Low Carb (again)
 

Anyone want to join me and Aden? We've started out this morning. We both want to lose about 20kg's, so we figure if we support each other this should be the way to go. I expect Aden will drop his weight pretty quickly now footy season is starting back. He'll be getting at least 3, maybe 4 solid cardio sessions in each week, plus some weights training. I wont be going so hard on the exercise simply because I just don't have time. I am hoping to get the pram out and get walking a bit more now that the kids and I have a decent routine set up. I have found the low carb/atkins type diet option to be the best for me and I will lose at least 1kg a week if I stick to my guns with it.

So, who's with me? Anyone? Trilby maybe? We could do it together and encourage each other like the last time (when I got pregnant and it all went balls up for me :( ). Might be something to focus on outside of your current worries?

Anyway, I'm ready to go! Time to get back to the old me finally. After 15 or so years!

I'm with the program for weight loss, although not Atkins specifically. Cutting out refined carbs for sure, and cutting down on grains, but not doing the high fat/animal fat part. However, I need to lose the steroid weight I gained during chemo (what an insult!!!) and am starting back at the gym tomorrow.

I want my body back! I'm on board.

Yay!

Ali--I would LOVE to do it with you but my current financial situations dictates otherwise.


Plus, with all I've been reading about meat lately---I'm thinking of becoming a vegetarian. Not a nut who doesn't eat cheese but probably NOT eggs and not meat. but I do like the adkins shakes/bars.

I wish you both luck.


ortho---I know the pain of steroid weight all too well. AND I sat on the couch for a year while I had chemo so, truly, you are a wonder to me. I had many, many breakdowns and cried for no reason and felt so lonely. You are an inspiration but I can't figure out how you're doing it. You're so strong, woman!

I hear you! And I didn't have Adriamycin, which was an extra misery for you. Everybody's experience is different, and probably each time too for those unlucky enough to have to do this more than once. I'm dreading the tamoxifen part of this (supposed to start March 20). I don't even know if I'll do it.

I'm basically a vegetarian, mostly vegan - the odd organic egg white in a salad, and some fish now and then. I've lost my taste for meat. It's interesting how tastes change, takes about three weeks to stop craving things.

You don't have to buy special foods and bars, Tril. Maybe keep tabs here anyway? I'm starting very slowly at the gym; between chemo fatigue and the fact that I get a migraine if I push my heart rate up too far, I'll be a pathetic figure there among the 18 year olds (at the university fitness center).

Be careful with that atkins stuff Ali, I've been hearing all kinds of scary stuff about low carb, high protein diets lately.

So, how do we do this? Check in about the day's menu? Activity? Difficulties encountered?

Usually just a discussion thread about good and bad stuff to do with how it's going. Sharing recipes. Offering encoutagement. Pretty broad terms of reference really. lol. I just started a thread so i can centralise my own thought on it, and hopefully have a couple of sidekicks. Lola was with us last time too. I think she's doing ok on her own now though. :)

Dana, what have you heard?

I've been keeping track of calories etc. on myfitnesspal.com - it does help keep me realistic about portions and food types. For example, sushi is NOT a diet food! And I can see how well a huge healthy salad stacks up in the nutrients and calories department.

I got to the gym today, and wow - it's going to be small steps. Cardio feels like I'm struggling uphill wearing a 60 lb backpack. I could only do 12 minutes, then a few low weights and some limited abs. However, it's a place to start.

Small victories ... I got in and out of the grocery store without buying an apple fritter (my Saturday morning downfall)! I thought about no refined sugar and made myself steer my cart away from the donut case ... two or three times. I really, really wanted one, but did NOT succumb (this time). :)

I will be going back to mfp too. I found it invaluable.

Greek yogurt (plain and non-fat) with thawed frozen blueberries and chopped almonds!

Pretty much my workday breakfast. High protein, good carb and good fat.

I can't find the damned article now. There was some actor or celeb who got himself into a bit of a state on one of the extreme low carb diets which spawned a bunch of news reports about low carb diets generally.

Apparently there's some thought that it might cause or maybe just exacerbate undiagnosed heart disease. Something to do with the arteries.

As I recall the advice was not to do the more extreme end of that diet type, but to temper it a little.

Which sort of makes sense to me. I don't think extremes of any kind are good for you.

The danger with no-carb diets is that you can end up with too high of a percentage of protein, and this can lead to ketosis, which is where your body starts breaking down protein for energy instead of glucose, which is hard on the kidneys, among other things.

When people say "carbs" they mean grains and sugars, but in actuality, there are carbohydrates in almost all foods, including fruits and veggies. But plant carbs break down differently in the body, so they're not the same kind of empty-calorie carbs that people are trying to avoid with what they call no/low-carb diets. Your body must have carbohydrates in some form, or it goes into ketosis.

If you read the entirety of Atkins' advice, you are supposed to replace bread-carbs with lots of veggies, and people who are just starting out are advised to regularly check their urine with Ketostix (available over-the-counter, used primarily by diabetics) to make definitely sure their diet is properly balanced and they are not in ketosis. But most people don't learn the complete rules of the diet; they just hear the part where they shouldn't eat bread, and decide they'll eat a pile of pork chops for dinner every night instead, easy peasy.

Bottom line, protein should be no more than about 25% of any diet. (And ideally part of that should be nuts/legumes instead of all meat, but that's a different issue.) As long as you're replacing all your eliminated grain/sugar carbs with fruit and veggies, you should be fine.

I'm sure there was something to do with the heart too... can't find it now...there was something about it on the radio ...and the bbc site. I happened upon the story whilst scanning headlines. Damnit it was only a couple of weeks ago. I jave a memory like a fucking sieve.

