Low-carb diets support thread

AudreyHepburn_2

durham_mim wrote: »

I have lost 0.5" each off my waist, hips and bust so not all bad news.

Sorry Durham Mim - meant to say CONGRATULATIONS!!!!.

Well done Mercy too!

I've lost half a kilo.

sweetserendipity

Morning :hello:

One week done & 6lbs off I'm actually quite surprised at that as I know I've been more relaxed about the carb intake (Dr. Dahlqvist) but it certainly cheered me up this morning!!

Mercy, well done on the inch loss!! :j I always mean to measure myself but never seem to get around to it, wish I had now.
Love how you're sounding so positive & HAPPY!!

alias, eww about the insect bite!! The only other thing I used was hydrocortisone cream (specifically for insect bites) from Tesco, but I'm not sure I would recommend it for the face, especially near the eye area.

sister, hope you do manage to get back on track, I'm feeling loads better (& 6lbs lighter ) after just a week.

Audrey, well done on the half a kilo off :j (even though I haven't a clue what that is in 'old money' )

Meals for today:

B1 - greek yog & flaxseed
B2 - 2 piggies in blankets, 2 fried eggs, button mushrooms & baby plum tomatoes
L - 2 buttered crispbreads with cheese savoury
D - pan-fried salmon, cauli mash, green beans, cheesy leeks

Exercise - walking for at least 30 minutes, wall push-ups

Have a good LC day :wave:

SHEILA54

sweet, AudreyHepburn, durham_mim - well done all of you :T Give yourselves a big pat on the back. (Half a kilo is 1.1lb)

Mercy - I hope that you got your meat ok. I have been having oatmeal porridge a couple of times a week but how does oatbran compare? I am going to have a 2 week shot at low carb, being good, and then will reconsider if I don't lose. Are you allowed cheese other than cottage on Dukan?

alias - you really should phone NHS Direct about your bite if antihistamines are not helping, your health is important!!
http://www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk/CheckSymptoms/SATs/BitesAndStings.aspx
I hope that it gets better soon x

sistercas - glad that you had a good time

Mercy

SHEILA54 wrote: »

Mercy - I hope that you got your meat ok. I have been having oatmeal porridge a couple of times a week but how does oatbran compare? I am going to have a 2 week shot at low carb, being good, and then will reconsider if I don't lose. Are you allowed cheese other than cottage on Dukan?

Got rump steak and lean beef mince at about 25% off.

As long as the cheese is low fat it's ok on Dukan. I typically use cottage cheese, cream cheese, fromage frais and onken yogurt. All v low fat and carb. Think oatbran is just a bit better on cholesterol removal than oats but not sure. Oatbran porridge is just smoother as bits are smaller. Tastes the same

Mx

Jerryjerryjerry

Just got back from Tesco (needed cheap coffee Douh Egberts on at half price. Couldn't have timed it better. Got the coffee.. but then! GOt loads of packs of pork steaks and pork loins and loads of fish, 2 boxes of seafood mixture and double cream all reduced to a quarter of the original price! Oh, and two boxes of 6 free range eggs reduced to 63 pence each! ALso, lamb steaks reduced to a quarter of price! So chuffed. Most gone in freezer. Oh, and some beef mince as well. So nicely stocked up.

Today, I did an hour of exercise legs bums and tums and then foodwise:

2 cups of tea. Loads of water. A large glass of diet bitter lemon.
L: Sausages and cheesy beans not that low carb, but good eating. Husband had sausage sandwiches.

lamb casserole which i'm just about to put on.

I'm going to treat myself to a naughty slice of cheescake tonight. Because i'm worth it!

I hope everybody is having a lovely day. Its lovely and hot here. Well done to Sweet, AudreyHepburn, durham_mim - keep up the good work, its inspiring. And hello to everybody else! x

aliasojo

Has anyone ever read anything about low carb affecting mood?

I'm seriously irritated and feel quite angry today...and for no good reason. No reason at all, in fact.

Not even remotely hormonal, nothing has happened to make me annoyed, it's just the way I feel. The only difference is my diet.

I've had to make serious serious efforts today to talk to people normally instead of biting their heads off.

Might be nothing to do with it but I've been feeling like this on and off over the last wee while so just thought I'd run it by you all in case you've read or heard of people experiencing similar.

I now have wine. I'll be like this > soon. :rotfl:

aliasojo

I've just found this........

