Low Carb Diets Support Thread

MrsStepford

pamsdish said:

I try to eat 50g or less of carbs per day, keep trying to keep to it, I know it works for me, but not quite getting there, I don`t buy processed foods, I eat fresh, above ground veggies, plenty of meat, I am not a fish lover, and not too much dairy either.  

50g of carbs per day is definitely low carb and will be ketogenic for many people. You're doing the right things eg meat, above ground veg, no processed foods. It doesn't matter that you don't like fish, because you're eating meat and presumably eggs ?

The only tricky thing with dairy, is the lactose ie milk sugar. If you drink a lot of tea or coffee with milk, that adds up. You could try double cream in coffee, and switch to lactose-free whole milk. An enzyme is added to digest the lactose, otherwise it's normal milk. You can buy it in supermarkets, either fresh or UHT. ASDA has Arla Lactofree fresh whole milk 1 litre on Rollback  for £1 (saving 40p) and Arla Lactofree longlife whole milk 1 litre for 1.25 (saving 15p). I buy the cheaper fresh stuff and freeze it. 

With cheese, the more aged a cheese is, the less lactose (sugar) it has. It's probably not worth looking for lactose-free cheese, because normal cream cheeses are available with the same carbs per 100g. 

If you don't really like milk and cheese anyway, suggest looking at vegan alternatives, choosing the lower carb ones. 

If you are sneaking chocolate, try working up to 90% cocoa chocolate. Lindt 90% cocoa chocolate 100g bar has 55g fat (30g saturated), 14g carbs (7g sugar) and 10g protein. 

pamsdish

Thank you @MrsStepford for your handy tips, I drink my coffee black no sugar, so milk not an issue, if I do have a cup of tea, I do like a spot of milk in that,  I eat quite a few eggs often have poached if hungry before lunch, I try to avoid much dairy, eat cheese sparingly, but find cream cheese makes a nice sauce when microwaved, and use creme freche or greek yoghurt if a recipe requires cream, as for chocolate I like the Moser Roth from Aldi 85%, handily portioned if I want something.

MrsStepford

We don't have a microwave by choice now. It got used for hot chocolate and that was it, so more counter space now. We use creme fraiche for sauces too, it was a tip in The Dukan Diet. Wondering whether cream cheese would work in a saute pan.. will experiment, thanks for that. 

Ahsin512

thanks for sharing some good information.

MrsStepford

Anyone want to revive this thread ? 

pamsdish

ME ME ME,  desperate for some support as keep losing the plot, heavier now than 3 years ago.

MrsStepford

Hi pamsdish ! I lost weight, then stabilised and then over last four years, took my eye off the ball and my trousers feel too tight now.   So back on the waggon ! Were you doing any particular low carb diet or doing your own ?  

pamsdish

Hi @MrsStepford just going my own way, trying to keep to 50g, or less, per day. I too lost my weight about 4 years ago, got down to 10 st, which suits me, to a size 12/14,  it has slowly crept back until I am as heavy if not heavier.
We need to think of a way to be accountable, and gain others !!, post menu plans ? recipe ideas ?.
 I tend to eat in a window, from about 1 pm. main meal, until 6 p.m. snack if hungry, I live alone so in total control of my own diet.
Today having pork shoulder with cauli, may mash with some mustard, and roasted butternut squash, must get it used up, according to carb manager, (I do like to weigh and enter) that`s, 63g carbs 71g fat, 97g protein, that`s the entire piece of pork, weigh in at 372g, I do like my meat, may keep some of that for tomorrow yet, it also includes 8 fresh blackberries and 50g Greek yogurt for my later snack.

MrsStepford

OK.. as you live alone you are in control of everything you eat or drink, which is great. Some people are the lone low carber, in a family of pizza eaters and crisp snackers, which makes it way more difficult. My husband doesn't stuff crisps, but he is fond of gluten-free pizza, toast and bananas  

Like you, I don't go with any one diet, but I do have a big collection of secondhand diet books, for recipe inspiration. I collect old cookbooks and pre-80s, a lot of cook books included lower carb recipes. 

I confess that I don't count carbs or calories. Too lazy ! Instead, I don't buy anything over 5g carbs per 100g when being strict, or over 10g carbs per 100g, generally. 

Looking online for low carb info can be confusing. If you're using an American app or watch American YouTubers they talk about net carbs and take fibre from carbs. In Britain, the carb number is already net carbs, so people who do the calculation, taking fibre from carbs, are underestimating how many carbs they are eating.  With imported American products it is necessary to do the maths. 

The US Dept of Agriculture recommends 130g of carbs per day for healthy Americans. They regard anything less than 130g as low carb. Ketogenic (keto) whereby the body makes ketones for energy from fat, is generally thought of as 20g to 50g per day. People DO lose weight with variations from 50g to 130g, but it depends whether they are metabolically healthy, doing a lot of exercise, perimenopausal or postmenopausal, a growing teen etc etc etc. We're all different. 

Well done you on the Intermittent Fasting. I can't really do that as I have Type 2 diabetes. My body will shunt out  glucagon (basically glucose stored in liver) if I don't have breakfast. But awesome that you can. The go to expert is Dr Jason Fung and he's done lots of videos and lectures, which are on YouTube.

The only thing I think you seem to be doing wrong there, is the butternut squash. It is an above ground veg, but it's about 16g of carbs per cupful. The pork shoulder itself should be 0g carbs per 100g unless cured or stuffed. Cauliflower mash is awesome. We like it mashed with broccoli and cheese, on top of cottage pie. 

Mustard is allowed on a low carb diet and that sounds lush. Lots of mustards have added sugar or similar. If your body is sensitive to either mustard or sugar (mine reacts to sugar), that may contribute to a weight loss stall because glucose and carbs push up insulin. If you're thinking  but I only use 1 teaspoon', blood in the entire body should only contain 1 teaspoon of sugar. Dr David Unwin did an infographic and 1 medium banana = nine teaspoons of sugar.

For the benefit of lurkers, insulin has two roles in the body. 1. It acts like a key to cells, allowing glucose in, for energy. 2. It regulates fat storage. High levels of insulin stops the body using body fat for energy. High insulin levels block leptin, which means the body doesn't get the I'm full signal from the brain. 

Low carb diets work because lower levels of carbs (glucose) means less insulin produced. Brain can see leptin and the I'm full thing comes back. Fat and protein keep people full longer, so they don't eat so often. 

Think I may have watched a few too many YouTube videos there..

pamsdish

Morning @MrsStepford
I ate all the pork, tried to cut it in half and it looked stingy, no ideas yet although leaning toward Bacon wrapped cream cheese stuffed chicken breast, mostly because I have an opened cream cheese, with butternut wedges to use some more of that up.
.Have meal planned for the rest, or most of the week, trying to use the fresh veg I have in stock, bag of kale, hispi cabbage, my favourite at the moment, steamed with fennel seeds stirred through, and part of a cauli, frozen veg is frozen and can bulk out meals.
 I don`t strictly try to do any less than 50g, I am low carb, not keto. I see so many social media sites slagging people off because something is not "keto", when the site states "low carb & keto" sometimes go over sometimes under, I don`t stress on it as I think that is what makes it hard, it`s a change, total reversal in some cases of how we used to eat. 
re "YouTube" I use it occasionally if looking for "how to" videos, very useful but not the patience for long viewing.