Low-carb eating - cravings

[utopiastars]

I know there are some people who follow Atkins or something similar. For health reasons I'm considering it, but I'm completely addicted to carbs and would like to know if anyone has problems with cravings, and if so how you handle it.

I guess I'm not feeling super confident about being able to do this, but my only other option is to keep feeling like crap and possibly develop diabetes.

TIA for any advice or tips you can offer!

[RedCatWaves]

I've eaten low-carb (on and off) for years. When I'm strict on it, I can lose weight like crazy. It's really the only way I can lose weight. When I'm moderate on it, I can maintain weight. Trouble is...I fall off the low-carb wagon quite often.

The trick is to get through the first 3 or so days and the carb cravings are greatly diminished. When I'm doing well on low-carb, it's when I keep a lot of low-carb snacks in the house...cheese, nuts, low-carb pudding (with real whipped cream...yum), cheesecake (homemade with crushed almond/butter crust). There are lots and lots of low-carb recipes out there for desserts. For crispy snacks, fried onions in a can are great. If you like pork rinds, they are low-carb as well.

[Csarac]

OHHH! Thanks, RCW! Good ideas - I have been playing around with a low-carb diet too since I want to shed about 10 pounds or so. I just feel better when I am not carrying around the extra weight. I work out all the time but for me, keeping my eating in check is the ONLY way I lose weight.

I love the idea of the crispy onions for a snack. Must do some research....

[Rheanna]

Ditto most of what RCW said. I can lose weight insanely well on low carb, but I have a really hard time sticking to it. I ate a lot of hard boiled eggs also. I ate a lot of eggs period, come to think of it.

I also ate a lot of salads with cheese, eggs, bacon, and full fat ranch dressing - the good stuff I didn't allow myself on low-fat diets. I ate broccoli and cheese like it was going out of style, too.

I also kept nuts, veggies with dip, string cheese and such around. The first few days are definitely the hardest. I lost about a pound a day though on average. My ex lost 35 pounds the first 3 weeks we did it. My cholesterol and triglycerides dropped, a lot, despite all the fat I ate.

Maybe I'll try this again to lose the baby weight. Hmmm. I will admit though, I missed bread and potatoes. And cereal.

[Csarac]

I mean "fried onions in the can" as a snack, not crispy onions...

[legends]

Rheanna makes a great point about fat. Don't scrimp on it, fat is very satiating. When I tried a low carb + low fat diet it sucked. There's only so much lean protein you can eat...I wouldn't feel real hunger, but I felt like I needed to eat, like I was missing something, and I just didn't want to. Really wierd.

I don't really love any specific carb foods (well, except icecream), just the convenience of them and I was used to eating them. The first three days are the worst, I think once you get past that point things will get much easier. One thing I do suggest, at least for those first days, is to avoid "fake" carb food, especially artificial sweeteners. I think you'll get over those cravings better if you go real cold turkey and avoid sweet tastes for a while.

[utopiastars]

Thanks for the ideas! A few days of bad cravings shouldn't be so tough. Maybe.

It would be nice to actually be able to lose weight. I've been holding steady at the same number for what seems like forever, no matter what I do.

I love eggs, but is it really bad to eat a lot of them? What if you take the yolks out?

[utopiastars]

Originally Posted by legends

Rheanna makes a great point about fat. Don't scrimp on it, fat is very satiating. When I tried a low carb + low fat diet it sucked. There's only so much lean protein you can eat...I wouldn't feel real hunger, but I felt like I needed to eat, like I was missing something, and I just didn't want to. Really wierd.

Do you eat red meat? Did you get the leanest ground beef? Right now I buy 96% fat free, or 93%.

[geeky]

Ditto what everyone said. I have done south beach and the first few days the cravings are bad, but once you get past that, it gets a lot easier.

[legends]

Don't take the yolks out! All the nutrition is in the yolk, and you're really going to need the fat. It's not bad to eat a lot of eggs at all.

[utopiastars]

Thanks! I'll eat egg whites, but I really like the yolks so that's good news, hee.

What about those of you with families or co-habitating... did you change everybody's diet to low-carb, or did you fix separate meals for yourself?

[legends]

Originally Posted by utopiastars

Do you eat red meat? Did you get the leanest ground beef? Right now I buy 96% fat free, or 93%.

I do eat red meat generally, but I can't remember if I ate much when I first tried that diet. I'm guessing no, because I didn't cook much then and chicken and fish were the easiest things for me to prepare.

[NetG]

I posted some comments over on your blog, too.

