Low carb diet

A few weeks ago I made a joke (in the loosest sense of the word) on here that I was on a low carb diet and I'd eaten two chickens for lunch. I wasn't on a low carb diet, but the replies I received got me interested in the subject. After doing some research it appeared that not only was low carb a good way of losing weight, it was actually an extremely healthy diet. It' the diet humans ate for hundreds of thousands of years before the onset of agricultural farming. I read about the different types of fat and how a lot of previous advice turns out to be utter *****. I read about the benefits of eating proper free range meat, from animals that eat grass or rummage about for their food, instead of eating grain. So I thought **** it, I'll give it a go.

Before I went to America about 5 years ago I lost a significant amount of weight, but I always felt hungry and I gradually put a lot of it back on. Last year I did the same again, but my weight was creeping up again. After the first few days of this diet I didn't feel hungry at all.

I have a cooked breakfast every morning, bacon, eggs, 97% meat sausages, mushrooms, tomatoes, then eat lots of meat or fish and tons of veg for my other meals. Snacks are nuts or a piece of fruit or natural full fat yoghurt or even cheese and cold meat. The other day I had a bag of pork scratchings. I've stopped eating bread, pasta, cereals, pastry and sweet stuff and stopped drinking fruit juice. I've severely limited the amount of potatoes and rice I have in my diet, but I'll start eating more of them, along with oats, when I reach a weight I'm happy with. I didn't drink alcohol for the first 3 weeks, but I do now at weekends and I feel the effects much quicker so don't drink nearly as much.

On 6th October I weighed 13 stone 2 pounds. Today I weigh 11 stone 11 pounds. I've got more energy than I had, I don't feel hungry and I eat the kind of stuff I really enjoy rather than stuffing bread down me neck just to fill me up. I've just had a curry for breakfast which was marvellous.

Just thought I'd share, maybe help motivate someone else who might want to lose weight.

 

Yeah, but your hair is still *****.

 

True, but it's better than your beard. And I sup proper beer, you cider drinking jessie.

 

Isn't it what they call the "Paleo Diet"? http://thepaleodiet.com/

A friend of mine who used to post on here has been pestering me to try it, and like you I've heard lots of success stories about it. I'm not sure where the beer/wine in the evenings fits in though, I have a sneaking suspicion that's my problem.

Well done on losing the weight.

 

You'll lose another 11lbs

if you have the parka surgically removed.

 

Yeah, but your hair is still *****.

 

Low carb diets are good over a short period. I use them for getting into shape before holidays. Over the long term though, and now is an ideal time as you've lost the weight. It would be much more beneficial to you to get into the habit of eating a balanced diet and exercising regularly.

 

Yup, more or less, although I don't stick to it to the letter. I'm not so strict. I've found that I can still lose weight with a glass or two of wine and a few beers at the weekend. I doubt I would if I drunk them every night.

 

Re: You'll lose another 11lbs

It'll be on tonight. Marvel at its glory.

Truth be told, I hate the ******* thing, but the b'stard still looks brand new and it's warm as hell, so I can't justify buying another winter coat. It's heavy enough to break the back of a weaker man.

 

After I've lost a couple more pounds I intend to bring rice, oats and potatoes in to my diet and eat pasta and bread sparingly, probably treats at the weekend.

I walk at least three miles a day which is plenty exercise for me.

 

You're dead right. I try to stay dry during the week but my bar steward "friends" keep ringing up with the usual line "fancy a quick pint?".

 

Sounds good to me. Try bringing in sweet potato to your diet too. I won't bore you with the science but if you look them up In reference to the glycemic index you'll see the benefits.

