Need Low-carb help getting started. How did you do it???

M

marilynfl

Moderator
I seem to be able to get through breakfast, but because I sit in my little cubicle ALL. DAY. LONG, I constantly nosh. I get up every hour or so to walk, but end up bringing back coffee and then snacking on something. Anything.

95% of the time, I don't have a car available, so I'm stuck at our facility. Can't leave and I just spent $600 having sun marks removed from my face so I'm not thrilled to walk outside. I keep 100 SPF if need be and I'm pretty sure I could land on the surface of the sun and not get burned, but it's thick & icky...

...okay, I'm digressing here...

Back to sticking with low-carbing. Please share how you kick-started it as I'm feeling like a failure.

 
Well...

I've only been back at it for a week (after much success about ten years ago), and I have the same deep-seated noshing tendencies. The only way it works for me to get started is to:

1. Cut out sugar.
2. Cut out bread, potatoes, starch.
3. Drink a lot of water.
4. Tiny quarter-square of dark chocolate daily.

Doing all of the above fairly religiously for about 3 days seems to turn off my brain's CARBS NOW, PLEASE switch. The nonstop interior monologue of "A muffin would be nice... Maybe just one chip? What should we have for dinner? Forget dinner, what about LUNCH? Hey, look, DOUGHNUTS!" just stops entirely. (This is just my experience, but there are enough additional voices in my head--"This scene is crap! You think you're a writer?!"--that silencing the carb one is an enormous benefit of the low-carb approach.)

However, I can't do Atkins--I need vegetables and beans from the beginning. And I need to be able to shave off a very thin slice of cookie or cake; otherwise, I not only fall off the wagon--I kick it into the gulch.

Breakfast used to do me in, too. My standbys are:
1. Hard-boiled egg with hummus.
2. Ham and cheese wrap.
3. Espresso and nothing else. Then early lunch.

My mom has a breakfast sandwich on a thin slice of whole-grain bread, and she's lost about 40 pounds on a low-carb diet (over the course of 8 years), but she's a lot more disciplined than I am. If I were to eat a slice of toast at breakfast, it would be completely downhill for me, the rest of the day, in terms of unstoppable carb urges.

Ultimately, I think you have to do a bit of wrestling within the parameters of the first weeks' forbidden foods to find out what works best for your body, routine, and degree of willpower (of which I have zero).

Sorry this is so long-winded (DOUBLE ESPRESSO AHOY!!), but I hope some of it helps. smileys/smile.gif Good luck! The support and encouragement on this board is not to be discounted, either--seems like a bunch of us are all diving into this after seeing others' great successes.

Erin

 
Have you tried the Neutrogena Ultra Sheer dry touch sun block? I just started using it and

love it. You can choose your spf. I am using spf 55. Most "experts" say anything over 50 is okay, that higher levels aren't any better.

I can't tell I have it on after applied. Definitely not greasy or heavy, that's what I've always hated about sunblock.

 
You have to be prepared.

And noshing all day is actually part of a good low carb regime. You should be eating every 3-4 hours to keep your blood sugar even and not spike. Spike is bad and that is when you want to eat your desk.

The link takes you to a good spot to learn what to do if you don't have a low carb diet book. It presents the whys and how tos, recipes, menus, all the info you'll need to get started.

Read my tips in the WOES. I spend Sunday cooking and packaging things for the weeks lunches and breakfasts so I can just grab and go: crustless quiches and frittatas in a variety of flavors for breakfasts. Slices of roasts, and servings of veggies and salad for lunch.

Big salads packaged in individual servings. Spinach dip, hardboiled/deviled eggs, celery sticks, radishes, and other low carb vegges, cubes of cheese, cheese spreads, etc. all packaged up and ready to grab in the morning for mid-morning, and mid-afternoon snacks. These are imperative if you're going to have success.

You'll need lots of small containers to package it all up so all you have to do in the morning is open the fridge and load up your lunchbox for the day.

Another thing I do if I haven't had time to prepare a snack, is I will save several bites of my lunch for the 3:30-4:00 desk munching hour.

Good luck!

http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/whattoeat/What_Foods_To_Eat_on_a_Low_Carb_Diet.htm

 
I'm hesitating going "cold turkey" (both literally and figuratively!) on the low-carb thing.