Make sure you're doing a healthy, maintainable low carb. You can ask your doctor's office for material on diabetic diets. They should have a LOT available, not just the flimsy pamphlets which are out. They give you an idea of what's healthy with carbs vs. giving yourself too little.

Work on portion size. Don't allow yourself no carbs - or you'll be unable to refrain. Instead, go for a sandwich with whole grain multigrain bread instead of white bread, or only allow yourself a half sandwich with white bread. Read labels - product names are meaningless!

As for carbs - remember fiber is your friend! It's a good carb. (Just don't drastically increase fiber intake at once - I've heard that can cause digestive issues because of the shock to your system!)

One of the things my mom's doctor told her when she was diagnosed w/ diabetes was - let yourself have a tiny piece of cake if you REALLY want it. If you don't, later you'll eat three huge pieces. And it's so true. Forgive yourself the times you don't keep to your diet, because if you don't the self-imposed guilt will make it harder to stick to the diet in the future!

[RedCatWaves]

I found I couldn't lose weight at all if I ate more than 20 grams of carbs a day. One piece of bread, even "whole grain" bread, and I was shot for the day. There are enough "incidental" and hidden carbs in other foods to make up that 20 grams without actually eating bread and potatoes on purpose.

And eating low-carb is automatically self-limiting, so you don't really have to worry about portion sizes. When you eat full-fat foods and proteins, you can't eat as much as you can when you eat carbs.

It's definitely hard to not eat carbs, but think of all the things you CAN eat. Whole fat foods! You can buy the whole fat cheeses and dressings, which taste so much better than the low-fat crap. One favorite of mine is to make homemade cole slaw out of a bag of shredded cabbage or shredded broccoli, and use one of those delicious whole-fat dressings from the fridge section of the produce department...like Marie's Blue Cheese. OMG...I call it pig slaw, because I belly up to that bowl like a piggy. And it's extremely low carb, so you can eat the whole bowl if you want to.

Get your fiber from dark green leafy veggies, not from whole grains or high-carb vegetables (carrots, peas, corn, etc.) Remember...when farmers want to make their pigs and cows fat, they feed them corn and grain, not grass.

[LAwoman]

Agree with advice so far.

I always made sure to eat my maximum allotment of veggies, too. I found that helped me quite a bit.

Also there is a supplement called L-glutamine that really helps with carb cravings. You can buy it at the Vitamin Shoppe, GNC, or any supplement shop like that.

I also ate a lot of salads with cheese, eggs, bacon, and full fat ranch dressing - the good stuff I didn't allow myself on low-fat diets. I ate broccoli and cheese like it was going out of style, too.

mmm.... you are making me hungry. A salad with shredded cheese, bacon and full fat ranch dressing is AWESOME!

[utopiastars]

Wow, thanks for all the tips! This is a great starting point. Cheese that's not low fat? Drool...

I thought my SO would be reluctant about this since he loves pasta and bread, but he said he'd try low-carb with me! And he said he'll help keep me accountable if I try to snatch a cookie or something.

We had plans to go out tomorrow night, so it'll be my first test in a restaurant.

[spiderlashes5000]

Originally Posted by NetG

I posted some comments over on your blog, too.

Make sure you're doing a healthy, maintainable low carb. You can ask your doctor's office for material on diabetic diets. They should have a LOT available, not just the flimsy pamphlets which are out. They give you an idea of what's healthy with carbs vs. giving yourself too little.

Work on portion size. Don't allow yourself no carbs - or you'll be unable to refrain. Instead, go for a sandwich with whole grain multigrain bread instead of white bread, or only allow yourself a half sandwich with white bread. Read labels - product names are meaningless!

As for carbs - remember fiber is your friend! It's a good carb. (Just don't drastically increase fiber intake at once - I've heard that can cause digestive issues because of the shock to your system!)

One of the things my mom's doctor told her when she was diagnosed w/ diabetes was - let yourself have a tiny piece of cake if you REALLY want it. If you don't, later you'll eat three huge pieces. And it's so true. Forgive yourself the times you don't keep to your diet, because if you don't the self-imposed guilt will make it harder to stick to the diet in the future!

I kinda disagree w/ this. The whole premise of Atkins, for instance, is to go go very, very low carb for the first two weeks. And that almost-zero level is what makes you lose your cravings and really kick start your weight loss.

If you do old fashioned (1972) Atkins strictly for a week or two you won't have cravings.

Then you gradually increase your carb intake, in a very specific order (first, more veggies, then seeds and nuts, etc.)

I would not mess around w/ snacks or prepared foods for the first week or two. I'd eat steak, chicken, eggs, salad and other lower carb veggies for a week...and see how you do.

Then start to slowly add healthy carbs back at 5 gms/week.

