Starch (Carbs) Is the Devil! ... So is sugar!

[King sns]

earmuffs [MENTION=9630]TheStarchDefenders[/MENTION] they know not what they say!!

 

[highlander]

I think when it comes to food.. people need a diet that they can stick to, whatever that is.

However, carbs aren't the devil here. Refined sugars are the devil.

Veggies and fruit are necessary for nutrients and vitamins and minerals. Having carbs with fiber is what helps keep your blood sugar from spiking, so eating an orange is preferable to drinking orange juice, etc.

Agree with both kyuuei and Saturned.

Carbs are in everything. If you want to see how much carbs you are having, try this

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/

It only takes a couple of minutes a day to keep up with it. I am shooting for 30% or less fat in my diet per day.

I have been on many low carb diets and they do work. However it's better to eat healthy, manage your caloric intake and exercise. I've been using the Ipad app for the above and have lost about 10 pounds in the last four weeks. Just managing the intake. I blow it on weekends (especially Saturday) but it still seems to work. For example, one day I had 2200 calories of pizza in one sitting. You don't realize the number of calories without looking at something like this.

 

[TheStarchDefenders]

earmuffs [MENTION=9630]TheStarchDefenders[/MENTION] they know not what they say!!

D:

 

[Fidelia]

Today marks my last day of sugar.

Since cutting out my daily hot chocolate (2 cups - 4 spoons sugar) and daily Coke, my weight hasn't changed significantly, but my skin looks incredibly much better. A number of people have commented on it.

I'm not planning on cutting out all carbs (I already don't eat gluten, so it takes care of a lot of that stuff, but I intend to continue eating fruit). However, I have decided to try a 30 day challenge of no chocolate or sugary drinks, juices, baking, or desserts etc. I'm curious to see if there will be any visible or felt differences. My niece is doing it too, so I will keep posting as I notice any changes.

 

[WhoCares]

Carbs are not the devil as far as I'm concerned. Highly processed carbs I avoid, but I eat as many vegetables, cooked and raw as I like. I also eat as much rice as I want (about a cup a day) and have no problems with weight. What I don't tend to eat is desserts and bakery nor copious amounts of dairy. My diet is radically different to most people simply because I don't eat processed carbs (breakfast cereals, bread and pasta) which tends to make up the majority of most peoples diet. I dont believe we suffer from a carb overload, I believe we suffer from a vegetable deficency and bread is what most people replace the missing vegetables with. A quick look at my coworkers lunch reveals that a lot if people are living on meat and bread with some cheese for flavouring, no wonder they have weight issues.

 

[Fidelia]

This is the third day with no sugar. I don't know if it's a coincidence or not, but I had a massive headache yesterday all day (felt kind of like a permanent ice cream brainfreeze headache), which I've never had before and which I can't really attribute to anything else. I'm also really tired, despite getting a good amount of sleep. We'll see if anything changes in a couple of weeks.

 

[Stanton Moore]

This is the third day with no sugar. I don't know if it's a coincidence or not, but I had a massive headache yesterday all day (felt kind of like a permanent ice cream brainfreeze headache), which I've never had before and which I can't really attribute to anything else. I'm also really tired, despite getting a good amount of sleep. We'll see if anything changes in a couple of weeks.

Was coke your only source of caffiene? That could account for the headache.

 

[Fidelia]

Nope, I quit Coke in January. I didn't think I eat that much sugar, but I do have a little bit everyday.

 

[ilikeitlikethat]

Lack of exercise, that's 'The Devil'

I don't think what you eat is the only thing that matters; if you don't burn it off then, what's the point?

Sure, you could eat healthily, but, it's not really about what you eat, it's about how active you are; I think.

 

[uumlau]

Lack of exercise, that's 'The Devil'

I don't think what you eat is the only thing that matters; if you don't burn it off then, what's the point?

Sure, you could eat healthily, but, it's not really about what you eat, it's about how active you are; I think.

Both have an effect. The amount of food has more of an effect, because it's easier to eat 10% fewer calories than it is to burn 10% more calories. The fact that our normal daily activity burns, say, 2000 calories, and running a mile burns roughly 100 calories, you'd have to run 2 miles to burn off 10% ... or you can just put 10% less food on your plate.

