in your intro?

I'll probably PM you after this weekend, it's DD's bday, it's been busy, busy. I want to be able to concentrate and start fresh. THANK YOU!!!
 
Have a great wkend Em and yes, chat with me anytime if you have questions about low carb. Thx for pointing out about the siggy. I put my name in the signature. I'll have to do up an image siggy over the wkend for myself.
 
Hey Rae,
My hubby and I have been low carb for almost 2 years. He's lost approximately 70 lbs and I've lost 65. It's the best thing we've ever done. :-) The most exciting thing about our new life style is that he is no longer insulin dependent for the first time in about 15 years. That has really made it all worthwhile. After experiencing a very stressful time in our lives, we both gained weight due to pure eating for comfort. We finally hit the wall one day and said, enough is enough, we need to make a change so we drastically changed our diet. We've gradually added back more carbs now but we still don't keep pasta, rice, snack foods, potatoes and other starchy veggies or anything sugary in our pantry and honestly, we really don't miss it anymore. After about 9 months, we joined our local YMCA, which has made it possible for us to get more exercise and burn off those additional carbs that we allow ourselves. Our weight loss has slowed at this point but we feel so much better.

Mashed cauliflower is our go to recipe for comfort food these days. Love that stuff. We can't imagine every going back to potatoes at this point. :)
 
Kathy - how inspiring! I'm not really missing the grains and starch now. My cravings are pretty much nonexistent now too. Low carb was the right move for me for sure.
 
Wow, Kathy!! That's awesome! It really is commitment and with your hubs doing it, too, you both can encourage each other!! WTG!!
 
bcgal00 said:
Kathy - how inspiring! I'm not really missing the grains and starch now. My cravings are pretty much nonexistent now too. Low carb was the right move for me for sure.
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I don't have cravings much anymore either, in fact most days, I have to remind myself to eat 3 meals. I've been up and down my whole life and tried all kinds of diets including weight watchers and this just worked the best for me. I finally figured out that I just don't have the metabolism to burn carbs and I feel so much better now that I've eliminated most bad carbs from my diet.
 
emscraps said:
Wow, Kathy!! That's awesome! It really is commitment and with your hubs doing it, too, you both can encourage each other!! WTG!!
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Thanks Em! It has certainly been a team effort, which makes it so much easier. And we have no children in the house so that was a plus as well. So much hard to change your diet drastically like this when you have children in the home.
 
You both have been a super motivation for me. I keep reading this thread and getting tips! Before I thought it was about low fat. I knew about the low carb, tried Southbeach once and stopped after a while....always figured that I could burn off the carbs. I guess at this age, burning doesn't happen as often or as much!

I'm going to start TODAY! Low carb...here I try! Thank you for the inspiration!!
 
I wanted to let you guys know about my FB private group called "Healthy Living Lifestyle". We're a small group, about 100, and we chat about health, fitness, diet, recipes, etc. Not everyone is low carb but a lot of us are. For any of you that want to join us, just search FB for "healthy living lifestyle" group and because there is more than one group with that name, look for the one with the red apple icon. I'd love to have some new members join my group there. We're not super chatty but we're a great diversity of ladies (no men allowed) with lots of ideas and info about our health.
 
I've not read major detail here, but... We've changed eating....
Drink half your body weight in ounces of water. Avoid gluten, ( I'm now celiac) added sugars ( they are hidden so well in processed foods...)
Plenty organic and fresh herbs and vegetables.
Finally in life I do not need to lose any weight.
Not deprived, I'm never hungry and I drink my fare share of wine ( wink)
m
 
bcgal00 said:
I wanted to let you guys know about my FB private group called "Healthy Living Lifestyle". We're a small group, about 100, and we chat about health, fitness, diet, recipes, etc. Not everyone is low carb but a lot of us are. For any of you that want to join us, just search FB for "healthy living lifestyle" group and because there is more than one group with that name, look for the one with the red apple icon. I'd love to have some new members join my group there. We're not super chatty but we're a great diversity of ladies (no men allowed) with lots of ideas and info about our health.
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I will check that out. Thanks for the heads up!
 
I finally found a recipe for low carb pizza that we really like. I've tried several with the cauliflower crust but with mixed results and most of them had a ton of cheese in the crust. This one is simply 4 cups of riced cauliflower, egg, 1/3 cup of goat cheese, and oregano. It baked off really nice and it was firm. The secret was to squeeze as much water out of the cauliflower as you can after it's cooked, which I had not been doing before. Once you bake off the crust, you then add your favorite toppings, pop it back in the oven long enough to melt the cheese and yum-o! My hubby loves it!

https://detoxinista.com/2012/01/the-secret-to-perfect-cauliflower-pizza-crust/

I have an entire board of low carb ideas on Pinterest if you want to check them out. Some I have tried and some I have not.
https://pinterest.com/kwinters/low-carb-recipes/
 
our pinterest board looks awesome, Kathy, thank you!! I guess what challenges me is that I'm not much of a cook/baker. I love snacking, but it's so hard to find off the shelf snacks. I've been eating cheese sticks and nuts. But right now I've been missing my bread!! Hopefully that craving will subside sooner than later....lol..
 
