Reducing carbs

Author
Discussion

Davey S2

Original Poster:

13,075 posts

253 months

Tuesday 7th July 2015
quotequote all
I eat quote a lot of carbs but am trying to cut down.

Breakfast is either 2 slices of whole wheat toast or 4 Weetabix.

Lunch will be a sandwich made with whole wheat bread.

Dinner is very often pasta based (50g) or something with rice.

Any good suggestions of what I can replace these with? I'm not a massive salad fan but can do lettuce and other leaves.

I'm currently in the gym about 4 times a week and do some weights but mostly cardio. I'm by no means fat but have a few pounds I want to shift from my middle. I'm definitely putting the work in at the gym so need to re evaluate my diet.

Cheers

grumbledoak

31,499 posts

232 months

Tuesday 7th July 2015
quotequote all
I don't even try to substitute, that's like people eating vegetarian 'bacon'. Eat other things that you like.

I skip breakfast completely as a form of Intermittent Fasting (IF), though you could eat eggs, bacon, and sausages instead.

For the other meals I just eat only meat/fish/eggs and green vegetables, and cheese is 'free'. Which is nice.

TurboHatchback

4,151 posts

152 months

Tuesday 7th July 2015
quotequote all
I dropped my carbs right down a while back, turned out to be great for losing weight but not for building muscle which was what I was trying to do. I replaced them with more protein and masses of vegetables. Breakfast was still largely carb based and lunch usually had some type of bread but dinner was just meat and vegetables and no deserts or sugar in any form. It's surprising how much meat and vegetables fills you up compared to big piles of carbs, it really does mean you can lose weight without ever feeling hungry.

J4CKO

41,284 posts

199 months

Tuesday 7th July 2015
quotequote all
Do you drink alcohol ?

toohangry

416 posts

108 months

Wednesday 8th July 2015
quotequote all
Simblade said:
refried beans, avocado, kimchi
All about 10% carb according to the net. Low, sure but if you're trying to have a zero carb diet/trigger ketosis then these aren't going to help.

Davey S2

Original Poster:

13,075 posts

253 months

Wednesday 8th July 2015
quotequote all
J4CKO said:
Do you drink alcohol ?
Yes but generally not in the week. Weekends it will be a couple of beers and a few glasses of wine.

I don't drink that much apart from the odd heavy night now and again.

tgr

1,129 posts

170 months

Wednesday 8th July 2015
quotequote all
Simblade said:
Ketogenic diet is the best natural for cutting body fat - Cyclical ketogenic especially
Any good guidance/links on how to do this properly?

RDMcG

19,093 posts

206 months

Wednesday 8th July 2015
quotequote all
I have a very simple strategy that has worked very well for me:

Input side

(1) Nothing out of a packet or tin except for tuna in water
(2) No red meat (maybe a good steak every three months)
(3) Virtually no alcohol, probably a single night every two weeks, few glasses of wine.
(4) Skip breakfast, good big lunch at the local lebanese resto..chicken wrap and a big salad.
(5) chicken breast or tuna for dinner with tomatoes and basil or the like, coupe slices of proper wholewheat bread,often an apple or orange to accompany.
(6) Tea instead of coffee, no milk
(7) No sugar added to anything
(8) Cut out restaurant meals apart from my Lebanese guy.

Output side

(1) One hour a day at gym, 30 mins hard cardio and 30 mins weights and machines. 7 days a week.
(2) Walk more than I used to , with dogs and so on

Result in six months:

BP went from 150/90 to 120/80, and cholesterol is perfect.
Waist size from 46 to 38…( I am 6'3"),probably will not get less and 36, so will never be wasp-waistedsmile
Quite a lot more muscle.

So at 66 am healthy as a horse and no medication for anything.


toohangry

416 posts

108 months

Wednesday 8th July 2015
quotequote all
RDMcG said:
I have a very simple strategy that has worked very well for me:

Input side

(1) Nothing out of a packet or tin except for tuna in water
(2) No red meat (maybe a good steak every three months)
(3) Virtually no alcohol, probably a single night every two weeks, few glasses of wine.
(4) Skip breakfast, good big lunch at the local lebanese resto..chicken wrap and a big salad.
(5) chicken breast or tuna for dinner with tomatoes and basil or the like, coupe slices of proper wholewheat bread,often an apple or orange to accompany.
(6) Tea instead of coffee, no milk
(7) No sugar added to anything
(8) Cut out restaurant meals apart from my Lebanese guy.

Output side

(1) One hour a day at gym, 30 mins hard cardio and 30 mins weights and machines. 7 days a week.
(2) Walk more than I used to , with dogs and so on

Result in six months:

BP went from 150/90 to 120/80, and cholesterol is perfect.
Waist size from 46 to 38…( I am 6'3"),probably will not get less and 36, so will never be wasp-waistedsmile
Quite a lot more muscle.

So at 66 am healthy as a horse and no medication for anything.
Some bizarre 'rules' there though. No tinned toms for example? tea/coffee irrelevance etc

Basically, looking at your previous waist size, it looks as though you've switched a fairly gluttonous diet for a healthy, considered one and have thrown in some regular exercise. Good for you!

