Low Carb Diet Advice

Fed_Up

Right, I'm almost done with my exams. Been sitting in the library from 9-9 for the last month, and it's absolutely shocking how badly you can eat in college. To lazy and late too cook food when I get home in the morning, so the diet has been consisting of

Breakfast: Bowl of Weetabix (3 bits!), supermilk and a sprinkle of sugar on top, with a cup of coffee, two sugars.

11am: Coffee, two sugars, donut

Lunch: Usually an O'Brien's tripledecker

5'o clock break: Coffee, 2 sugars, donut or bag of crisps

9.30 when I get home: usually a quick sandwich/pasta with a dolmio pasta sauch thing/bowl of soup/chinese.

Right, I know it's pretty bad. My plan is to start a bit of running once I get this exam over with, so my first run is going to be on Tuesday. Nothing too hectic, but my short term goal is to comfortable be able to run 5k by the New Year, and maybe think about doing a 10k in late spring. The aim is to cut weight like **** until Christmas (got a few family dos then that there'll be a lot of photos at! ) and then think about strength work in the New Year. So this is Phase I, I guess.

So, I've been reading the stickies here, they're very heplful. I drink maybe three litres of water a day so that's not a problem. What would you recommend for breakfast, lunch etc?

The problem with being in college all day is having to eat at any of the unhealthy places about. I need to start bringing in my own lunch, etc I know. Obviously all sugar, donuts, crisps are gone out the window. What about the coffee - will two cups a day, with a small bit of milk, make a massive difference?

c - 13

A cup of coffee isnt going to be the make or break of it, obviously thats if you mean a cup of coffee. Not these mocha-choco-latte-grande-with-extra-lard-in-a-bucket-size-cup things that a lot of people seem to chug on a regular basis.

Breakfast - Eggs &/ Oats
Lunch - Eggs &/ Chicken &/ Salad of your choice ?

Fed_Up

Yeah, one of my big problems is I don't like eggs! :eek: I know. Maybe I could force myself to or something.

Theresalwaysone

Hey,

I can attest to just how hard it is to eat properly in college. BUT, tbh, its just an excuse. You can make your meals at home and bring them with you.

I started trying to get myself in better shape at the start of the summer, and over the 3 months I lost nearly a stone and a half.

Running. I found this to be a huge motivator. Stick on the iPod and just run. Try to run for at least 30 mins. Even try do some HIIT stuff if you can. There is loads on the net about it.

DO WEIGHTS NOW: not after xmas, even if it is just push ups/pull ups some core work. If you can, start with the big compound lifts. Deadlifts, Squats and Benching.

If you have time, do some sort of excercise every day. Running only takes 30 mins, and a weights session should be about the same.

Fat loss however is mostly in the kitchen and its also a good benefit to get into healthy eating. There is loads of info in the stickies.

Eggs are the single greatest food for fat loss imo, they make you feel full, are nutritious and very very easy to prepare.

rubadub

Fed_Up wrote: »

Maybe I could force myself to or something.

Not a good idea IMO, and absolutely no need either, why make it hard on yourself, just find things you like.

you mention low carb yet your current diet has a huge % of carbs so that might be hard.

peanuthead

veg veg and more veg!! Dont force yourself to eat eggs if you dont like them, thats going to make an already hard task even harder. And believe me, it is hard to give up carbs, im at it at the moment.

Dont try to completely give them up all at once. What I did was reduce them gradually. So start off week 1 by having carbs at breakfast, a little at dinner, and none after 6. Then work them out of your dinner by week two. You will find that this takes time, but its more effective than giving it all up at once, only to have caved by week 2. Then by week 3 you can cut them out of breakfast altogether!!

fresh fish, chicken too

I find I can eat chocolate (sparingly) because the carbs in choc are sugary and you will burn them off, but not donuts and all that. Dark choc and not every day.

Im not a nutritionist, and have never saw one, this is based on what is working for me. Anyone else feel free to disagree.

Fed_Up

Theresalwaysone wrote: »

Hey,

I can attest to just how hard it is to eat properly in college. BUT, tbh, its just an excuse. You can make your meals at home and bring them with you.

I started trying to get myself in better shape at the start of the summer, and over the 3 months I lost nearly a stone and a half.

Running. I found this to be a huge motivator. Stick on the iPod and just run. Try to run for at least 30 mins. Even try do some HIIT stuff if you can. There is loads on the net about it.

DO WEIGHTS NOW: not after xmas, even if it is just push ups/pull ups some core work. If you can, start with the big compound lifts. Deadlifts, Squats and Benching.

If you have time, do some sort of excercise every day. Running only takes 30 mins, and a weights session should be about the same.

Fat loss however is mostly in the kitchen and its also a good benefit to get into healthy eating. There is loads of info in the stickies.

Eggs are the single greatest food for fat loss imo, they make you feel full, are nutritious and very very easy to prepare.

Cheers for the advice. Thing is, how the hell do you go about starting free weights in the gym if you don't have a clue what you're at?

Arsenal1986

it can be pretty daunting but there is a huge amount of resources on the net http://www.exrx.net is a great site showing u how to do every weight training exercise

stronglifts.com is also good if r looking for a program
t-nation.com
teamtestforum.com
defrancotraining.com

Theresalwaysone

Fed_Up wrote: »

Cheers for the advice. Thing is, how the hell do you go about starting free weights in the gym if you don't have a clue what you're at?

I didnt. I got a book called "Starting Strength". Used that. Also bought a bench/squat rack and weights for my bedroom, that way, if I miss a workout I feel guilty under the glaring eye of the bench. heh heh.

In a gym, just ask an instructor. They are there for that.

Have you worked on your diet, imo, having a meal plan for a week for the first few weeks/months is a great idea?

peanuthead

Theresalwaysone wrote: »

Have you worked on your diet, imo, having a meal plan for a week for the first few weeks/months is a great idea?

Start a food diary. If you're not brave enough to post it up here, like myself, then write it down in a book. Review it each week, and weigh yourself each week too.

Its easy to say that you will keep a mental note of what you eat, but trust me, when you see it written down, thats when it will really shock you.

Also, kind of psychological, but I also find that snacking will not be as guilt-free for you if you know you have to write it down afterwards. It has caused me to back-off from the cookie jar many times!!

Fed_Up

So since I posted that thread I got a bit sidetracked with exams and various family crises - all sorted now thankfully, and the exams are over.

So I'm soon going to get cracking on a food diary. I've been reading a lot about low-carb, Zone and Paleo style diets, and am keen to try one for a few months to see what results I get. Does anyone know any good recipe blogs or websites for meal ideas?