emscraps said:
our pinterest board looks awesome, Kathy, thank you!! I guess what challenges me is that I'm not much of a cook/baker. I love snacking, but it's so hard to find off the shelf snacks. I've been eating cheese sticks and nuts. But right now I've been missing my bread!! Hopefully that craving will subside sooner than later....lol..
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It's tough in the beginning but you will stop craving the bread eventually. We snacked on a lot of cheese in the beginning mostly because it was a habit to snack but now we don't eat much cheese unless it's on salad or in a recipe. We did get to the point that we stopped snacking all together simply because there really isn't much that you can snack on low carb unless it's veggies. I think helps if you eat mini meals several times a day instead of sticking to your traditional 3 meal schedule. Hubby used to love having a bowl of ice cream every night so that was a toughie for him but he switched to sugar free Jell-o so he's content. I'm not a fan of Jell-o so I just skip the notion of dessert all together. Now that we've been low carb for almost 2 years, we do treat ourselves once in awhile to ice cream, a cupcake or something we can't have but we never have it in the house. It always has to be out somewhere so we don't have leftovers for days to come. Or if we are having people over, the dessert goes home with them. Best way to keep us on track.
 
Yes, I agree, the bread craving goes away. I had a pizza (GF) last night b/c it was my hubs' birthday and that's what he wanted but I have to say it didn't hold the same enjoyment for me as it once did. I felt bloated, lethargic and a bit brain foggy for about 3 hrs after eating. Now, I would have to say that the pizza toppings were yummy but I would rather have had the toppings over some spaghetti squash or mixed with a bunch of veggies. Funny how our tastebuds can change and how our bodies react to foods. Also that night, I think b/c the carbs spiked my blood sugar so much, I was craving food all night and had to fight with myself to not eat. That is how I used to feel all the time. When I eat low carb I don't have that feeling at all.
 
Per the recommendation of my doctor, I will be starting the South Beach diet next week.
I have some health issues and I am changing some medications in the coming weeks, all of which has made my weight hard to control this past year.
I think the first weeks are going to be the hardest for me. But I am finally at that "I AM READY" point!
 
Rebecca - I've done the South Beach diet and it works well. I modified it for myself as time went on. In the beginning it's good to learn the facts, follow their guidelines closely and start to see results. As time goes on, you maybe be able to tweak the diet to your lifestyle and needs. What I like about eating low carb is that you allow a bit more fat into your diet and you feel full longer. I rarely crave food in between meals and if I do feel a bit hungry I can have a small snack and it goes away. When I used to be on a low fat diet yrs ago I was always battling hunger/cravings even though I lost weight so wasn't happy with it. Good luck and feel free to ask any questions, either here or message me. I'm happy to help.
 
I'm doing really well with it. I'm still being pretty strict on myself. and I am still walking 3 miles daily.
I've lost 20 lbs in the last 5 weeks! So I am excited about that ;)
 
Wow...that is awesome! Congrats on the weight loss! I found it tempting to cheat during the first six mths or so but after that it became natural to me to stay away from the grains and most starches that I don't even think about it much anymore and don't crave it at all.
 
I'm still pushing along on my low carb diet.
I am down 30 lbs!!! I still haven't had pasta or bread in two months and honestly I'm ok with it.
I'll eventually add them back in, but I don't want to slow down the losing just yet (I've got a ways to go). I even splurged this weekend and had a piece of cake ;)
 
I'm ready the New Atkins Book and New Atkins Cookbook. I want to drop my carbs a bit more for the next few months and drop the last 10 lbs so need to shake things up a bit more. Also need to vary my exercise routine a bit too so may start swimming a bit (indoors though b/c its cold here now).
 
I think I mentioned I'm doing south beach. They have a great website and also an app, both of which I use daily. They have a huge amount of recipes for each phase. Totally worth checking out for recipe ideas.
 
Great job Rebecca and Rae.
I am so carbohydrate challenged, that the only way I can lose weight and keep it off is to cut way back on the carbs.
I have developed an allergy to wheat, so that is something I now have no option of eating.
 
Ok, I'm not necessarily doing a low-carb thing, but it sort of ends up being low-carb simply by the nature of the way I'm eating now. I went Paleo 10 weeks ago, meaning I stopped eating ALL grain, legumes, dairy, sugars, hydrogenated oils and processed foods. The basis of my diet is now grass-fed/pastured meats, (mostly) organic vegetables cooked and pasture eggs cooked with pasture butter or organic coconut oil, with some fruit and nuts sprinkled in now and again.

After the first 9 weeks I weighed myself for the first time and I lost 27 lbs (and a full dress size)--I was shocked. Not an easy feat for me, as I've been fat my entire life. Not only do I not have to fight temptation because I am never depriving myself of food, every meal I eat is good, clean food that is fueling my body the way it craves--it's an awesome feeling.

It is definitely a lifestyle change, not just a crash diet to lose 10 lbs. I have learned so much about food and the food industries, I don't ever see myself going back to the SAD (Standard American Diet) knowing what I know now. I actually even switched my cat to being completely raw fed after reading how dry pet food is made...the DAY I read that, I stopped feeding him packaged cat food. I can't feed my cat literal garbage when I no longer eat the human version of garbage myself!

I do daily studying now on food as body fuel, how the body truly works in terms of using food, etc. If anyone ever wants some info on the Paleo lifestyle or some great yummy recipes (that are coincidentally gluten, diabetic and low-carb friendly), feel free to PM me! :)
 
Many years ago I had great results with a low carb diet (way of life). Somewhere along the road of life I've stopped thinking about carbs or counting calories. Needless to say I've packed on some extra pounds and not feeling great. Looking to get back on a low-carb diet. Good bye sandwiches for lunch every day! Hello grapefruit!
 
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