Hey everyone!
So I am trying to limit my carbs and am finding that is really hard for me to do! My questions is this; what do you eat for sides?? This is where I am running into my biggest problem. I am a meat and potatoes kinda girl and without the potatoes I am not sure what to eat! lol.. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

That depends on how much you are trying to limit. I have almost totally taken out my carbs so I just do extra veggies for my side. One of my favorites is broccoli and mushrooms sauted together. The mushrooms make it feel more meaty and the broccoli gives you lots of good fiber. If you are just trying to limit them you could go with something really high fiber like bread or even whole wheat pasta. When looking at carbs you can follow the net carb guidelines. That is you can subtract the fiber gram for gram from the carbs. For example say something says that it has 29 g of carbs and 15 g of fiber then your net carbs would be 14 g.

I eat veggies...loads of squash, zucchini, okra, green beans, mushrooms and spinach lately. Spaghetti squash is a good pasta sub.

At the beginning I just ditched the white potatoes, white flour, white rice. I still eat sweet potatoes, yams, whole wheat couscous, and whole wheat pasta and brown rice. What I tried to do was limit my calorie percentages where 40% of my calories were from Carbs, 30% Fats, 30% Protein. Now I try to cut them down to 30%, but that is hard for me to do on a daily basis.

So I guess a typical plate I might have 2 cups of green beans, 4 ounces of grilled chicken breast, and 1/2 cup of cooked brown rice for a meal.

I also found this an easier transition than cutting out carbs to extreme levels. I'm a raving lunatic Bi**h from H*ll if I don't have enough carb in my diet. Luckily, I don't have pre-diabetes/pcos/insulin resistance or anything like that to deal with, and I don't know your situation.

lol @ raving lunatic b**** from h***! That can so be me! lol.. I don't have any health conditions that would need me to limit carbs. I just want to get this fat off! I stopped soda a couple months ago which I thought I would never be able to do. I guess I am going to have to get some more veggies in my diet (which I am not a fan of) although the broccoli and mushrooms actually sound kind of yummy! I didn't know about the net carb guideline thingy.. That is definitely good to know!

I like cauliflower a lot. I mash it up and pretend it's mashed potatoes. It kind of works, and it doesn't taste terrible, either.

I have pretty much cut out most bread, pasta, grain, corn, potatoes, etc from my diet severely. That's not to say that I don't eat it once in awhile or even some daily, but even whole grain varieties have gotten the ax. As long as the corn and potatoes aren't processed, I don't mind eating them on occasion, but not on a regular basis. I have noticed a sharp difference between when I eat those kinds of carbs and when I don't, and when I don't I lose weight. If I start to slip and add them back in then I have a problem.

For example, a typical day for me might look something like this:

Breakfast - 1 egg, cheese and bacon english muffin OR just 2 scrambled eggs with cheese and bacon
Snacks - nuts, yogurt, beef jerky, peanut butter and celery, crackers and cheese
Lunch - perhaps a wrap, with part of the tortilla removed or an open faced sandwich with one slice of bread, a burrito bowl without rice (chicken or steak, sour cream, tomatoes/salsa, cheese, extra lettuce & sometimes guac), rotisserie chicken and a veggie/baked beans
Dinner - 6oz steak/chicken/fish, broccoli/green beans & a salad (steak is also easy to do at most restaurants for a nice, on-plan meal), lettuce wraps (stir-fried veggies and meat, rolled up in iceburg lettuce... it's so good, filling and easy to make)

english muffin - around 15-17g carbs
serving of crackers - around 15-17g carbs
wrap - around 15-17g carbs

This, of course is not counting all of the veggies, dressings, carbs in dairy, etc. But my strict goal is to limit the grains/pastas/rice/etc. You do have to look around to pick out the wraps, bread, crackers, etc that have the best ratio of serving to carbs. Unfortunately if you look at rice and pasta, they have 40g per serving, whereas wraps, crackers and most sliced bread have half that. So yeah, it's pretty rare to see me with rice or pasta these days.

