Low carb or not? (low content)

waffy

Hi All,

I'm 22 and I weigh 14 stone/196lbs. I'm in my last year of college, and at the start of college I weighed less that 12 stone... but after a couple of years of beer and crap food I'm finding myself wanting to lose a few pounds...

I've got a gym membership which I've started getting good use out of again.. I go 3/4 times a week for 2 hour cardio/weights sessions.

My question is: is a low-carb diet for me? Can I go onto this diet for 6-8 weeks and then come off it while keeping up good habits in the gym, or is this a bad move? Should I instead cut calories and do shorter gym sessions more frequently?

Thanks.

corkcomp

waffy wrote: »

Hi All,

I'm 22 and I weigh 14 stone/196lbs. I'm in my last year of college, and at the start of college I weighed less that 12 stone... but after a couple of years of beer and crap food I'm finding myself wanting to lose a few pounds...

I've got a gym membership which I've started getting good use out of again.. I go 3/4 times a week for 2 hour cardio/weights sessions.

My question is: is a low-carb diet for me? Can I go onto this diet for 6-8 weeks and then come off it while keeping up good habits in the gym, or is this a bad move? Should I instead cut calories and do shorter gym sessions more frequently?

Thanks.

personally i dont believe in making drastic changes in the short term - you need to come up with a healthy plan and stick with it permanently (well you know what i mean, 80 - 90% of the time!!). I dont think low carb diets are the way to go (but i DO think you need to cut out processed / junk carbs). Are you prepared to stick with a low carb diet after the 6 - 8 weeks? If not then i would not bother .... You reckon your weight gain was caused by beer and crap so if you cut both of these out and exercie well you should be fine

El_Dangeroso

First of all if you are aiming to lose 2 stone in 6 weeks you're setting yourself up for disappointment. That rate of loss just isn't realistic for most metabolisms.

Secondly, are you losing weight while doing the extra exercise now?

Thirdly, no eating plan on the planet will allow you to diet for 8 weeks then go back to your old diet (albeit less junkified) and not gain it all back.

The key to successful, long lasting weight loss is the following:

1. Pick a plan (There are loads and they all work, just pick the one you think is most do-able long-term)
2. Follow the plan to the letter (No cheating or tweaking, this is the path to diet sabotage)
3. Stay on the plan for the rest of your life (In a more relaxed form)

Personally, I do low-carb for the extra energy and lack of counting calories and feeling hungry, but you might be better off with low GL or similar, but you'll end up eating quite similar food.

My book of choice is 'Protein Power' by Dr. Michael Eades. His blog is here:

http://www.proteinpower.com/drmike/

EileenG

I'm a fan of low carb, as long as you do it right. Lots of fresh fish, meat, eggs, lots and lots and LOTS of green vegetables, some nuts and seeds and cheese etc. No crappy low carb bars or shakes, no fake food of any sort.

One of the advantages is that it is a simple diet, no calories or points to count. A big disadvantage is that a lot of fast food is very high carb refined crap. You can eat low carb anywhere, but you may have to get creative with ordering.

You can certainly use low carb to lose a lot of fat, but you have to gradually add carbs back into your diet, and you may as well plan to forget sugar, sweets, cake and junk generally. If you go back to your old diet, you will put the weight back on so fast you won't believe it.

cozmik

hi

Imho you should only avoid bad carbohydrate foods but do not "throw out the baby with the bath water".

In other words, it's ok to avoid foods high in processed sugar, but foods high in complex carbs such as fruit, potatoes and whole grains, should be retained.

hth

El_Dangeroso

I couldn't agree more with Eileen's point, eat 'real food'.

That's all well and good to say cut down on processed carbs, but when it comes to weightloss, your body doesn't have a differentiate from an insulin spike caused by an orange as opposed to a lollipop. Whole grain bread causes a similar insulin spike to white. So when it comes to weight-loss, you have to have low insulin and a negative energy balance. You can achieve this through calorie restriction (and be hungry and lower your metabolic rate) or you can cut carbs and let the natural satiety produced by protein and fat do its thing.

I never understood how wholegrain bread could be considered 'unprocessed', it one of the most processed food items out there, It resembles little of it's raw ingredients. And potatoes have a very high Glycemic Load (30 for a medium sized potato)

Cosmik, regarding babies and bathwater, the carbs that do get eaten on a low carb diet are the most nutritious ones available. Leafy green veg and pulses and beans in the later stages. What exactly are you losing out on by cutting out wheat, potatoes, pasta and rice? They are empty calories that are at best benign, at worst harmful..

corkcomp

this thread is exactly like hundreds of others, the pro carb vs the low carb .. both sides will probably never agree but lets try to keep it on topic for the OP's sake? In fairness comparing an orange to a confectionery is pointless, at least your getting vitamins, minerals, fiber and a greater feeling of fullness from the orange vs the pop ..

The OP was asking if a low carb diet is something he could try for 6 - 8 weeks and then revert back .. IMHO that would be pointless ..

El_Dangeroso

Point taken Corkcomp.. I get carried away

But would any diet undertaken for 6-8 weeks be pointless? Isn't that the definition of a crash diet? Plus 2 stone is not like 5lb.. and will take a lot longer to lose..

