Low Carb Lifestyle

So had my annual physical yesterday, and I am out of shape. My doc suggested some lifestyle changes, mainly going low carb. We did discuss my hobby and its affects, but he was confident that changes in the way I eat would be sufficient to deal with my health.

I've been trying to do some research on my own, but am feeling overwhelmed. Have any of you taken on this way of eating? If so can you provide some sources that helped you get started and maintain the lifestyle. I know this will be a huge undertaking for our family as we eat a lot of carbs (pastas, breads, sweets, etc...). Mainly I want to better understand the good from the bad and ways to maintain the lifestyle.

You can put anything on a bed of good salad greens. My personal favorite is bacon, egg, and cheese on lightly-dressed arugula.

Also, there's no reason a stir fry or curry has to be served on rice. Just get on it straight up!

Mark's Daily Apple is a great place to start.
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/

Primal Eating
Primal Blueprint

Many of us do some variation of this and still enjoy our homebrew.

meat, fowl, fish, seafood, eggs, vegetables, roots, tubers, bulbs, herbs and spices as well as animal fats, olives & olive oil, avocados, and coconut (meat, oil, flour)

Thats it. eat as much as you like, but completely cut out cereal grains. You have to eat enough to satisfy your cravings. Carbs really screw with your metabolism man. Basically your body needs to run on fat/oils and not grains. When you eat a lot of carbs your body will burn them up quicker and you will be hungry again. Once your body learns to run on fat, you will develop more muscle due to the increase in protein and your body will know to burn the fat instead of storing it (that is the 5 second explaination). You will have major food cravings the first 2-3 weeks while you are weaning off the carbs (mostly cereal grains and pasta), but you will notice the difference in energy stores after 5 days or so. Its hard at first, but then you will think "why didn't I do this earlier". The beer you drink will not seem like a big deal at this point. Good luck, its a ***** to keep up with, but DO IT MAN! You choose your destiny!

GarageDweller gives a great summary, and Marksdailyapple is my favorite resource for this diet/lifestyle as well.
You'll be amazed at how good you feel after a month of eating this way. Not just weight loss, but more energy, joints not aching, overall improved mood, and no cranky need to eat jitters. At least in my experience.
The first couple weeks blows. Try to look at it objectively though. For instance in my case I got crazy cravings, that I chalked up to hunger pains, but when I sat and took stock of my self I realized it was sugar/carb cravings similar to the nicotine cravings I got when I quit smoking. You'll be surprised how much less you eat because you're not actually hungry.
Good luck and enjoy the ride.

I have used www.sparkpeople.com with lasting success. It suggest more of a balanced diet and tracking of calories (with a breakdown of carbs/proteins/fats) and exercise.

I've been low carb for 3 years.

I still drink beer, but I've been "primal" eating for those three years.

The first month was HARD for me. I was sick, tired, and had, er, digestive issues. I would have quit had I not been convinced of the gains I would make on this lifestyle.

After about 30 days, it was like someone just flipped a switch! I woke up, felt energetic, slept better and my digestive issues corrected.

I eat grass fed beef, fish, chicken, venison, lamb, a bit of pork occasionally, and lots and lots of vegetables. When I cook, I use tallow and/or coconut oil and butter. For salads, I use olive oil. My husband does the same, but he got way too thin so he added back white rice and wild rice to his diet.

Marksdailyapple.com is great- so is chriskresser.com. Perfecthealthdiet.com is another, but his is not so much low-carb as much as "real food" diets.

A couple of things to get you started- say away from "industrial seed oils" - soybean oil, canola, corn, well, any vegetable oils (except for coconut oil and olive oil). The way they are processed makes them very unhealthy.

The next thing, and it may be the hardest for many- is sugar. Sugar is bad, and cutting out the sugar is hard because it's in everything. Any packaged food, especially low-fat foods, are loaded with sugar. Even Chobani Greek Yogurt, which sounds healthy, is loaded with sugar. That was the hardest thing for me- to buy food without getting tons of sugar. The natural sugar in regular yogurt (NOT low fat!!!!) is fine as it's low.

Of course, bread, crackers, etc should be eliminated or greatly reduced. That was very hard for me!

Three years later, I'm lean and healthy. My husband is too, and at 58, he takes no medications at all and looks and acts 30 (except for his wrinkles around his eyes from years of sun damage!).

My blood work shows the gains- as my good cholesterol is up, by total cholesterol is down (188), my fasting blood sugar is low/normal, and my blood pressure is 100/60. My crp (indicator of heart disease) is very low. My body fat is at the athlete/average spot according to my last measurement.

