Why so down on carbs?

the beer revolu

Jaysus lads!
Carbs seem to be getting a terrible hammering on the what I had for dinner thread and on the food and drink forum as of late. Carbs are one of the major food groups, not an evil poison! The human race prospered and civilizations formed on the back of learning to cultivate carbs on a large scale. Now we see them as a food group to be avoided at all costs?

I do try to favour more complex carbs and varied carbs. So I try to go for wholemeal varieties and not just rice, potatoes and pasta/bread but also quinoa, polenta, barley, porridge, bulgar wheat etc.

Also, every second person is talking about fast days, cheat days, treat days, starving days. What is going on?

I'm sure you've heard it before but are you ready for this......?.....
DIETS DON'T WORK except in the short term.
Come on you all know this already.

Long term change in diet and lifestyle works - not diets.
Eat healthier, eat a bit less, exercise more.
Making radical changes to your diet, like eliminating carbs, that you know you won't sustain are worse than pointless.

Any thoughts??

The Hill Billy

I've noticed this too. To be honest, the odd comment in the "Here's what I had..." threads about these so-called fast days & stuff is OK.

But any threads that I see which are specifically on these topics are being moved to Nutrition & Diet. That is the forum in which to discuss these matters.

tHB

Faith

I think cutting out carbs often seems like an "easy" way to lose weight and control calories. But in my experience, any time I've tried it, I've put the weight back on double quick when I bring carbs back.

Intermittent fasting is supposed to have health benefits (it's not designed for weight loss, but for reducing cholesterol etc). I tried it for two weeks until I read a load of articles saying it was quite dangerous for women.

But, to answer your question, it's January. Everyone is trying to lose the Christmas bulge, so there'll be more and more people referring to low carb meals and fast days. It'll calm down again .

LaChatteGitane

I can only speak for myself. I am on a low carb diet since August because my blood sugar levels where in the danger zone. Until they have come down sufficiently I will keep trying to avoid them.

I also do the 5:2 'diet' because I needed to lose weight to be able to bring the blood sugar down and for other health reasons.

Still, I love cooking and eating and even on my 'fast days' I try to make my meal as enjoyable as possible and I think even those meals are worth a post on the "dinner" thread.

the beer revolu

LaChatteGitane wrote: »

Still, I love cooking and eating and even on my 'fast days' I try to make my meal as enjoyable as possible and I think even those meals are worth a post on the "dinner" thread.

Oh don't get me wrong. All meals, whatever you like to eat, are worthy of a post on that thread (especially yours Chatte;)).

I'd just like to see people with a healthier approach to food and and it not be so polarised into 'good' food and 'bad' food. I can't understand why someone would diet for weeks and then gorge themselves like Roman noble when ever they feel like they deserve it or when they lapse. At the moment I am also trying to tone up (not really trying to loose weight but turn some of the weight from fat to muscle) but I'm doing it (successfully) just with increased exercise. I haven't really touched my diet because I think my diet is pretty healthy all the time (apart from the beer I regularly drink!:o). BTW all the above is not directed at you, Chatte, but generally at all the dieters.

Toto Wolfcastle

I've cut out all bad carbs in favour of a much healthier, cleaner diet. I love carby foods but my husband is diabetic and I have a medical condition that benefits massively from cutting out all the lovely white stuff so that's what we're doing. The way we're eating is very sustainable and filling, even though we've cut our portion sizes too. If someone wants to eat all the carbs, that's fine, but for some people it's a choice between bad carbs and good health.

trackguy

Eating too many carbohydrates can contribute to you gaining weight.

I suspect most people eat far too many carbohydrates. I think the typical "Irish" meat & 2 veg dinner is generally almost half potato.

Your body does not need this amount of carbs and cannot process them efficiently.

Having said that, I would favour a balanced diet with plenty of scope for a suitable amount of carbs.

Losing weight = eating less, eating healthier and exercising regularly over a sustained period of time. There's no other healthy way of doing it.

Mr Simpson

Personally, I've cut out carbs in an effort to lose weight. I've done it in combination with trying to change my lifestyle and starting with a trainer. I have seen a massive benefit in cutting them out, its actually crazy.

I agree with what you say about integrating carbs into a healthy diet. But in my case, the best way was too cut out carbs until I reach my target weight, then slowly introduce carbs back in with a strict training programme.

Cutting out carbs and then not exercising does not work. But hey, thats just my experience. 20kg down, 15 to go.

trackguy

MarkMc wrote: »

I agree with what you say about integrating carbs into a healthy diet. But in my case, the best way was too cut out carbs until I reach my target weight, then slowly introduce carbs back in with a strict training programme.

