MetaChat - The Week Without a Carb

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17 May 2010

The Week Without a Carb Trying a week or two of a low to zero carbohydrate experiment. My meat budget is gonna go through the fraking roof.→[More:]

For breakfast I had ...an apple. Planning on a handful of walnuts after the gym. This is would be so much easier if I liked lentils or beans or all that crap.

post by: The Whelk at: 09:27 | 34 comments

Lentils and beans have carbs, and fruit has more carbs than veggies. A week or two of low carb = meat, eggs, dairy, greens. Nuts in moderation occasionally.

posted by rainbaby 17 May | 10:43

Do you like cheese? Good luck!!

I went on the South Beach diet phase 1, and looked forward to the claims that not only would I lose more weight during that phase, but that my "cravings" would cease, I'd feel better, etc. etc. etc.

In reality, I felt absolutely no different the entire time, and only lost a token amount of weight (the same amount I'd lose on a different diet). But other people have said that it felt terrific, that their body felt "cleansed of all those toxins", etc., so I guess everyone's different. I hope it helps you!

posted by Melismata 17 May | 10:43

What outcome are you expecting or hoping for?

Are you trying to eliminate starches? I lost 30 lbs by not eating anything made with flour.

posted by iconomy 17 May | 10:47

You could try some quinoa or spaghetti squash if you really miss carbs :)

Why are you doing this diet? I only ask because I have a dietician friend who mentioned to me that it's unhealthy to follow diets that are heavily dependent on meat. Something about increased levels of... nitrates? Nitrogen?

Not that you asked for my opinion, but I think it would be healthier to incorporate whole grains, rather than cut them out entirely.

posted by cranberrymonger 17 May | 10:50

My experience: weight loss? Yes! Decreased hunger? Yes!

Long term: High cholesterol? Yes!

I'm now meatless and feeling much better. But if weight loss is your goal, it can't hurt for a few weeks or months. To aviod nitrates, avoid smoked and cured meats, but yeah. YMMV.

posted by rainbaby 17 May | 10:57

Atkins worked well for me, as long as I kept it up. No beans or fruits! Yes bacon and cheese sticks! No beer, yes liquor!

posted by mrmoonpie 17 May | 11:32

Yeah, Atkins worked well for me too, thought it was hard to keep up once I was out of my parents' house.

And just wanted to reiterate that if you're trying to do no to low carb, you definitely should not be eating fruits or beans. Nuts are probably ok, though Atkins induction frowns on them as well.

The reason that you need to go so low carb for a couple weeks is to get your blood sugar levels under control. I think you'll be surprised at how much your cravings will go down.

posted by peacheater 17 May | 11:50

Also an apple doesn't sound like a big enough breakfast. You shouldn't be feeling hungry.

posted by peacheater 17 May | 11:52

I did Atkins -- lost weight, but also had some problems with my, um, innards.

The thing that worked best for me was doing a low-carb diet kind of like South Beach, where we could have as many veggies as we wanted, a fist-sized serving of leanish meat, maybe a (very) few low-carb thingies like brown rice or a wrap, but always sticking with things that were good for me and REAL -- no fake butter crap. A small amount of real olive oil and butter and stuff made a huge difference. A few fruits in moderation were okay; I liked starting my day with a nice proteiny smoothie.

But the best part was that one day a week we could do a "free day." By looking forward to that, I didn't feel so deprived, especially when I knew that I'd have a celebratory meal or a fun time out with friends (and didn't want to feel left out). When I did that, I definitely got the "lessened cravings" thing going.

Plus being so mindful about what you eat makes you eat in more, and that's a huge benefit as well.

I need to get back on this, if only for my wallet's sake :P

posted by Madamina 17 May | 11:54

*toasting a bagel for iconomy*

posted by danf 17 May | 12:10

My Goal: I need to not be the fattest person in the room any more.

I've tried lower-carb diets in the past but they usually fail cause they are EXPENSIVE and cause...uh...

I ...hate eggs, unless they're so heavily disguised as to be unnoticeable but generally eggs = gag. Dairy makes me throw up. All the time. I have to swallow ten of those lactose intolerance pills to get through them. All milk smells rotten to me.

I don't have cravings. At all. Ever. Not when it comes to food. I eat when it is time to eat. I rarely if ever feel hungry even if I haven't eaten all day. Yeah I don't know why either. As for eating out - I eat out if someone else is paying which is never - so i don't eat out.

So I got back from the gym, which was pretty light and went to the store, planning on having a BLT salad, bacon 0 romaine leaves, cherry tomatoes, etc. I had half of a cube of bread to test which olive oil I should buy. Am I doomed? I bet I'm doomed.

Hmm, actually totally not hungry now. See what I mean? Frustrating.

posted by The Whelk 17 May | 12:23

Your Goal: To not be the fattest person in the room any more.

Fast Fix: I'll be right over.

posted by oneswellfoop 17 May | 12:28

I'm putting some celery in this cause.

posted by The Whelk 17 May | 12:42

The Whelk, you like tofu, right? I know you're a tofu guy. You can do that all kinds of ways.

