Anyone here tried reducing their carb intake?

After reading a lot of different books and websites on low carb diets I decided to cut out a lot of my carbs.

I have stopped eating bread, potatoes, pasta, chocolate, beer and cereal.

Apart from the bread and beer not really missing the carbs.

Lost a lot of weight and feel a lot better in only a couple of weeks.

Anyone else tried it?

Anyone had any bad experiences?

Why do you want to reduce carbs?
I eat carbs and lots of them.
I feel great.
I look great too, not quite as buff as theArtistFormerlyKnownAsSomething, but still quite good.

You mean Atkins diet?

Yes, one old friend is still surviving with no ill effect but he is nearly 76.

🙂

Trying.
Failing.
Miserable.
Hungry.

“bread, potatoes, pasta, chocolate, beer and cereal”

That there is what you call a balanced diet, I try and combine all those ingredients at every meal and it keeps me the lean mean loving machine that I am.

ps, don’t trust idave and his disciples, they are all religious nutters, trying to fill the hollow emptiness in the pit of their stomachs with belief and eggs.

“bread, potatoes, pasta, chocolate, beer and cereal”

I miss those 😥

Reduced my carbs? No, there the best source of energy.

I have increased my fat and protein so my diet is no longer 60% carbs.

You mean Atkins diet?

Now rebranded to “iDave diet”.

I try, but it is hard. So much of the british diet is carb and dairy based. I followed the ‘Eat For Your Blood Type’ diet for 6-8 months and because I was type o it was basically high protein with hardly any carbs or dairy. Although it was hard and expensive I did feel a lot better for it. It also helped with my asthma and mild eczema.

I’ve found that if your any type of diet it basically means not eating anything processed which is time consuming and boring. No donuts, chocolate, toffe popcorn, ice cream, cakes, sucks!!!

I enjoyed this article from one of worlds leading sports doctors:
http://www.health24.com/fitness/Diet_Supplements/16-481-512,73175.asp

I am in a similar situation to Tim and I am going to definitely try reduce my carb intake.

Another person who is advocating this is Joe Friel who advocates the Paleo diet.

Are you a cyclist? If so, then I cant imagine reducing carbs would be good for you. What are you going to use for energy?

Now rebranded to “iDave diet”.

Isn’t the Atkins diet a low carb diet and the iDave diet full of carbs?
Or are lentils and beans off limits now?

Also, it’s not a diet. It’s a lifestyle choice.

Isn’t the Atkins diet a low carb diet and the iDave diet full of carbs?

As far as I’m aware the iDave diet is low-carb, which includes legumes.

I did the Atkins diet a few years ago and lost almost 5 stone – although I may have put a stone on again recently 😳 I still don’t eat potatoes, rice, pasta and not a lot of bread either, just a couple of slices for lunchtime sandwiches. Errm, cakes don’t contain many carbs – do they???

http://philmaffetone.com/2weektest.cfm

Errm, cakes don’t contain many carbs – do they???

None at all. Also, carrot cake, apple turnovers, lemon meringue pies etc, count as one of your 5 a day.

As far as I’m aware the iDave diet is low-carb

It’s not.

Its getting your carbs from particular sources. Not reducing them.

I have a big bowl of porridge in the morning on weekdays, and have no other carbs after that. on weekends I throw it out the window, no ones gonna stop me having pancakes and bacon with the family on saturday mornings!

carrot cake, apple turnovers, lemon meringue pies

Well, there’s 3 of your 5 right there!

edit:

It’s not.

The pdf thingy I have in front of me from ‘Dave’ at RST Sport seems to say so…what am I missing?

As far as I’m aware the iDave diet is low-carb, which includes legumes.

Having read the instruction I understand it to be a legume based diet which includes other things and as legumes have something like 60% carb, I’d say it deffo isn’t a low carb diet.
I think the OP is really asking about reducing processed carbs, which is a good idea, and replacing them with legumes, which is an even better idea.

http://philmaffetone.com/2weektest.cfm

no ones gonna stop me having pancakes and bacon with the family on saturday mornings!

Are you American?

Kit, does it say something like this?

Basics
NO bread, pasta, rice, potatoes etc
NO drinks with calories
NO fruit
NO Cereal
NO Dairy
As in NONE. Just don’t do it, even a bit
As much as you want of …….
Vegetables
Beans/lentils
Lean meat
Eggs
Seeds/nuts
Lots of water
Coffee
Red wine with meals.
One day a week eat what you want

Copyright iDave all payments to deadlydarcy.