I'm totally convinced that primal eating is the way to go, and even though I might have a cheat once in a while (when invited out, I don't decline their food), I will never go back to the way I was. I wasn't really overweight, but I was overfat and a bit sluggish. I had trouble sleeping, and had low energy in the afternoon. Now, I feel like I'm 30 years old, and literally run circles around people half my age sometimes!

To top it all off- I'm NEVER hungry. Absolutely never. The way I eat is so satiating that I can't imagine eating more food! I never count carbs anymore (don't need to now), and never count calories as calories don't matter if you're giving your body the right fuel.

I really feel great all the time, and haven't even had a cold or a sniffle in about a year.

Read the Paleo Solution It's a long read but a good one.

Thanks everyone. I know I need to commit to this, and I am trying to do all the research I can.

Yooper, I'm glad you chimed in. I remember having seen you mention you were low carb, and I was hoping to see what you had success with.

Pick up a copy of Gary Taubes' Why We Get Fat: And What to Do About It. It'll get you well on your way.

http://www.amazon.com/Why-We-Get-Fat-About/dp/0307474259/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1366234180&sr=1-1&keywords=why+we+get+fat

Eat constantly. Don't skip meals. In fact add more low-carb foods to your diet at regular intervals. You should be eating 5-6 times per day.

Avoiding processed foods is critical with this kind of diet. Most processed foods contain a ton of carbohydrates. Also, anything touted as low-fat (think yogurt) generally has the fat replaced with sugar, so watch that. Be careful with artificial sweeteners. There's evidence that some people react to them the same way they react to real sugar, which defeats the purpose of the diet change.

The idea with this type of diet is to get your insulin/glucose levels under control. Sugars cause your body to produce insulin, which leads to fat storage and sudden crashes in your glucose levels. This make you hungry, which leads to overeating. This cycle continues over-and-over again on a high-carbohydrate diet. When you level out your insulin/glucode levels you won't feel hungry and will generally eat less.

Thanks all. Good advice and resources.

There's a lot of Yin in this thread, time for a little Yang.

I tried the low carb thing back when it was the new "in thing". I was constantly tired, my workouts suffered, I was weaker* and slower. It added minutes to my 5k, yes minutes! I was exhausted trying to do anything that required an elevated heart rate and my heart rate climbed higher than it normally did while doing various cardio exercises.

A person can only work as hard as their heart can supply oxygen. If running 7mph means a 165bpm heart rate during a 5k, you could easily run 8 or 9mph. If at 7mph you're at 180bpm, you're not going get much more speed before you start to exhaust yourself. During some of my cycling workouts, it wasn't uncommon for my normal-carb workouts to be in the 180's and my low-carb workouts at the same pace to be in the low 200's...which meant I had to slow down. Going slower also burns less calories.

To top it off, imagine what eating 3000 calories of only meats/oils, vegis, and few fruits does to your digestive track and "exhaust gasses".

Low carb is not the way to go unless you're trying to cut weight. A restricted carb diet is the way to go for normal healthy living - balancing complex carbs and fruits into your diet along with healthy fats and proteins.

*Lifting strength didn't suffer much, but high rep sets did see some negative impact of a rep or two at most.

funkadelicturkey said:

It suggest more of a balanced diet and tracking of calories (with a breakdown of carbs/proteins/fats) and exercise.

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This!

Thanks for the counterpoint looney. It is good to hear and see both sides. I've been on a low fat/complex carb diet for over a year, and in that time I gained weight and my cholesteral numbers went the bad direction. My doctor actually advised the low carb/paleo lifestyle as it has help him correct his sugar and cholesteral numbers. I think I am going to give it an honest go and see where it takes me. I'm not a runner/cycle guy, but I used to be an athlete. I want to get back to that type of life again, where I can be athletic, and I think the paleo may be the route to take.

looneybomber said:

To top it off, imagine what eating 3000 calories of only meats/oils, vegis, and few fruits does to your digestive track and "exhaust gasses".

Low carb is not the way to go unless you're trying to cut weight. A restricted carb diet is the way to go for normal healthy living - balancing complex carbs and fruits into your diet along with healthy fats and proteins.

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I would agree with this.

When I talk about a low carb diet, I'm not referring to the classic Atkins approach (which is pretty much just meat).

I'm referring more to the South Beach approach which is protein-centric, but allows you to eat limited amounts of carbs. The South Beach focus is less on just meats and more on meats, vegetables, fats, and whole grains. I think even Atkin's has modified their approach to include low-glycemic carb sources.