Tried doing similar myself but got vicious headaches as a result. I try not to have too much carbs now, very little with breakfast and lunch and slightly less than I used to at dinner.

Mr Simpson

trackguy wrote: »

Tried doing similar myself but got vicious headaches as a result. I try not to have too much carbs now, very little with breakfast and lunch and slightly less than I used to at dinner.

Tbh, I felt like absolute sh/t for the first few weeks, its amazing how your body adjusts though. I had a cheat day for the first time last weekand had a takeaway. My body just completely said no to it. I dont think I ever want to eat pizza again

spodoinkle

Cutting carbs for weight loss is just not nessacary. I have lost weight eating weetabix for breakfast, wraps/bread for lunch, potatoes/sweet potatoes for dinner, milk throughout the day and a poptart before bed.

Is all about calories in vs calories out.

Mr Simpson

I'm very aware of calorie balance I studied nutrition for quite a large part of my college degree, but when you are at 120kg its not always so simple. You need to drastically change your lifestyle. Cutting out carbs also helps avoid temptation, because its black and white what you can and cant eat. Each to their own, if it works for you, thats great, it didn't for me.

LaChatteGitane

In another life I did plenty of sports. Brown belt judoka, swimmer, gymnast.
Now I find exercise extremely boring unless it's strenuous work in the garden and a good bit of honest housework, or a stroll in the countryside
I've dabbled in a few diets when I was in my late twenties/early thirties but I had seen the 'light' and really couldn't give a toss if I grew as big as a house.
I still don't care about my weight, so as a matter of fact I am now changing my life style to help me get me through the next 40 years (I'm only 50 now ) in a reasonably healthy way. If I lose weight while doing so, great !

The intermittent fasting I will probably do for a long, long time to come (even if I'll fall off the waggon from time to time) as it suits me to a T.
My personality is an addictive one (for lack of a better word) and I am an all or nothing girl - that's just how I function.

There are still enough carbs in my diet from vegetables like carrots, parsnips, leeks, onions, peas ... and fruit (can't live without my fruit) to sustain all my food groups. I am just picky where I get my carbs from.

Over the last month I have eaten bread, potatoes, rice, pasta and some sugar. Well, it brought me nothing but lethargy.
Back on the waggon I jump.

Mr. CooL ICE

IMO, its different strokes for different folks. Cutting carbs doesn't work for some people, but it certainly worked for me.

I was never really heavy, but had a little belly from years of smoking weed and eating crap in college. I stopped eating crap after xmas 2011 and signed up for the 2012 connemarathon half. Two weeks before the half marathon, I weighed myself and was the exact same weight as I was after christmas, despite running 4 times a week and doing BJJ two evenings a week.

I took a slightly different approach while training for the DCM. I ate roughly the same foods, but removed all bread and pasta from my diet and started drinking green tea. The only carbs that remained were from the fruit and veg I had at lunch and my afternoon smoothie. I lost half a stone in 6 weeks and with that, I was possibly exercising less than before.

I don't know what my carb/protein/fat ratio is, but my carb intake is low and I am happy to stick with it. But that's just me

Dizzyblonde

I'm a carb addict - I can't imagine not being able to eat bread, pasta and potatoes.

hardCopy

I love carbs and I have no intention of removing them from my diet.

However, I have recently realised that I rely too heavily on them, I have a tendency to wrap everything I eat in some form of carbohydrate.

I'm now making a conscious effort to increase the amount of meat and greens I eat, while also counting calories, so far it's working.

It was only when I started logging what I eat that I realised how big a proportion of my daily calories were coming from carbs. Now I'll have a single small wrap, a load of lettuce, some tomatoes or beetroot and turkey or ham. Previously I would have just had two large pittas with the same amount of turkey. My lunches are much more interesting now.

The only carbs I'll have this week will be from fruit and veg (and one chocolate digestive ). I ate so many of them over christmas that I can feel the slow down in my body. I think a balanced amount of complex carbs is a good thing, but people tend to over-eat white pasta, white rice, white bread, if people cut those out of their diets they wouldn't be doing themselves any harm - but I couldn't live my life without the odd carbonara

Honey-ec

I think the issue is that Irish people seem to have a bit of a skewed relationship with carbs. They spend a large portion of their life eating way too many refined carbs, cut them out altogether, feel better and then go "God, carbs never agreed with me in the first place!"

But the issue was never the carbs really, it was the amount of them that were being eaten, and, to a lesser extent, the type.