Hehe danf.....I like everything bagels. Top them with a few slices of tomato, sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper, and throw some mashed avocado on there, and I'm in heaven. Carb heaven, baby.

posted by iconomy 17 May | 12:43

Oh and I made this and it was soooo good.

posted by iconomy 17 May | 12:47

What foop said, you don't need to lose weight, just get fatter friends. Come hang out here in the heartland were we put fries, steak and melted cheese on salads, you'll look like a supermodel in comparison to us.

posted by octothorpe 17 May | 12:50

I once managed to reach the ketosis stage of Atkins, but after a couple weeks, the very thought of anything containing protein made me sick.

posted by Ardiril 17 May | 12:52

The only thing that has ever worked for me is WeightWatchers. You don't necessarily have to join/pay, though I found it helped to talk with others having the same problem who are also being proactive about remedying it.

Here is an online points calculator. You get a certain number per day, plus 35 "flex" points for the whole week.

The number you get depends on your weight/height. My number is 24, and I am pushing 200 pounds (*sad*) and 6'1". I think the numbers range from 20-30.

posted by cranberrymonger 17 May | 12:57

I've been reasonably successful at losing weight and keeping it off, and I think in the long term a calorie controlled diet is the best way to go.

Diets where you cut things out can work OK in the short term. But eventually you start to really crave the things you've cut out. You start to adapt and get more calories from the foods you are allowed. And once you've finished the diet, you haven't really learned anything or built up any sustainable habits: you tend to just go back to the same style of eating that made you fat in the first place.

With a calorie controlled diet, you don't have to give up any foods you like, you can just eat them less often or in smaller quantities. Keeping track means you learn where the calories in your diet are coming from, how much is in the food you eat, and which foods satisfy you but aren't that fattening. The effort of keeping track gets less over time as you can just look up the things you've eaten before. Most importantly though, you can get into a habit of healthy eating that's sustainable once you've finished the diet, since it's closer to what you normally eat.

posted by TheophileEscargot 17 May | 13:16

I'm putting some celery in this cause.

posted by The Whelk 17 May | 13:24

Nthing the calorie-counting methods. It does make a difference, nutrition-wise, what are in those calories; but it's so great to have no verboten foods and all the flexibility you need to deal with parties, travel, eating out, etc.

posted by Miko 17 May | 13:46

Calorie-Counting can make me have flashbacks to being the chunkiest anorexic in high school, down to about 700 a day before I kept passing out in gym. If I start noticing numbers I keep thinking "well that can be JUST A LITTLE BIT LOWER" and then bam I haven't eaten a damn thing in 3 days.

Also, hard to count when you do 95% of your own cooking.

posted by The Whelk 17 May | 13:58

Anyway! For dinner I'm taking the already cooked chicken, bubbling it in tomato sauce with lots and lots and olives and using this Zucchini Pasta thing I found viMetafilter.

I've got to run around tomorrow, so I may have a fried egg (with a TON of hot sauce) with some ham.

posted by The Whelk 17 May | 14:07

Re: cooking own food... There are some comprehensive guides to calories online - Livestrong is one example, but there are others. I found a few website suggested in AskMeFi calorie-tracking threads. Or, maybe browse the local library to get a rough idea.

The good thing is, as TheophileEscargot said, no food is "off limits" and the end result is learning to eat healthier OVERALL, which is key for long-term, healthy weight-loss.

The Canada Food Guide is an excellent resource for "balanced" eating; maybe not for weight-loss but a few tweaks and it could be.

However, if you find that counting/tracking has a negative impact on an eating disorder, I'd better stop talking. I don't know anything about that, and I'm sorry if this thread made anything worse for you.

I hope you don't feel discouraged. I think most of us struggle with our weight and the only reason we are suggesting certain paths is because we have realized success by following those paths.

posted by cranberrymonger 17 May | 14:25

Who invented this whole "we must eat to stay alive" thing anyway?!

posted by Melismata 17 May | 14:26

I'm against it! And yeah no worries Cranberrymonger, I am very used to it.

posted by The Whelk 17 May | 14:39

So iconomy, you do carbs every so often now, after dropping all the weight originally?

posted by danf 17 May | 15:20

I generally don't care for eggs, but I've found that a bowl of hard-boiled egg whites is relatively flavorless, very filling and much more affordable than most low carb breakfast options.

posted by phlogiston 17 May | 16:19

Whelk, here's a similar experiment

posted by jason's_planet 17 May | 18:12

Tofu is always good!

posted by The Whelk 17 May | 21:42

Also... and apple has carbs. Quite a few, actually.

Oops.

posted by Doohickie 17 May | 22:28

an apple.

Sheesh.

posted by Doohickie 17 May | 23:17

It's this kind of nitpicking that makes people hate diets you know! I like apples. I can eat one for breakfast and be happy. Compare to previous breakfast of blueberry chocolate muffin.

Progress is being made.

posted by The Whelk 18 May | 07:12

Sorry. I was a South Beachy five years ago; worked great. I've gained most of it back, but I am living a healthier lifestyle in general.

(True confession: even though I wasn't supposed to have chocolate during my SBD days.... I never gave it up.)

posted by Doohickie 18 May | 22:57

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