Going 'Carb Free'

muffin2, Sep 25, 10:32am
My wifes friends husband has recently started going 'carb free' - no potato, bread or pasta and I think no rice too. he has apparently lost 7kgs (I didn't think he needed to lose anything personally).
But now my wife has suggested I do it for my health - I'm type 2 diabetic and just under 100kg
She said I should just eat salads for lunch, but I know in June / July / August when tomatoes, lettuce, cucumbers are very pricey she won't want to buy them because of the price.

has anyone else gone carb free? what was it like and how did you cope?
and what foods did you eat instead of carbs?

thejewellerybox, Sep 25, 10:40am
Have a good look at Marks daily apple. A lot of diabetics have found success following his guide lines. Check out the success stories too!
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/#axzz3EEECghHw

lilyfield, Sep 25, 11:01am
You can make slads from any vegie, not just the once mentioned.

davidt4, Sep 25, 7:06pm
Do you mean carb free or low carb? Carb free is extreme and restrictive as all fruit and veges have some degree of carbs, even lettuce, so to eat carb free you would have to avoid just about everything but meat, fish, eggs and cheese.

Low carb generally means no more than 60 g of net protein per day, and that gives plenty of scope for veges.

muffin2, Sep 25, 8:28pm
well if that's the case then no I won't be going completely 'carb free' - just eliminating the obvious ones from my diet like bread / pasta / potato / kumara.

davidt4, Sep 25, 9:16pm
Salads for lunch are good, but make sure they include some protein or you will get hungry. Chicken salad with home made egg yolk and olive oil mayonnaise is a good standby - add some olives, gherkins, cherry tomatoes, spring onion, cooked asparagus, green beans - whatever you like that is in season. A Greek salad with tomatoes, red onion, cucumber, feta and black olives is good (a few cherry tomatoes and a small cucumber surely won't break the bank even in winter).

Other ideas for lunch - home made chicken and vege soup, vegetable frittata, Spanish tortilla.

sunnyflower, Sep 25, 9:50pm
I am doing whey less 2 times a day with a main meal at night, I cook Kumara and carrot and parsnip and then mash it instead of potatos, no bread no biscuits no rice no carbs like that, just lean meat or fish, home made mushroom soup or silverbeet soup with low fat sour cream in it, it I need a snack I bake chick peas in the oven and crunch on them, or dry apples in the oven, I have found a bunch of recipes on this site for free to use, just whatever is to your taste, I am type 2 diabetic and have such trouble keeping weight down its a constant struggle, heres the site:

http://www.fatsecret.com/recipes/collections/nutrition/weight-watchers-points/Snacks.aspx?page=4

you can search all sorts of things on here.

good luck xx

bedazzledjewels, Sep 25, 10:13pm
And Muffin - get stuck into bacon and eggs for breakfast. You don't need to eat just salads for veggies. I don't! Steamed, stir fried, roasted veggies too, and lots of them.

muffin2, Sep 25, 11:54pm
well we usually have bacon and eggs for Sunday breakfast. but we have it on toast.

jennie5963, Sep 26, 12:12am
You don't have to go carb-free to loose weight - just don't have them at dinner time. You can have them for lunch but not after that. I know we're not all the same but I lost 6kg over 12 weeks by doing that and have kept it off since Feb.
Just remember that carbs not only include potato, pasta and rice but also peas, beetroot, corn and carrots.
Dinner can be meat, leafy greens, beans, cauli, kumara and salads so not like you have to deny yourself in anyway.

motorbo, Sep 26, 12:52am
why Is it folks say kumara is ok?

jennie5963, Sep 26, 12:59am
Kumara doesn't have the starch content of the 'bad' carbs. It has high density antioxidents, high in fibre, vitamins and minerals.

village.green, Sep 26, 1:55am
This is a great site. I wanted to lose 10kg and lost 11kg not much difference I know, really easy to do too, you don't go hungry. It's not really carb free but grain free and there's no measuring or weighing. I personally think it's a great one for men especially the way the exercise is explained and doesn't take hours at a gym etc.

uli, Sep 26, 4:16am
One year later we get a bump - and maybe a report from muffin2 as to how the low carb thingy went and how his blood sugars improved.

I am sure it would help fellow travellers on the same road.

toffeey, Sep 26, 8:12am
I am doing something similar. Not carb free though - that would be tough. Just cutting out the obvious starchy stuff and sugars - and very little fruit etc. I have the slim you plan which I've done before. You end up eating lots of vegies, nuts and seeds, lean meat, eggs and fish etc. How much you eat is apportioned using the size of your hand as reference. Tomorrows lunch is a vege frittata. Brekkie is an apple with yoghurt. Dinner is salmon and vegies, baked kumara and feta. You can snack on nuts and seeds. I find that it knocks the sugar cravings after a few days. Good luck.

nauru, Sep 26, 8:22am
And it's also Low GI

sunnyflower, Oct 1, 6:09pm
I am doing paleo and seem to have lost alot of weight I eat alot of protein, primal eating really cheese eggs meat fish chicken, paleo bread as I am gluten intolerant if I eat any complex carbs I swell like mad, I hate it, got under a naturopath as dr wasnt interested in helping me only pumping more drugs in. I dont eat sugar just the occassional peice of dark choc which you are allowed on paleo diet its great, if you want a snack eat something protein because to digest the body uses your own fat supply.