If you're overeating pretty much any food group to the extent a lot of Irish people overate white carbs, it's going to affect your health.

Darkginger

I've been low carbing since August, am down 4 stone with 19 lbs left to goal I did the same about 8 years ago, lost 5 stone, and kept it off for 3 years (then I got complacent). I eat the most amazing food and really enjoy this way of eating - and for me, it's not a 'diet' it's a change in lifestyle. I learned from my previous mistake that it's the maintaining that's the toughest part, so hopefully I shan't fall victim to complacency again!

It's not about cutting out an entire food group, it's about getting your carbohydrate content from good sources that don't cause spikes in your blood glucose and consequent insulin response - if you keep your insulin levels steady you control your hunger and therefore naturally eat less. When I'm maintaining, I eat plenty of vegetables, some fruit, a few legumes and even the occasional spud. I just can't eat simple carbohydrates and control hunger at the same time.

I bloody hate 'dieting', as in feeling deprived and hungry all the time, and treating food like the enemy. Low fat and low cal diets always made me feel that way - low carbing doesn't, and the science behind it makes sense. Gary Taubes 'Why We Get Fat' is a good place to start if you're interested in how and why it works.

Bottom line is, it works for me!

maryishairy

spodoinkle wrote: »

Cutting carbs for weight loss is just not nessacary. I have lost weight eating weetabix for breakfast, wraps/bread for lunch, potatoes/sweet potatoes for dinner, milk throughout the day and a poptart before bed.

Is all about calories in vs calories out.

+1.

It's all down to a simple relationship: Calories in versus calories out.

It's all about matching your calorie intake against your calorie requirements. To lose weight, you just decrease your calorie intake or increase the number of calories burned through exercise.

People have made millions and millions writing books on the topic of diet and weight loss but it can all be summarised in four words: Calories in versus calories out.

Carbs aren't to blame....if you burn enough calories to warrant it, you can eat carbs until they come out your ears

rubadub

the beer revolu wrote: »

Long term change in diet and lifestyle works - not diets.

the beer revolu wrote: »

At the moment I am also trying to tone up (not really trying to loose weight but turn some of the weight from fat to muscle) but I'm doing it (successfully) just with increased exercise.

Some people will do intermittent fasting long term no problem. Some do not fast completely, just eat less some days and more others. There is a bodybuilding thing called the "anacat protocol", where you eat more on your training days, and less on your off days. Sort of like mini cut & bulk cycles. Many bodybuilder will eat like pigs right after a workout

I have also read about fasting being more natural, what primates are used to. Wild primates who live near urban areas end up fat as they have a constant food supply.

maryishairy wrote: »

It's all down to a simple relationship: Calories in versus calories out.

It should be energy in vs energy out.

Calories are just one way to estimate the potential energy that substances will give humans. It is by no means an exact science and is certainly flawed.

There was a study done giving 2 groups 500kcal extra per day, one group got it in a drink with carbs/sugar, and the other with alcohol. The alcohol drinkers put on less fat -showing you do not use calories equally. This goes even for the same food, if you over cook rice you will be able to utilise more energy from it than if you ate it raw. So 500kcal of overcooked rice per day would make you fatter than 500kcal undercooked.

dellas1979

I know Im the same for blood sugars - thats why I avoid eating carbs (and if I have to, I try wholemeal bread etc). I try and not eat carbs in my evening meal.

I could never figure out why I could never loose weight (despite a good diet/exercise) until I cut carbs. Doesnt mean I dont love them. But they just dont suit me (am sensitive to insulin-you need this to breakdown carbs/produce convert to energy-I was actually feeling mighty sick after eating a carb heavy-ish meal and then STARVING). I dislike carbs (or they dont like me) more than I like having a muffin top.

I cant remember the last time I ate a boiled spud or white bread-I just dont eat them. Tonight for example, I had all the trappings of a chicken fajita, but without the wrap. There is refined sugar laced in everything though.

BaZmO*

the beer revolu wrote: »

I'd just like to see people with a healthier approach to food and and it not be so polarised into 'good' food and 'bad' food.

That’s one of my biggest pet hates when it comes to dieting, the notion of “bad food” or “good food”. There is no such thing as good or bad food, only good or bad diets.
It always amazes me the amount of seemingly intelligent people that have extremely unhealthy fascinations when it comes to dieting. We seem to be simple creatures when it comes to food intake, we like to be told what’s good and what’s bad for us and as a result we eat more or the good stuff versus the bad stuff regardless of the actual calorific makeup of the food. I see this in work all the time. You’ll see people have whatever for their lunch and then finish off with a “healthy” yoghurt/honey/granola mix or a health bar, being oblivious of the amount of additional calories they are taking on board. Food companies love this.
I was watching something on TV last night about Weightwatchers, and while the principle of Weightwatchers is good (giving high calorie foods a high score), it’s a lazy way of monitoring your food intake. The programme had a classic example when they showed the difference between Walkers Crisps & Weight Watchers Crisps. The WW Crisps were lower in calories alright, but there was a lot less in the bag, and they also cost 2 or 3 times the price.