 

All good reading, and one of the many weight threads I have watched with interest.
Up until my early 30's, I could not pass 13 3/4 stone if I tried. Then I started a family and changed job and boy have things changed since. Now I can't get under 16st for trying, but can quite easily accelerate past 17st with little effort.
Low carb has always interested me since the Atkins days. His way was a little OTT in my opinion but the basic premise was right.
2 things stand out in Jays thread, which are absolutely true. The word "Fat". America convinced the world in the post-war years that eating FAT made you FAT. And the commercial world latched onto that and a Low-fat industry worth billions ensued. The fact is, eating the right amounts of the right fat will not make you FAT. It is the fuel our ancestors were designed to burn. If you store fat, you "can" gain weight. So by eating carbs, your body will use these as fuel, and the fat (even if it is good, animal fat) will be stored. And carbs become addictive. Your body gets used to them and refuses to burn fat as it expects, and needs Carbs. It's a vicious cycle. And America replaced fat with sugar, and that has far worse consequences on the obesity front ! ! ! Sugar is the problem, not fat.
Also ..... bread (white) and beer contain crappy carbs. A hell of a lot of mens bodies really don't like this wheat type crap. Beer bellies are'nt caused by beer intake amounts, they are caused by the intolerance to the carbs. So the liklihood is for me, that there is a wheat type intolerance there.
So if I cut out white bread, and beer ..... I can lose the bulk fairly quickly. Combined with the cycling, this keeps me quite fit. If I could take eating a bit more seriously, and be disciplined in my approach, then I would be an international athlete, cos approaching 49 I am the fittest bloke I know for my age. I just don't look it

 

Jay,
You might want to try the reheated pasta trick as well.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-29629761

 

^ True ^

 

There's nothing wrong with carbs at all. In fact your body needs them to function properly. The problem is the types of carbs that most people eat these days (processed, simple, white carbs - aka sugar).

Simple fact is that you don't need bread, pasta, rice, sugar. Also these simple carbs contain little or no nutritional value to support your body's processes.

Vegetables contain carbs. As do fruits. You can get all of your carbs from veg and fruit whilst also getting stacks of nutrition which improves your overall health at the same time. You win twice.

Also, the 60:40 carbs to protein balance is so outdated. Protein is great as a basis for your diet but if you get your carbs from fruit and veg and consume with protein, the protein slows the absorption of the already complex carbs allowing the nutrients to enter your system. You win thrice.

 

being a regular nightshift worker i was eating a large meal at work and that was it.
now have 4 small meals a day.....breakfast is a must,to start the fire,ie burning calories.
knocked bread in the head....go to gym once a week for a hour..............................lost 2 stone 3lb in 12 weeks.
working for me but everyone is different.............good luck to all trying.

 

You should speak to my dad about this!! Both me and mi favver are type 1 diabetics. A low carb diet is by far the easiest way to control blood sugars, He bought a book by a Dr Bernstein (Cant remember his first name) and has sworn by it since. He is always eating, Be it nuts or certain fruits as well has his meals, His bloods are near enough perfect. His diabetic nurse has said she doesnt want to see him because his bloods are the levels of a non diabetic!!!

He has mi mam making him cakes and biscuits and stuff with this special 'sugar' that isn't sugar and isn't a bulk sweetener. Only problem is its abart 8 quid a bag. Ha Ha.

Low carb works though. Definatly - Yet when you mention it to some folk tho they look at you like you are talking in latin!!

 

I stopped reading at "cut out beer"

 

While eating healthily is good, there is no miracle to weight loss. It's all the simple equation of if calories in < calories out you lose weight.

You can eat donuts and pizza all day every day, and whilst there may be other health complications that arise, if you only eat 2200 calories of donuts and pizza you will lose weight. The problem is that people aren't honest to themselves about what they eat, and also that **** food tends to be a lot more calorie dense than healthy food, meaning you will eat a lot more calories in the same volume of food.

A balanced diet with an eye on calories will always lead to you losing weight. Low carb isn't exactly towards the "mental" end of diets, but neither is it strictly necessary to lose weight. It works well for a lot of people because protein and fat are filling and provide sustenance for hours rather than processed carbs causing a quick spike in blood sugar then a precipitous drop. This makes people hungry again a lot quicker, and they eat more calories. It's not generally the carbs in their purest sense making them fat, it's the fact that the carbs didn't fill them properly so they then eat snacks.