Carbs are the devil... :-D

Starting this side-thread here, as I didn't want to carry on in the 100% forum...

Deezer said:

CARBS ARE THE DEVIL.....FACT!!!

Lol... Well.... processed ones....

I am going to use maintenence products over xmas.... to try to keep my cals down.... one thing i realised is i need to find alternatives to carbs.... sounds silly....

But replacing cereals/bread/rice/pasta... well as much as possible... finding better alternatives will be my challenge!!!

Sorry my 2 pence worth lol...

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From what I've been having this last couple of weeks, I'm finding that I don't really need an alternative, as such - I'm just having a much lower proportion of them compared with the rest of the meal. One slice of bread with my soup instead of 4... One spoonful of rice instead of a third of the plate... etc

Similarly, only one or two olives in my salad, or a teensy sliver of cheese on the side. Cut into small pieces and eaten bit by bit, on their own, thoroughly chewed and savoured so that you get the full hit of the flavour. Spaced throughout the meal;

Big forkful of salad, teensy bit of cheese, big slice of tomato, quarter of an olive, couple more forkfulls of salad, one bite of bread... etc etc.

Sometimes I've found that I've scoffed all the meat and veg or salad or whatever and I'm left with half a slice of bread that I'd totally forgotten about... It's very weird, I know!

The other thing I've made a big effort to do is to get everything on my plate at the beginning and not pick at extras or have secong helpings. I see my parents doing it and think - blimey, I used to do that without even thinking! "Shall I cut you another slice of bread, dear?" (using it to wipe up the remains of the sauce...) or "Would you like a few extra croutons in your soup - we might as well finish off the packet...", "There's no point keeping such a small amount of potatoes, have a couple more.!" and so on.

There ought to be a big klaxon horn when they do that - like on QI...

Only just seen this hun.... thanks for some great advice chick!! x

Hey this is really good advice. Before doing lipotrim I started to divide my plate. 50% Veg/salad, 25% protein, 25% carbs. This acctually worked quite well (depending how big my plate was and also the skys the limit if you get my drift haha) But yours sounds alot better. I have to re-educate my self to have alot more salad/veg and make sure I chew alot more, when before i used to just shovel it down my neck (even my dad used to tell me to take a breath) lol. Im scared to think of how im going to eat afterwards, i think its all about portion control.

Thanks Lucy,
I think, with a bit of luck, your fear can help you - eating again will be so wierd that you may find yourself taking it slower and enjoying the "new" experience... I remember the very first freaky thing I noticed was how tired my jaw got, having to chew again!

It was very easy for me to eat a lot of salad, as I was in france and it was so warm you didn't really want hot meals. My next (hopefully final ) re-feed will be December, so it will probably have to be veg instead (which makes me more nervous, as I'm more picky about them!). I'm looking forward to it, though...

I think if you can thoroughly plan your re-feed week beforehand and write your shopping list with EXACTLY what you need and no more, then that will force you to get your head around looking at meals differently. If you live with other people, perhaps you could make sure to keep your food separate from theirs for a while, then you're not so likely to slip back to your old ways...

Good luck, and it's never too soon to start planning,
Marianne x

Hi,
If carbs are the devil then forgive me minimins but I have sinned, sinned, sinned in the last 3 days. I don't know whether it's the extreme stress i'm under but I ate a few sweets at a kids halloween party and it's like BOOM...the sugar monster is awoken.
Glad to see this thread.
Before my downfall I was too scaed to eat carbs and now see I'm still still sensitive to them to be eating any at all.
Lots of veg, salad and beans for me. I do what you said with the cheese and use goats cheese as it's much stronger. Also, I discovered falafel, it's very nice, kind of spicy, I have it with baby leaf salad and sweet chilli sauce, with goats cheese and walnuts, about two broken up.
I also notice like you the amount of things that are just habit, like eating while on the fone, picking up food and eating when I'm not even hungry.
I will get back on track over the weekend with a double shake day or two.
So glad to be back.

Good luck!!! You'll be fine!!! We're here to help you!! x

Hi Losit,
There's carbs, damn carbs and halloween sweets!

I guess that was exactly the wrong thing to jump back in with... but what a wake-up-call! I really wouldn't be down on yourself, as it's obviously been a very useful experience. You should be very satisfied with yourself that you're aware of what's happened, as before LT I'm sure any of us would have just munched for a week and not really thought much about it!

