I only eat about one meal a day. Typically, I have around 4 cups of coffee which include 2 tsp. of non-dairy powdered cream and two tsp. of sugar per cup. I don't eat breakfast or lunch. For dinner I usually have meat and veggies, and used to have a starch (rice, pasta, potatoe) until I started this low/no card diet. My question is, should I be eating more than once a day while on this diet? If I stick to my normal eating habits as described above and cut out the carbs will it still work? Also, what is an acceptable number of grams of carbs to eat a day?

Hi Jenny,

Eating one meal a day, will slow your metabolism and make your body work against you. The body will enter a sort of "starvation" mode, where all energy will be stored as fat to prepare for long periods with no food intake.

Are you following a specific diet plan?

Wa'il

Hi Jenny, welcome to our forum.

Um, just curious as to which lowcarb plan are you following?? Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution (DANDR) or Protein Power (PP) or Carbohydrate Addicts Diet (CAD) or Neanderthin, or what?? It would really be good to learn how a low-carbohydrate way of eating will not only bring about weight loss but will also improve other health areas too. Any of these plans may work for you; if you can't buy a copy of one of the books, I'm sure you could borrow one from the library.

I can't tell you what you should be eating. Let us know what plan you're following, then we can help you plan some menus that are workable with your lifestyle. Please keep us posted, we love to help people lose.;)
Doreen

Reply
 

I am following the Atkin's diet. I am trying to cut the amount of carbs I eat. Today for example, I had 57 grams of carbohydrates in total. That included breakfast, lunch dinner, snacks, and two light beers with dinner. I am aware of the fact that if I eat only one meal a day that my metabolism will slow significantly. That is why I am wondering what my big meal should be because I NEVER eat breakfast.Also, if I am following the Atkin's diet, will my eating times affect the effectiveness of how well the diet will work for me?

Sorry to tell you this but you are definitely NOT following the Atkins diet! Have you read the book? Are you just starting? Atkins starts out at 20 carbs or less a day, and you are supposed to eat at least 3 meals a day plus snacks. I am not a breakfast person myself and usually don't get around to eating a meal until after 12, but I try to have at least some cheese or cold cuts or something to get my metabolism going in the morning.

If you want it to work, you have to do it right!

help me deidre!
 

Thank you all for your speedy replys!

I do not have the book on the Atkins diet so ANY info is extremely helpful. I am now aware that I am only supposed to eat 20 carbs a day or less. For how long? I agree with you on getting my metabolism going is a good idea in the morning w/ cheese or cold cuts.

I have about 10-15 pounds to lose to be at my ideal weight. After I get to my goal weight I am going to start toning up with some weight training both at home and at my gym.

Now that you told me I have to have a max of 20 carbs a day it makes sense why I was reading about "shocking" your body, as I was on the internet doing some research yesterday. Dr. Atkins site was helpful but only if you had your Visa ready to purchase books and supplements as were a lot of the others. I did, however, find Carb lists that are going to be EXTREMELY helpful in keeping track.

Thanks again to ALL for being interested - I hope we ALL get to where we want to be!

Why don't you borrow the book from the library if you can't afford to purchase it.

You really DO need to read the book. Just listening and asking questions won't give you all the information you need to successfully follow the diet. You'll just be spinning your wheels and getting frustrated.

Good luck
Lainey

hi Jenny, how are you doing??
 

Hope you are having some luck getting your hands on a good lowcarb resource. Dr. Atkins Diet Revolution is the gold standard, but any of the lowcarb plans I listed in my first post to you are excellent for explaining how carbohydrates work in your body, the roles of insulin and blood sugar, and how careful control of your intake of carbs, along with a balanced intake of protein will improve your health and well-being, as well as weight loss. Pheeww, run-on sentence or what?? :D Anyway, most public libraries will have at least one of the popular books :

• Atkins New Diet Revolution
• Protein Power
• Carbohydrate Addicts
• Sugar Busters
• the Zone
• Neanderthin
• .........and others

It is vital that you understand lowcarbing really is a lifestyle change. You've probably noticed on the different sites you've visited that people refer to this as a WOL (way of life) or WOE (way of eating). It's not a "diet", where you follow a formula - eat this for breakfast, this for lunch , this for supper - for a few weeks, lose a few poounds then go back to your old habits. You MUST learn to recognize how food makes your body feel, and how to feed it properly. Lowcarbing isn't just about cutting out sugar and starchy food. It also means replacing all those carbs you cut out with quality protein foods, and quality fats as well. Yes, FATS. Good fat, like nuts, and real butter and cold-pressed olive oil. Not margarine and hydrogenated trans fats.