Again, avoiding processed foods is a must. If you can wean yourself off of them you're halfway there IMO.

I have always had high colesterol. Since I started eating this way my cholesterol, triglycerides, and HDL/LDL ratios are perfect. My cholesteral went from 220 to 160 in a month.

As a caveat, I think each person's metablism is a little different. Some people will react posivitely to this approach, and some won't. I'd say give it a try and see how it works for you.

If you're a pasta easter like I am, look for Dreamfields Pasta. It comes in a black box, and is usually about $2-3/box. It's made for diabetics and has only 5-6 net carb per serving due to some proprietary process they do to the wheat. The best thing about it is it looks and tastes exactly like normal full carb pasta, none of that off color and flavor like most whole wheat pastas. I've changed completely over to this and I don't know the difference. I also feel good knowing that I can eat a big plate of this and not have my glucose levels fly through the roof.

Think about how (and when) food sources exist in nature. Eat that. And that includes what your animals eat. (Hint: cows eat grass, not GMO soybeans)

Wus67 said:

If you're a pasta easter like I am, look for Dreamfields Pasta. It comes in a black box, and is usually about $2-3/box. It's made for diabetics and has only 5-6 net carb per serving due to some proprietary process they do to the wheat. The best thing about it is it looks and tastes exactly like normal full carb pasta, none of that off color and flavor like most whole wheat pastas. I've changed completely over to this and I don't know the difference. I also feel good knowing that I can eat a big plate of this and not have my glucose levels fly through the roof.

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Ah, but..............I did the same. And then did more research. Their claims to have "5-6 net carbs per serving" is actually incorrect.

Take an accucheck reading (blood sugar) after some Dreamfields and see if it indeed doesn't affect glucose levels. I did.

I have diabetic friends who told me about Dreamfields, back when I was low-carb (instead of primal over the last nearly three years). So I tried it, and liked it. Then I did more research, as it was too good to be true. And it certainly was.

Avoid "Frankenfoods"! Oleo (margarine), partially (or fully) hydrogenated stuff, high fructose corn sugar, and yes, "low carb" pasta.

So what am I looking for when I go to marksdailyapple?

It seems to be a bunch of marketing, selling books and supplements, making the guy rich. Are you people saying you bought the books and supplements?

Schemy said:

I'm not a runner/cycle guy, but I used to be an athlete. I want to get back to that type of life again, where I can be athletic, and I think the paleo may be the route to take.

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The hard part about living a very active lifestyle (at my peak, I made it into the gym 10 times/week, 6 for lifting and 4 for cardio) is that once you stop living the same lifestyle, your eating usually doesn't change. You continue to eat the same even though your caloric needs drop a lot.

IMO, the hardest part of weight loss is the strict diet required. I would much rather workout more than decrease my caloric intake! However, without the diet change, it's like taking a shower without soap; it kind'a works, but not that great.

Ha...no, I haven't bought any of his stuff. I just read the overviews on the website.

Primal Eating
Primal Blueprint

Wus67 said:

If you're a pasta easter like I am, look for Dreamfields Pasta. It comes in a black box, and is usually about $2-3/box. It's made for diabetics and has only 5-6 net carb per serving due to some proprietary process they do to the wheat. The best thing about it is it looks and tastes exactly like normal full carb pasta, none of that off color and flavor like most whole wheat pastas. I've changed completely over to this and I don't know the difference. I also feel good knowing that I can eat a big plate of this and not have my glucose levels fly through the roof.

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This. You can also use spaghetti squash but I prefer the Dreamfields pasta.

I also do tacos or fajitas with low carb tortillas.

One thing to be aware of is that a salad isn't a healthier choice if it is topped with all kinds of crap like cheese or rich dressing.

I've been getting a dressing that has no calories that I put on my salads, which is my normal lunch. I don't remember the name of it off hand but I'll post it up when I get home.

looneybomber said:

T
IMO, the hardest part of weight loss is the strict diet required. I would much rather workout more than decrease my caloric intake! However, without the diet change, it's like taking a shower without soap; it kind'a works, but not that great.

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But see, that's the thing. The whole "calorie in, calorie out" is not so. Sure, it may be when you ingest a high carb diet, but my skinny 150 pound husband eats well over 3500 calories per day. If you count calories, he should be gaining weight. But when you eat the right foods your body burns fat for fuel and you simply don't gain weight. I know it flies in the face of old science, but it works if you approach it from a biochemistry background.

