What low carb foods do you eat?

[DDD]

I've been watching my carbs and am not an expert in dieting. Five or ten pounds off will make me feel better and look better I know. Thing is that I don't know much,lol.
I'm eating meat, eggs, fish, broccoli, cauliflower, mushroom, cheese, apples and grapefruit. That's pretty much it.

Anyone know what else I can eat...if anything. I know sweet veggies are no no's. I
know sweet fruit is a no no. I know that I can eat salad with vinegar and oil and that I can eat butter......haven't figured out what I can eat butter on other than hot veg. I'm avoiding potatoes, rice, pasta, bread, deserts, colas and sugar.

Suggestions? I did five days before TDay and then pigged for the holiday. Now I'm back to it and it seems soooo limiting. I'm hoping I just don't know enough. DDD

 

[Josie]

If you are doing it just for weight loss, I lost 17 lbs pretty quickly on the gluten free diet. You wouldn't have to go completely girlfriend, but I did not limit girlfriend carbs. I ate rice, potatoes, sweet vegetables, and fruit. I even ate girlfriend desserts sometimes. Just giving up processed food, bread, and pasta was enough for me to lose the weight. I did not replace those things with girlfriend foods so I was naturally lower carb. I was not doing it for weight loss, but that was a pleasant bonus.

 

[HaoZi]

I used those low carb wraps to make breakfast wraps (usually a bunch at once then would reheat when I was hungry at whatever time), low carb/low cal bread for sandwiches and hamburgers (or fake hamburgers, whatever). Yogurt that had fiber in it. Whole grain pastas (I didn't go the gluten free route). Quinoa (may or may not be low carb, but it's high fiber, which balances it out). Low carb is not for everyone, and it can really make you cranky and cause headaches, too, which is why I didn't go full-on low carb when I did it but made sure I had a lot of whole grains and fiber (whole grains also not for everyone). I found adding a lot of high-fiber foods kept me from eating too much, not just because it can be filling but also because too much can cause some nasty side effects, especially if you don't increase it gradually. Luckily I found ice creams, puddings, etc, with fiber in them, and used Benefiber or Fibersure to add fiber to soups and sauces, etc. Even put a spoonful in my first cup of coffee in the morning.
I need to go back to eating like that, I was down to a size 6 when I did that. *looks at self* Yeah, I need to do that again.

 

[LittleDudesMom]

TripleDDD,

go to this website and snoop around:http://www.gidiet.com/

I know you are not doing the gi program, but it has some good info and is a low carb/low sugar program..

Sharon

 

[Hound dog]

This is so weird as easy child is currently doing the same thing. So I'll tell you what I told her.

When I started the renal diet I was not a happy camper. I am not a huge carb eater and never was.........most high carb foods get old with me quickly so while I eat them it is in small amounts. I tended to eat fresh fruits and veggies, did not matter what the type. I also ate larger portions of meat than sides. I'm a carnivore.......I'm partial to meat. lol

I wasn't happy because the renal diet was the exact opposite. Basically no animal protein at all if I could manage it........fruits and veggies were ok.........but I noticed there were an awful lot of carbs in the diet plan. Noodles, pasta, potatoes, beans........lots of breads on the menus.......

Now while this was for my kidneys I was also told I needed to lose extra weight to reduce the stressload on the kidneys. I told the doctor he was nuts. No way was I going to lose weight by at least tripling my carb intake!

doctor assured me if I watched portion sizes I would see a dramatic weight loss. I tried it because I had little choice, I still thought he had screws loose somewhere or got his diets mixed up.

Now add in that I can't eat many beans due to their effects on the GI system. I love beans. Beans hate me back. Love/hate relationship. I can't manage to swallow vegetarian meat substitutes although I wasted considerable amounts of cash trying.

This meant more cheese and eggs needed to be added to keep the protein content up enough that I didn't loose muscle mass instead of fat. Wonderful.

But I did what I was told and made sure I did the portions correctly. Exercise consisted of dog walking twice a day for about 2 miles each time......or literally the dog dragging me for two miles each time. lol

I lost a ton of weight in what was actually a very short period of time. I didn't even completely exclude meat from the diet (although it had been drastically reduced) because well.......my appetite dropped to zero and eating became a chore not something I enjoyed anymore.

Reducing carbs is always a good idea. But odds are if you reduce portions to what they should be instead of what the normal person actually eats even with high carb foods still in the diet you're going to notice a difference in your weight.

Carbs in truth are burned off by the body pretty fast if that body gets adequate exercise in balance with the amount of carbs taken in. Potatoes are such a valuable source of nutrition I really hate to see a person avoid them completely. Reduce the amount or frequency but you get an awful lot of vitamins and minerals in potatoes depending on how they are prepared, although they are a high carb food.

Also sometimes when people reduce/avoid carbs they tend to increase protein, which can be hard on the kidneys even in a healthy person if it is increased significantly.

easy child just rolled her eyes and said I know mom, I know and continued on her "diet". lol

Good luck with the diet plan. Although I hate diet plans around this time of year, they always make people feel guilty. lol

 

[Lothlorien]

Zuchini, cauliflower, turnips are all low in carbs. I loved mashed turnips with tons of butter! I usually put canned carrots in, but not for low-carb eating. Spaghetti squash is good with garlic and shrimp with asiago cheese.

Avacodos are good. Blueberries (small amount), nuts

There are low carb wraps (like tortillas). Make a sandwich with those instead or even quesadillas

Use Almond or Soy milk to substitute regular milk (or even coconut milk).

If you are in the mood to crunch....soy nuts or pork rinds. I love to make onion dip and dip the pork rinds into it.

 

[HaoZi]

I used those low carb wraps to make thin crust pizza, too.

 

[DDD]

Thanks for the input. I didn't know that they had "low carb" wraps or some of the other suggestions. I do love meat, cheese,
vegetables and fruit so that is a positive. Sweets are not uisually my thing most of the time. Increasing my water intake makes sense...but it doesn't come naturally, lol. I appreciate the suggestions and will check out the ideas over the weekend.
DDD

 

[Star*]

I'm on low sugar - and have lost 140 lbs to date. 1600 calories a day - 10 grams of sugar or less, no eating after 7 pm, breakfast, lunch and dinner with 2 snacks a day at 10 and 3 - and portions the size of my palm - 10 lbs of weight loss a month guaranteed.

Size 24-26 (3x) 298 lbs in Sept. of 2009

Size 6-8 165 lbs. Nov. 2010.

it works - and I gave up NOTHING but window food - and sugar. Drink lots of water.

 

[DDD]

Wow, Star, that's terrific. I'm hoping basic common sense eating will do the trick for me. Recording calories or grams or whatever isn't on my agenda for now. It is awesome to read of successes like yours. DDD

 

[gcvmom]

I watch my carbs, too.

I watch them go in my mouth and onto my body.

 

[witzend]

husband and I went to a pre-diabetes class that was helpful to me in understanding carbs. I made basic changes to our diet that included going from russet potatoes & other starchy foods to brown rice. Basmati is most flavorful. Rather than cutting out carbs, we still eat carbs but they are very high fiber carbs. You can reduce the number of carbs you count based upon the amount of fiber in a food. I buy a "wheat nut" bread from the local bakery. It's way expensive and I'd like to find a recipe to make it on my own. But it's whole wheat with walnut chunks, flax & millet. I just need to be better at hunting down a good recipe!