Don't ever add sugar or white flour or white potatoes back.

Keep the snack crap to a minimum...even the Atkins snack stuff.

Figure out ways to make (homemade) low carb versions of your fave high carb foods...eventually. Just do fresh, uncured, nitrate free meat and vegetables only for the first week or two. Lots of salads and things like cabbage, spinach, kale, collards, asparagus and green beans.

You really should read the Atkins books -- 1972 is the best for weightloss but the idea of remaining on super low carb levels has lost favor. The newer versions seem to make people more comfortable (psychologically).

[NetG]

Originally Posted by spiderlashes5000

I kinda disagree w/ this. The whole premise of Atkins, for instance, is to go go very, very low carb for the first two weeks. And that almost-zero level is what makes you lose your cravings and really kick start your weight loss.

If you do old fashioned (1972) Atkins strictly for a week or two you won't have cravings.

Then you gradually increase your carb intake, in a very specific order (first, more veggies, then seeds and nuts, etc.)

I would not mess around w/ snacks or prepared foods for the first week or two. I'd eat steak, chicken, eggs, salad and other lower carb veggies for a week...and see how you do.

Then start to slowly add healthy carbs back at 5 gms/week.

Don't ever add sugar or white flour or white potatoes back.

Keep the snack crap to a minimum...even the Atkins snack stuff.

Figure out ways to make (homemade) low carb versions of your fave high carb foods...eventually. Just do fresh, uncured, nitrate free meat and vegetables only for the first week or two. Lots of salads and things like cabbage, spinach, kale, collards, asparagus and green beans.

You really should read the Atkins books -- 1972 is the best for weightloss but the idea of remaining on super low carb levels has lost favor. The newer versions seem to make people more comfortable (psychologically).

The initial weight loss from Atkins is due to dehydration. Any lasting weight loss is due to a decrease in calories, not cutting back on carbs.

With SUPER low carb like Atkins calls for at first, you are causing muscular breakdown, because your body lacks the glycogen from your food and looks for the energy elsewhere. Therefore, folks who do Atkins generally suffer from fatigue to begin with.

Jen isn't looking for a fad diet - she's looking to improve her health. So reducing starch and sugar carbs and coming up with a healthy, rational, balanced diet will help her health, most likely help her lose weight as a side bonus, and help her regain energy, hopefully.

RCW (I think it was) gave good advice on making sure to limit the higher non-fiber carb veggies. The impression we tend to have is "all veggies are good!" but some are definitely not as good for someone who wants a lower carb consumption rate.

I believe in the same post, RCW mentioned grains vs. leafy greens. There is more and more research coming out showing that we get/develop Omega-6 fatty acids from grains and Omega-3 from leafy greens. I wish I could find the article to link here again, discussing "fall foods" vs. "summer foods." Fall is when animals eat seed plants and their bodies process it to store fat to survive the winter. That's the seeds. Summer foods are the grasses and leafy greens which help provide energy and movement, but not fat buildup. This is a good explanation of why grass fed animals are healthier for you, why you're better off with wild fishes which eat algae, seaweed and other green veggies vs. farm raised fish which eat grains, etc. Anyway, just more to think about.

Jen - any chance you can make an appointment with a nutritionist to get advice tailored to your dietary habits, restaurants around you, the places you can shop in your area, etc?

[spiderlashes5000]

Originally Posted by NetG

The initial weight loss from Atkins is due to dehydration. Any lasting weight loss is due to a decrease in calories, not cutting back on carbs.

With SUPER low carb like Atkins calls for at first, you are causing muscular breakdown, because your body lacks the glycogen from your food and looks for the energy elsewhere. Therefore, folks who do Atkins generally suffer from fatigue to begin with.

I disagree b/c the later versions of Atkins call for the consumption of 72 oz of water a day...so no chance of dehydration. The weightloss is caused by ketosis.

And increased energy is an immediate benfit of Atkins and other low carb eating plans. So is improved mood.

I wouldn't call low carb eating (Atkins or otherwise) a fad diet at all.

[utopiastars]

Originally Posted by NetG

Jen - any chance you can make an appointment with a nutritionist to get advice tailored to your dietary habits, restaurants around you, the places you can shop in your area, etc?

I looked in the yellow pages and didn't find any listings for a nutritionist. I'd have to see if my insurance would cover that, too.

One of the things I'm concerned about is cost. High-carb foods are really cheap and I'm on a budget. Argh.

All I've had to eat today is two hardboiled eggs, green salad with some dressing, and string cheese. My work's break room has chocolate cake, brownies, bagels, chips, and cupcakes.

Are green peppers high carb?