I discovered something interesting about my body this week. I have been playing around with meals and trying to figure out what keeps me full the longest. I've tried huge salads with tons of protein- nope, I'm hungry in an hour. If I have an egg and turkey bacon, for example, for breakfast I get hungry really quickly too.
I came to the realization that without carbs, I get famished and fatigued and lose energy really quickly. All my carbs are whole-grain and brown though- no refined for me! A whole wheat bagel thin with some Tofutti cream cheese keeps me fairly full and one of my favorite meals is a baked potato with some tuna and low-fat cheese, with a small side salad. A small serving of whole-wheat pasta keeps me full for quite a long time! Eating lots of carbs helps keep cravings at bay as well.
Previous times I have successfully lost some amount of weight, I was eating lots of carbs everyday. In France, I ate bread with everything and breakfast was just pieces of bread. I find it fascinating that people are only successful when doing low-carb, while some (maybe fewer) people like me need carbs to survive. Isn't the body a funny thing?
Yeah it is kinda funny. So happy they are starting to teach people to build meal plans based on their metabolism type these days. I'm lucky I'm a mixed type I just have to eat a little bit of everything which makes things easy.
This is fascinating. I am definitely a carbs-favoring person... I've been trying so hard to shift to protein, but maybe I'll have to reevaluate. Whole-grain carbs definitely keep me full longer than other foods.
Bodies are indeed fascinating things, aren't they?
When you look at different populations throughout the world today and see the kinds of physiological differences in how people process their food, it is absolutely astonishing that more scientists aren't researching how genetic makeup influences how an individual processes food. Sure, we're modern humans, but we carry the genetic information of an untold number of forebears. How many of them were lactose-intolerant, lived mainly on game, lived in an agrarian society that tolerated eating a lot of wheat or rice, ate fatty sea mammals, or supplemented their diets with a mixture of milk and blood?
A lot of folks here refer to "an experiment of one," and it's entirely true. One of the things I like so much about the forums here is that there's a lot of respect given (for the most part) for other people's different paths; low-carb or low-calorie or exchanges or points plus or whatever--it all works if you match the right body with the right plan, I'm convinced.
I'm with you on the carbs; I feel so much more sated with one little 2-ounce potato with my meal than I would if I just had an extra two ounces of vegetables and meat to make up the weight of the missing carby side. For me, the only key to remember for success is to make sure it's a 2-ounce potato and not a 2-pound potato.
You do sound like one of those who can be very successful with calorie-counting......as compared to someone like, say......ME, who must use very strict low-carbing in order to lose weight.
But I wanted to add that it is the FAT in the low-carb diets (like Atkins, which *I* used)...that causes the fullness that lasts longer....much more than the protein.
And then to boot....if you are doing a diet like Atkins....with the very low carb/no simple carb (and that includes whole-grain bread and pasta and potatoes, not just sugary items)....you go into ketosis and the ketones seriously decrease your appetite.
But plain protein without the fat would probably not keep you full any longer than eating more carbs within a calorie range would.
You clearly have a very different metabolism than I have. And I'm not enough of an expert on the topic to know how things would work for you as opposed to me. But for me to lose weight.....it has to be severely restricted carbs (mainly coming from green veggies) but relatively high FAT. But if I were to eat the same amount of fat but add some potatoes or whole grain breads....I would start gaining weight. For me, the calories in the fat are inconsequential as long as I severely restrict the carbs. BUT if I add more carbs back in, suddenly the fat calories are a huge deal and will cause me to gain.
Now that is for me to lose weight. To maintain, I only add back in nuts, fruits and beans. I still do not eat any sort of potatoes or whole-grain anything. Mainly because they are in a category of carbs (that also includes anything sugary/sweet) that can trigger sweet/binge cravings for me....and increase my hunger...which is the last thing I want or need.
I am truly amazed and impressed by those of you who have great success with calorie-counting. I don't even know how the heck you do it. For me, not only does it not work (no weight loss whatsoever) but I was constantly hungry, ravenous in the evening, and had cravings to binge. Ergo...I don't know how the heck you guys do it this way.
Oh god, tofutti cream cheese!!!!!! I was salivating thinking about it the other day! I haven't had it in so long, but it's so hard to find a store that carries them.
I should go back to being vegan, I'm a terrible cook, but when I was vegan every meal was delicious. (not necessarily healthy though *g*)
For me, I have to restrict (not eliminate) carbs and of course omit simple starches.
I've been slightly off plan lately due to a brief stay in the hospital and inability to spend time in the kitchen on meal prep so I've had slightly more carbs than normal. Even though they're whole grain breads, pastas, etc. I've found my cravings are intense. Last night I would have given my right arm for a cheeseburger. (Luckily the weather sucked too bad to leave the house).
When on plan, I have a decent amount of lean protein, tons of veggies and a limited amount of complex carbs. So far it seems to be the best plan for me; my sister also lost her baby weight and maintains on a restricted carb diet. Darn genetics.
I have never tried a high protein diet so can't compare, but I seem to do fine with carbs both for weight loss and maintenance. My plan is the older UK version of WW which is based upon cals/sat fat. I try to stick to wholegrains where possible.
The crappy refined carbs are definitely a binge trigger. The whole-grain, full of fiber kind are not. Without those carbs, I am definitely doomed for diet failure. I am constantly ravenous.
I'm glad there are other carb-fiends! So many of the posts I read here are all about limiting carbs and I'm all about the carbs!
It is the FAT in the low-carb diets (like Atkins, which *I* used)...that causes the fullness that lasts longer....much more than the protein.
And then to boot....if you are doing a diet like Atkins....with the very low carb/no simple carb (and that includes whole-grain bread and pasta and potatoes, not just sugary items)....you go into ketosis and the ketones seriously decrease your appetite.
But plain protein without the fat would probably not keep you full any longer than eating more carbs within a calorie range would.
For me to lose weight.....it has to be severely restricted carbs (mainly coming from green veggies) but relatively high FAT. But if I were to eat the same amount of fat but add some potatoes or whole grain breads....I would start gaining weight. For me, the calories in the fat are inconsequential as long as I severely restrict the carbs. BUT if I add more carbs back in, suddenly the fat calories are a huge deal and will cause me to gain.
I am truly amazed and impressed by those of you who have great success with calorie-counting. I don't even know how the heck you do it. For me, not only does it not work (no weight loss whatsoever) but I was constantly hungry, ravenous in the evening, and had cravings to binge. Ergo...I don't know how the heck you guys do it this way.
deena
I'm impressed by you because I cannot do low carb. It's not so much that I personally need carbs to feel full. Actually if I eat a carb heavy meal such as cold cereal with skim milk and fruit, I'm ravenously hungry within the hour, feeling almost like I'd eaten nothing. To feel full I need a combination of carbs and protein. I wish I could do low carb. The idea of a no-hunger way of eating that provides relatively fast and consistent weight loss sounds like a dream come true. I believe my journey would have been long since over and I would be in my second or even third year of happy maintainance if I could have done a low carb diet.
Why can't I do low carb? It's simple, with few exceptions, I don't like fat, never have. I don't like the taste, the texture or the greasy feel it leaves behind. When I've tried to do low carb my diet has usually resembled the old
Stillman water diet which is nothing but lean protein and water. After two or three days of eating boiled egg whites for breakfast, a can of water packed tuna for lunch and a plain baked chicken breast for supper I would get so nauseated sick and dizzy (like a bad case of flu combined with a bad hangover) that I'd have to stop.
So I'm condemned to a semi-starvation diet that is taking forever to get the weight off.
I need carbs!
I genuinely envy you.