 

[scantilyclad]

Eh exercising mostly just makes me hungrier, thus making me eat more. I find that I'm able to eat less food and not be hungry at all if I don't exercise. My weight loss has been extremely consistent in the past 9 months and I never purposely exercise unless i'm ultra bored. When I used to use exercise as a way to help me lose weight along with my low fat/low calorie diet, I was never successful and could never stick to it for more than a couple months because it was a sad way to live.

 

[Rail Tracer]

Eh exercising mostly just makes me hungrier, thus making me eat more. I find that I'm able to eat less food and not be hungry at all if I don't exercise. My weight loss has been extremely consistent in the past 9 months and I never purposely exercise unless i'm ultra bored. When I used to use exercise as a way to help me lose weight along with my low fat/low calorie diet, I was never successful and could never stick to it for more than a couple months because it was a sad way to live.

Make sure to test your blood pressure. O.-

Just because you lose weight doesn't mean your blood pressure is actually lower. One of the few ways people keep blood pressure low is through exercising and eating a lower sodium content food.

It is why people stress exercise so much... even if it is something as simple as walking the stairs up to floor 10.

 

[scantilyclad]

I check my blood pressure almost every day and it is lower.

 

[ilikeitlikethat]

Both have an effect. The amount of food has more of an effect, because it's easier to eat 10% fewer calories than it is to burn 10% more calories. The fact that our normal daily activity burns, say, 2000 calories, and running a mile burns roughly 100 calories, you'd have to run 2 miles to burn off 10% ... or you can just put 10% less food on your plate.

Because I excercise, I could eat Pizza, Fried Chicken, Ice Cream and Chocolate and Salty Snacks and still fit into my waist size 30" Levi 511 Skinny Fits and feel great doing so.

My workout:

Stretch
Leg Raises
Crunches
Pilates, if I'm up for that, they go here
Cardio (in any given order):
Treadmill 5 minutes
that's usually 36-76 calories burnt doing this, depending on how fast I have it.

Rowing Machine 2, 000 Metres (This should take people 10 minutes but, I do it in like 8/9 minutes)
like 119 calories burnt doing this

Cross Country Trainer 30 minutes + 5 minutes cool down
like 400 calories burnt doing this

Excercise Bike, I cycle like 6/7 miles on this thing on average.
like 360 calories burnt doing this.


weights:

I like to stretch and tone my muscles, so that's like 25k on my limbs at 25 reps and 35k at 25 reps on my chest; setting 7 on all other presses and curls, assisted sit up I put 10k on.

Stretch
Leg Raises
Crunches
and; again, if I do any Pilates, they'd go here.

I did that today without the Pilates.

I ate but didn't finish an Iceland (supermarket, not the country) microwave Beef Curry, with horrid rice; I like rice, but this microwave stuff just, wasn't to my liking, ate most of the curry sauce and beef and stuff, I ate a bit of the rice, I did try, I even fried a scrambled egg and put that on top, ate the egg and some more rice but the rice tasted like cardboard so I left it and went straight to the gym.

 

[Rail Tracer]

I check my blood pressure almost every day and it is lower.

You must be eating sensibly then, especially for the fact that you are checking your blood pressure every day.

But that is an issue, people don't think about what they eat. So they can achieve their weight goals and still have a lot of hidden problems they don't see.

Both have an effect. The amount of food has more of an effect, because it's easier to eat 10% fewer calories than it is to burn 10% more calories. The fact that our normal daily activity burns, say, 2000 calories, and running a mile burns roughly 100 calories, you'd have to run 2 miles to burn off 10% ... or you can just put 10% less food on your plate.

You can also eat food that don't contain as much calories but high in nutrients.... I mean, holy(considering I am not a person who wants to lose weight,) some of the stuff I came up with have a lot of nutrients along with protein, unsaturated fats, lower carbs, low sodium... and they were surprisingly GOOD. It took some time, but I would be willing to eat what I came up with. I would guess, all of that in one sitting with about 400 calories a serving (I've been trying to dump as many good calories into it as much as possible because I really am not trying to lose weight.)