About exercise, um, I need to improve my own habits here too, but a really good idea would be if you started at it now, not wait till the weight is off. First, it will boost your weight-loss efforts, second, weight-training especially will ensure that the weight you do lose is fat, and not lean muscle.

You sound as though you're headed in the right direction, just need to take a step back a bit, and learn a bit more. We are always here to answer any question you may have.

take care, and please keep us posted.

Doreen

Meal Plans - craving sweets
 

Thank you Doreen for your advice. You mentioned about helping with meal planns - that'd be great. Also, when I am CRAVING sweets (chocolate) what do I do?
I had been made aware of this Atkin's diet by a girlfriend who's been doing it for about a year. She's read the book and knows how the diet works. She suggested that if I cannot follow the 20 carbs for 2 weeks that I stay as low as possible because otherwise I might cheat and fall of the diet wagon. Knowing my personality, she is right. I did eat only 20 carbs yesterday. That was largely in part because I bought sweet&low (which I hate) to knock down the carbs in my coffee. With regular table sugar I was getting my 20 carbs in my 2 cups of coffee which I drink before 10 am!!!! That wouldn't really work would it? So I am switching to this sweet&low stuff which is barely tolerable, but tolerable none the less. Now, my problem is sweets. I have never been one to go overboard on sweets, when not dieting if I had any cookies, ice cream, candy etc. it was MAYBE 2 times a month. Now that I cannot have it I WANT IT ALL THE TIME!!!! How do I get through those times? If there's a place on this website that has tips on eating out that would be helpful. I'm not big on fast food but I absolutely love Chinese food and a restaurant near my home has the best food I have ever eaten. My family orders from there at LEAST once a week. Thanks so musch for all the help!

advice for lowcarb beginners
 

Hi Jenny,

If you click on "Tips" on the red menu bar at the top of the page, you'll find some great menu ideas from Karen Barnaby, world-class chef and all-round amazing lowcarber. More ideas and tips will be arriving shortly. In the meantime, here are some other web pages I think you might find helpful :

http://www.devtex.net/graham/low_carb_advice.htm

http://www.locarbliving.com/kit.html

Both of these sites have lots of info to get you started, and FAQ (frequently asked questions) pages also. Please look over these sites first. If you don't have unlimited internet time, download them to read offline, or when the kids are in bed and you can concentrate. If you still have questions, let me know. Both of these sites also have LINKS to other lowcarb sites, so the world really is at your fingertips.

About sugar and sweet cravings. Yes, you will have 'em bad until your blood sugar and insulin get levelled out, and that won't happen until you start feeding your body some PROTEIN during the day along with the coffee. I drink 2 or 3 cups of coffee too, but you MUST have something to eat for fuel - scrambled eggs, bacon or ham, some deli meats, tuna, boiled or devilled eggs, leftover roast or chicken...... So, protein, protein, protein. Don't just cut out carbs and replace them with nothing.

Promise me you'll click and read those pages I've put here for you, Ok? ;)
Then, come back with questions, if you still have any!! and we'll help with menus.

'bye, Doreen

[Edited by doreen T on 14-12-00 at 19:27]

I checked them out...
 

Thank you for those sites. I checked them both out and found some really great advice. I really think I can stick with this! On the one site I found a recipe for homemade candy - made it tonight and it's not bad...It will take a long time for me to get used to Splenda, Equal and all their counterparts...they seem SO sweet and I can't stand their aftertaste. My girlfriend is the opposite - she thinks, after drinking diet soda for years, that regular soda and things made w/ real sugar are sweeter than sugar substitutes. I don't know about that......

I went "window shopping" in my grocery store this evening. I was surprised to see that they sell Splenda (funny I never noticed it until I started this diet!) I also noticed some things like soy flour (lo carb!), soy milk, and things of that nature that once I get a good cookbook will be really handy staples in my cupboard. I find it such a shame that they don't sell more of those lo-carb items. With all the ethnic food aisles you'd think that a local grocer would start to carry things like lo-carb, diet, WOL food items. What a money-maker that would be, huh? I do believe that I finally have a grasp of the fundamentals of the Atkin's diet. I didn't realize that this was a lifestyle change, not a diet (limited time...)and that's just fine with me. I will go to my local library to get as many of the books as I can. MAybe with more of a selection I can narrow down more easily which diet is best for my lifestyle and will work. I have already lost a couple of pounds which is great but not enough for me to feel that this diet is why. I read alot about cycles, fluctuation on a women's cycle and those types of things. This site has been a wonderful source of information and motivation....Thanks again Doreen (by the way - my oldest sister is a Doreen too - how comforting!)