I don't count calories, but I could guestimate them. I eat far more than I ever did before, and a lot more calories due to my higher fat and protein intact. I probably average 2500 or more a day. When I was dieting, I gained weight at over 1200 calories per day. Again, if you give up the stuff that causes insulin resistance, calories don't matter a bit. It's not that basic of course, but there is very good science behind all this and it will prove why the "low fat, high carb, low cal" diets don't work. And if you do lose weight on them, why you will be unhealthy and still too fat.

TyTanium said:

Ha...no, I haven't bought any of his stuff. I just read the overviews on the website.

Primal Eating
Primal Blueprint

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Me too. I haven't bought his books or anything, but I do like his website.

I have heard somewhere that even though so many Americans are overweight, and that food is plentiful here, the majority of Americans are actually malnourished. It really wouldn't surprise me.

I have come to the opinion that processed foods are all very "hollow" in terms of nutrition. Yea, they may fill you up, but they seem to offer almost no nutritional value.


Beer is about the only "junk food" I have anymore, though every once in a while I break down and get some kind of candy or other sweet. Snack? I have carrot sticks and celery in my fridge. I try to have as much natural/good food as possible. I avoid fast food places altogether. One of the biggest things I have found as far as ensuring healthy food choices is to make sure I eat BEFORE going to the grocery store. It is a HECK of a lot easier to walk past the chips and pass on the candy bar in the checkout lane if you aren't going in just a little hungry.


Hopefully I can get a couple deer this year, as the past couple years I haven't had the best of luck. 2 deer isn't very much when it is spread out among 6 people. With luck, I'll have a good garden this year as well.

I've done low carb here and there, there's no doubt I've lost weight doing it. I didn't cut out any beer but everything else. One of the best snacks is pepperoni cooked in the microwave!! I never found the first few weeks to be tough like a lot of other people I know.

Depends on how healthy you wish to become. The fewer animal products and added fats and oils you consume... along with a starch centered diet heavy on vegetables... the healthier you will become. The more health problems one has... the more compliant with this way of eating one should be. Eating this way... one should see improvements immediately and dramatic improvements will be manifest in a few months... Cardiac issues, Type 2 diabetes, and numerous other health issues cleared up sans meds or hospitals...

Improvements among my patients who followed this way of eating are simply amazing to observe...

http://www.drmcdougall.com/free.html

http://www.heartattackproof.com/

http://www.thechinastudy.com/

norsk said:

Depends on how healthy you wish to become. The fewer animal products and added fats and oils you consume... along with a starch centered diet heavy on vegetables... the healthier you will become.

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And that is exactly where we totally disagree. Added fats and oils are good, and natural- not those "transfats" and industrial seed oils- but natural fats like tallow are very good for you.

It's true that traditional medicine and nutritionists do recommend this low fat/low animal product approach.

but the research is proven, and shown that it is not the key to optimal health at all. I've been in healthcare 30 years, and am married to a biologist. I was a big believer in the traditional teachings, and was a near vegetarian for many years. Only through more research, reading papers outside of JAMA (although some in, also), and my own experiences did I learn more about how to really be healthy.

Remember it's the current experts who told us to eat "oleo" way back when, due to one flawed study. Margarine/oleo/trans fats are a huge mistake, but they were pushed by doctors and nutritionists. The same flawed studies are giving us current nutritional advice now, and obesity and diabetes is at an all time high. There is strong and convincing evidence (not just anecdotal evidence, but blind studies as well as scientific research) on why the primal plan is not just sustainable, but healthy for humans.

A salad isn't a bad thing at all, but cheese and olive oil on it make it better, not worse. Fat is required for healthy metabolism and good fats can be eaten in quantity.

I will bow out of this discussion as of now, as due to being a moderator of this forum I don't want to overstep my bounds with off-topic discussion about this. I will just say that everyone should do their own research.

looneybomber said:

To top it off, imagine what eating 3000 calories of only meats/oils, vegis, and few fruits does to your digestive track and "exhaust gasses".

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If you actually follow Paleo and eat 3000 calories you've either got a super stomach, or you are eating too much meat or seeds/nuts.

Yooper said:

And that is exactly where we totally disagree. Added fats and oils are good, and natural- not those "transfats" and industrial seed oils- but natural fats like tallow are very good for you.

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So very true.

Fat is filling, I think people are so used to fat being bad but the truth is the most important things you can cut from your diet if yuo want to be healthier starts with the white stuff. Potatoes, grains, and sugars.

hoppyhoppyhippo said:

If you actually follow Paleo and eat 3000 calories you've either got a super stomach, or you are eating too much meat or seeds/nuts.