I know I'll get excited once I start, but I am SO addicted to carbs... sigh. Which, coincidentally, is what got me in trouble to begin with!

I'm having my son take some "before" pics of me in my swim trunks. I'm sure once I come face-to-pic with these images, I'll rush out and buy some lean meat and green veggies.

Oy...

Michael

 
My standbys are pb and low-carb tortilla wrap, protein shakes, handful of almonds with string cheese

As for protein powders, most of them have lots of sugar or sugar substitute in them. There are two good ones that are sugar-free and pack a lot of protein and leucine which is recommended on the Protein Power diet:

GNC Pro Performance 100% Whey Protein (a 2 lb. container was $25 on sale at GNC and seems to last forever). 21g protein in a scoop; 110 calories; 2g carbs; 40mg cholestrol.
http://tinyurl.com/cv7lb6z

NOW Sports Whey Protein Isolate - costs more than the one above but is supposed to be better (...the 'isolate' thing...don't ask me). 25g protein in a scoop; 105 calories; 1g carbs; 4mg cholestrol -this one would be perfect for you with the really low cholestrol!!
http://tinyurl.com/cyhayan

Into a blender, throw a scoop of powder, 3/4 cup water, 5 ice cubes, sweetener of choice (I use Splenda), and flavor of choice. I usually throw in a few strawberries, mango, or little cocoa powder and vanilla. Remember, whatever fruit you add will increase the carbs and calories.


You can put the shake into a thermos and take it to sip on at your desk. It's like a frothy milkshake and keeps me full for hours. If I'm going somewhere and not sure when I'll be eating, I take my thermos.

 
This is brilliant. Please keep talking to me. Oh, and there's one more big stumbling block...

I stopped taking my cholesterol medication and have 1.5 months to drop numbers/weight before my next visit or my doctor will get very, very cranky with me.

So every time I consider eating protein/fat versus carbs, my brain starts to panic because most foods in that category are big No-No's in the "key an eye on your cholesterol" world.

Hard Cold Facts (hee, I wrote "Fats"): I'm 195 pounds at 5'7". Used to be 5'7 3/4" but my Z-axis has shrunk and my X- & Y-axis have grown.

Cholesterol #: 230. My triglycerides are great, my ratio is great, my HDL is great, my LDL...eh, not so great. Close family history of deaths from clogged arteries, which is why the doctor is pushing me to get the numbers lower.

 
I rarely touch low-carb tortillas.

They're 5-10 carbs/tortilla depending on the brand and they've also become extremely hard to find (at least in my area--I mail order from netrition.com Mama Lupe 7" are 3 carb per).

That's a large percentage of the days carbs. They're great for maintenance eating, but not if you want to lose weight. Lettuce leaves make great sandwich wrappers if you're looking to lose weight.

I do keep some low-carb tortillas in the freezer to use for making a low-carb pizza for a weekend treat every couple weeks or so.

 
Hey, if you can even put ON a pair of swim trunks and let someone take a pic..

you can't be doing TOO bad! Me, I've just learned to avoid mirrors...and cameras...reflecting pools...store windows...

 
Oh dear, reality nailed me when I accidently hit the "photo icon"

on my MAC tool bar and this old, fat woman popped up on my screen.

Scared the bejeezus out of me. Then I realized it was me.

(That ended up a BIG carb day.)

 
Richard, the Mission carb balance whole wheat are a net 3g carbs, 0 cholestrol, 3g protein, 80 cal

The carb balance white tortillas are 6g carbs, 0 cholestrol, 5g protein, 120 calories.

I get them at Target in the food aisle for about half of what the stores sells (if you can find them).

Big plus is they keep me full for a low amount of carbs. No way I can go zero carbs, and I'm not sure that would be good for you anyway.

http://www.missionmenus.com/Pantry.aspx

 
Marilyn, I am not an MD, nor do I play one on TV...

but, my understanding is that your body chemistry determines the cholestrol as well as the "modern" foods that were introduced in the last century when heart disease began occuring.

