I have been doing my own version based on what I have read of a no/low carb diet. I have been eating no refined carbs (i.e. pasta bread, rice or potatos) and I have been reading everything to see how much carbs it contains, I ahve been using this strange system since thursday (3 days) and obviously have not seen any change, but have had a few breakdowns, I had two cans of soda, but mostly I have had, salad and grilled chicken I had onw potato chip today, but had just one ( I proved the lays add wrong) Basically I want to kniow how many carbs is too many, and what can I eat for a snack????? I joined this forum looking for support, and by reading through some of the postings I think I have found it.

Hi Holly.

I'm pretty new to the forum myself, but have gained a ton of knowledge from reading posts. I have gained a lot of information from the orange tabs "low carb tips and low carb tools". My biggest source of information has been reading books. The Atkins new diet revolution has been a big help.

Good luck!

I have also just started, and have a looooong way to go. I have taken a twelve step type of attitude about it though, which sounds exactly what you have done as well. The temptations can be all encompassing, but you can do it, just take it day to day, and even minute by minute, and don't berate yourself for any backsliding that can be too destructive and lead to a vicious cycle.

good luck

HollyAnn, your post made me think of a comment by one of my co-herts today. Someone commented that he had lost weight...he said, I've been listening to Sharon and I think I was eating too many carbs...I cut out bread, potatoes and sweets...and he's lost ten pounds in a very short time.

Now it certainly doesn't work for everyone like that....but it does tell us something, we already knew.

Read as much information as you can about lowcarbing. Every plan is a little different, but that's not to say you can't create your own plan. You'll get lots of ideas for does and don't though.

Good luck. (P.S. I hope your soda was diet!!)

I have also posted this message in my journal to see what answers people come up with. I want to loose weight but I want to be healthy as well.

I was just using fit day and based on my calculations (I even over added things to be sure)

this is what I have taken in today

Calories - 614

Carbs - 5g

Protien - 330 g


I am not hungry and I gave had about 5 gallons of water, but should I be eating more calories??

OMG -

Go eat!!! 614 calories will tell your body it's starving, and that sets off a ____ load of complications that you don't want. You have to eat at least 1200 calories a day in order for your body to function. Go to activities on the fitday website. it has a chart that gives you an idea of what you burn a day from what profile you gave them.

Hope it helps. Never thought you'd have strangers yelling at you to eat, huh?
Brenda

Hi Holly Ann,

Wow! Sounds identical to my dilemna. I started the same thing as you on Monday. No pasta, rice, potatoes or bread and sugar goes without saying. Three days and going strong. I also asked how many carbs is too many. I haven't gotten a reply, but I am logging everything I eat in calories, fat and carbs. I average about 20 per day in carbs. I eat only low carb vegetables and am limiting them. I, too have a problem with that in between meals craving. I roll up a piece of ham with a third slice of cheese and pickles. You can have three slices of ham for 60 cal. 0 carb. 1 fat. Add a piece of cheese and it is a decent snack. Also, a few nuts help take the edge off!
It is definitly hard not to be able to munch on carrots and celery all day.

Good Luck. I will let you know how my first week goes!
Kathie

Holly and Kathie

Good for both of you for *discovering* low carb!

I strongly suggest that you read up on the different low carb plans and choose one that suits your personality and low carb *sensitivities*. At the very least, you will be able to modify what you are doing now and then be able to structure your plan according to your goals etc.

The good thing about following an established plan is that you will be able to make the transition to a maintenance WOE once you have reached goal and reduce the possibility of falling into old habits and gaining back all the weight you lost.

I'm an Atkid (Atkins follower) and the Atkins WOE starts you out at 20 g carb max for the first 2 weeks, plus no caffein, alcohol and no low-carb commercial products. The carbs you eat should be the *good* variety, from green veggies (green beans, broccoli, asparagus and romain lettuce) or cauliflower. Cheese in moderation, eggs and meat (except liver), fish, poultry and cream and butter.

Once thru the 2 weeks, you add 5 g carb daily per week until you stop losing weight - then you know how many g carbs you can eat in a day and maintain your weight. Drop back on the carb intake until you are losing again, and continue to goal Then return to that carb intake where you are not losing. There you be, for the rest of your life.

I have only scratched the surface on the info you need to know to succeed. Go forth and read, read, read!

Happy low carbing.

sorry for the mix up here are the right numbers I mixed up the protien thing. bnut oh well

Fitday totals

Total cal -614

Fat 28g
Carbs - 5 g
protien - 85 g


What happened is when transfering the # here I saw 339 and mixed it up it is 339 calories from protien, sorry, but here are the numbers

I think my main prpoblem is finding things low in carbs to snack on, so I don't snack


what are some things you guys snack on?

Thank you so much for the tips to get me feeling a little more confident that I am doing this sort of right. I will order some books, but I don't have access to them from here. My Mom will ship them. In the mean time,
why no caffeine?
I am not a drinker, but I can't get caffeine free diet coke here and I AM a diet coke addict.
and can you think of any other no no's? I don't want to ruin all my hard work.
Thanks for your help and support. I never would have believed I would have joined this and actually asked others for help!

Holly,

I, too know your 614 calorie is way too low. When I noticed in my log yesterday I had only eaten 750, I had a few almonds and peanuts.

Today I made sure to try to eat a few nuts and a slice of chicken breast cold in between my meals. Also, pickles are low foods and fun to munch.

Hope someone else comes up with some tips. It can get old fast.

Good Luck

Hi Kathie -

No caffeine because it may cause the same insulin spike as sugar does.

The whole point of low carb dieting is to retrain your pancreas to release insulin at the appropriate times.

One of the problems with high carb dieting is the *low* you feel about an hour after eating a carb-ladden meal. That is your insulin overreacting to the blood sugars in your system. It is chomping them up so fast and sending them to *storage* in the form of fat, that your pancreas doesn't know when to knock it off. Your insulin stores too much blood sugar and you have no *fuel* left. (You also experience this during the first few days of low carbing, because your body wants to continue to store blood sugar as fat and removes too much of it from your blood stream)

Low carbing teaches your body to use stored fat as fuel instead of carbohydrates.

Spikes in insulin release causes your body to overreact and store blood sugars, staying away from caffeine reduces this likelihood while you adjust to low carbing. You can re-introduce coffee afer 2 weeks and see how you feel - then gauge your own reaction.

Lots of folks complain that they get *bored* on this WOE - my response? It's GOOD to get a little bored with food while you are trying to lose weight. Get focused and past the boredom.

I eat exactly the same thing every breakfast and lunch (omlette for breakfast - tuna + mayo + a salad every day for lunch) dinner is meat, veggie and salad EVERY DAY! I've been doing this for 20 months now, and the only difference I have made is that I have decreased my meat portion and increased my veggie portions. That and a couple of slices of whole wheat bread every week (homemade) and fruit about 3 times a week.