No carbs?

[VidelCoolGirl]

Do 'No-Carb Diets' really work? I hear upon more than one occasion that they do, but I've heard equally as much that they don't. I've been on the healthier side for a few months now, I was just wondering if in anyone's experience with trying to get fit/lose weight, no bread or pasta works.

[Holy Knight]

They absolutely do not. The surest way to destroy your own body is forego carbs.

The way energy consumption works, the human body will use stored carbs, then burn fats, until it starts eating directly into muscles for protein. In other words, carbs are the primary source of energy for the body, fats oil the body, and protein are the building blocks. Not eating properly, waste accumulates faster, and the body becomes unable to properly maintain itself because it doesn't have enough resources to do so.

Essentially, not eating carbs means you're pulling the rug from under your own feet by cannibalizing the very things you're trying to build. Not a good idea.

[VidelCoolGirl]

So do you suggest eating carbs, but perhaps instead of bagels, whole grain bread, brown rice...that sort of thing? I have a lot of protein anyway, but I love bread so I tend to have a lot of it. I suppose I just need to moderate it like any other food correct?

[Soluzar]

Whole grains are 'complex carbs' which are broken down more slowly than simple carbs like sugars and processed grains. They also include dietary fibre and extra nutrients, they are the best choice of carb for your body.

Soluzar is not that healthy, but he does understand nutrition a little.

[Holy Knight]

^ Precisely. You're looking for complex carbs that burn slowly like pasta. Pasta is a favorite of runners because not only is it a treat, but it contains everything you need in regards to carbs. Same with fats; go for the unsaturated stuff. Though generally, you'll look for whole grain bread, cereal, bagels, that kind of stuff.

Eating healthy is more about eating whatever you want, so long as you respect minimum levels of certain nutrients, and don't exceed other things. If you don't want to be diabetic, don't gorge on sugar. Similarly, if you're training, you need to eat more protein to keep up with body demands. Simple as that.

Diets aren't necessary, unless it implies cutting things in which you indulge too much. Exercise gets the job done faster, and it makes you healthier as a bonus. You'd be surprised at what just a half hour of running everyday will do to you.

[VidelCoolGirl]

I'm cutting down on what I eat, and for the past couple of months have cut out soda and fast food. I still snack sometimes, but that's on rare occasion, and when I do snack its usually on healthy stuff. I do hit the gym though, and if not cardio, exercises at home. I don't have time to always hit the campus gym which stinks.

I've lost a lot so far from just cutting soda I can tell. I'm not trying to bulk up as much as I'm trying to get that athletic build. I have muscle, I just need to get rid of the few pesky pounds of fat.

[taily]

A no Carb diet is about as helpful for you as severely damaging your internal organs.

Also, about the soda, I hear (And I mean just "hear") That diet sodas, despite having, like, nothing in them, aren't good for you at all.

[KatayokuのTenshi]

...like the Atkin's diet? The idea behind that was, I think to make your body break down fat as a substitute for all the glucose you need to survive (a process called ketosis). I remember when I was suffering from Ketoacidosis (when my pancreas stopped making insulin) I lost nearly two stone in less than a month.

The difference between Ketoacidosis and Ketosis is (I believe) that one is extremely bad (read fatal) for you the other is just very bad for you (fatal later).

It's the same thing that would happen if you didn't eat at all so you'll probably loose a bit of weight.

tl;dr yes but only if you want to be a thin corpse.

The way energy consumption works, the human body will use stored carbs, then burn fats, until it starts eating directly into muscles for protein.

...In order to get... glucose? :huh:

It seems like a zero sum game to me to break down your muscles to get protein.

[Holy Knight]

Also, about the soda, I hear (And I mean just "hear") That diet sodas, despite having, like, nothing in them, aren't good for you at all.

Soda increases the instances of osteoporosis in women (that is if you drink one can every day). But that's not the case for men, for some reason. They're only bad insofar as they're mostly sugar. Just don't indulge.

...In order to get... glucose? :huh:

It seems like a zero sum game to me to break down your muscles to get protein.

I forget what exactly it tries to get. Basically, it starts eating up protein reserves, then directly digs into the muscle if there aren't any. This won't happen unless you're severely malnourished, or completely forego fats and carbs. You can live on a high-fat, high-protein diet, but this is inadvisable. It's really only a last resource for the body to eat the muscles, though.

