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

Georgiegirl256

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.

My husband bought some of them, we haven't tried them yet. Not sure I want to if they smell terrible! I'm easily put of by horrible smells. Do they taste nice though?

pinkteapot

You don't have to give anything up. Just reduce your portion sizes.

I've lost 11lbs so far this year and I have rice or pasta for most of my dinners.

I use MyFitnessPal for calorie counting (it's a free app and website). Weight loss is simple - you need to eat less calories than you use. Lose weight through calorie counting and you don't have to give any particular type of food up. I eat the same as I did before, just with smaller portions and fewer snacks. To be fair, my diet was quite healthy in terms of the foods I ate.

Use MyFitnessPal or one of the similar systems to log everything you eat and drink for a few days. It'll be an eye-opener as to how many calories you're really consuming.

For me, a portion size is:

- Rice: 215g cooked weight (approx 70g dried weight)
- Pasta: 75g dried weight (not sure what this weighs when cooked)

Plus meat and sauce (a 500g pack of mince goes four ways for bolognese, and curries are one chicken breast per person). Equals a dinner around 500-600 cals.

Giving up things you love entirely is a recipe for failure. Dieting is not a short-term thing - you have to permanently change your eating habits, or you'll just put weight back on when you're "finished".

If calorie counting is too much faff for you, try Slimming World. My mum loves it and she's lost over a stone so far. You don't have to weigh everything like you do with calorie counting, and certain carbs are unlimited (but you're meant to stop eating when you're full).

steevi

I'm an absolute rice fiend and love nothing better than a huge portion of it.

Cauliflower rice has been my absolute saviour - it's dead easy to make and can be mixed with a much smaller portion of "normal" rice for the same effect.

lulu_92

Myfitnesspal is brilliant. I used it and lost two stone in 3 months. It's very easy when you're out an about as you can just scan the barcode of an item and it will bring up the nutritional information.

My mum had been on Atkins for about 2 years and in total has lost about 6 stone. She did plateau for a while because she realised that although she was sticking to the plan she was eating so many calories, which of course is the crux to weight loss. She's decided to use MFP as she can also track her carbs (20g a day) and she's lost a stone in two weeks.

onlyroz

By smaller plates and eat with smaller cutlery. You could also try making your own pasta - it's just flour and eggs, and you can get a basic pasta machine for £20. The packet pasta is basically semolina and so I reckon that proper home-made egg pasta is better for you because it contains protein. You could also try substituting something like soba or udon noodles, both of which contain protein. Or there's the latest "super food" pasta substitute which is seaweed strands boiled up in the same way you'd cook spaghetti. It's quite expensive but tasty enough if you subsitute half the spaghetti for it.

purpleshoes_2

Protein keeps you fuller longer than carbs, it makes sense to up your intake if you are trying to lose weight. If I were going to eat bread I'd eat rye. I've not eaten wholewheat pasta in almost a year, the very occasional portion of brown rice, I eat sweet potatoes instead of potatoes, oatcakes, I feel so much better for it. All I will say is that some veg and fruit are carb heavy and so is wine, beer, cider so its not just bread and rice you need to cut down on if you are looking at your carb intake.

pimento

pinkteapot wrote: »

For me, a portion size is:

- Rice: 215g cooked weight (approx 70g dried weight)
- Pasta: 75g dried weight (not sure what this weighs when cooked)

That's interesting. A portion of rice for me is 40g but a portion of pasta is 90g (both dried weight). I eat rice more often than I eat pasta.

I'm a little bit overweight but not much.

fozziebeartoo

They don't taste of anything at all......so ideal with a tasty sauce etc.

I find them filling. More filling than normal rice and pasta!

To be honest, I expected them to smell bad and they were even worse than I expected

But lots and lots of rinsing sorted it out and there was NO nasty taste!!

If you are sensitive, maybe someone else could wash them for you?

I think they are a great product but VERY easy to be put off them by the wiff.

Georgiegirl256 wrote: »

My husband bought some of them, we haven't tried them yet. Not sure I want to if they smell terrible! I'm easily put of by horrible smells. Do they taste nice though?

tea_lover

I may regret asking this but what are they made of to make them smell so bad?!

BigAunty

How about switching to Quinoa or another type of protein grain rather than rice? Q is actually a good rice replacement - I have it with curries and chillis and it goes well. I can't remember the names of other low carb grains but there are others on the market.

There are flavoured packets of cooked lentils sold in packets that are also good side dish/potato replacements.Sweet potatoes in place of traditional potatoes.