Low carb diets restrictive? Myth!

[stuffedolive]

Some people are put off trying low carb diets because they feel that they are restrictive.

However, since starting to low carb a few months ago, I have found the opposite to be true. In the past, even though I have always been a bit of a foodie, eating just about everything going, my diet was actually fairly predictable with each meal being based around the NHS's preferred, low fat & 'good' carbs: pasta, basmati rice, wholemeal breads etc - boring! especially the calorie counting.

Low carbing has really transformed and expanded my diet. I don't seem to have lost much from my old diet but I am now eating a much wider range of foods, including all those fats that I used to avoid. True, my head is still turned by the smell of freshly baked bread, but now its a proper treat with a big knob of real butter.

I franlkly don't feel my diet is at all restrictive and I really wouldn't want to go back to the old one.

What are others experiences?

 

[Sarah69]

Hi, I tried to low carb for a while I couldn't do it. It cuts out a lot of food I liked and your supposed to eat more veg/salad which I'm not that keen on. It seems a lot of people eat the same thing each day i.e lunch - salad, tea - meat and veg. As I'm not that keen I couldn't. I like cereal for breakfast I wouldn't be able to eat things people have suggested to me like omlette, cold meats etc that just turns my stomach. So low carb is not for me.

 

[annew]

I agree with stuffedolive. Love my low carb diet - anything where I can eat bacon, butter, cream, full fat yoghurt, loads of veg and salad. meat cheese etc. is fine by me. And eat stuffed olives! Have lost about 12kg in the process, and , on holiday in Canada at present, have found my dress size is SMALL - who hoo!! (Size 10 or 12 in UK - previously 18.) Also have loads of energy and feel better that I have done for years. Low carb works for me.

 

[mike in london]

Hi from Michael type 1 insulin dependent , please can you tell me regarding a LCHF. If part of my meal contains LC and quite a bit of protein say chicken, im aware I have to calculate the carbohydrates but do I also have to calculate insulin for the protein ,
If so how do I do this ? Also if I only eat protein in a meal do I still calculate for insulin . Im not sure what to do around this area of the LCHF diet. Im new to this diet and to this site
Regards mike . :roll:

 

[stuffedolive]

Mike
I'm not sure that the low carb forum is the best place to ask this as low carbing is popular among non-insulin T2s. Perhaps you should ask on the T1.

 

[SamJB]

Hi Mike,
I'm a T1. If you're interested in LCing, a good place to start is to buy Richard Bernstein's Diabetes Diet book. Bernstein is a doctor and also a T1. He prescribes 6g of carbs for breakfast and 12g for lunch and dinner.

I find that a bit restrictive so just avoid the typical carb foods such as bread, rice, pasta, potato, fruit etc.

Regarding insulin, I found that I experience something called the Chinese Restaurant Effect - have a Google for it. Basically, when you eat, your large intestine stretches, this triggers glucogen production in anticipation of the protein, carbs and fat (your body can create glucose from all of these) so that you can immediately benefit from the meal. I inject according to how full I am and it works perfectly for me.

As far as protein, I get a spike from it around 3 hours after eating it. I keep my protein levels approximately the same as before I LC'd, so it doesn't really affect me.

 

[charon]

Previously I was basing meals I made for myself around the carbohydrates - potatoes, rice etc. which didn't leave much room for anything else. Was probably having meals bigger than I needed to fit in the meat and greens.

Now I can easily have a bigger assortment of vegetables - and find I don't need as much meat anyway.
Nicer all round - and can fit in a small potato portion if I like.

I only have 3 meals available - breakfast bacon/kipper/mackerel with poached eggs, meat/fish and salad, meat and vegetables.
I will need to branch out at some point I guess and would welcome suggestions but at the moment feel I can live on this.

 

[Picci]

I agree with stuffed olive who started this thread. Since starting low carb, a long time ago now, I started to enjoy foods I was previously avoiding eg high fat. If you compare the carb content in a low fat versus full fat food you will see the low fat version is high carb, which causes disruption for our BG. I NEVER buy a low fat version of food. Since low carbing my hba1c is now fantastic and my BG readings are almost consistently between 4mmol and at most 6mmol. I would never go back to eating what is recommended by the NHS. The carbs, cereals etc cause huge spikes which over time and contribute to complications. Dr Bernstein's book is a great tool


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[Squire Fulwood]

I have never eaten so well. I was forced to pay attention to my diet and since I cook and have a meter I was able to closely study what works and what doesn't and if it didn't what I had to do to it to make it work. Never had so much fun without laughing.

It's stew and dumplings for lunch today.

 

[SamJB]

Oh, and I eat a much wider variety of food these days, particularly veg. I eat much more veg than I used to - that's got to be good for me.

 

[Yorksman]

my diet was actually fairly predictable with each meal being based around the NHS's preferred, low fat & 'good' carbs: pasta, basmati rice, wholemeal breads etc - boring!

