4 Our Health

Question:

STRICT no carbs diet!!!!
  I have 18 days to get myself in the best possible shape i can so will have to make sure i excersise everyday
My eating has gone real bad again, but i have now decided i need to go on a strict no carbs diet
I no that means no bread. oasta etc but what about a mall jacket at lunchtime or as i say no carbsi guess i really should stay away from it
I need ideas on what to eat, has anyone ever done this b4 & how did you find it

Answer:

I suppose if it's for a short length of time you'll be ok, but I think you'd be better cutting carbs down to one meal a day (pref breakfast) to be healthier and make it easier to stick to.
Jackets have a high GI I believe so may leave you feeling hungrier/with more cravings later on in the day.
If I was cutting down on carbs, I'd do a typical day something like this:
Breakfast - wholewheat muesli (carbs yes but will keep you going til lunch and is low fat) or a fruit smoothie or an omelette/scrambled eggs on one slice wholemeal toast
Snack - couple of apples or fruit smoothie
Lunch - salad with chicken breast
Snack - veg sticks (carrots, celery, pepper etc)
Dinner - omelette with salad or lean meat with veggies and couscous, or veg stir fry.
Remember portion size is important too - protein should be the size of a deck of cards, carbs the size of your fist, and plenty of veg/salad. Don't eat too much fruit (maybe 2 pieces a day) as it's high in sugar; veg is better.
If you crave sweet things, you can get plenty of low-cal ice lollies (I love Fabs) and sugar-free jelly to keep you going. Also cut out alcohol or just have it once a week.
Good luck!

Answer:

I would imagine most people here have tried this to differing degrees so you'll probably get lots of advice!
What you are planning is basically the same as the Atkins induction phase where you eat very minimal carbs (I think it was something like 20g) for 2 weeks. This was followed by a slight raise each week to around 50-60g until you found what the right level for you was.
I personally think (and found!) that restricting carbs to this degree was counter-productive as it seems to put your body into muscle-burning mode as opposed to fat burning. You therefore lose alot of scale weight from the muscle and water loss but you end up looking a bit baggy if that makes sense! So your clothes feel looser but naked you look like you have lost support and firmness and just been left with floppy fat. Your body also adapts to not digesting carbs so that when you start to increase them you feel a bit unwell and because you have lost muscle your daily calorie mainenance level drops so you will put on fat easier.
However, there was some sense in the book but most of that was at the maintenance end where you ate a hell of a lot more carbs and kept them (what is now well known as) low GI ones. I think he screwed up with the induction phase but it impressed people because they lost up to half a stone in a week, but clearly it is impossible to lose this much fat (unless you are about 40 stone to start with), so only a smidgen of this is probably fat.
I would go more with the low-GI end if you want to deal with your carbs. Ok, you won't get a massive scale drop but you also will look a lot firmer especially if you doing this for a holiday and will still lose some fat in that time. If it is for something where you'll be more dressed though (Wedding etc.) and you really want to lose weight rather than fat, then you'd probably be better to just target water loss with one of those mud wrap courses, at least then it shouldn't screw up your metabolism.

Answer:

Hi Chelsea
I did exactly what you're thinking of doing for a few weeks before my holiday last year, and fully intend to do it this year too.
My basic day's food would go something along the lines of:
B-Scrambled eggs
S-carrot sticks
L-omellete with ham or chicken with cheese
S-(if needed) some sort of veggies
D-Chicken/turkey steak with loads of veggies or salad.
Alternative meals could include turkey rashers with egg and salad, or different types of omellete. I stayed away from fruit completely for the first week, but allowed myself some in the next 2 weeks. Just stock up completely on veggies as these will fill you up. Stuffed peppers are really good too, as are things like sausages, bacon, burgers (with no bun!) just with salad or veggies.
If you did allow for some carbs I'd have them as early on in the day as possible.
As you tend to have quite a lot of protein in this diet, if you are exercising then it will not burn muscle instead of fat, it will in fact build muscle and help you to tone. Lots of body builders follow very high protein diets for this reason.
The main reason I did it was to get a flat stomach for my holiday, as bread, potatoes and pasta etc really bloat me. I felt so good after doing this though, I can tell you! The first few days are really hard, and it's hard to eat things like eggs and cheese and cream when you've been on a calorie controlled diet in the past, but these are all fine, it's just the carbs (and hidden sugars in things) that you need to watch out for if following a plan like this.
It isn't too much of a good idea to follow a low/no carb diet for too long though, just bringing carbs back into your diet slowly after following this for a few weeks is a good idea, such as a slice of wholemeal toast in the morning with your eggs/bacon/sausages, or cereals.
Hope this helps!
And I'd just like to add that this is all just my opinion and what worked for me - if it helps others the great! But if not then please don't hold me responsible...!
xx

Answer:

Re: STRICT no carbs diet!!!!
  I have 18 days to get myself in the best possible shape i can so will have to make sure i excersise everyday
My eating has gone real bad again, but i have now decided i need to go on a strict no carbs diet
I no that means no bread. oasta etc but what about a mall jacket at lunchtime or as i say no carbsi guess i really should stay away from it
I need ideas on what to eat, has anyone ever done this b4 & how did you find it
Excess carbs don't make people fat and put weight on excess calories do, whether they be from carbs, fat or protein. Saturated fat will have more of a tendancy to be stored as fat, but an excess calorie intake of protein will make you put on weight too.
I see this as yet another way of restricting a persons daily cal intake. That is all you would have to do anyway, restrict the daily cals i mean.
If you are still exercising you will need carbs to fuel the workout and then to refule your energy stores (gylcogen) otherwise, as was quite rightly stated earlier, you will loose muscle very quickly. This will slow your metabolism down, so when you start to eat 'normal' again you will end up heavier than before.
If you really want to go low carb why not continue eating them as you do now but only eat half your current portions.
Or try carb cycling. On a gym day eat carbs, in a controlled portion way!, then on a non gym day replace the sandwich or jacket potato with loads of salad instead.
I do not recommend low/No carb diets