Tried googling it, all I'm getting is stuff from 2009 though. Maybe I dreamt it.

The goal of part of the Atkins program, the induction phase, is actually to put you into ketosis. It's not a healthy place to be, as Clod says. You do lose weight but unless you eat quite a lot of healthy complex carbs your biochemistry really goes out of balance. Most people do eat too much saturated and animal fat on the diet (and Atkins never specified not to, just said to always eat full fat rather than reduced-fat foods) and that increases the risk of cardiovascular disease among other things.

It all depends on how it's done. The 'no refined sugar-no white flour' diet is a healthier version of Atkins, cutting out refined carbs but allowing any whole food (in reasonable portions). The big thing is to include a variety of plant-based whole foods, most of them with lots of color and fiber (i.e. cruciferous vegetables and greens in preference to white potatoes), leave out the refined carbs (those apple fritters!), and as Clod says, include nuts and legumes as protein sources. Although every food has protein - you don't have to go overboard on the legumes if they don't agree with you. Eating a variety of whole foods, it's almost impossible to get too little protein.

Some stuff about it here on the American heart assoc.

http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/Gettin...89_Article.jsp

When I say low carb, I mean a whole food diet packed with lots of green vegies and lean protiens. If anything, doing a low carb diet actually increases my intake of fresh raw vegies in the form of salads, and that's got to be good.

I do usually have a nasty breakfast of bacon and eggs with fried mushrooms, but i balance it a bit by having it on top of a pile of baby spinach and grated carrot. It's a reasonably nutritious breaky if I poach the eggs and dry fry the bacon.

Besides that, for lunch it's normally a mostly green salad with either chicken or some kind of canned fish, and dinner is steamed veges eg. broccoli, zucchini, cauliflower, carrot, with either fish or red meat. Sometimes I might make a cheese sauce if I feel I've been pretty good on the fat intake for the day.

That'll be for the first few weeks. After that, I'll revert to untoasted muesli for breaky, either with milk or mixed into yoghurt. Either way is yummy.

For a treat for desert I might make some cheesecake type stuff using philly cheese, splenda, cream and some kind of berry. It's quick to whip up, and can satisfy that craving for something sweet in the evening.

I think it's actually a pretty healthy diet. Yes I'm dropping almost all sugar and definitely all processed carbs, but I do replace those fillers with more veges, which is ideal.

i'll try if men are allowed. i'm blown up like a tick and i need to shed some pounds quick

Can you check with ur doc first sarg? I would feel very bad if i ejcouraged you in something that might be detrimental.

Ah, that sounds pretty good Ali.

It's like I said earlier: it's the extremes that are where the danger lies. Yours sounds liek a healthy diet.

What you're doing sounds very healthy - big salad, lots of different veggies. In that context the meat or fish isn't the primary, overwhelming thing. It's the people who abandon complex carbs in favor of more fat and meat that run into trouble.

When did you start the program? Are you finding it easy to keep to? My big failing when I get hungry or stressed is carb cravings. I want that apple fritter!

I crave breads! Plus it seems to be the only thing that doesn't make me sick. Oh, and don't forget the Sierra Mist

I'm trying to stay away from wheat. Something to do with my liver. Can't remember what.
I'm not being very strict, but I'm not eating pasta, bread, potatoes (not wheat!) or any number of the things I used to.

And I'm not craving. Which really surprises me. Then again, I've been on this since November and went through that period where I was barely eating at all. They may have broken the cycle.

Dani are you thinking of Ashton Kutcher playing Steve Jobs?
He ended up in hospital by trying to get into character following Jobs' vegan/ fruitarian/ sometimes even wackier diet.

Sarge, if I paint my body parts with fruit will that stimulate your appetite ;)

yes!!!! Thankyou!!!! That's what it was:)

I'm expecting Sarge'll say the same ;)


Sent by thought transference

Baby, I'd become the best vegetarian in the world. :blush:

I'm not sure I could manage a cucumber though...

*snort*

Girl, I can provide the cucumber. You can handle the rest of the salad!

Are we still checking in re being on the program? If so, I fell WAYYY off the program last night. I had a reason but ... it doesn't get me any closer to my goal.

Any suggestions for what to do other than eat too much and drink wine when bad, upsetting things happen? I wish I would LOSE my appetite when upsetting things happen. Hell, I'd be a supermodel.

(I have gone to the gym each day now for four days. That should count for something but I find, when I start exercising, that I actually gain weight. I think my sore muscles take up fluid. Or something.)

Maybe it's fat converting to muscle? Also, often when you start a new program, your metabolism actually slows down because it goes into shock. That is, it tries to conserve energy. (I assume you know all this considering the field you work in ortho lol) Drink lots of water and stick to your guns. Sometimes if you do fall off the wagon, you can always do a day of straight protein, but I wouldn't worry too much about it unless you want to be dead serious. Just do an extra 15 mins on the treadmill instead. You'd probably be better off. ;)

For my part, Aden and I have been going solidly for 5 days now. So far so good. I probably should have timed the start better though. I got my period two days ago, and it's a bit rough coping with the normal headaches etc from that on top of my body screaming at me about sugar. :( Just taking it easy atm mostly though. I'll get through it. Aden is going great guns and is very motivated about everything, so it's nice for me as a parent to watch. :)

http://www.lafigaproject.com/

I saw some performances by them last year at the Seattle Erotic Art Festival. It was mouth watering.

Something interesting I just found out, although I sort of had an understanding before. Another reason not to switch carbs for extra fat in your diet is that your body will use those ingested fats for fuel before it burns stored fat - which is of course the goal of low carb diets - so, there's another great reason to load up on extra veges instead of extra fat. :)