Low Carb Diet

[Chulo]

So I had been looking into this since last year and now I have "some" money to afford some of the things needed for this, just got a few questions.

1. Can you eat fruit or not? I keep reading in some that it's cool and others that it's not. It would such if I have to avoid fruit, because it would be one of the foods I could eat and find easily and also afford as a snack or make a meal out of with other things.

2. How does dairy do in this diet? I don't drink a lot of milk but I like Yogurt a lot, a specific one would be one Noosa, but I'm not sure if it would be cool.

3. In order me to think I can do this diet, essential foods off the top of the head for me would be eating beef, and I read it's kinda bad and it's kinda good, so I need thoughts on this. I would be eating it in forms of pepper steak or just slice it with vegetables and eat it or other ideas. Or maybe just season it and cook it.

4. How is energy on this? Am I going to be tired all the time?

Thanks.

[Cygnus-X]

Why do you want to do a low carb diet?

[Nemesis48]

1. Be discerning. Avocados, yes. Grapes, no. Look for fibrous fruits - not sugar fruits.
2. Don't drink milk (too much sugar). Heavy cream, full fat yogurts, cheese are OK. Some cheese have negligible/no sugar, such as cheddar. Never get anything low fat.
3. http://www.dietdoctor.com/lchf
4. You'll be fine. BUT: you need to drink broth. In traditional diet there was much more blood in the diet, which handled our need for sodium. IN a low carb diet, you excrete a lot of sodium, and if it gets too low, you'll get dizzy. So, you need to drink broth. Just take 2-3 buillion cubes a day and throw it in 3-4 cups of boiling water.

If you want to know all the science check this out: http://www.amazon.com/Art-Science-Lo.../dp/0983490716

[Chulo]

Originally Posted by Cygnus-X

Why do you want to do a low carb diet?

Lose weight, mostly fat.

Originally Posted by Nemesis48

1. Be discerning. Avocados, yes. Grapes, no. Look for fibrous fruits - not sugar fruits.
2. Don't drink milk (too much sugar). Heavy cream, full fat yogurts, cheese are OK. Some cheese have negligible/no sugar, such as cheddar. Never get anything low fat.
3. http://www.dietdoctor.com/lchf
4. You'll be fine. BUT: you need to drink broth. In traditional diet there was much more blood in the diet, which handled our need for sodium. IN a low carb diet, you excrete a lot of sodium, and if it gets too low, you'll get dizzy. So, you need to drink broth. Just take 2-3 buillion cubes a day and throw it in 3-4 cups of boiling water.

If you want to know all the science check this out: http://www.amazon.com/Art-Science-Lo.../dp/0983490716

Thanks. So apples and bananas would be a bad choice to eat for this diet?

[Pathogenic]

Originally Posted by Chulo

Lose weight, mostly fat.

This can easily be done without eliminating an entire macronutrient.

[Chulo]

Originally Posted by Pathogenic

This can easily be done without eliminating an entire macronutrient.

Quite honestly my idea of a low carb diet would be eliminating most grain foods as possible, this means bread and spaghetti and all that shit that comes from grain, but I was looking into low carb diet and I'm like shit might as well try it. I'm still looking into a diet tho.

[Cygnus-X]

Originally Posted by Chulo

Lose weight, mostly fat.

Going low carb won't automatically do that.

If you want to lose weight you need to have a caloric deficit. No women's magazine diet will change this.

Then you pretty much have to do heavy strength training. This is the only thing that has any relevant impact on whether your weight loss will be muscles or fat.

The two above things are way more important then anything else, what/when/how you eat is way down on the list. Personally I'd base my diet choices on what will make me perform the best in the gym. Going low on carbs is the complete opposite of that.

[LoveandFight]

I have lost 70lbs mainly by following a low carb, moderate fat, and high Protein "diet". The first thing you should do is figure out how many Calories you are going to take in everyday. You will have to make a choice as to how big of a calorie deficit you want to set your diet to. (If you need to eat 2,500calories a day to maintain weight, you can choose to set the bar at 2,200 or 2,000 or etc.I recommend slow and steady weight loss unless you are obese or have to make weight soon. Then you will need to decide what you want to set your Macronutrients aka Macros % at. (Example: 20% carbs, 40% Fat, 40% Protein). I'll put my answers to your ?'s below...