RDMcG

19,093 posts

206 months

Wednesday 8th July 2015
quotequote all
toohangry said:
Some bizarre 'rules' there though. No tinned toms for example? tea/coffee irrelevance etc

Basically, looking at your previous waist size, it looks as though you've switched a fairly gluttonous diet for a healthy, considered one and have thrown in some regular exercise. Good for you!
Well,,not scientific. The reason for no tines etc is actually to simplify my life and avoid all that measurement of calories and carbs etc. I measure nothing except waist sizesmile.
Yes, ate a lot of bad stuff, did not exercise enough and drank too much wine. Lucky genes meant no health impacts until BP went up, so warning sign was enough. Still 15st but ail be happy enough at 14 or so. Not looking for perfection or something I cannot sustain.

AngryPartsBloke

1,436 posts

150 months

Thursday 9th July 2015
quotequote all
Fat for energy
Carbs for recovery

Your meals in the day should be high protein and fat from nuts etc with some salad/vegtables. Greek yoghurt, boiled eggs, biltong etc for snacks. Your evening meal is where you should be eating the bulk of your startchy carbs. Rice, potatoes etc.

Everyone says you needs carbs for energy becuase glycogen is the best, it's not it's just the quickest.

1 Molecule of Glycogen will regenerate 36 moles of ATP. 1 Molecule of Fat will regenerate 460 Moles of ATP.

didelydoo

5,528 posts

209 months

Thursday 9th July 2015
quotequote all
Nothing wrong with carbs- I usually have a high carb, high protein, low fat diet- and am plenty lean. High fat, low carb is overrated.

AngryPartsBloke

1,436 posts

150 months

Thursday 9th July 2015
quotequote all
didelydoo said:
Nothing wrong with carbs- I usually have a high carb, high protein, low fat diet- and am plenty lean. High fat, low carb is overrated.
Tell me where i advocated low carb? I didn't, i advocated using carbs for recovery as they are a poor form of energy compared to fat.


didelydoo

5,528 posts

209 months

Thursday 9th July 2015
quotequote all
AngryPartsBloke said:
Tell me where i advocated low carb? I didn't, i advocated using carbs for recovery as they are a poor form of energy compared to fat.
Calm down! It was just a general comment that carbs aren't a bad thing, in a thread about reducing carbs. I'd have quoted if it was directed at someone in particular.

Timmy40

12,915 posts

197 months

Thursday 9th July 2015
quotequote all
Davey S2 said:
I eat quote a lot of carbs but am trying to cut down.

Breakfast is either 2 slices of whole wheat toast or 4 Weetabix.

Lunch will be a sandwich made with whole wheat bread.

Dinner is very often pasta based (50g) or something with rice.

Any good suggestions of what I can replace these with? I'm not a massive salad fan but can do lettuce and other leaves.

I'm currently in the gym about 4 times a week and do some weights but mostly cardio. I'm by no means fat but have a few pounds I want to shift from my middle. I'm definitely putting the work in at the gym so need to re evaluate my diet.

Cheers
Taking the above, my diet was very similar, I've changed it to;

Breakfast, handful of mixed nuts and chopped fruit.

Lunch: Vegetable soup with a large salad

Dinner: As usual ( you do need some carbs! )

I've found that's worked very well.

I still drink far to much beer though drink

AngryPartsBloke

1,436 posts

150 months

Thursday 9th July 2015
quotequote all
didelydoo said:
AngryPartsBloke said:
Tell me where i advocated low carb? I didn't, i advocated using carbs for recovery as they are a poor form of energy compared to fat.
Calm down! It was just a general comment that carbs aren't a bad thing, in a thread about reducing carbs. I'd have quoted if it was directed at someone in particular.
YOU CALM DOWN!

Sorry...it's all this extra energy I have from Fat laugh

Terminator X

14,921 posts

203 months

Thursday 9th July 2015
quotequote all
toohangry said:
Some bizarre 'rules' there though. No tinned toms for example? tea/coffee irrelevance etc

Basically, looking at your previous waist size, it looks as though you've switched a fairly gluttonous diet for a healthy, considered one and have thrown in some regular exercise. Good for you!
It will never catch on nono

TX.

LordGrover

33,531 posts

211 months

Thursday 9th July 2015
quotequote all
hehe I've recently begun eating bread again. It's quite nice really.

Carbohydrates are not the enemy; they're a valuable source of energy.
It's been fashionable for a few years now to reduce and even eliminate carbs but I think that fad is passing. A sensible, balanced diet with as little refined and processed products is probably best for most of us, whether training or veg-ing on the sofa. That goes for all foods, not just carbs.

chris watton

22,477 posts

259 months

Thursday 9th July 2015
quotequote all
LordGrover said:
hehe I've recently begun eating bread again. It's quite nice really.

Carbohydrates are not the enemy; they're a valuable source of energy.
It's been fashionable for a few years now to reduce and even eliminate carbs but I think that fad is passing. A sensible, balanced diet with as little refined and processed products is probably best for most of us, whether training or veg-ing on the sofa. That goes for all foods, not just carbs.
hehe

I think that once you have your weight under control, most things are OK within moderation, more so if you remain fairly active.