[Jon]

Just go run, it's what I've done for the past 7 years of my life. Wake up early, and run run run. I've been on a 4000+ calorie diet since....well 7 years ago and maintain a healthy weight (don't lose or gain weight, my BMI is 19.3). People just have to learn that losing weight isn't all about what you eat (although it does help if you don't go to McDonalds everyday) but about balancing food groups and exercising daily.

[VidelCoolGirl]

Well I mean, that's a given. Although the same could be seen vice-versa. Many people assume that as long as you exercise, you don't have to watch what you eat. Although for some people that may be the case, there's no point to go run for an hour, and then go have a super-size McDonalds meal afterwards.

[Jon]

^I do it every once in awhile, you just can't treat it as an everyday thing. Make it once a week or something. And of course there's a point, you could have went to McDonalds and ate a super-size meal and not exercised at all. Or, if you're like me, just get the #14 (fish fillet, they taste so great) which aren't nearly as bad for you as their burgers.

[The Million Dollar Prons]

No carb diets work.

They send your body into Ketonosis (sic) and thus it burns fat.

It won't kill you like the above posters have said, but it is not for everyone.

Is it the easiest way? Depends on what you eat normally.
Is it the most natural way? No.
Is it the way I did it? No.
Why does videl need to lose weight doesn't she know I love the crazy big booty? Flat buns.

[Haro!]

Easiest way Videl? Have Haro! give you a work out.

Seriously though, I know girls that do the no-carb, or almost no-carb thing. They're thin, but they lack the curves in the right places and also seem to lack energy for Haro!'s workouts.

[VidelCoolGirl]

Haha, Prons and Haro are cute. Acting all amorous like that.

Its more so because I'm trying to get my athletic build back up. I used to be a little fit, but then when college started, I became pretty sedimentary. I lost a lot of my figure. I'm close to back what I used to be compared. Plus, I have a fight to prepare for. I need to be in tip top shape.

[The Million Dollar Prons]

What you should do is eat right\eat a caloric defecit and start doing more cardio exercise. The "classic" way to do this is to go to google, find out your BMR and minus 300-500 calories from that (as long as you stay above 1,600 calories a day). Then all you have to do is read the nutirional facts on your food and make sure you're not eating over that ammount of calories every day. Calories in general, not calories from fat.

A quick way to cut out 300+ calories from your diet is to replace soda with diet soda (or water if you're really cool) and switch out the cup ramen (I know you) with something less caloric, like baked chicken and rice or something dope like that.

After you get that down, you need some cardio vascular exercise, exercises that get your heart beating. You live in college, is it possible to join the track team or swim team? You could also do treadmill and exercise bike, but a lot of people just put them on low intensity and slowly pedal away for an hour while watchong oprah, so be sure to avoid that.

After that, I also suggest you hit the gym and make use of their machines and free weights. Don't shrug this part off, weight training won't turn you into one of those muscle women unless you use steroids or train for that style on purpose. Just remember that what most women call "being toned" is really having strong muscle and low body fat.

Here's a site geared toward women interested in lifting weights:
http://www.stumptuous.com/

Hope you find it useful. You can skip the part I wrote about eating lower calories if you're not trying to lose body fat.

[Leader Desslock]

You'd be surprised at what just a half hour of running everyday will do to you.
I have a pretty good idea what a half hour of running per day would do to my back and knees after the hits they've taken. Therefore, I bike. :P

But yeah, as long as I: 1) eat a healthy, balanced diet, 2) ride far enough to burn off what I'm eating, and 3) avoid getting hit by cars, I stay fit.

[VidelCoolGirl]

For the record Prons, although I don't want to be huge, I do go to the gym and do cardio and weights on a regular basis. Actually, I'm going to steal the set of dumbells in the garage and use those at home instead of going to the crappy school gym. I'm pretty built. Like, I can be fit, but I would still be big by medias standards. Part of me wants to use that and like...go into fighting or something, ha.

Still, the site does help a lot Prons, thanks. I mean, weight loss is just a kickback from getting fit. Do anything but sit on your *** all day makes you lose weight. If I go to the gym and don't eat my weight in cupcakes, I'll be fine. Although its hard as hell to stick to a strict diet when around friends, its not too hard. I figure if I diet for the rest of this month and some of May, I can lose what 'weight' I want to get rid of now.