1. Can you eat fruit or not? I keep reading in some that it's cool and others that it's not. It would such if I have to avoid fruit, because it would be one of the foods I could eat and find easily and also afford as a snack or make a meal out of with other things.

EAT WHOLE FRUIT. Fruit is the shiznit for so many reasons. It is nutrient dense, has natural sugar, tastes great, and most fruit has a decent amount of fiber in it. I usually eat fruit before and after working out. Don't eat canned fruit, fruit cups, or any of that other crap that has sugar added. I eat Strawberries, Apples, and Bananas.

2. How does dairy do in this diet? I don't drink a lot of milk but I like Yogurt a lot, a specific one would be one Noosa, but I'm not sure if it would be cool.

Dairy is not evil! I love UNflavored Greek Yogurt and low-fat/fat free cottage cheese. I don't drink milk, because I try to go by the "Eat your calories, don't drink them" philosophy. Unsweetened Almond milk is a good alternative to cow's milk.

3. In order me to think I can do this diet, essential foods off the top of the head for me would be eating beef, and I read it's kinda bad and it's kinda good, so I need thoughts on this. I would beeating it in forms of pepper steak or just slice it with vegetables and eat it or other ideas. Or maybe just season it and cook it.

Beef is not bad in moderation bro! Having lean beef (ground beef, sirloin cuts, etc.) a couple times a week is perfectly fine. As far as meat/fish I mainly eat skinless Chicken Breast (every damn day), lots of tuna, salmon, and Turkey products (burgers, bacon, ground turkey, etc.)

Mixed Green frozen veggies is in my everday arsenal. Veggies are high in fiber and very nutrient dense, meaning you can eat a ton of them while only taking in 100-200calories. Every supermarket sells their own mix. The one I always get has brocolli, green beans, onions, and mushrooms.


4. How is energy on this? Am I going to be tired all the time?

You might feel a small drop in your overall energy level when you first switch to a low carb diet. But this can be minimized. Like I said above, I take in most of my daily carbs before and after working out. I eat Quick oats added with a scoop of whey protein, strawberries, natutal peanut butter, egg whites (put them in after you heat up the oats), and cinnamon. After working out I usually grt my carbs from Banana and 1-2 pieces whole wheat toast (tuna sandwich). I usually get the small remainder of my daily carbs from green veggies at Dinner and from Greek Yogurt as a late night snackie.

To make up for the decrease in calories from carbs, you will eat more Healthy Fat (Avocados, Olive Oil, Almonds, Natural Peanut butter, google the rest) and Protein.

Take Caffeine before every workout for an energy boost if you aren't sensitive to it. This can be from coffee, a preworkout supplement, caffeine pills, etc.

I have a few ?'s for you: How tall are you? How much do you weigh? What's your target weight? Do you have a specific deadline or are you flexible? Are you going to be lifting Weights to minimize muscle loss?

[Chulo]

Thanks for the info, very informative.

I'm 5'9 or 5'10 somewhere around there. I'm about 205 right now and my target is 160-170, lower if possible. I would honestly want to be good to go by June or July as I'm going to have a special event and want to look good and I want to compete. I train BJJ almost 4-5 times a week and I'm going to add lifting weights to it as well.

I have a few questions:

You mention you eat oats and bread; how low do you go on your carbs? I was thinking about eating some oatmeal with flax seeds and whole grain cereal and fruit some days but I figured it would be a little too much.

How long did it take you to take off 70 pounds?

[zardiac]

1. While fruits are fine, I would avoid them as much as possible since
most of them have too much carbs. Nuts or cheese are better as snacks.
2. Avoid milk as much as possible (too much sugar). Heavy cream,
cheese and (especially) butter is recommended. If you feel hungry just
eat more fat.
3. As Nemesis48 said check out http://www.dietdoctor.com/lchf for some
insperation.
4.In the beginning you will probably feel tired. It took a week for me
before I felt fine mentally. But it took a little longer for the muscles
to adapt. (Maybe 3 months).

I have done low carb for a year now, and I it works really good for me. I am curious if everyone will have similair (good) effects.

My rule of thumb is that you never buy stuff with more carbs than
5g/100g. Which means that you would stay under 20g a day on average, enough to $
keep you in ketosis (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hB7aGnfLB-8).

good luck!