It's not unusual for people who are changing their eating patterns or embarking on any kind of diet to experience episodes of irritability. However, according to Psychology Today, many who are trying testing low-carbohydrate regimens are reporting unusually high feelings of anger, tension and depression. Dr. Wurtman claims that that it's a very well documented response-she calls it the "Atkins attitude". Dieters who have eliminated or reduced dietary carbohydrates may find that their low mood is combined with irritability if the diet is heavy on protein, and/or combined with a lack of energy if the diet is heavy on saturated fats.

Are certain people more susceptible to low mood? According to Wurtman, some people are "carbohydrate cravers" -- they tend to experience a change in their mood, usually in the late afternoon or early evening -- and they need to eat a certain amount of carbohydrates to keep their moods steady. And although both men and women can experience low mood when cutting carbs, women are more likely to feel the effects because they are known to have typically lower levels of serotonin in their brains than men.

Because of her research, Wurtman believes that low-carb diets may be dangerous for individuals who are already struggling with depression or bipolar disorder. In an Oxford study involving women, researchers did find that those who had a predisposition to mood disorders exhibited a measurable drop in mood when following a low-carb regimen, but reported that other subjects on the diet did not seem to be impacted.

That's me! I do get quite depressed generally because of all the issues we have, I'm not good at taking things in my stride now. The last thing I need is to feel like this because of yet another thing, (i.e. my diet) iyswim So what now?

I can't eat normally (obviously, otherwise I wouldn't be fat)

I can't do low cal (cos I can't seem to stop)

It looks like low carbing might not the best thing for me, so where the heck do I go from here?!

I'm not having a good time.

daska

To be honest I don't think I'll be paying much attention to that 'research', certainly not if my reading of the implications in the abstract is correct and the research involved individual meals followed by questionnaires:

Abstract
Normal adult subjects (n=184) consumed a high-protein or high-carbohydrate meal. Two hours later their mood and performance were tested. The effects of meal composition on mood were different for men and women, and for older and younger subjects. Females, but not males, reported greater sleepiness after a carbohydrate as opposed to a protein meal. Male subjects, but not females, reported greater calmness after a carbohydrate as opposed to a protein meal. Older subjects responded differently to meals depending upon the time of day when these were consumed. When meals were eaten for breakfast (but not for lunch) individuals 40 yr of age or older felt more tense and less calm after a protein than after a carbohydrate meal. Although older subjects reported subjective discomfort after a morning protein meal, they displayed objective performance impairments after a carbohydrate lunch. Subjects 40 yr of age or older were impaired on a test of sustained selective attention (dichotic shadowing) after consuming a high-carbohydrate lunch. The shadowing impairment after carbohydrate consumption was as pronounced without distraction as with distraction and resulted mostly from increased omission errors. Our findings suggest negative effects on concentration when older subjects consume a high-carbohydrate, low-protein lunch. These negative effects of carbohydrate consumption appear to arise predominantly from lapses of attention rather than from intrusion of distractors.

It takes time to adapt to low carb so I'm afraid this joins the plethora of studies that appear at worst designed to discredit, through mis-reported, to inapplicable to low carb living as it only applies to variable or high carb diets.

Alias - didn't you low-carb successfully before? is it possibly just that you lack the motivation to keep going long enough to adapt properly?

jerryx3 - thanks for the heads up on the coffee, I stocked up on the Kenco for the fuel vouchers but I'm running low already!!!

SHEILA54

alias - cheer up
I also get ratty sometimes and think that it is could be diet related. If I eat something with fat, or that I enjoy, it seems to help. Also, if you are feeling deprived of food then that doesn't help either. My suggestion would be to write down your favourite foods and then we can try to add/ adapt them. Don't give up just yet

Minihauk

Sheila, I'm sorry to hear about your friend, and yor brother's impending operation. Will be thinking of you Monday and Tuesday.

Well done to all you losers, whether it be weight or inches, your are doing brilliantly.

I'm not sure I trust that research either. If people are prone to depression or low mood many things will affect it, not just the food.

I spent today at the olympic park watching the paraplympic track and field. It was awesome to see those athletes. Richard Whitehead's race was brilliant. Afterwards went to local premier Inn for lunch. Had chicken wrapped in bacon and cheese and passed on the chops. Did have a couple of glasses of wine though .....