[ZechsMerquise1]

I'm 20 years old and I eat a lot of junk food and have fast food 3 times a week and for some reason I always stay around 120-125 lbs, decent for a 5'4 male =D but yeah sometimes I can just eat 1 whole meal a day and some junk food or snacks here and there.

OR you can just drink a lot of water if your feeling hungry lol

[The Million Dollar Prons]

For the record Prons, although I don't want to be huge, I do go to the gym and do cardio and weights on a regular basis. Actually, I'm going to steal the set of dumbells in the garage and use those at home instead of going to the crappy school gym. I'm pretty built. Like, I can be fit, but I would still be big by medias standards. Part of me wants to use that and like...go into fighting or something, ha.

Still, the site does help a lot Prons, thanks. I mean, weight loss is just a kickback from getting fit. Do anything but sit on your *** all day makes you lose weight. If I go to the gym and don't eat my weight in cupcakes, I'll be fine. Although its hard as hell to stick to a strict diet when around friends, its not too hard. I figure if I diet for the rest of this month and some of May, I can lose what 'weight' I want to get rid of now.


Oh sure, I wasn't insinuating (sic) anything. Because I know some people are reading this thread like this:

* looks at thread*
* looks at cupcake in hand*
"MY LIFEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE"

[Rurouni Saiyan]

I still eat what I like, I'm just sure to cut the servings in half and I run roughly 2 miles a day. My only problem is that after running, I wanna go Pac-Man on my nearest restaurant. >_<

[Jia]

Do 'No-Carb Diets' really work? I hear upon more than one occasion that they do, but I've heard equally as much that they don't. I've been on the healthier side for a few months now, I was just wondering if in anyone's experience with trying to get fit/lose weight, no bread or pasta works.

Yes.
It works. Can lose about 5kg-2.5 pounds? pretty easy if you cut it out altogether. That's in about a 2-3 week period.

Well that's how I figured it out.

[ZechsMerquise1]

@videl
Who says your "big" o.o post a pic =o

[Shiroiyuki]

Yes.
It works. Can lose about 5kg-2.5 pounds? pretty easy if you cut it out altogether. That's in about a 2-3 week period.

Well that's how I figured it out.

It's all water weight, though. That's not a sustainable plan.


Just like with Stillman's (which I tried a while back) -- cutting all carbs and only eating proteins. You can cause your body serious damage if you stay on such a thing long-term. Kidney failure, liver damage -- all sorts of fun things.

Just eat right and exercise.

[Jia]

^ Just proteins is wrong. (If that's the point you were making at me).

I meant taking out just the carbs worked fine for me - I just replaced them with something else like more vegetables.

[Shiroiyuki]

......................vegetables have carbs, Jia. Not a lot, sure, but they are still there.

[VidelCoolGirl]

......................vegetables have carbs, Jia. Not a lot, sure, but they are still there.
There are 'good' carbs and bad carbs. The carbs that are smart to cut out are in things like bread, pasta, bagels, that sort of thing. Instead, either cut down to a small amount, or replace it entirely with whole grain foods.

[Shiroiyuki]

^Oh, I know that. But she was talking like instead of eating carbs, she just ate vegetables. And I thought I'd explain that in fact she was still eating carbs all along :lol:

[VidelCoolGirl]

^Oh, I know that. But she was talking like instead of eating carbs, she just ate vegetables. And I thought I'd explain that in fact she was still eating carbs all along :lol:

Hahaha, it wasn't the bread that was making you fat! It was the vegetables ALLLLLLLLLLL along!

Its hard for me to cut out carbs. Like, I seriously love bread, pasta, bagels, and all of those other horrible things I'm not supposed to eat to get fit. I'd kill for a bagel right now. KILL. The ones with the berries or the ones with the cheese melted on top? Oh yeah. Seventh heaven baby.

[Shiroiyuki]

Its hard for me to cut out carbs. Like, I seriously love bread, pasta, bagels, and all of those other horrible things I'm not supposed to eat to get fit. I'd kill for a bagel right now. KILL. The ones with the berries or the ones with the cheese melted on top? Oh yeah. Seventh heaven baby.

