High Protein, Low Carb Diet

I just bought the cookbook that goes with the Idiot-proof Diet, and there are quite a few recipes/menu ideas there. 

I just bought the cookbook that goes with the Idiot-proof Diet, and there are quite a few recipes/menu ideas there. 

I just picked up the idiot proof diet, the recipe book and this :

Which just looked interesting. Got my dinner meal plan for this week (lots of lean meat and green veg) , I'm a bit worried about my boyfriend (who is a few pounds overweight but nothing bad) who's a bit of a carb addict (bread, potatoes, pasta) he's being really supportive about the whole thing but I dunno if it's good for him etc

I'm really into my wii fit as well, half an hour a day at the moment but I'm hoping to increase that, I'm thinking about getting EA sports Active which has resistance bands and doing their "30 day challenge" I know that excercise is really where I'm falling down, I'm walking about 3-4 miles a day but not at a very rapid pace.  Gym membership beckons

I've got an appointment to see someone decent about my PCOS on the 24th, so we'll see how that goes

I got the Idiot-proof book, will order the cookbook.  That other book looks fab MK!  I'm wishlisting it!!!

It's nice when a SO is supportive, but you are right, it might not be healthy for them.  We have to keep stuff in the house for Josh.  So far I just look longingly at the products

We don't have the wii fit, but I do have the EA Active, which I have not used.  I'm terrible at exercise as well!!!  But I like to walk a lot.  Will force myself when I get back seeing as I have the thing.  Might treat myself to the Fit too then!!!

So glad you have an appt!  I hope they can suggest something.  It's great you are being so proactive beforehand!!!

Oh and I've lost 4 lbs in the last 3 weeks, really chuffed, but hoping I lose more!!!

I got the Idiot-proof book, will order the cookbook.  That other book looks fab MK!  I'm wishlisting it!!!

It's nice when a SO is supportive, but you are right, it might not be healthy for them.  We have to keep stuff in the house for Josh.  So far I just look longingly at the products

We don't have the wii fit, but I do have the EA Active, which I have not used.  I'm terrible at exercise as well!!!  But I like to walk a lot.  Will force myself when I get back seeing as I have the thing.  Might treat myself to the Fit too then!!!

So glad you have an appt!  I hope they can suggest something.  It's great you are being so proactive beforehand!!!

Oh and I've lost 4 lbs in the last 3 weeks, really chuffed, but hoping I lose more!!!

Yes I'm worried about it, but then, I think I'm not going crazy, I've been reading some blogs and some people go mad with the "I can't eat carbs so I'll eat nothing but steaks butter and cream." Whereas I'm increasing the number of vegetables and replacing starches with green veg.

At the moment I'm just basing our dinners around one portion of lean protein and 2-3 portions of vegetables and then he seems to be sorting out his own breakfast and lunch. He hasn't kicked his soda habit yet (which was stage 1 for me) so he can't really low carb at the moment.

I'll let you know if any of the recipes in that gourmet cook book are any good and share them with you I can always lend it to you when you're back in the UK as well

I've lost 2 lbs this week which is where I want to be, losing a lb a week. Slow and steady.

I'm really enjoying the fit...I like that it's tracking my weight and BMI and I feel like I'm getting a good work out from it for someone who's not into exercise, I'm using it as gym prep, I think after a month of using it I'll be ready to move to the gym and use it At the moment I'm doing 10 minutes of Yoga, 10 minutes of muscle and 10 minutes of Aerobic (I'm doing the step plus routine).
The step routine is really good, there's side steps, clappping, and it speeds up. I'm quite into it
It's working for me at least

If you try EA active let me know, it's quite pricy at £44, dunno if I'm ready to pay that yet

 

I'm not going crazy either.  I have a small amount of fruit and some green veggies.  I can't give them up completely.  I try and stick to 30 net carbs a day and figure them in

I still have not given up caffeine.  I know I should, but I love it!  It's my only vice really.  I'm going to try and go down to one a day instead of two. (Coffee and diet soda) 

I think I could live on lean hamburgers/turkey burgers and sushi if I had too!!! 

Let me know about the book, I'm not a huge cook, but I should try a bit more.  Thank you for the offer!!!

Slow and steady is the best.  More likely to keep it off then.    1-2 lbs a week is perfect! 

I'll see how I get on with any other exercise and then go from there.  I really hate it!  Hate the gym!  So it stinks!  I like being active, just not structured. 

I'll be home in two months, so I'll let you know about the active then!  (Sorry!)

Yes I'm worried about it, but then, I think I'm not going crazy, I've been reading some blogs and some people go mad with the "I can't eat carbs so I'll eat nothing but steaks butter and cream." Whereas I'm increasing the number of vegetables and replacing starches with green veg.