On the orange vs confectionery point, I wasn't for a minute trying to suggest that the lollipop was just as healthy, just that when it comes to weight control, you can lose weight eating rubbish and you can gain weight eating foods high in vitamins and fibre..

corkcomp

neddas wrote: »

Point taken Corkcomp.. I get carried away

But would any diet undertaken for 6-8 weeks be pointless? Isn't that the definition of a crash diet? Plus 2 stone is not like 5lb.. and will take a lot longer to lose..

well... to keep on topic, my advice to the OP is simple: If you were happy with your weight before you started college and you attribute the weight gain to beer and crap food then just cut out / way back both of those and keep up the gym and you should be fine ... and defo 2 stone is a lot and crash diets are a disaster! but i previously lost 2 stone over about 9 weeks thru exercise and cutting out coke and swapping white carbs with brown (but i would not consider these changes to be crash dieting as it was a lifestyle change that i have kept up). The only thing i would say to the OP is that the weight didnt creep on over night so as long as your making some progress each week, even if only a couple of lbs/wk at least you know you will get there

aare

Waffy,

You aren't going to like this, but, if I were you I would cut out the beer right away...

...and I agree with the other posters...plus one other point, I have NO IDEA how you think you are going to afford 8 weeks of strict "low carb" on a student budget.

However, I would like to know just what you mean by "crap diet"?

I have a suspicion that it might be possible for you to cut out most of the beer (and worked the rest of it off in the gym - because you are human) and made one or two other simple, significant, changes, for good, you might well be able to float back gently to your preferred weight (in way better shape) and stay there?

Edwardius

aare wrote: »

I have NO IDEA how you think you are going to afford 8 weeks of strict "low carb" on a student budget.

It's not that pricey. Fruit and veg can be picked up cheap at open markets, meat from a butcher and eggs aren't exactly gonna break the bank either. Nuts usually run about 10-15 a kilo, which should last a looong time. Olive oil, butter, lard and coconut oil last ages and cost bugger-all too. If you prepare all your own food it'll be even cheaper. I've been running low-moderate carbs for about a year and the most I'd ever spend would be about 70 quid a week (this might include eating out the odd time).

A decent guideline for not eating crap is to aviod "food" that has ingredients. OP, why do you plan on "coming off" this sort of thing.

aare

Ah no Ed...

I mean the kind of low carb that would take off a couple of stone in 6 weeks...radical Atkins...



Not low-moderate...

But even so, e70 a week is quite a lot on a student budget...even if they manage to exclude (most of) the beer.

...and you have to be real...apologies in advance to all the exceptions, but, in my experience, a very high proportion of students, of both genders, would find it challenging (for a variety of reasons) to prepare all their own baked beans...

Now ok, I know that "skill set" needs adjusting, but it honestly cannot be done overnight...

Which is why I would see a couple of significant changes to the existing diet as a good first step.

corkcomp

aare wrote: »

Ah no Ed...

I mean the kind of low carb that would take off a couple of stone in 6 weeks...radical Atkins...



Not low-moderate...

But even so, e70 a week is quite a lot on a student budget...even if they manage to exclude (most of) the beer.

...and you have to be real...apologies in advance to all the exceptions, but, in my experience, a very high proportion of students, of both genders, would find it challenging (for a variety of reasons) to prepare all their own baked beans...

Now ok, I know that "skill set" needs adjusting, but it honestly cannot be done overnight...

Which is why I would see a couple of significant changes to the existing diet as a good first step.

+1 to that advice .. start with the basics, move more and cut out any obvious junk like processed foods, ready meals and soft drinks + beer etc. If you are not seeing results after a decent time (give it TIME) then you can go back to the drawing board .. no point over complicating things if you dont need to ..

El_Dangeroso

I guess it depends on what is meant by 'low'.. I'd say anything up to 100g a day could be considered low.. and that gives you a considerable amount of wiggle room menu wise while not inducing the metabolic changes of ketosis and accompanying withdrawal symptoms etc.

I suppose 80g would give you a 2 slices high fibre wholemeal bread, and a medium sized potato prepared anyway or a cup of brown rice..and a piece of low-gi fruit..

On the cost issue, mince, veg and eggs from local markets are not too expensive, but as Eileen says, there's no real fast food and you'll end up having to plan in advance a lot more to keep in budget..

EileenG

I must try that. I've been using Avonmore Slimline cheese slices as a snack. I break one or two slices up into small bits onto a silicon sheet and then bake for ten minutes. The bits go all puffy and crispy and make a nice substitute for crisps. High protein too.

EileenG

Never heard of them. Where do you get them, how much do they cost?

I've just broken up a slice of low fat cheese and baked that for 12 minutes, so that it went all puffy and crispy. Is that something similar?

crazy_lady

hi there,

have you seen the avonmore slimline cheese around lately? im wondering if it's been discontinued?

thanks!

EileenG

I bought some a couple of weeks ago in JC's in Swords, but didn't see any when I was in there today. I asked and they said they'll have it back on the shelves soon.

cozmik

crazy_lady wrote: »

hi there,

have you seen the avonmore slimline cheese around lately?

Sorry, it's been discontinued.