Low carb diets - experience? opinions?

[homersapien 11,367]

9 minutes ago, McLoofus said:

Well that's bad bean news for me because I love them sons-a-byatches. But I'm glad my response wasn't entirely in vain!

Dried beans > canned, by such a significant margin. Color me not surprised that you are already on top of that. 

I cook mine in a pressure cooker.  I've worked out the schedule for 18 different varieties of beans.  The time under pressure varies widely for each type, from 0 minutes to 30 minutes.  You then turn the heat off and hold for 60 minutes.

It's a way to avoid the over-night soaking.

I also use a pressure cooker for "boiling" green peanuts.  But they require about an hour under pressure.  But it's way faster than boiling them in an open pot and the result is just as good.

 

[alexava 6,973]

1 hour ago, homersapien said:

Sounds like you need to take some glucose tablets or high sugar snacks with you when cycling.   Cycling and carbs sort of go together.

I never thought about glucose tabs. High sugar snacks would be ok for short term. But dr explained that it will raise levels very high for a short period. Then you crash that much harder. Best to eat something more balanced just don’t skip meals. If I had eat a sandwich, biscuit, oatmeal, cereal or basically anything with some carbs An hour or so before, i would have been fine. I’d be better served to cycle later in the day. My work shift is taking a toll on my body. 

[SaltyTiger 7,794]

On 4/22/2019 at 11:22 AM, homersapien said:

Like you, I am eating a lot more eggs and sausage (Conecuh -  ummmmm!).

I've been curious about my cholesterol levels. Guess I will find out in a few more weeks when my next blood work is schedule.

But I figure that will be off-set to some degree by weight loss.

 

Another great thread over here Brother Homer.

My Internist has been watching my A1C the past three years. I have never been a huge carb eater and have not changed my diet drastically but have become carb aware. I did quit Bud Lite beer and switched to Mich Ultra . Love your statement about Conecuh  and eggs. I lost 10 to 12 pounds a few years ago. I began starting with a solid meal every morning which normally includes good sausage,  eggs and cheese. Sure curbs cravings for me the rest of day. BTW, if you ever get to visit. the Auburn University meat lab sells some great sausage. For the past 3 years my A1C snapshot has been fine yet a regular blood test for sugar indicates spiked a little.

Good luck with the knee. I had pneumothorax spontaneous in January.  Ended up in the hospital for about 2 weeks and had lung surgery. Lost about about 8 more pounds. Contrary to what the wife says want to gain it back but no luck yet. Can not handle more than about two beers, but eating great.   

[homersapien 11,367]

Thanks for the response.  A few quick comments:

Mich Ultra has a terrible can design! It doesn't fit regular coozy's and they are very fragile.  I brought home a case today and one had started leaking from the grocery store to home and another rolled off the counter while I was loading them into the fridge and developed a leak.

If I could find another brand with 2.4 g carbs (most don't say) I'd switch for that alone.

I am very familiar with the meats lab products.  Back in my day they made the best braunswieger ever!   I studied under Dr. Huffman (the elder) and spent a lot of time working in the Meats Lab.  (Is it in the same building on the same site?  I assume it may be larger now if not replaced and relocated.)

Pneumothorax?  Holy cow!  Do you know what caused it?  That's certainly no way to lose weight. Getting old is not for wimps!

I am with your wife on the weight issue.  It's a lot easier to put it back - or at least a lot more pleasurable - than to take it off.  I seemed to have leveled off.  I am afraid I may need to start counting calories.  Lord knows I am working hard physically - in anticipation of being out of commission while rehabbing.  I am anxious about the total amount of time rehab will take and am trying to get ahead of things - as if that was really possible.

 

 

[kevon67 2,368]

On 5/9/2019 at 7:52 PM, SaltyTiger said:

Another great thread over here Brother Homer.

My Internist has been watching my A1C the past three years. I have never been a huge carb eater and have not changed my diet drastically but have become carb aware. I did quit Bud Lite beer and switched to Mich Ultra . Love your statement about Conecuh  and eggs. I lost 10 to 12 pounds a few years ago. I began starting with a solid meal every morning which normally includes good sausage,  eggs and cheese. Sure curbs cravings for me the rest of day. BTW, if you ever get to visit. the Auburn University meat lab sells some great sausage. For the past 3 years my A1C snapshot has been fine yet a regular blood test for sugar indicates spiked a little.

Good luck with the knee. I had pneumothorax spontaneous in January.  Ended up in the hospital for about 2 weeks and had lung surgery. Lost about about 8 more pounds. Contrary to what the wife says want to gain it back but no luck yet. Can not handle more than about two beers, but eating great.   

Homer has great non-political threads.......with that said at times I agree with some of his political posts.........I do wish him well on his knee👍

[homersapien 11,367]

On 4/25/2019 at 6:17 PM, alexava said:

I never thought about glucose tabs. High sugar snacks would be ok for short term. But dr explained that it will raise levels very high for a short period. Then you crash that much harder. Best to eat something more balanced just don’t skip meals. If I had eat a sandwich, biscuit, oatmeal, cereal or basically anything with some carbs An hour or so before, i would have been fine. I’d be better served to cycle later in the day. My work shift is taking a toll on my body. 

My wife has diabetes and carries glucose tabs in case of sudden hypoglycemia (which fortunately has never happened).

I have a couple of nephews who are SERIOUS cyclists.  They carb load before a long ride and carry snacks.

[alexava 6,973]

32 minutes ago, homersapien said:

My wife has diabetes and carries glucose tabs in case of sudden hypoglycemia (which fortunately has never happened).