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Never did paleo. I tried Atkins, but with some fruit. Cut grains, sugars, and starchy carbs, which left me with meat, nuts, peppers, leafy and oily vegetables, and the occasional piece of fruit.

Yooper said:

It's true that traditional medicine and nutritionists do recommend this low fat/low animal product approach.

but the research is proven, and shown that it is not the key to optimal health at all.

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That old "food pyramid" and a sedentary lifestyle was a smooth pathway to adult-onset (type II) diabetes (aka, chronic insulin resistance), was it not?

It's hard to commit to a real lifestyle change, but that's what it takes. Changing eating habits (abandoning "junk" carbs and excess starches, eating more protein, healthy fats, veggies, etc) plus pursuing regular sustained (45min+) exercise 3-4 times a week is a tough go, but it really will reward you over time.

There's a book that I re-read every so often to remind myself (at 52) why I even bother trying to live healthy. If you're over 40, it's a must-read. It's well-written (and humorous) in a way that you won't want to put it down. http://www.amazon.com/Younger-Next-Year-Strong-Beyond/dp/076114773X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1366338749&sr=8-1&keywords=younger+next+year. It has a pretty insightful chapter on alcohol consumption to boot.

There's no magic pill. Like Yooper said, you've got to gain knowledge and put it to use. One of the keys for me was finding a type of exercise I really enjoy (as I hate going to the gym). That used to be karate training and competing until my joints said no more. Now it's cycling. It takes several hours a week on either the road bike or mountain bike for me to maintain a healthy weight and get a good lab report at check-up time. I started off in 2004 (at 265lbs) doing 1-1/2 to 2 mile slow-pace rides around the neighborhood, slowly improving over months and years. Weather permitting, it's now 80-100 miles/week (at 225lbs) in club group rides. The current me could easily out-do the me of 10-15 years ago without really breathing hard.

I still enjoy 1-2 beers per day, usually spaced out in smaller (4-6oz) servings (a nice side benefit of kegging) to reduce the insulin over-reaction.

I'm by no means going to use the eating lifestyle as the end all. In the past on a low fat/complex carbs diet I used to work out 1-1.5 hours daily, and it did nothing. I was always hungry, and I ate accordingly. I'm formulating some workout plans based on suggestions by my doctor.

This will be a complete lifestye change. I have done my research, I wanted opinions here because of our shared hobby. I have to tackle my weight issues in my own method. All the research makes sense to me, and I am going to go after it.

I appreciate all the healthy debate here, it was good to read the varying opinions and know it was all in the best interest of the questions posed.

Yooper said:

I will bow out of this discussion as of now, as due to being a moderator of this forum I don't want to overstep my bounds with off-topic discussion about this. I will just say that everyone should do their own research.

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Please don't. Your contributions thus far have been enlightening.

Here's some factual, good information on the low carb diets:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atkins_diet

More research is necessary, but pointing people to marketing gigs and websites selling fools gold poised with the knowledge of ones own trial and error does little to inform and increase awareness of these types of diets.

Yooper said:

And that is exactly where we totally disagree. Added fats and oils are good, and natural- not those "transfats" and industrial seed oils- but natural fats like tallow are very good for you.

It's true that traditional medicine and nutritionists do recommend this low fat/low animal product approach.

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Actually... I am aware of few "traditional medicine and nutritionists " who advocate the starch centered, no animal products, no added fats and oils way of eating... though as the facts and studies come in, more are jumping on board. Eat as you wish... probably a good idea to do all the research and make an informative determination...

I've had several patients scheduled for various heart surgeries and numerous Type 2 diabetics stop taking meds and reversing their troubles within weeks of following the above WOE. And by the research, they are not alone....

Bad for me as we have several hundred olive trees that we used to process for oil. Can't make money off of something that is harmful so now we use it to make lotions and soaps instead...

Update: So I went back to my doctor today for a 3 mo follow up. I am down 16 lbs (probably closer to 20 as I weighed with my shoes on this time) since this initial thread was started.

I am following Paleo/Slow Carb/Low Carb about 75-80% of the time. I can definitely tell a difference in the way I feel. Now I need to start pushing it at the gym. I am hoping to drop another 30 by my next follow up in October.

Thanks all for the advice and support.

I'm paleo too. Beer is my only cheat. I have been using clarity ferm lately as we'll to cut down on the gluten. I started low carb, but upping my carb intake as I workout hard just about every day.