Nay, nay, nay. I've just been to the World Curry Festival, somewhat overstated I might add, in Bradford. There are many excellent things can be done with beans and pulses. But, you need to learn how to mix and blend your own spices. Same with pasta. Couscous for example, the same semolina as used in pasta, is boring on its own but easily transformed. For any budding hard guy geordies, I recommend Naga or Scorpion Chillis, reputed to be 400 times hotter tabasco. There's an interesting competition between Asia (Naga) and the West Indies (Scorpion) as to who grows the hottest.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naga_Bhut_Jolokia

I do agree however that this is pushing the definition of food and that these chillis should be treated more as hazardous substances.

 

[eternaloptimist]

I could'nt agree more, i used to menu plan based on carbs, lo carbing has made me focus on a much wider range of food, and i'm loving it, i'm eating loads of thai, north african and mediteranean food, restrictive on carbs? Maybe, but i'm spoilt for choice and texture.
B-)

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[Squire Fulwood]

I NEVER buy a low fat version of food.

More power to your elbow. If there is one thing we should all learn it is that.

So now we have two mantra.

Eat to your meter and

NEVER buy a low fat version of food.

 

[hanadr]

I also don't find low carb restrictive.
However, Iuse almost no ready prepared stuff and cook myself from scratch. I eat very few snacks, but Isuspect snacking might be a bit tricky on low carb.
I've even adapted to the low protein diet Ihave to provide my husband for his kidney failure [I'm trying to stave off dialysis!]
think is i can cook and i suspect you can too Stuffed olive. People who can't cook and rely on ready meals [I know there are lots of them] might find low carbing difficult. Low carb foods are expensive to buy ready made; not to mention hard to find
Hana

 

[lrw60]

Hi Mike,
I'm a T1. If you're interested in LCing, a good place to start is to buy Richard Bernstein's Diabetes Diet book. Bernstein is a doctor and also a T1. He prescribes 6g of carbs for breakfast and 12g for lunch and dinner.

SamJB, is the book called The diabetes diet, low carbohydrate solution? I refuse to buy anything from the tax avoiders at the moment so I checked WH Smith's website and this book is listed at £12.15 I would rather buy from a local bookshop if I can.

 

[SamJB]

Yep that's the one.

 

[lrw60]

Thanks SamJB,

I will see if my WH Smith has to look through, does it have many veggie recipes? I have many veggie recipe books and even some veggie diabetic recipe books. Unfortunately the diabetic books were written before low carbing became so important. Rice, potatoes and pasta abound.

 

[fatty28uk]

I am type 2 and had been struggling to cope with higher blood/sugar levels by gradually upping my insulin. Exercise is restricted by other ongoing medical issues, so my weight had also been increasing.
Since starting on a (self instigated) lower carb diet my blood sugar levels started to drop and have continued doing so, enabling me to use less and less insulin. I was injecting humulin 3 (60 units) twice daily After 4 weeks this in now down to 48 units twice daily. I feel tons better in myself and have just discovered that I have lost 7 pounds in weight whilst doing so. This sort of diet (for want of a better word) may not be so beneficial to others, but I am going to carry on and see where this ends up. Loving it.

 

[Ricky]

My low carb which I have done for the last 6 years is also low GI and that is what makes the difference. Yes you can eat carbs but make them low GI ones (and small quantities). I eat cereal for breakfast but I make my own in a very large tin and have a 4 tablespoon measure :- Oat flakes (the large ones) rye, barley flakes , wheat germ, sunflower , pumpkin, sesame, flax and whole hemp seeds, goji berries, brazil and walnuts, a few naughty raisins, coconut flakes, coco nibs. I have this with 3 spoons of probiotic yoghurt, cinnamon and soya milk. So what I have here is protein and fat to slow down the absorption of the low GI carbs. This works for me and keeps me going for 3 hours or so.

Lunch is usually salad with cheese/ smoked mackerel/ salmon/tuna with balsamic vinegar and 2 slices of Burgen bread with humous/peanut butter etc

Dinner - meat/fish/eggs/cheese/ tofu/quorn with veg and maybe a sweet potato/quinoea and homemade soup (I thicken with powdered black bean powder for added protein)

I also have fruit straight after each meals not on its own and snack on nuts/cheese and oatcakes that I bake myself.

My blood sugars appear as if non diabetic unless I get ill when they go up and nothing will bring them down until the cold/flu/toothache whatever is over!!

I exercise - do classes like spin and aerobics 6 out of 7 days unless I am abroad when my fasting levels go up a bit until I make myself go for long fast walks!!

In the early days I tested all the time so I know what my body will tolerate as we are all different.

I intend to stay meds free as long as can.

 

[Wullie]

Same here, I have definitely thought a lot more about what I'm cooking/eating since fully committing to low-carb.

Have lost 9kg in just over a month, too.

Really getting into stir-fries, amazing how many different kinds of veg you can throw into it. Salads don't get boring if you flavour it well - same goes for meat if you marinade it.

Ricky, that sounds like a breakfast to try! Where do you buy your ingredients from?