Of course, it is because I made it with fruits, vegetables, and meats that I like (which are surprisingly healthy anyways.) It is definitely cheaper than getting a food to-go (and doesn't take long to make and pack.)

 

[ilikeitlikethat]

Both have an effect. The amount of food has more of an effect, because it's easier to eat 10% fewer calories than it is to burn 10% more calories. The fact that our normal daily activity burns, say, 2000 calories, and running a mile burns roughly 100 calories, you'd have to run 2 miles to burn off 10% ... or you can just put 10% less food on your plate.

The amount you eat...

Don't skip meals, don't eat too much; eat smart.

Instead of having 3 big meals a day, have like 15 small ones; the more you eat, the more you stretch your stomach; the more you stretch your stomach, the more food you'd need to feed it. - To combat this, they say eat small portions frequently.

Now are you suggesting it's wise to not eat 100 calories if you're not going to burn it off opose to just burning it off? Why even be like 'I'm saving myself 100 calories by not eating this mini Kit Kat' when you're not going to burn off anything?

But hey, what works for you is whatever, it's not my body.

 

[Hyacinth]

Since I've gone low carb I've lost basically 70 lbs. And that's since may of this year. Now I'm going to combine cardio every single day, and I hope to see an even bigger effect on my body!

 

[Rail Tracer]

So I'm trying something slightly different here. While part of what I am eating has more carbs, it also contain lots of potassium and some amounts of fiber (and other nutrients.)

I'm attempting two potatoes a day along with a type of grain (high in dietary fiber, and a nice amount of protein,) Olive oil, fruits and vegetables to make a salad (with my own squeezed dressing.) To top it off, I'll be making my own squeezed juices from now on. I've developed what I am trying for more than a week (and it tastes really good to me.)

The attempt will have more potassium over sodium (the salt I'm using is 50/50 potassium/sodium, lots of the food I used contain more potassium over sodium) but it also have a ton of other nutrients. So I'll see how it goes within a week (this is my takeout food for a while.)

I'll be taking a daily vitamin (once every other day) for any vitamins I'd probably missed.

My hope is that I'll see a big difference in my blood pressure by the end of the week but that I'll also gain some weight (that is only because my weight is already really low.) I'm hypothesizing that my weight will stagnate somewhere even with all the carbs I am eating (along with the 50/50 solution I am using.) I've tried what I was eating for the last few days to see how I'll like it. Let me tell you, I've been full each and every single meal that I had eating it for hours at a time(which is really rare.)

I thought of adding meat, but wasn't sure what to add. Avocados (not a meat.. but I was looking for a high protein... and Avocados are comparable) would be nice, but for $1+ per avocado, that's a lot of $$$. Canned tuna was nice... but the amount of sodium in that thing was atrocious. And, well, I haven't really cooked any type of meat that I have thoroughly enjoyed as much as my salad creation. Other than that, I'll be eating other foods, but the salad and potatoes would be my dominant meal outside of the house.

Hmmmm to be more specific, most of what I am eating contains more carbs than fats/protein (except for the olive oil.) But I suppose that is because most of it is fruits and vegetables.

 

[Rail Tracer]

So, I'm loving this high carb (mainly complex carbs), low fat (note: good fat[Olive, Canola] as opposed to overly saturated or trans fat,) moderate protein where most of the protein comes from the food I eat themselves(I say diet because this is not my normal routine... but I may very well make this part of my normal routine. This would be my healthy portion to go on my less healthy portion at home) and contained Potassium/Sodium diet.

I haven't touch certain processed food to get my carbs. The majority of it has come from the fruits and vegetables themselves with the exception of adding sugar to my lemon juice.

I've only had one meal today, and I still feel like I'm full. I've stuffed about 900 calories in that one setting. It has been 9 hours since I ate that meal. Then again, I haven't felt constantly this full in ages.

Obviously, I feel like starches aren't the devil right about now, just the overly processed sugar are what you are looking at.

 

[Fidelia]

Been off sugar a week. Lost one pound. No headaches.