Help me cut carbs out of my diet!

[Riknos]

Hi all,

I've started going to the gym again 5 times a week on lunch breaks, for about 45/50 minutes each day (previously went 2-3 times a week in evenings for 2-3 hours a go).

The problem I think, is that whilst I try and be healthy, I eat too much carbs.

Mon-Fri my food consists of:
Breakfast - 75g porridge oats, 500ml skimmed milk

Lunch - Banana, carrot, tomato. 4 slices of bread, (wholemeal, medium or thick) all buttered with Flora light. 2x slices of quorn with sweet chilli sauce.

Dinner - Most days are: Sainsbury's vegetable soup, with 4x slices of bread, buttered. Occasionally marmite added, raisins and chocolate also.

I try and eat a pasta in sauce dish once a week, and throw in a stir fry or boil every now and again.

I've also started adding in protein shakes post workout, and creatine.

I'm on a very tight budget / time constraint in the evenings, which is why I'm not doing chicken breasts / tuna in meals.

Any cheap and quick alternatives to carbs I can have for lunch / dinner?
I really like fruits and vegetables, but they don't fill me up. I was actually thinking today of perhaps swapping out the bread for noodles, but I might just be replacing one issues with a (longer to prepare) issue.

Edited by Riknos on Monday 13th February 15:58

[KrazyIvan]

Try cutting down on the bread, as you shouldn't really be eating 8 slices of bread a day, also try swapping what you do eat for thin slices, your body will soon adjust to the lower carb intake and you'll crave the "missing" slices less and less.

Wholemeal bread is not as good as you think it is


Kingsmill Wholemeal Bread Calories and Nutrition per Serving (1 Serving=1 Slice/45g)

Calories 99
Protein 4.5
Carbohydrate 16.9
Fat 1.5
Fibre 3.1

And your having 8 of those a day!

To put that in to comparison

Ryvita Original Wheat Crackerbread x1

Calories 19
Protein 0.5
Carbohydrate 3.8
Fat 0.2
Fibre 0.2

[Du1point8]

KrazyIvan said:

Try cutting down on the bread, as you shouldn't really be eating 8 slices of bread a day, also try swapping what you do eat for thin slices, your body will soon adjust to the lower carb intake and you'll crave the "missing" slices less and less.

Wholemeal bread is not as good as you think it is


Kingsmill Wholemeal Bread Calories and Nutrition per Serving (1 Serving=1 Slice/45g)

Calories 99
Protein 4.5
Carbohydrate 16.9
Fat 1.5
Fibre 3.1

And your having 8 of those a day!

Thats what I was thinking 800 calories in bread slices alone.

[Riknos]

KrazyIvan said:

Kingsmill Wholemeal Bread Calories and Nutrition per Serving (1 Serving=1 Slice/45g)

Calories 99
Protein 4.5
Carbohydrate 16.9
Fat 1.5
Fibre 3.1

And your having 8 of those a day!

To put that in to comparison

Ryvita Original Wheat Crackerbread x1

Calories 19
Protein 0.5
Carbohydrate 3.8
Fat 0.2
Fibre 0.2

I eat Sainsburys own brand, so it's:

Calories 78 Sodium 110 mg
Total Fat 1 g Potassium 0 mg
Saturated 0 g Total Carbs 13 g
Polyunsaturated 1 g Dietary Fiber 3 g
Monounsaturated 0 g Sugars 2 g
Trans 0 g Protein 4 g

For the medium slice, they don't do a thin!

[KrazyIvan]

Riknos said:

I eat Sainsburys own brand, so it's:

Calories 78 Sodium 110 mg
Total Fat 1 g Potassium 0 mg
Saturated 0 g Total Carbs 13 g
Polyunsaturated 1 g Dietary Fiber 3 g
Monounsaturated 0 g Sugars 2 g
Trans 0 g Protein 4 g

For the medium slice, they don't do a thin!

That still where you need to cut down (600+ Cals 100g+ carbs) every day, it might sound silly, but if it has to be that bread, then why not cut it down to 6 slices to start with, so you have 2 triple decker sandwiches rather then 4 normal, but youy would still be better off replacing the bread with ryvita.

[anonymous-user]

You want about 25g max of carbs per meal on average. Thats 1.5 slices of bread.

[Riknos]

KrazyIvan said:

That still where you need to cut down (600+ Cals 100g+ carbs) every day, it might sound silly but if it has to be that bread then why not cut it down to 6 slices to start with so you have 2 triple decker sandwiches rather then 4 normal, but youy would still be better of replacing the bread with ryvita.

Thanks. I'll check out Ryvita tonight. Issue is, even eating what I currently do, I still get really hungry, especially in the evenings! Bread is cheap. I have a lot of (plain)rice cakes at home; The ex used to like them with peanut butter on. I'm not sure what to put on them though..

[Burrow01]

I have the same addiction to carbs :-)

What I find works for me:
Lots of fruit - Bananas/ Apples / Plums (very good - filling and 30 calories each)/ Grapes - buy it at a market if you are on a budget and have time

Stir Fries are quick and easy to do - make them with Prawns, pre prepped stir fry veg packs from the supermarket, sliced pre cooked chicken breasts etc

[AlexC1981]

Are you a vegetarian? One of the most filling meals in comparison to its calorie content that I used to eat when I was dieting was lean steak with French beans. Delicious too.