Way to go Jenny
 

Lots to learn, and lots of terrific lowcarbing friends here to help. You sound really motivated, and I just know you will be successful with your weight loss efforts.

Doreen

p.s.- you will be AMAZED how quickly your tastebuds will change and become sensitive to the overly-sweet taste of high-sugar foods. Now, I think raw carrots taste sugary, and I ate a piece of sugar-free candy and got a toothache, it was so sweet.

great forum!
 

Wow, I'm learning alot just reading all of the great replies. I had forgotten how important it is to eat something to get the metabolism going for the day. When I first started CAD a month and a half ago, I always had something for breakfast, usually eggs. In the past three weeks or so I have been having an extra-large Tim Horton's Coffee with double cream and one sweetener for my "breakfast" every day. Sometimes I have lunch, which would usually be a salad with grilled chicken, but very often I don't have anything at all. My schedule keeps me very busy and the day passes quickly, before I know it, it's supper time and I eat a regular dinner of whatever I want. The Carbohydrate Addict's Diet allows you one meal a day consisting of whatever foods you like as long as you don't eat outside of the 60-minute timeframe. (A well-balanced meal is strongly suggested.) I do not snack at all. I would love to continue doing it this way because it really fits so perfectly, and I have been steadily losing weight. Do you think that I should change my routine? I don't mean to make everyone repeat themselves but I wonder why the coffee, which satisfies my hunger is such a bad idea? Thank you in advance for your advice.

Hi,

Hmmm, where did you get the idea caffeine was so bad?? The pros and cons of caffeine are well-known. It really is a case of YMMV (your mileage may vary). Some people are not bothered by it, and find that it does not affect their weight loss efforts at all. Others find it actually boosts things. Still others find they cannot tolerate caffeine products, and it puts them right into a weight-loss stall. Only you know what works for you. I personally enjoy at least 2 cups of coffee every morning, but I switch to tea after lunchtime, and non-caffeine drinks after supper, because it does affect my sleep. Caffeine does NOT affect my weight loss either way.

As far as carbohydrates though, it's important to remember that coffee is NOT carb-free. One 6-oz cup of medium-strength brewed coffee is 0.8 grams. 6 fluid ounces is one of those dinky styrofoam cups, or a small mug. An extra-large coffee is 20-oz, I think. That would be about 2.8 carbs just for the coffee, plus 1.6 for the double cream and 0.5 for the sweetener. So 5 carb grams for that coffee, which isn't a big deal since you're only having one, but somebody else might indulge in 2 or 3 over the course of the day, and that adds up to a lot of carbs pretty quickly.

I'm familiar with the CAD plan, it is more geared to overall health, and correcting blood-sugar/insulin swings, but some people do very well with weight-loss also. I will repeat myself and say that if you are not supplying your body with a source of protein through the day, your body will turn to its own protein (ie, your muscles) to feed itself. Yes, you will see the weight go down on the scales, but you will be losing muscle tissue as well as fat. Less muscle makes your metabolic rate drop, further slowing your efforts. Over the short-term, like a couple of months, this system may seem to work just fine, but it will catch up to you, and you'll feel yourself getting tired and feeling crappy and run down. It really is best if you strive to have some kind of protein-containing meal or snack at least once during the day when you are most active. I recall an old saying "You don't drive your car all day long, and fill up with gas at the END of the trip". We should treat our bodies the same way.

happy lowcarbing,
Doreen

Oh, those nasty sugar cravings! When I started the Atkins diet in spring of this year I had one nasty hypoglocemic attack on day 2 of the diet. It took me all morning just to get back on my feet again and all day to really recover. Fortunately I had read the book before, so I knew what to do and what to take when this happened. One thing Atkins suggested was eating meat when this happens but I guess he's never had a hypoglocemic attack or one this bad. My brain and body screamed for SUGAR! So I ate sugar free jello and whipped cream with stevia for breakfast. I also kept taking all the supplements he suggested for sugar cravings and that helped me though the rest of the diet. It's really important to be aware of all the facts before starting a diet.

Teena