Many people freak out at the eggs I eat. I've been eating eggs for breakfast every day of my life since I was old enough to eat. I eat butter, cream, protein in form of roasts of beef, pork, chicken, duck, etc. But I eat virtually zero processed foods.

As a result, my cholestrol numbers are probably the lowest on this board.

"...(people) ate saturated fat and cholesterol in the form of animal fats, eggs, and full-fat dairy liberally for millennia and were heart-disease free up until the early 1900s, and just as we reduced our consumption of these foods and replaced them with sugar, vegetable oils and processed food, heart disease rates began to climb" from the link...

http://trusted.md/blog/vreni_gurd/2007/04/13/high_cholesterol_does_not_cause_heart_disease#axzz1qWVgLRC2

 
Richard's on to it-- definitely have to be prepared. There are degrees of "low carb"

Atkins is the strictest, very low carb and probably the quickest for weight-loss, as long as you don't cheat a crumb--yes even a crumb will throw you off, then you're back to square one. smileys/frown.gif It pays to get the Atkins book from the library. "Low carb" is diff on diff diet plans.
It is mentally challenging. (just ask me about the Girl Scout Samoas that are on the file cabinet 10ft away from me smileys/frown.gif I always have almonds in my desk drawer. Eventually you're off the sugar "crack"
Absolutely no fruit or fruit juice! Do not eat peanut butter, switch to almond butter.

30 grams of protein within 1 hour of waking up.
Be sure to check for the lowest carb protein powders. I blend in low carb leafys and flaxseed to bulk it up. I'm not a breakfast lover, so I use a lot of protein shakes.
Drink water before you eat. Have 64 oz liquids per day.
Don't drink while you're eating--you tend not to chew as much and by "washing" the food down, lessens the chewing/eating experience=hungry sooner. smileys/frown.gif

You may want to ease into to low carb with vegs, then go not so cold turkey to super low carb Atkins Phase 1.

See below for a 7 day planner I made up when I was on low carb, no dairy except cottage cheese. (following "the 4 hour body" plan) I just switched down to total Atkins Phase 1. Holding at 12 lbs in 3 weeks.
Still optimistic and this board (Richard smileys/smile.gif helps!
All of this said, I'm no expert either, just trying to take the best of what I've read and apply to my daily struggle. smileys/smile.gif

AM and PM snacks are for at work. I try not to eat after 7 PM. smileys/frown.gif

Day 1:

Breakfast: flavored protein shake, blended with spinach
Lunch: ½ cup cottage cheese, small salad
Dinner: grilled turkey cheeseburger, (no bun)
AM snack: spicy almonds
PM snack: celery sticks with almond butter

Day 2:

Breakfast: small protein shake, peppers and scrambled eggs (3)
Lunch: grilled chicken strips with Caesar salad (No bottled dressing)
Dinner: tuna with lentils
AM snack: ½ cup cottage cheese
PM snack: cucumber sticks with aioli dip

Day 3:

Breakfast: protein shake with spinach, celery
Lunch: big salad, with cucumbers, celery, hard boiled eggs
Dinner: sautéed broccoli, grilled fish
AM snack: egg muffin (eggs, spinach, ham baked in silicone muffin tins)
PM snack: ½ Atkins bar

Day 4:
Breakfast: ½ cup cottage cheese, scrambled eggs
Lunch: turkey roll ups, salad
Dinner: beef stir fry, peppers, broccoli
AM snack: nut mix
PM snack: smoked trout with celery

Day 5:
Breakfast: almond flavored protein shake with flaxseed/almond butter
Lunch: canned salmon, string bean salad
Dinner: beef patty or meatloaf, grilled zucchini
AM snack: flaxseed crackers
PM snack: egg muffin

Day 6:
Breakfast: scrambled eggs with peppers
Lunch: ½ cup cottage cheese, hard boiled eggs
Dinner: grilled chicken, roasted broccoli
AM snack: almonds
PM snack: ½ Atkins bar

Day 7:
Breakfast: protein shake, almond pancakes
Lunch: tuna with black bean salad
Dinner: turkey burger, sautéed spinach
AM snack: ½ cup cottage cheese
PM snack: almond butter/celery

Anytime: flavored teas

Good luck!!

 
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