low carb versus balanced healthy diet

A

Ando3242

New member
I have been doing low carb for awhile off and on. I'd try to stick to it but after a few days I'd feel so weak and fatigued I had to eat some carbs. I realized that maybe the low carb thing isn't for me. I don't like eggs or seafood either so that makes my options a lot less as well. I went to the doctor yesterday, and the first time in my life (im 25) I have high cholesterol.

So, today I decided to switch it back to a regular balanced healthy diet. I'm going to eat three meals a day with a balance between protein carbs and veggies. Things like 100 calorie yogurt, 4 slices of turkey bacon, and a cup of cheerios for breakfast. Turkey sandwich with mustard and lettuce on wheat for lunch and maybe a small amount of baked lays or wheat thins. Grilled chicken, a salad, and baked potato for dinner.

I'll of course change things up for variety, but that's the basic idea.

So what do you think of this? Will I be better off with this than suffering through the low carb path?
 
You do not need to cut any food group out of your diet. It all comes down to calories in vs calories out. Granted, many carbs are heavy in calories but you can still eat them. It's all about moderation and knowing WHAT you are eating. What you are saying sounds like a very good start.
 
The answer to the question... depends on you. I went the low carb path for 5 years. Then I went to a more 'balanced' approach.

It's both harder and easier. It's easier because I no longer have to worry about ordering bunless burgers when I'm with friends, I can have some whole wheat pasta guilt free, I can fit almost anything I want into my diet as long as I understand the effects.

And that last part is still tricky - because if I don't really pay attention to what I'm eating (usually by inputting it to an online tracker) my weight tends to creep up. When I was doing low carb my weight would creep up because I was 'cheating'. Now it creeps up because... I like food dammit :p

On the whole though, I'm much happier having made the switch, plus my 'bad' cholesterol dropped something like 50 points.

Just be prepared for the fact that you may have to pay closer attention to how much you're eating - it's simpler to just cut out carbs than to count all your calories - but it's also easier to just have that cheese cake you want without feeling like you've just ruined your diet!
 
Here are my thoughts on your sample food plan.

There are NO fruits or vegetables!

Even if you go back to a healthy balanced diet, you need to go back to a healthy balanced diet! 5 servings of fruit or vegetables!

It sounds like you went low-carb by just eating protein and no refined carbohydrates, but that's not the way to do it either. That's probably why your cholesterol went through the roof.

A low-carb diet is essentially no refined carbohydrates. But that doesn't mean all you eat is a bunless burger. It means you eat a lot of vegetables that are low-starch (examples: kale, bok choy, collard greens, etc.)!

If I had to redo your diet plan this is what it would like:
100 calorie yogurt, 4 slices of turkey bacon, and a cup of cheerios for breakfast.
Plain yogurt with berries, veggie omelet made out of egg whites


Turkey sandwich with mustard and lettuce on wheat for lunch
Turkey sandwich and a side salad

and maybe a small amount of baked lays or wheat thins.
Carrots with hummus

Grilled chicken, a salad, and baked potato for dinner.
This dinner isn't too bad, I might not eat the baked potato and give myself another veggie that has more nutrients or fills me up more.

Just some thoughts to consider. It's too easy not to eat enough veggies.
 
Thanks for the input. I'll try to add more veggies to the plan. I don't really like them like most, but they are good at filling you up with hardly any calories.
 
Im doing low carb. However, low carb diets in the US seem to cut out the good stuff - the fat. And no, cholesterol is not bad for you. That's a myth invented by the pharmaceutical industry. If you are serious about finding out about cholesterol read Uffe Ravnskov - The Cholesterol Myth.

If you cut out the carbs, you will be hungry if you dont replace it with something else. Since there are only 4 sources of energy: alcohol, fat, protein and carbs - alcohol obviously not a healthy one - there are only two left. Protein and fat. And eating protein only is both too expensive and not very efficient. About 1 gram per bodyweight in kilos is a adequate measure. So the only source of energy left is fat.