At the moment I'm just basing our dinners around one portion of lean protein and 2-3 portions of vegetables and then he seems to be sorting out his own breakfast and lunch. He hasn't kicked his soda habit yet (which was stage 1 for me) so he can't really low carb at the moment.

I'll let you know if any of the recipes in that gourmet cook book are any good and share them with you I can always lend it to you when you're back in the UK as well

I've lost 2 lbs this week which is where I want to be, losing a lb a week. Slow and steady.

I'm really enjoying the fit...I like that it's tracking my weight and BMI and I feel like I'm getting a good work out from it for someone who's not into exercise, I'm using it as gym prep, I think after a month of using it I'll be ready to move to the gym and use it At the moment I'm doing 10 minutes of Yoga, 10 minutes of muscle and 10 minutes of Aerobic (I'm doing the step plus routine).
The step routine is really good, there's side steps, clappping, and it speeds up. I'm quite into it
It's working for me at least

If you try EA active let me know, it's quite pricy at £44, dunno if I'm ready to pay that yet

 

Has anyone bought any low carb stuff online?
I'm looking at
http://www.lowcarbmegastore.com/
and
http://www.avidlite.co.uk

I just want a few bits

Question for you low-carbers. My cousin has PCOS big-time, with all the horrid symptoms. Do they suggest low-carb just as a way to lose weight, or is it low-carb for some other reason, too? Right now, I'd say she is the exact opposite - high-carb, low protein!

Question for you low-carbers. My cousin has PCOS big-time, with all the horrid symptoms. Do they suggest low-carb just as a way to lose weight, or is it low-carb for some other reason, too? Right now, I'd say she is the exact opposite - high-carb, low protein!

The low carb for me isn't really about my weight (although I do need to lose weight BIG time ) it's about controlling blood sugar and my insulin levels, my insulin levels are really high, this hormone makes it difficult to lose weight and causes lots of other health issues.

If your cousin is one of the 75% of PCOS suffers with insulin resistance (and if she's getting a lot of symptoms and is overweight, she probably is) than a low carb/low GI diet will help by lowering insulin levels in the blood which will cause weight loss and  other beneficial effects on general health like reducing the risk of diabetes and lowering blood pressure etc.

Insulin production can be triggered by eating carbohydrates but not by fats or proteins, so a low GI/high protein diet  helps by keeping insulin levels low (you also don't get the nasty blood sugar spikes which coming down off always make me feel terrible)

High GI foods like white bread or pasta cause high levels of blood sugar and, therefore, high levels of insulin. Low GI foods (meat, cheese, eggs and pulses) stimulate much lower levels of insulin.

If I just wanted to lose weight, I'd try a different diet.  I've lost weight through other methods before.  I think that I have IR.  I fit the profile years before they even came out with the syndrome, and things get very noticeable when I am eating carbs (blood pressure, water retention, wonky sugar levels).

I also think there's something to be said about avoiding what you're addicted to.  Although I love food, I am not addicted to it.  I am not addicted to food any more than an alcoholic is addicted to water or soft-drinks.  When I eat sugars, whether they are in the form of complex carbohydrates or simple sugars, I start down a vicious circle of eating more and more.  I can eat low carb and enjoy it, but I rarely overeat provided that extra element isn't there.

There's a host of illnesses that are being controlled in part or completely by lowering sugars.  I think people run into problems when they don't know what they are doing or they try to do a diet where they eat things like crappy filler and preservative filled sausages and bacon every meal or eat frankenfood made by people trying to cash in on low carb diets (less so nowadays than a few years ago).

PCOS is definitely one of those things that doctors recommend low carb diets to help regulate.  If your cousin is interested, she should definitely read a book on one of the diets.  I'd suggest Protein Power as it's the most flexible, but if she has problems sticking to it, something more restrictive like Atkins--which isn't just cheese and bacon--might be in order.  I'm loving the Idiot-proof Diet, but I think it's easier for people in the UK as it focuses on our food here.

ETA:
http://forum.lowcarber.org/forumdisplay.php?f=46

That part of that particular low carb board deals with PCOS and low carb.

If I just wanted to lose weight, I'd try a different diet.  I've lost weight through other methods before.  I think that I have IR (I have a lot of the symptoms when eating carbs).

I also think there's something to be said about avoiding what you're addicted to.  Although I love food, I am not addicted to it.  I am not addicted to food any more than an alcoholic is addicted to water or soft-drinks.  When I eat sugars, whether they are in the form of complex carbohydrates or simple sugars, I start down a vicious circle of eating more and more.  I can eat low carb and enjoy it, but I rarely overeat provided that extra element isn't there.