[anonymous-user]

Most people are addicted to carbs - it's comfort food!!!

[KrazyIvan]

Look at your fluid in take as well, you should be drinking a steady 2 - 3 litres of fluids through the day.

[Riknos]

It's not that carbs are addictive; it's the fact they fill you up. I love fruits and vegetables, but could eat them all day long and not feel any more full up.

I'm not a vegetarian, but I can't afford to eat steak!

Don't get me wrong guys, I'm not a massive fatty - I'm 65kgs and 5ft9, I just want to cut some more carbs out to help with the gym training.

Thanks for all the input though.

[Riknos]

KrazyIvan said:

Look at your fluid in take as well, you should be drinking a steady 2 - 3 litres of fluids through the day.

I'd say I do 3.5-4 litres of water easily a day.

[theshrew]

I love bread especially white :-) but now have cut it out of my diet. I just have it as a treat at a weekend now.

Im no expert but to me it looks like you need to smash some more meat down your mush mate. Time really shouldnt be that much of a problem most meat doesnt take long to cook plus you coud cut it thin will speed it up even more.

Or you could do what i did yesterday and cook a few meals worth in one go. I cooked 2 packs of chicken yesterday then its ready to eat when i want it.

[amare32]

I'd seriously limit the white bread and introduce other source of carbs like sweet potatoes, bagels and rice. But the trick is to limit carbs after 6pm and sub them for clean protein.

Eggs, fish and lean cuts of pork, turkey breast would be fine as you mentioned chicken is expensive which it bl00dy is. in the evenings, if time is limited or I can't be bothered, I would make a simple tomato omelette with 4 eggs (2 yolks), with a side order of green salad/ or humous and celery sticks/carrots which is pretty filling.

Then before I go to bed, I have 4 x boiled eggs and again only 2 yolks or cottage cheese and pineapple.

A typical example of my daily food intake are as follows:

Breakfast
Bagel and scrambled eggs with ketchup

mid morning
Carrots or apple

Lunch
A choice of either ~ all Home made ~:
Sushi
Stir fry (e.g. chicken garlic chilli + boiled rice)
Grilled honey glazed pork, courgette and mashed sweet potato

Late afternoon
Banana

Pre-workout/tennis match
Cottage cheese +pineapple & bagel

Dinner
Grilled chicken or turkey/fish with green salad

Supper
Cottage cheese or 4 x boiled eggs (2 yolks)

I know this works for me, combining eating clean for the last 6 months, along with 1/2 gym sessions a week and 4/5 hours of tennis every week, I've went from 15% body fat down to 6%. That's WITHOUT supplementation. Just sensible eating, keeping hydrated throughout the day and getting 7/8 hours sleep most days. I do allow a few cheat foods here and there at the weekend - you need these as a reward otherwise you'll go nuts.

[Hoofy]

Riknos said:

Breakfast - 35g porridge oats, 250ml skimmed milk

Lunch - Banana, carrot, tomato. 2 slices of bread, (wholemeal, medium or thick) all buttered with Flora light. 2x slices of quorn with sweet chilli sauce.

Dinner - Most days are: Sainsbury's vegetable soup, with 2x slices of bread, buttered. Occasionally marmite added, raisins and chocolate also.

Job jobbed. And, no, I'm not taking the piss.

[Hoofy]

Riknos said:

Don't get me wrong guys, I'm not a massive fatty - I'm 65kgs and 5ft9, I just want to cut some more carbs out to help with the gym training.

That's not fat at all. I guess you have a bulge in the wrong place that you want to shift. To eat meat, you can try stuff like corned beef if your budget is tight. It's quite filling just eating it alone, I've found. Sure, it's probably made from mane and horn. You said you were on a tight budget.

[goldblum]

How will cutting the very food the body utilizes best for energy help you in the gym?

Cut down on the bread,scratch the chocs.The rest of your diet is fine.

If anything cut out the protein drinks if you need to cut cals.

Carbs are addictive? Where's that come from? Anybody with a link from a valid,research based report backed by references that comes to that irrefutable conclusion?

Or are we just saying 'I can't stop eating chocolate'?

[BenM77]

goldblum said:

How will cutting the very food the body utilizes best for energy help you in the gym?

Cut down on the bread,scratch the chocs.The rest of your diet is fine.

If anything cut out the protein drinks if you need to cut cals.

Carbs are addictive? Where's that come from? Anybody with a link from a valid,research based report backed by references that comes to that irrefutable conclusion?

Or are we just saying 'I can't stop eating chocolate'?

This could start quite a debate with all the low/no carb diets people are trying.

As a big carb lover it is good to hear that they are not the enemy !

[Stoatman]

I wouldn't really ditch the protein shakes in my opinion, as it seems that's the only place you are getting good quailty protein from . Ditch the soup and 4 slices of bread and go for a cheap filling dish like an omelette / salad / tuna (try lidl or aldi or asda value) turkey breast etc. Spending that much time working out but then having a , lets face it , nutritionally worthless meal is seriously counter productive. Some of your diet however seems ok.