Probably OT: What do you hate about Low Carb eating?

[portiemom]

Thanks Vader, I'm going to see if I can download it to my Nook!

[Lizistired]

Can anyone recommend an easy book or program to start a low or no carb diet. Sugar and Carbs are my diet choices, mostly because my father was a butcher back in the day so meat and poultry have always been hard for me, that said I am ready to bite the bullet (or the beef, chicken, pork, fish etc.) I feel so awful all the time and now that I've got the correct machine, mask, and last night the pillow, I'm ready to take the plunge. Any advice is most welcome.

If you are interested in why and how it works, the history and science behind it try, Gary Taubes' "Why we get fat and what to do about it". It's the trimmed down version of his "Good Calories, Bad Calories".
He also has several presentations on youtube.com.

[DocWeezy]

And another book if you're a bread addict:

Wheat Belly by William Davis, MD


Every time I think about giving in and eating wheat ("just one bite!"), I think about this book....or re-read parts of it. Good information about what grains do to our bodies. Reading this even made me give up my Rye Krisp (which I thought I was doing OK with.....not.....).

And I second the suggestions for Eades' books and of course, Taubes. It helps to understand what's going on behind the scenes and Taubes' books are really good for that, alone with Eades.

[macewa]

I really have an addiction to high carb food. I went two years doing a modified Atkins and was skinny, but the moment I thought that maybe one dinner with carbs would be okay, I was off and running - gained back every pound and more. It's kinda like cigarettes - one and you're gone. Just can't touch them. And even if I count calories, my body just does not metabolize high carbs properly. Problem is right now, I've lost 20 pounds not eating high carbs and I crave them. LOL

Once you figure out that wheat and sugar are addictive, it gets easier. I can prove what I just stated. I say quit eating wheat products and sugar and you have a strong reaction to that.

This is true! I keep thinking about carbs! I could never feel that way about a vegetable. Maybe a bit about meat or chicken if I knew I was giving them for good. But even knowing that I probably haven't given up carbs for good, I am thinking about them, longing for them, fantasizing about them...

[JeffH]

http://www.robbwolf.com/

He has a shopping list you can down load for free and a food matrix. He is pretty hard core in that he says go grain, legume, and dairy free for 30 days and see how you feel. THEN after 30 days of clean eating, add a few things back in and see how you feel.

I've also read and agree with Taubes and Davis's books.

It works, if you do it.

JeffH

[RocketGirl]

What I hate about "low carb" anything is the name. It is a less-than-useless moniker because there is too much variation in what a carb really is, and that makes some people restrict healthful foods, and makes other people think they can't do "low carb" at all because of other dietary restrictions. There are people who will tell you broccoli is off limits because "it's a carb" - and no, they didn't do their research. Lots of people don't, and they miss out on essential nutrients because of it.

I have been told multiple times by registered dietitians that I can't succeed at "low carb" because I am a vegetarian - and that, frankly, is ignorant bunk. I also have known more than one person who touted his low-carb diet while eating an entire pound of bacon for breakfast, and who wondered why "low carb" didn't work for him in losing weight.

And then there are those dietitians who insist that low carb eating is bad for you - because they don't know or care about the subtext, and so they stick stubbornly to their world-view that eliminating grain is not helpful, and is in fact harmful. (Heard one of those on NPR last week. It was appalling.)

Isn't what most people mean when they say "low carb" really "free from junk food, grains, and simple starches"? If people just called it that, who would argue against the healthfulness of it or spread misinformation about it?

Micro-rant over.

By the way, you can make a cracking good sandwich by using a nice big leaf of soft lettuce, like Boston, as the wrap around your filling of choice.

[BoomersRock]

Josephs makes some great flax pitas..can't remeber carb count but low. Stay fresh along time too.

[nmevan]

popcorn?
good?
bad?
simple carb?
whole grain?
mindless chomping delight?
god I love popcorn.
someone please say something good

[Lizistired]

Isn't what most people mean when they say "low carb" really "free from junk food, grains, and simple starches"? If people just called it that, who would argue against the healthfulness of it or spread misinformation about it?Micro-rant over.

By the way, you can make a cracking good sandwich by using a nice big leaf of soft lettuce, like Boston, as the wrap around your filling of choice.

Ditto on all you said.
That's all I tell people. "I cut out starches, grains, processed foods and sugars, (like Grandma said to do).
I tell them to listen to Taubes on youtube. If they don't... Oh well.
I HAVE eaten an entire pound of bacon for breakfast and not gained weight! An avocado is quicker!
I like romaine for a sandwich wrap, but I do kind of miss sandwiches.
I'm listening to Wheat Belly again. I'ts interesting info.