Yes, I eat the the crispy fat skin on a chicken, it is after all the best part. Ask any chef and they will tell you fat is the best flavor enhancer there is.

When I say fat I mean healthy fat: Butter, olive and granola oil (cold pressed, the cheap stuff has been heated and industrially processed, giving it a lot of nasty qualities.), cheeses, heavy cream, turkish yoghurt (what comes closest in the US is natural youghurt, the stuff that Danone and such produce is as natural as botox lips. It's all just chemicals and aromas. If people knew what that stuff contains, they would stay away from it.)

I do not eat any fruit. Fruit is crap. Obviously it's tons "healthier" than junk food, but it is still just sugar with a few scared vitamins. Fruit juice is about as healthy as a Red Bull. Pure sugar.

I was very particular about not eating more than 20 grams of carbs every day in the beginning, which helped me lose weight very fast in the beginning. I have been doing low carb high fat since Feruary and I have lost about 30 lbs. Nowdays I eat according to the 80-20 rule, low carb 80% of the time and crap 20% of the time. All though I have to admit, eating a chocolate bar is like eating industrial grease - it is absolutely horrible. If I eat chocolate I prefer 80% or higher chocolate. The higher percentage, the less carbs - sugar. Besides when you stop eating sugar, stuff like carrots taste like fruit - very sweet. You become very sweet sensitive.

To each his own obviously, but EVERY SINGLE person I have introduced to low carb high fat have lost a lot of weight and changed what they eat (not diet, but what they actually eat) completely. When you become aware of what industrially produced "food" contains, Cheerios, Danone and Snickers simply isn't that sexy any more.

Low fat products are the worst. Since the whole world is on a fat scare - low fat sounds like a dream. Just remember this: When you remove something that enhances flavor - fat - you have to replace it with something, else it won't taste anything. And that replacement is often sugar or things like aspartame, which first of all makes you hungry, and second of all is anything but natural. Other yummy things are so called "natural aromas" or "aromas" - which are as natural as a nuclear plant. Chemically produced substances made to increase profit margins of the food industry. Obviously blueberry aroma is cheaper than real blueberry.

Next time you buy a flavored yoghurt, check the contents. They normally have about 1-2% of the real thing. Yet the "aroma" is after, in the order of the contents, the natural thing. Then why do they still taste of the real thing? Because chemically produced aromas carry LOT more punch then the real thing. I.e. vanilla aroma, that you can buy in the stores. It only requires a few drops in something to make it stink aroma, while real vanilla is very expensive and requires a lot more. It's all about the dollar.

There is a simple rule for what is healthy and natural food. Read the label. If you don't understand it - don't eat it. Your body will love you for it. :)

I have friends who only wanted to lose a little weight and they didn't want to "give up" things like pasta or bread or rice. There is a simple solution to that: Eat less carbs, up the fat and you will see results. instead of pasta with sauce - sauce with pasta. You get it, right? The results will be smaller and slower, but losing weight is about finding a way that will work the rest of your life. Losing weight is not the hard part, not gaining it all back is.

More on my blog: [removed]

Also feel free to read:
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by Professor John Yudkin
 
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Ando3242 said:
I have been doing low carb for awhile off and on. I'd try to stick to it but after a few days I'd feel so weak and fatigued I had to eat some carbs. I realized that maybe the low carb thing isn't for me. I don't like eggs or seafood either so that makes my options a lot less as well. I went to the doctor yesterday, and the first time in my life (im 25) I have high cholesterol.

So, today I decided to switch it back to a regular balanced healthy diet. I'm going to eat three meals a day with a balance between protein carbs and veggies. Things like 100 calorie yogurt, 4 slices of turkey bacon, and a cup of cheerios for breakfast. Turkey sandwich with mustard and lettuce on wheat for lunch and maybe a small amount of baked lays or wheat thins. Grilled chicken, a salad, and baked potato for dinner.

I'll of course change things up for variety, but that's the basic idea.

So what do you think of this? Will I be better off with this than suffering through the low carb path?
Click to expand...