I'm a pasta whore myself.

Bread is okay once and a great while, but I eat it more as a treat than anything. They make some REALLY good fresh bread at our local Walmart that I buy every so often. And I rarely eat bagels anymore because I can't stand cream cheese (it makes me physically sick now :( ).

But I like pita bread a LOT....


[EDIT]HOLY CRAP -- whore isn't censored. I...what?

[VidelCoolGirl]

I love pesto pasta, and I used to make it everyday for dinner. I haven't had it in a long while. I'm getting ore into fruit, but instead of really buying food I know is healthy, I just cut down on what I eat and whatever is available. Safeway has great bread though, and its hard not to partake when thats the only spot you can hit when you have the munchies.

[Holy Knight]

There are 'good' carbs and bad carbs. The carbs that are smart to cut out are in things like bread, pasta, bagels, that sort of thing. Instead, either cut down to a small amount, or replace it entirely with whole grain foods.

These are actually good for you. You just need to cut out the processed stuff like white bread, bagels that aren't bagels (THIS is a bagel! (http://www.cbc.ca/sevenwonders/images/pic_wonder_montreal_bagel_lg.jpg) Genuine Montreal goodness right there). I think I mentioned earlier in this thread that pasta is a favorite of runners. There's different types of pasta, and tomato sauces mixed with vegetables is healthy indeed. It's all about balance and knowing what's in what you eat.

[Jia]

......................vegetables have carbs, Jia. Not a lot, sure, but they are still there.

Yeah I know like potato and all that jazz. Then you have the ones where you can eat like cauliflower. (I think....I'm not 100% on what it was again that was good for you).

I don't eat much of it anyway so it's not a problem.

It's the pasta, bread, alcohol ( I assume because of vodka and potatoes) etc etc (no whites?) that got culled significantly.

[VidelCoolGirl]

There's a lot of starch in potatoes and rice and such. Although I don't eat potatoes as much. They're good, but not necessary for me.

[Shiroiyuki]

Yeah I know like potato and all that jazz. Then you have the ones where you can eat like cauliflower. (I think....I'm not 100% on what it was again that was good for you).


Actually all vegetables contain carbs -- the amount just varies depending on the vegetable. Some are so insignificant that you would hardly notice (like in the case of watercress).

[VidelCoolGirl]

Actually all vegetables contain carbs -- the amount just varies depending on the vegetable. Some are so insignificant that you would hardly notice (like in the case of watercress).

Or broccoli!

[Reidar]

No carb diets work.

They send your body into Ketonosis (sic) and thus it burns fat.

Ketone bodies are not nearly as efficient in fueling exercise as glycogen. In a prolonged state of ketosis, you tend to be sluggish, your mental processes suffer, and your body gradually becomes dehydrated. Worse, in the absence of carbohydrates your body begins to metabolize larger and larger amounts of amino acids for additional energy.

Low carb diets pretty much fail unless you're a bodybuilder in the last throes of competition willing to lose some muscle mass to get down to 3% since you've just spent all off-season bulking up.

[Spadesy]

^ Precisely. You're looking for complex carbs that burn slowly like pasta. Pasta is a favorite of runners because not only is it a treat, but it contains everything you need in regards to carbs. Same with fats; go for the unsaturated stuff. Though generally, you'll look for whole grain bread, cereal, bagels, that kind of stuff.

Eating healthy is more about eating whatever you want, so long as you respect minimum levels of certain nutrients, and don't exceed other things. If you don't want to be diabetic, don't gorge on sugar. Similarly, if you're training, you need to eat more protein to keep up with body demands. Simple as that.

Diets aren't necessary, unless it implies cutting things in which you indulge too much. Exercise gets the job done faster, and it makes you healthier as a bonus. You'd be surprised at what just a half hour of running everyday will do to you.

Thumbs up to this post, you hit the nail on the head.

Look at the French, or some other world cultures...they eat some of the fattiest foods, but somehow aren't plagued with obesity like America. I think it's just best to eat foods as naturally as possible, with enough grains to make sure you can function during the day with training.

[Reidar]

Saturated fats shouldn't be avoided. They play important roles in biochemistry. "Bad" fats are the trans fats in hydrogenated oils.