If you do feel like you want to introduce carbs then I'd suggest easing yourself back in with the very unprocessed stuff (wholegrain, low GI, slow release, etc) which hopefully won't give you a sugar rush! I found wholegrain pittas very useful as they keep fresh for quite a while anyway, but they're also very easy to freeze. From the freezer to the toaster for a minute or so and they're perfect! I bought wholegrain pasta and rice as well, but never got around to having any, so can't say what they taste like yet...

And falafels! I'd forgotten about them! Yum... oh, I'm craving now! Just another three weeks, with a bit of luck... :cross:

I hope your stress eases soon - it's a bugger for comfort eating, I know. Do you have a supportive OH or very good friend that you could bug for a massage? Failing that, a bubble bath or some other pampering thing, if you can make a bit of time...?

Much love and hugs,
Marianne x

Marianne, this is an excellent thread. I'm not far off my refeed week... right on Christmas ...which should be interesting lol Whilst I was almost liking the idea of feeling safer on TFR on Christmas Day, my experience of being 100% for my Italian holiday helped me to realise that food really can be a positive part of a special time if it's controlled. I now visualise my Christmas dinner as my need to think about my food plan comes to mind! My absolute downfall in the past has been carbs, carbs, carbs... and chocolate! lol So your comments about your portion sizes have really helped me think about the changes I will need to make. I am a bit concerned that so many people fall into their old ways though... and I just do not want to be one of the many who regain loads and spiral back out of control.
Thanks again for your post xx

Thank you for your comments Linda - hope they help you.

I'm sure once I'm eating again, my habits and thoughts will evolve... Already, I'm thinking I should look more into atkins-esque ideas. It's absolutely not what I would instinctively go for, but my bf's daughter (who got me onto LT) has refed and is throwing herself into "Low Carb High Fat" and it seems to be working for her so far. She loves it, as well! She was a pretty fussy eater before (mainly sticking to carbs, carbs and more carbs, that she knew she liked...). Now she's experimenting with loads of foods she'd never wanted to try before and seems very enthused.

The very basic drift I'm getting is that if you're very strict with the carbs (so you don't build up much glycogen), then your body has no option but to get its energy from the daily fat in your diet. That much does seem to make sense to me...

The other atkins idea is that fats make you feel full and satisfied (therefore curbing hunger) which carbs don't do. As yet, I've no experience of that, but bf's d says it's true for her.

I think everyone will have to experiment a bit and find their own body's balance between carbs and fats. The salad-based stuff I wrote about at the beginning still allowed me to lose a few pounds (I left out that I was also eating a french patisserie probably every 2 or 3 days! ), so maybe for maintenance purposes I actually could up the amount of cheese or whatever, as long as I kept the carbs low...!

Anyway, my instinctive approach would be to do as I set out at first - cut way back on carbs and alter your portion sizes to fit, and then introduce the fats whilst still carefully monitoring your weight. Once you've got a balance that seems to suit you, then make that your long-term lifestyle...

Still reckon chocolate will have to go...

Have fun planning ahead and looking forward to xmas,
Love, Mx

I havent read all of this thread, but carbs can be very good for you and you can still lose weight eating carbs, just keep it balanced and dont over-do on the white starchy carbs.

kered said:

I havent read all of this thread, but carbs can be very good for you and you can still lose weight eating carbs, just keep it balanced and dont over-do on the white starchy carbs.

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Hi Kered,
I think if you read through, we're not really saying anything different...

I'm certainly not talking about cutting out carbs altogether, but reducing them drastically compared to what I used to have - I would start every day with at least twice the recommended amount of cereal (and I absolutely *craved* it from the moment I opened my eyes!), lunch was usually a bowl of soup with a minimum 4 slices of white bread, a typical tea was a massive bowl of pasta with a packet sauce or just a spoonful of pesto. If it was a good day, I might add a bit of extra onion and pepper, possibly a bit of bacon, but even then, my diet must have been about 80% carbs. Oh, and chocolate every evening too...

With hindsight, of course, that's just disgraceful, but I was quite severely depressed, it was easy, and I was just feeding those constant sugar cravings...