I don't think you should do the true low carb where you only eat protein and fat.

Eat a reduced carb diet, like don't eat pastas, breads, and the other high calorie carbs (or limit them to once or twice a week). Eat a lot of veggies (green veggies, not potatoes) and some fruits. Maybe occasionally eat whole grains.

Carbohydrates don't magically make you gain weight, there are some differences between them and proteins and fats, but so long as you're eating well weight loss is going to come down to how much you eat rather than what you eat.

The problem with carbs is that they taste good, and not being very filling it's easy to eat too much. Refined carbs/sugars also cause insulin spikes/dips that can make you feel hungrier.

That you had high cholesterol suggests you were eating fatty meats? Go for lean meats like seafood and skinless chicken breast.
 
I agree with many others here.

I have been doing South Beach for several weeks now. I am down 25 pounds, with very little excersise besides walking about 2-4 miles/ day.

I eat complex carbs, like legumes, caulliflower, etc. Stuff that is healthy, low-carb. Complex carbs, loaded in fiber like this actually slow the digestive process and allow more nutrients and fullfillment from the food.

I buy fresh green beans in bulk, and there are supprisingly little calories in the green beans so you can eat more = more full. Fullness for me is the hardest part of dieting, and I hate being hungry, so this helps big time.

In food, calories break down basically like this. 1g fat = 9 Calories, 1g Protien = 4 calories, 1g Carbs = 4 calories.

If you are doing a meat diet, the fat will add a LOT of calories to your meals, and will not help that much with the weight loss.

Good luck!
 
Alex Mourinho said:
Yes, I eat the the crispy fat skin on a chicken, it is after all the best part. Ask any chef and they will tell you fat is the best flavor enhancer there is.

When I say fat I mean healthy fat: Butter, olive and granola oil (cold pressed, the cheap stuff has been heated and industrially processed, giving it a lot of nasty qualities.), cheeses, heavy cream, turkish yoghurt (what comes closest in the US is natural youghurt, the stuff that Danone and such produce is as natural as botox lips. It's all just chemicals and aromas. If people knew what that stuff contains, they would stay away from it.)
n
Click to expand...

Have you had blood tests done after living this way for a while? I'd be curious what your results were.
 
I will note that for me, the biggest change in my cholesterol came not from changing how much fat I ate, but from changing the amount of fiber. Apparently soluble fiber binds to bile in your system - and when that happens you produce more bile... which is made out of the cholesterol in your system. It took me over 30 years to find out why everyone says oatmeal is good for your cholesterol!

When I started Atkins, my cholesterol was terrible - my LDL alone was over 200. I managed to bring it down a tad by watching the fat I ate (instead of the standard eat the chicken skin etc. etc.) but it wasn't hugely successful. Losing weight did lower my cholesterol, but for the 5 years I was low carbing, it was still high.

Now my cholesterol is only 'borderline' i.e. my LDL is at 127 - I think it has to be under 125 to be 'normal'. The biggest change was making sure I got in the fiber - mostly from fruits, veggies and whole grains (as opposed to downing psyllium husks in water). It's possible I could have managed this while low carbing, but it definitely would have been tougher. It would be a lot harder to pull out my whole grain bagel at the end of the day to make 'quote' :p

Unlike you I never really got fatigued from the low carb plan - but I also never got the energy surges or had my taste buds change to not like sweets. I still loooove some brownies. And red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting. And fresh French bread, and... *ahem* Those foods are all on my 'only in moderation' list.

I think WineDeer is right though - even without low carb, you should add in more fruits and veggies. If you want to lower your cholesterol, try for a minimum of 25g of fiber a day and see if it makes a difference.

If you want tips on veggies, please feel free to ask me. This last year or so I have been experimenting with ways to prepare them that my husband - the veggie hater - will accept ;) I won't say it's a great success, and sometimes he ends up dousing my efforts with no sugar added ketchup... but that's better than finding them in the trash! (Like the green beans I made last night...)

Also, if you're curious about insulin - check out this
 
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