Anybody doing low carb or paleo?

Kevin B.

Kevin B.

Not often wrong. Never quite right.
Moderator
Location
Stinkwater
I tried Adkins, back in the day, and the carb crash was horrible. I think I only lasted a week before pitching it. I've recently been rereading on low-carb alternatives and ketosis, and thought I'd give it another shot. I'm horrible with the counting carbs and keeping a log of what I eat, so I decided my first step would be to just eliminate all the fast carbs, which are normally a large part of my diet. For the past two weeks, I've had practically no bread, rice, pasta, or potatoes, and I feel great. I'm not hard-core paleo or anything ... I'm quite sure that the reason neanderthals died out is because they didn't have cheese. But the sandwiches are gone, breakfast cereal and toast are gone, boxed noodles and rices are gone, all the white-flour starches and over-processed nasty crap is gone from my kitchen shelves. My energy levels are up to the point that I'm having trouble going to bed, and I'm feeling better when I wake up. I'm not counting carbs and I wasn't aiming for ketosis, but I think I'm there anyway just based on how I feel. As soon as I'm done with this latest wrestling match with my truck I'm going to get back to the gym as well. I'm hoping to start noticing my pants fitting looser here in a month or so - if that doesn't happen then I'll need to adjust what I'm doing until it does. I can't do a high maintenance "diet" and make it last, I know this, so I'm hoping to find a sustainable eating pattern that wont involve measuring and weighing.

Anybody else having any luck with low carb or paleo? I wanna hear stories!
 
Try the Flat Belly Diet, the food is amazing and it actually works. My wife did it combined with Insanity and she looks even better than the day we got married.
 
I did Atkins about 10 years ago. First couple weeks are the hardest, but then it gets easier. Lots of energy, feel great, lost the fat... 'Course a bad marriage (no longer with her) and a love of pizza and fast foods I've managed to creep back to where I started. Good marriage now, but terrible eating habits. When you work from home and all you want to do for lunch is get away from the office (out of the house), and are always a bit rushed for lunch, it's fast food almost every day for me. What I do know is when I cut out carbs I can lose weight, the less carbs I eat the more weight I lose.. The problem is I love high carb foods (not sugars so much, but the breads mostly).
 
skeptic said:
I did Atkins about 10 years ago. First couple weeks are the hardest, but then it gets easier. Lots of energy, feel great, lost the fat... 'Course a bad marriage (no longer with her) and a love of pizza and fast foods I've managed to creep back to where I started. Good marriage now, but terrible eating habits. When you work from home and all you want to do for lunch is get away from the office (out of the house), and are always a bit rushed for lunch, it's fast food almost every day for me. What I do know is when I cut out carbs I can lose weight, the less carbs I eat the more weight I lose.. The problem is I love high carb foods (not sugars so much, but the breads mostly).
Click to expand...

Pack a lunch and walk to the park. :)

I'm the same place with the carbs right as I was with cigs when I quit smoking - I loved the high-carb foods, the breads and the taters and such, but I've educated myself to the point that I understand what sort of damage I'm doing to myself with them. I'm only two weeks in, but I don't miss them right now. Maybe a little research into the reasons people are using primal and ketogenic diets might help you ditch them faster?
 
Kevin B. said:
Pack a lunch and walk to the park. :)

I'm the same place with the carbs right as I was with cigs when I quit smoking - I loved the high-carb foods, the breads and the taters and such, but I've educated myself to the point that I understand what sort of damage I'm doing to myself with them. I'm only two weeks in, but I don't miss them right now. Maybe a little research into the reasons people are using primal and ketogenic diets might help you ditch them faster?
Click to expand...

I get it. In fact I was in the "low carb/high fat can't be good for you" camp. A friend was doing it so I wanted to research it to see how bad Atkins/low carb is. Much to my surprise, I came away with the belief that an Atkins-like diet (meaning way of eating, not method for losing weight) is FAR me healthy than low fat or typical American diet. My biggest issue is a high stress job, always feeling like I'm in a rush, and the ease of having fast food/pizza right around the corner. We also eat out for dinner quite a bit, probably 3+ times a week. That isn't necessarily a bad thing, but when I'm in a place smelling all the tasty yet bad for you foods, I often make poor choices. Really though, it's lunch that's the killer for me.

no chance for me to walk anywhere. With the nature of my job I need to have my phone handy and be able to get to my desk in 5-10 minutes. That doesn't mean I never get an hour off for lunch, just that if something comes up I may need to cut lunch short and be quick about it. Sometimes I'll run on the treadmill for 20 minutes and get some exercise, but I'm able to get to my office quickly.
 
I have done low/no carb twice. both times I had great results. I lost my desired weight and felt really good. My acid reflux was nearly eliminated and was a daily problem prior to that. I don't know if it is the weight or the carbs but it was a big difference. I really missed the carbs. I tried to eat zero carbs and the weight went fast. I don't think its the healthiest way to lose weight because something tells me no fruits and only green veggies isn't an all around good choice.

It works and I am much more concious about my weight and carb intake because of it. That said I have kept the pounds off for long periods of time. I am only 170lbs and love it!
 
ID Bronco said:
I don't think its the healthiest way to lose weight because something tells me no fruits and only green veggies isn't an all around good choice.
Click to expand...

This is why I'm not counting carbs yet. I'm not a huge fruit eater so that's not a big deal, but I don't want to restrict the veggies in the pursuit of some arbitrary number, and I'm hoping I don't have to.
 
I have never tried the low carb diet, but have seen a lot of friends drop weight while on it.

When I was training for an adventure race I locked down my eating and it really helped. I dropped 35 pounds and cut my body fat in half. The way I did it was by watchin my calories. Crazy right. I didn't purposely cut out carbs, but they scaled down because high carb foods are high calorie foods. I ate a lot of fruits and veggies. I have never felt better.

After the race was over I had to get knee surgery. I lost all motivation to work out.

I gotta get going again with working out and eating well. My summer adventures are getting closer and I need to be in better shape for them.

Keep us updated on your progress.
 
If you are going by the Atkins style net carbs (not counting fiber) for limiting carbs, there are a ton of veggies and a fair amount of fruits you can eat. If you really are trying for zero (net) carbs, I think that's not the best. You should be eating lots of veggies according to the late Dr. Atkins. I just need to get back on it myself and follow my own advice.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top