It would be better, though, if I didn't eat any of those at all... but I find that limiting it like I have does work, even if some of the food I eat is not necessarily what people generally consider "diet food" ... Generally meat and veggies will fill me up and keep me fuller longer, although I still have some days where I am constantly hungry, usually a few days before I have a huge loss. That is, if I don't eat a bunch of junk. I'm pretty sure that in the past when I have dieted I had those days and just crammed anything in my mouth without considering the nutritional content because I was hungry and my body was obviously telling me I needed more food. But I filled up on the bad stuff that just made me gain weight instead of good food that would help my body burn off the fat, and I would be discouraged because I undid all of my efforts. Now that I better understand my body and know that I do have these days where I need to eat constantly, I know to eat better food that will help my body rather than fight against it and so far *crosses fingers* it seems to be going well.

I am not eating any starches at all, other than 2 tbs of oat bran each day that are a part of my plan (Dukan Diet). I use veggies instead - I used to think I could never give up pasta or noodles, and at this point, I don't even miss them. Chicken soup with broccoli instead of noodles tastes so good!! I also use veggies instead of pasta with sauce (red sauce with meat or clam sauce).

I will have more than one veggie side if I want a bit more variety.

I would suggest that you look at the South Beach Diet book. YOU MUST READ THE BOOK if you are going to do it but I have to say that it doesn't limit you horribly after the first two weeks. I personally love it and have lost a fair bit quickly but its always individual. GOOD LUCK

It seems that a lot of us have had good results with limiting carbs from pasta, rice, bread, and potatoes. I've cut them out of MOST meals. If I have to eat on the run I'll do a turkey or chicken sandwich on rye. At regular meals I substitute lots of veggies. I thought i'd miss them, but I don't. I can go out to eat at an Italian restaurant now and totally skip the bread they bring before you even start to eat. And I ask for the carry-out container with my meal (not after) and just put half the main course right in it before I start. That would never have happened before!

Once you get going, you'll see what tricks work on a day to day basis for you. I personally feel I'm too stubborn to be told what to do, so I'm not following a "diet" in the strict sense of the word. I'm trying to eat what I (we) know is healthy and stay away from anything I have to question. For the most part. I know the basics behind WW, SB, Atkins. The bottom line is they limit carbs and calories from sugar and fat. They are all very successful programs, so I figured that's the way for me to go, just my own way. You'll find yours. And there is NOTHING (IMHO) that keeps you on track like success. Good luck.

Lin

I used to have a carb problem, and if I start my day with them, it causes me to be hungry all day. But if I start with protein I'm fine, and I do moderate carb and am vegan, my mom seems confused that I can lose without cutting carbs completely out "like she does" but she keeps relapsing to junk and is gaining.

I've cut out most bread, potato, pasta etc but will do vegetable sides... Something that I've found really helpful is shirataki noodles, which taste like noodles but are made from tofu. Some sides, like edamame or mushrooms, can be a little more substantial than salad or other vegetables. Also, I know these aren't great for you the light potato chips made with olestra are pretty low cal if your stomach can tolerate them - only 75 calories for a 20 chip serving...

are those noodles good? I hear they smell fishy.....scared to try em.

I find that if the carbs I eat are really fiber-rich, I need less of them and feel satisfied longer. My favourite is quinoa cooked in chicken broth. Just a bit on the site makes it feel like a well-rounded meal. For veggies, rich now I'm hooked on boiled (well, microwaved) baby carrots with some salt. I put them in bowl of water in the microwave for 5 minutes, drain and salt. They're so sweet and soft, they kinda kill that mashed potato craving..kinda. haha.

I love doing brocolli, chooped colored bell peppers and canned black beans, topped with shredded cheese....you get your veggies and protein in one meal...I do use portion control (6oz total veggies/3oz beans/1oz cheese) and I have this with an 8oz salad with regular salad dressing :-)
I happened upon this one day when I just did not feel like cooking :-) you can actually put everything in the microwave for 1 min, top with cheese and cook another 15-30 sec....best quick meal ever!

I also love baked butternut squash, cut n cubes sprinkled with Splenda and cinnamon (it takes a long time to cook) but it is delicious...I usually eat this on the weekend with my favorite....broiled lobster tail....mmmmmm

I love my healthy eating plan! 18lbs gone so far over the last 2 months and I am so satisfied!!!!


LGW