There's a host of illnesses that are being controlled in part or completely by lowering sugars.  I think people run into problems when they don't know what they are doing or they try to do a diet where they eat things like crappy filler and preservative filled sausages and bacon every meal or eat frankenfood made by people trying to cash in on low carb diets (less so nowadays than a few years ago).

PCOS is definitely one of those things that doctors recommend low carb diets to help regulate.  If your cousin is interested, she should definitely read a book on one of the diets.  I'd suggest Protein Power as it's the most flexible, but if she has problems sticking to it, something more restrictive like Atkins--which isn't just cheese and bacon--might be in order.  I'm loving the Idiot-proof Diet, but I think it's easier for people in the UK as it focuses on our food here.

LA you are a font of wisdom  

I definitely agree with you on every point there especially the frankenfood thing, I've been reading some weird and (scary) stories about people on low carb/high protein on other forums.
There's a lot of horror stories about rapid weight gain etc I'm sort of thinking that some people don't truly understand what they're undertaking with a low carb diet - it is actually hard work, albeit not as hard as some diets, but it can be complicated and you do have to think about it, it shouldn't all just be bacon and eggs. The saturated fat aspect of some recipes really doesn't sit well with me...I'm still convinced a healthy way to approach this diet is to focus on lean proteins and low carb vegetables. I hope that's right

I'm constantly shocked and surprised by the levels of carbs in things, like a small yoghurt or a glass of juice. If you weren't careful about the sneaky extra carbs, you'd just end up eating a lot of extra meat

I'm trying to be really aware that you can't just sub chips for lettuce and think you'll lose weight, I'm trying to approach it scientifically and still make sure I keep up with all my nutritional goals from pre-low carb.

In other news, for the last few days I've had the worst most impossibly gross dry mouth, which I hope means I'm in ketosis, or at least getting there!

You should be ok on lower fat as long as you get some fat and some carbs.  Lean protein alone can lead to problems:

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

I am not going to get into a fats thing here, but some of the low carb diets do restrict fats.

Dr. Eades' blog is a great read.

You should be ok on lower fat as long as you get some fat and some carbs.  Lean protein alone can lead to problems:

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

I am not going to get into a fats thing here, but some of the low carb diets do restrict fats.

Dr. Eades' blog is a great read.

Thanks for all the links I've been reading a lot of what you've been posting and it's all been really helpful, simple google searches tend to unearth a lot of crazy stuff and conflicting info, so I'm genuinely appreciative.

In other news...I've rediscovered my waist! I've got a "goal belt" and I'm already able to do it up and even my not particularly observant DB complimented me this morning, the encouragement has really perked me up

I've not been really finding it that difficult, somewhat annoying at first as it requires more planning but I've been able to fit it around my lifestyle relatively easily which has been brilliant.

I find my energy is really high right now and I don't get hunger pangs, I would always get an energy slump/hunger pang at work in the afternoon but they're gone. Overall I'm really chuffed

If you're even vaguely willing to pay for a diet tool (think it's roughly 9 quid a month), I'd highly recommend weightlossresources - you can log what you eat and it'll generate a nutrition profile that says what percentage has been protein, carbs, etc. It's pricey but I really like it. Only downside is that if you use a recipe that you already know the nutritional makeup of, you can't just enter it - you have to recreate the entire recipe which can be time consuming.

It also gives you a goal depending on how much you want to lose (it won't let you enter any more than a healthy 2 lbs a week though) so it shows you how many calories you should be aiming for, how many calories you would need to maintain  your current weight, and what percentage should be carbs, protein, etc. (not sure if you can alter that for special diets, but I think you can.)

Thank you for that link Anne!  I'm going to check it out.  I d have an application on my iTouch that does something similar and I got it for free.  But can't hurt to look!

Have you tried those oven roasted almonds they just started selling here in the US? Really good!

OK, just trying these!  I have the Cinnamon Brown Sugar ones (I also have the Vanilla ones as well, but have not tried them yet) All I can say is AMAZING!!!!  Very tasty, and just a few will satisfy you.  Really great for a sweet craving.

OK, just trying these!  I have the Cinnamon Brown Sugar ones (I also have the Vanilla ones as well, but have not tried them yet) All I can say is AMAZING!!!!  Very tasty, and just a few will satisfy you.  Really great for a sweet craving.

Oh dear. I just have the salted ones and they are quite tasty. But my mom makes sweet spiced nuts every Christmas and those cinnamon brown sugar ones sound dangerously similar only better for me!