I'm in a bit of a quandary! I've been eating lower-carb for several months. Usually between 100 - 120 g. (total, not net). I have definitely felt better and like it's helped my weight loss. Most of my carbs come from my massive supper-replacing nighttime smoothie (1 1/2 c milk, 1 1/2 cups fruit blend, 3 oz baby spinach). I HATE veggies and this is the only way to get them in.
Lately, I've been craving some variety in my diet...cravings of the 'carb' kind. They're all healthy - whole wheat oatmeal pancakes, thin whole wheat crust mini pizzas, etc. - but on days when I have these carby meals, I don't eat my supper smoothie because it would throw my carbs into the 175+ gram range. I feel guilty because I'm not getting many nutrients on those days, but I worry that if I start to feel deprived, I'll start to eat unhealthy things again. I've been wondering...is it better to eat healthier but higher carb, or better to stay low-carb and just accept that 3 or so days a week, I won't get the healthy smoothie? I thought maybe some of you long-term low carb eaters might have done the research already.
Hi, I'm still a newbie when it comes to low carb but my suggestion would be to maybe cut the fruit and milk in half for the smoothie, and add some cottage cheese. It's a bit lower in carbs compared to milk.
Curious, how do you make your pancakes? I use cottage cheese, old fashioned oats, and an egg plus some cinnamon and baking powder. As for the pizzas, maybe try a spaghetti squash or some type of veggie crust instead of whole wheat.
Just ideas I'm throwing out here.
As for your question, I don't know if it's good or bad but honestly, if it works for you, I see no harm.
The pancakes - I use 1/2 c. wheat flour, 1/4 c. old fashioned oatmeal, a little Greek yogurt, part of an egg, some cinnamon, 1/2 cup milk, a little honey. All healthy stuff! It doesn't sound like much, but it makes 3 pretty big pancakes. I got the recipe from Sally's Baking Adventure, just halved it.
I've tried to tweak my smoothie recipe, but it affects the taste and then I gradually stop making it. The way it is now is "peak tastiness" and the only way to ensure that I'll ever want to make it.
Right now, I think I'm going to try to work out a meal plan that allows for regular carb indulgences but also incorporates the smoothie at least every other day. That's the best I can do right now, I think.
I would argue there is nothing healthy about those carbs. Especially wheat. Modern wheat has been modified. We just goofed it up. The green revolution was trying to produce higher yielding dwarf wheat. Which it did. But it changed the proteins enough that most people, not just folk with celiac disease, can no longer handle it without damage, often massive, to their digestion and autoimmunity. Most people never connect the dots.
I would also argue that keeping grains in is going to keep you hungry and craving ad infinitium. It is hard to get to 265 without being insulin resistant to some extent. Think of it as being allergic to carbs. They are tasty, and they are super addictive. There is actually some evidence that odly the things we are particularly allergic to we also crave (even if not aware of the allergy). So it isn't a I can't have it thing.
Also there is nothing magic about oatmeal or whole grain anything. You know what the body sees? Glucose, glucose, glucose. And then insulin production, then the crash and the hunger. It doesn't care it is oatmeal, it doesn't care that it is whole grain.
Agree with the milk though. Even whole milk has a lot of sugar. We use heavy cream only in our house. BTW a heavy cream anything will taste like heaven and be much healthier for you. That could be a good substitute. But you can't have the same ounces of heavy cream.
There are many coconut flour pancake recipes. Some better than others. But my wife makes many awesome ones. Then we slather it with Kerrygold.
Most people need to be under 100 grams for weight loss. 150 is in the maintenance zone. Above that and a lot of people see weight creep up.
But note carbs from potatoes are going to be very different than carbs from grains. You are not necessarily going to get the inflammation and anti-nutrients from the grains that say a sweet potato has. If you have to have your carbs I'd switch to potatoes and even white rice as the go to grain if you want to keep some in. But I would ditch all wheat.
Veggie nuggets (you can sub almond meal for breadcrumbs)
For some reason I can't link directly to that recipe, but it's delicious! Just type in "veggie nuggets" on the page.
I'd heard that (genetic modification) about wheat. I do like rice. So if I had brown rice, it's better than eating whole wheat pasta? And I never thought about coconut flour. Can you replace wheat flour with it, ounce for ounce, in recipes?
Munchy, you're absolutely right about the veggies. The sad thing is that I had to work up to 3 oz. I add in the 1 1/2 cup of fruit for nutrition, but I know it's still not quite enough. I'll check out those links. Thanks!
I know nothing about it but I've heard of carb cycling. I believe it alternates higher carb and lower carb days. You also aren't on the extreme low of carbs so you may not experience the increase in water weight that those who switch to higher carbs experience. Another alternative is keep an eye on your calories (are you counting carbs with calories?).
White rice is better than brown rice. White bread is actually better than whole grain bread despite what we have been told for decades. Both are bad IMO so I guess I should say white bread is a little less bad.
Why? All of them are going to have the carb hit. But whole grain products contain more of the part of the grain that have anti-nutrients. So whole grains are counter productive. They theoretically have nutrients in a lab dish.
But when they interact with humans the anti-nutrients kick in. So say brown rice and a salad is worse than just the salad. And the salad with some good quality olive oil is best. The brown rice would actually prevent some of the nutrients from the salad being absorbed.
If you cut the carbs you probably will not have to calorie count at all. You can eat as much as you like IF you are high fat low carb. Also no need to exercise at least as far as weight is concerned. It truly is amazing. Note exercise can still be awesome you will just be free from having to do it and weight will still drop.
And some people do OK with a high carb day a week. I have to moderate mine because I feel so yucky the day after a high carb day: energy down, mind foggy, it is just bluck.
But I do occasionally have more usually via a gluten free pizza made with potato and tapioca. So I go higher but not too high.
Last edited by PrimalLarry; 01-16-2015 at 03:37 PM.
Low Carb -or- Nutrient-Dense?