Kit –

From the PDF…
Unlimited vegetables
Unlimited legumes; lentils, chickpeas, butterbeans etc

Within reason you can eat as much of these as you like.

It’s not low carb as you are not cutting the amount of carbs. Just changing the source.

You may find you cut some carbs as you change the balance of your diet. Though cutting the carbs is not a goal, hence it is not a low carb diet.

Are you American?

No.

It’s high GI carbs that are the problem. Low GI carbs are good and should fill the hole in ones face. If you want to be good on the bike.

warton – why don’t you just not make it? 😆

Carbs taste nice and that is the ultimate test.

cut the grains, get your carbs from roots. If that Alice Roberts program was right then that’s what we evolved eating.

Since I did this my eczema has gone away and my aerobic threshold has increased by 10 bpm, and by 30 watts.

why not just eat less high g-i and processed foods with too much fat and sugar and exercise more?

😀 @ Jamie.

It’s like Paul Daniel, Paul Mckenna Hybrid. Gotta love the bloke though.

I like bread, pasta, rice, cakes, booze, fizzy pop,chocolates, sweets, chips etc. So I eat/drink them. Not LOTs though (ok maybe booze sometimes). Strangely I’m not “fat” (5ft9 11.5 st). I also do loads of exercise. Most of it is “hidden” exercise. I don’t have a car, I ride to work, shops, dentist, wherever I have to go.. I have a physical job, rather than sitting down. on my days off I ride, sometimes far away up big hills! always been active. If I was sat on my arse all day and driving, with my diet I would be a different shape I reckon.

Kevevs –

If I was sat on my arse all day and driving, with my diet I would be a different shape I reckon.

There is no doubt that exercise helps keep weight down, but I really believe that the way your body deals with glucose and your insulin resistance plays a massive part. Kev you probably wouldn’t put that much weight on compared to others if you got less exercise. We all know people who never seem to put on weight no matter what they eat and others who eat “well” and exercise but still get fat. Also, why do you put on weight as you get middle aged despite reducing calorie intake and getting plenty of exercise?

Are you a cyclist? If so, then I cant imagine reducing carbs would be good for you. What are you going to use for energy?

This is not correct. Your body will burn body fat directly in the absence of carbs.

I realise that this can be quite an emotive issue, as it basically recommends the opposite of what the majority of medics would recommend.

I read this (and other stuff) The Diet Delusionand have come to the conclusion that I do not need to eat any significant quantity of starchy carb. I eat loads of veg, meat, fish, eggs and in 3 weeks I have lost 10kg. This is despite having to work away for most of that period and not getting my regular bike rides.
Don’t feel hungry but I really miss the beer and steak sandwiches!

However, the weight loss could simply be from cutting out the beer!

This is not correct. Your body will burn body fat directly in the absence of carbs.

somehow i don’t think it’s as simple as the white fatty stuff under your skin starts melting away the moment you get a sweat on.

This is not correct. Your body will burn body fat directly in the absence of carbs.

Dunno, it might do. But burning body fat as a source of energy doesnt really help when you’re trying to hammer it on the bike.

I ran out of “energy” last saturday when I was out on the road bike. Im assuming my carb stores had been depleted. I just had to sit down and pootle all the way home. If thats what happens when your body burns fat for energy, then I wouldnt recommend it.

Saying that, if you’ve lost 10kg and you’ve got more to lose, then Im assuming you’re not the sort of person who rides their bike fast.

@David

Don’t really have an opinion one way or the other, but this is an interesting, if fairly one sided, read:

http://waroninsulin.com/how-a-low-carb-diet-affected-my-athletic-performance

also:

http://www.pponline.co.uk/encyc/sports-nutrition-should-athletes-use-fat-or-carbohydrate-as-fuel-631

I’m now slightly concerned I’m losing too much weight. I’ve settled into a diet I’m happy with, is balanced and makes me lose weight.

Trouble is, I’m now down to 11st 3lbs (6ft tall). I have plenty of muscle, but don’t want to really lose much mote weight. I wouldn’t really feel happy with myself eating more than I do now though. I might have to start introducing a few more carbs back in (although I hadn’t cut them out completely)

Saying that, if you’ve lost 10kg and you’ve got more to lose, then Im assuming you’re not the sort of person who rides their bike fast

Put on about 10kg with a job change. Not riding enough.
Would like to lose about another 5 – 10kg.

Not massively fast on a bike not a racer by any means but can happily cover 70 miles on the road bike and certainly quicker than an “average” fatty. Never been a good climber even when slimmer, more rugby player than peloton!

trying to fill the hollow emptiness in the pit of their stomachs with belief and eggs.

Now that made smile…