LordChessington wrote: »

I was never really heavy, but had a little belly from years of smoking weed and eating crap in college. I stopped eating crap after xmas 2011 and signed up for the 2012 connemarathon half. Two weeks before the half marathon, I weighed myself and was the exact same weight as I was after christmas, despite running 4 times a week and doing BJJ two evenings a week.

Out of interest, could you see the difference in the mirror? Sometimes people can get too hung up on what the scales say, despite the fact that the additional training can burn off the fat and replace it with heavier muscle thereby making the scales slightly irrelevant.

stevenmu

BaZmO* wrote: »

Food companies love this.

Foods that are labelled "95% fat free" have been shown to sell a lot better than foods labelled "5% fat". We're very easy to manipulate, and the marketers have become experts at doing so.

BaZmO*

stevenmu wrote: »

Foods that are labelled "95% fat free" have been shown to sell a lot better than foods labelled "5% fat". We're very easy to manipulate, and the marketers have become experts at doing so.

"Oooh, low fat? I'll have 2 so..."

Faith

stevenmu wrote: »

Foods that are labelled "95% fat free" have been shown to sell a lot better than foods labelled "5% fat". We're very easy to manipulate, and the marketers have become experts at doing so.

Not to mention that "low fat" usually means "high sugar" :rolleyes:.

April O Neill

spodoinkle wrote: »

Cutting carbs for weight loss is just not nessacary. I have lost weight eating weetabix for breakfast, wraps/bread for lunch, potatoes/sweet potatoes for dinner, milk throughout the day and a poptart before bed.

Is all about calories in vs calories out.

For weight loss, yes. For nutrition, what the calories are made up with is important. Your diet contains a lot of junky stuff (weetabix, pop tart). But this isn't the nutrition forum so that's all I'll say!

GalwayGuy2

However, I have recently realised that I rely too heavily on them, I have a tendency to wrap everything I eat in some form of carbohydrate.

Ahhhh, that's me:) Pork chops, mash and veg. You know what's needed, a bit of bread to wrap the pork-chops:P

Yeah, my idea of eating, and this will sound hipstery, is to tick boxes (minerals, fats, vitamins, so on) rather than avoid any. The difference in a low fat, low carb, etc, and a homemade balanced meal is brilliant:P The latter is tastier, richer and will fill you for longer.

Hoop66

I've been a fat bastard for a few years now, mainly as a result of eating way too much crap and not getting enough exercise a few years ago.

I've been eating pretty healthily and gettting moderate exercise now for a while, but was still overweight. (6'2" and 18 stone)

The main culprit, I decided was the toast & butter at bedtime and the big roll with lunch.

Since xmas I've done away with those, only take a wrap with meat&veg at lunch now, and I've stopped having a big pile of pasta/spuds/rice with my dinner. I'm also walking 3/4 miles a day.

Not exactly avoiding carbs either, I have a bowl of porridge for breakfast.

Result? I've lost a stone since xmas.

I've fogotten what I was trying to say now.

La Madame

Lads - I never had Carp myself but it seems to be a popular dish in many countries east!

Martyn1989

Irish people definatly do have a tendency to eat too much carbs, the pile of spuds, the white bread/baguettes. I never liked large portions of carbs myself and would often just have meat and veg. Contrary to my presence on the 'Heres what I had for dinner' forum I'm down a jean size in the last few months and feeling alot fitter and healthier. I'm running a bit, ice skating, lifting weights and working long hours on my feet. Theres no strict regime, I just try to keep active etc, especially now I havn't smoked in over 3 months. I'm not exactly fat, but could certainly stand to lose a few. I do like a few beers though....

I'm eating well, eggs, natural yoghurt, porridge, fruit for breakfast, avocado, lettuce tomatos for lunch (a bowl of chopped avocado, tomato and crumbled feta with a little black pepper is fresh, delicious and good for you) and reasonable dinners, wholegrain where available, lean meats, fresh veg, sweet potato, the cold does make you hungrier though.

Of course the boxes of Taytos and Cadburys sent to us by fretting Irish mammys slows the whole process down but they do know best