I have a couple of nephews who are SERIOUS cyclists.  They carb load before a long ride and carry snacks.

I’m not serious at all. Just trying to stay alive. It’s good low impact exercise. And my hips get really sore and aching if I don’t pedal at all. I can put on an audio book and stroll for hours at a low or moderate pace. I just need to be better prepared carb wise. 

[SaltyTiger 7,794]

8 hours ago, alexava said:

I’m not serious at all. Just trying to stay alive. It’s good low impact exercise. And my hips get really sore and aching if I don’t pedal at all. I can put on an audio book and stroll for hours at a low or moderate pace. I just need to be better prepared carb wise. 

Great way to get out and active. Love it on the coast with no hills. Going into a strong wind is a good workout.

[augolf1716 21,112]

21 hours ago, SaltyTiger said:

Great way to get out and active. Love it on the coast with no hills. Going into a strong wind is a good workout.

I like the stationary bikes you can drink beer and not worry about running into cars.....................................................................................or people

[aujeff11 6,243]

On 4/10/2019 at 8:51 AM, Mims44 said:

I usually go 0 carbs 0 sugar, but you can do keto in varying amounts. Some people can have 15-20 carbs a day others can have near double that and still be good. They sell keto strips at drugstores and walmart that test your urine (since ketones are released through urine) that can tell you if you are in it or not.

 

The fasting helped me a ton at the start, it got me into ketosis faster, as well as helping to shrink my stomach over time. So when I stopped or would break from doing the diet I was eating foods again that weren't all that healthy, but I was eating in much smaller portions. 

EDIT: By intermittent fasting I mean doing what I could handle when I felt like it. To start off it might have been a daily fast so I go from dinner one night to dinner the next night with no meals in between. Though I never do more than 48 hours... don't know if it's cool to go longer but I've had a lot of people tell me not to.  

 

As someone else who really enjoys good food and dislikes having to cut some of my favorites out from time to time, I can tell you the way I look at it is like this; I'm not cutting out biscuits and gravy forever. I'm cutting them out now because I have this work to be done on my body. When I'm finished I can have those things again (although more sparingly and in smaller portions) ... So in other words it helps to know they aren't gone forever.

I did keto last year and eventually got over the keto zombie feeling, but I just got bored with the grilled chicken and tuna. Need more variety, more taste, etc. Like Barnacle, I also did HIIT once I was past the zombie fever. 

I would not recommend it as a long term diet, but will definitely use it as a shot in the arm diet before events like beach trips and reunions. 

[homersapien 11,367]

Well, I dropped about 20 lbs over 12 weeks, but seemed to have hit a plateau at a little over 200 lbs. 

More importantly I dropped my A1C from 7.6 to 5.8!  My doctor was really surprised.  (I don't think he has had many patients who have committed to this.)

Going in to get my right knee replaced this Friday.

[toddc 13,194]

I’m hypoglycemic ( low blood sugar) and I’ve lost nearly 55 lbs in 1.5 years. I did this by cutting out potatoes,, pasta, and bread. I still have those things a few times a month and also cut back on sweets(still eat protein bars with dark chocolate). Once my body got used to having less carbs the cravings stopped (2-3 months), but I still give myself a reward every now and then of pasta Alfredo or bread at a restaurant. The full blown keto diet is too hard to maintain for most people, but moderation in carbs is not. It takes a little longer to lose all of the weight, but you’re more likely to stay on a low carb diet for life this way. I had high blood pressure before and now it’s 127/68-72 at 59 years old. The crash diets rarely stick, but like others have said it’s about lifestyle changes that you can stick to forever, without making yourself miserable to get there.

[AURex 1,994]

I do eat beans in modest amounts. Beans are high in carbs, but they are a natural food (not processed) if you cook from dried, AND they do contain quite a bit of protein, which is why they are a staple for vegetarians/vegans. I also eat unprocessed whole grains sometimes -- brown and black rice, Eikorn (unpearled farro), kamut, etc. If you add these to soup, they really don't up the carb count much, but they do add to the satiety.

As for the boredom issue, as I noted earlier, there are a million ways to cook meats with lots of different herbs and spices and sauces. Mediterranean, Indian, Asian, Caribbean -- roasted, stir fried, grilled, etc. Buy bags of frozen riced cauliflower and use that instead of rice or mashed potatoes - even make pizza dough with it. Sounds bad, I know, but actually terrific!

Get an Instant Pot on sale. Cook a bag of dried beans in half an hour, parse them out in meal-size portions in zip lock bags and freeze them. Cook roasts, ham, brisket, chicken (whole or cut up) -- even from FROZEN. Make yogurt (protein and no carbs) for smoothies or just mix in fresh or frozen berries.

There are dozens of good Instant Pot recipe books.

[AURex 1,994]

I've been thinking of starting a thread for recipes, especially low carb recipes and our favorite home recipes. Like favorite rub for ribs, favorite slaw recipe, soups, fish recipes, etc.

I see that ToraGirl has started a tread which looked like a possibility, but I'm not sure that's the best place. What are your thoughts?

 

[AURex 1,994]

If anyone here is serious about losing weight, no matter which direction you plan to go -- low carb, keto, vegetarian/vegan, Atkins, whatever -- or if you just want to make life easier and cook better, here's the thing.

Instant Pot on sale at Amazon. The 6 QT size is plenty big for most families or just for one person. I use the DUO60 7-in-1, which is right now priced at $50. There are other more expensive versions, but even those are priced low. And you can probably find the same kind of deals at Walmart, Target, etc.

 

[alexava 6,973]

I gotta do something different. I’m going the wrong way.