[JeffH]

popcorn?
good?
bad?
simple carb?
whole grain?
mindless chomping delight?
god I love popcorn.
someone please say something good

Grain, therefore, bad

[Janknitz]

I never say I'm on a low carb diet these days. That translates into most people's brains as "oh, the all fat and meat diet", or "that high protein diet". Neither is true.

So I say I'm cutting out sugars, starches, and grains. Most people just nod their heads, and the common response is "oh, I could never live without my bread." I usually don't bother to argue with them--I can and do live without bread, quite comfortably.

If you're really missing bread for sandwiches, google "oopsie rolls". I've never tried them (don't like sandwiches, don't miss bread), but people swear by them to be able to have a bread like object for sandwiches. I like "un-sandwiches"--the sandwich fillings on a plate or in a bowl, sometimes over a lettuce salad. I did this before low carbing, too, I was never a big bread fan (though I love baking bread!).

[Slartybartfast]

Next time you drop into McDonald's, ask for their burger "without the bun." They should give it to you with everything BUT the bun on a salad plate.
Same thing with Carls' Jr (Hardee's). They have low-carb burgers. The low-carb guacamole turkey burger is great. Comes tightly wrapped in iceberg lettuce. It's a little messy, but what good burger isn't? What always amuses me is when I order one of their burgers "low-carb," they always ask, "you want fries and a drink with that?" They don't get it, do they?
In-N-Out burger also has low-carb burgers. I expect most any fast food eatery is familiar with folks like us that ask to hold the bun.

In the Western states, we have Winco Foods. Sort of like a Costco-sized grocery store. Great prices on everything. Picked up a big package of rib-eye steaks that cost about $4/lb and barbecued them one night. Ate a couple, put the rest in a sealed tupperware container under a layer of sauteed onions (sauteed in coconut oil and 'shrooms) that kept them moist. Ate off them the rest of the week.

BTW were Winco to have a presence everywhere I expect Larry the Cable Guy would stop harping on the physical attirbutes of the folks who can be found prowling the aisles in WalMart and switch to Winco Foods. Scary. Saw a 500 lb. fellow in a fat-scooter (he had an impressive gut on him and couldn't walk) scooping bulk candy into bags. Ripe candidate for a low-carb Intervention.

Wife and I noticed that the place is so big there are definable zones, each inhabited by people that, well, look different from each other. The folks shopping in the packaged/processed foods are obese. The folks in the produce and meat areas, not so much. Families predominated among the shoppers in the dairy zone. Were one a nutrition major looking for a senior thesis, I think one could correlate body type with frequency of appearance in certain sections of the store.

[chunkyfrog]

I order a roast chicken foot long --extra chicken, and the GOOD cheese;
Then I have them LOAD it with lots of spinach, tomatoes, etc.
I eat half of it at my desk with a fork and spray ranch dressing;
(I toss the bread--it's poison to T2's)
I refrigerate the remainder, and bring it back with a couple leaves of romaine
--and no bread---The birds get that.

[JeffH]

I never say I'm on a low carb diet these days. That translates into most people's brains as "oh, the all fat and meat diet", or "that high protein diet". Neither is true.

So I say I'm cutting out sugars, starches, and grains. Most people just nod their heads, and the common response is "oh, I could never live without my bread." I usually don't bother to argue with them--I can and do live without bread, quite comfortably.

If you're really missing bread for sandwiches, google "oopsie rolls". I've never tried them (don't like sandwiches, don't miss bread), but people swear by them to be able to have a bread like object for sandwiches. I like "un-sandwiches"--the sandwich fillings on a plate or in a bowl, sometimes over a lettuce salad. I did this before low carbing, too, I was never a big bread fan (though I love baking bread!).

My favorite is a real food diet. Like the other night when I had a steak and asparagus. That's what I had....steak and asparagus. No crap in a box. I don't eat anything that has a long list of ingredients. That's a sure sign that the food companies scientist have been up to no good.

JeffH

[Lizistired]

My favorite is a real food diet. Like the other night when I had a steak and asparagus. That's what I had....steak and asparagus. No crap in a box. I don't eat anything that has a long list of ingredients. That's a sure sign that the food companies scientist have been up to no good.

JeffH

That's how I have ditched sandwiches. They were always a favorite in the summer. Subway too.
Now I can't get past the ingredients labels on the processed meats. If I'm going to cook a roast or a chicken at home, I'll just eat it.