Since being on tfr those sugary carb cravings are gone. Replaced by cravings for meat and veg mainly, based on the things I smell others cooking. One of my OH's daughters made a sort of shepherd's pie 2 nights back, with a mashed parsnip topping - Oh, I so nearly caved, it smelt incredible!

Anyway, I'm hoping to refeed in only 2 or 3 weeks time, so I'll report my progress here and let you know how it works for me...
Mx

Hi all,
I didn't get a handle on anything and don't know why it's so hard this time, I've just sabotaged myself to no end and can't seem to break the cycle. None of my friends understand as they do not have food issues. I have beaten drink and drugs and yet my final taboo of food is impossible as you can't live without having some of it. You can certainly live with without the others. Sorry for being so moaney, I feel like I'm dragging you down.
I also know it's my lack of water that's hindering progress. Any tips for keeping up the water intake when you're freezing all the time and it's too cold to down your usual 2 litres.
I weighed in yesterday and i'm just holding my own, but I still have another stone to lose.

losit said:

Hi all,
I didn't get a handle on anything and don't know why it's so hard this time, I've just sabotaged myself to no end and can't seem to break the cycle. None of my friends understand as they do not have food issues. I have beaten drink and drugs and yet my final taboo of food is impossible as you can't live without having some of it. You can certainly live with without the others. Sorry for being so moaney, I feel like I'm dragging you down.
I also know it's my lack of water that's hindering progress. Any tips for keeping up the water intake when you're freezing all the time and it's too cold to down your usual 2 litres.
I weighed in yesterday and i'm just holding my own, but I still have another stone to lose.

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Sorry to hear you are struggling. I do manage to drink enough water but was bored of black coffee as I'm not really a coffee drinker and couldn't stand my tea black. However, another minimins user mentioned that you can use the vanilla shake in tea to mimic milk and I've found it absolutely delicious so enables me to intake even more fluid and it tastes like a cup of tea that has had custard creams dunked in it! Perhaps this might help. Good luck.

losit said:

... I have beaten drink and drugs and yet my final taboo of food is impossible as you can't live without having some of it. You can certainly live with without the others. Sorry for being so moaney, I feel like I'm dragging you down.
...

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Oh, hun! You're not moany, you daft thing - you're just a totally normal person with a shed-load of crap to deal with...
:bighug:
I read a couple of your other recent posts on the Dukan forum, and it sounds like you hit the nail on the head by saying you just replaced the drink/drug addictions with food. My best friend is in a VERY similar boat (though she's going in the opposite direction... ) and my god, it's a hell of a thing to have to try and sort out. She's not found her solution yet I'm afraid, so it's not like I have any solid answers, just a heck of a lot of empathy.

Do you have a good relationship with your doctor? Perhaps you could discuss some ideas with them? There are all sorts of therapies out there - I noticed someone mentioned hypnotism, there's NLP (neuro-linguistic programming, which I think seems like a low-level version of hypnotherapy), there's also CBT (cognitive behaviour therapy) and there must be many other options too.

Don't want to sound too drastic or scare-mongery, but I guess having got past your other addictions you know the score somewhat.

On the point about water, you can certainly up your water intake with hot tea/coffee/herbal infusions etc. The slight consideration with that is that some of that liquid (a third to a half) could be cancelled out by the diuretic effect of them (making you pee more). As well as wearing extra layers and wrapping up, how about getting yourself a hot-water-bottle (or a microwavable wheat-bag) to get yourself warm, then you'll be happier to have a cold drink...

Best of luck with wherever you go from here,
Much love, Mx

my favourite saying is that carbs are the devil, the mrs says "they're not in moderation" - does she know that it's impossible not to eat more carbs once you start?!

Thank you for the kind words and consideration. After posting here last night I decided not to get down about it and just start again. I looked up the other diet programmes and as I have heard of Dukan I will follow the low gi side of it.
I was tempted to go tfr again but that doesn't really change anything, it only proves I can go for a long time without food.
I would like to apologise to anyone that might think coming off tfr is hell because it's not. Like I said, it's my head that needs sorting and not the food.
Procastination......carbs..one is too many and ten is not enough, that's what happens to me.

Biggest of big hugs to you, Losit...
Glad you're feeling a bit more positive, and hope it stays with you.
:bighug:
Take care and keep us updated,
Mx