can anyone help this pasta/rice loving family to reduce carb intake please

Lunar_Eclipse

If you love pasta, you will find it very hard to give up entirely, so I'm not sure if that's wise or not. (Personally I fine it bland and don't find it very filling for the calories. Rice has a MUCH lower GI, especially brown rice so is significantly healthier.)

I would cut down, which I know you have said you've tried, but if done correctly, it will work.

Do you always eat protein with your pasta? Consider halving your pasta portions and increasing the protein and veg that you eat it with.

Also make a conscious effort to increase your exercise. Just an additional 30 min daily walk will help a lot. DH, who is on a health kick but actually slightly underweight, has bought one of those fancy pedometers caus he wants to walk 10 000+ steps/day. It's not that hard to do.

Beans and rice are good staples. I try to eat protein or protein & fruit for breakfast, soup with a small portion of protein for lunch and then protein and veg for dinner. I snack on fruit, nuts or chocolate! :-)

vegasvisitor

I agree about the exercise. If you exercise you will burn the carbs before they turn to fat. You need to reduce overall calories in. Can you maybe use an app like myfitnesspal. That way you will be aware of calories in and calories burned. You might be surprised and it will help you make better food choices and also get more active.

Could you also try to fill up on thick soups? A bowl of lentil soup will fill you up and is low on calories and healthy.

I can sympathise as I'm vegetarian and eat a lot of carbs so I'm borderline overweight, but I do a decent amount of exercise (tennis, badminton and jogging). Perhaps you might enjoy a sport? I've never been a gym-goer but took up tennis a few years ago and it's easy to go and do something you enjoy.

purpleshoes_2

Some people are carb sensitive and a lot of people are wheat intolerant, particularly if you crave wheat based foods.

I feel a lot better for cutting wheat out of my diet, the slimming world diet wouldn't work for me, Paleo has.

Yorkie1

The Hairy Dieters cookbooks have recipes which are lower in calories, and emphasise the need for smaller carb portions. The recipes are pretty tasty too.

fozziebeartoo

I have been enjoying the Slim/Zero Noodles/Rice.

You have to rinse really really well before you cook them though because they smell dreadful.

:eek:

They have no carbs and very few calories.

But expensive if there is a family to feed.

I got them Buy One Get One Half Price in Holland & Barrett.

Poppops

fairy_lights wrote: »

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Zoodle-Chef-Vegetable-Spiralizer/dp/B00LBGOX5U
Buy one of these and make courgette pasta, you can also make 'rice' out of cauliflower.

I eat cauliflower rice and though it smells awful whilst cooking, it is remarkably good when you plonk a tomato sauce on it. Or with soy sauce as a side

I've also made pizza base out of cauliflower rice and that was good too.

lulu_92

fozziebeartoo wrote: »

I have been enjoying the Slim/Zero Noodles/Rice.

You have to rinse really really well before you cook them though because they smell dreadful.

:eek:

They have no carbs and very few calories.

But expensive if there is a family to feed.

I got them Buy One Get One Half Price in Holland & Barrett.

I bought them in the penny sale a few months ago and they're very filling, but I do agree you have to rinse them very thoroughly! I've not had the Slim Rice or Noodles, I was making my way through Slim Pasta

Georgiegirl256

ViolaLass wrote: »

I eat pasta and bread all the time and am not overweight. Just get some exercise and portion sizes sensible. Carbs are not the enemy.

This ^^^^ :T

Since we've dug out the slow cooker again, the majority of our meals contain either pasta or rice. Was trying to think of a recipe that we have that doesn't contain either pasta, rice or potatoes, but I can't!

I was virtually brought up on things like stews and tattie pots, so I probably eat more potatoes than I should too!

However, I'm not overweight (a lot of that could be down to genes though?), possibly because I'm fairly active too. I wouldn't say my portion sizes are small either (love my grub too much!), but for someone who is wanting to/needs to lose weight then step down on the portion size and step up the activity levels.

aileth

Another vote for brown rice/pasta.

Also, when I wanted to lose weight I switched to eating meals on a side plate rather than a big plate. No matter how much you try and 'stack' it on the side plate, you won't get to the same portion size.

Another trick was eating every meal with chopsticks, as it slows down your eating. The brain takes about 20 minutes or so to realise you are full. You will of course look a bit odd eating your roast dinner with chopsticks! I'm pretty sure you can also buy small cutlery which is about the same sort of thing really.

Portion sizes are the real killer, as is adding oils, butters etc. Me and OH use one pack of mince to do two meals, so effectively four servings. We were watching a program on TV about overweight people, and they used TWO packs for ONE meal!!!!!

tea_lover

Nothing wrong with carbs! It's far more to do with portion size, and having a good healthy mix of food.

I only eat wholewheat pasta and bread, and brown rice - but I eat a LOT of all of them. I'm a healthy weight, and have lost a bit over the last few months (was never overweight, but my jeans were a bit tight).

For me, life isn't worth living without pasta