Low Carb

[Sudo_Nym]

So my doctor suggested that I go on a "low carb" diet and "lose weight" to "improve my health" and "avoid dying." Most of my foods are pasta and bread based. Feel free to share good foods or recipes I can make to be less miserable. Or don't; death seems reasonable.

[Pink Ball]

Replace pasta with baked spaghetti squash. You just cut it in half, put it in the oven for like 12 minutes, use a fork to peel it an voilà.

You can use a butternut squash too, but that one you would have to peel it before baking it, but it's worth it I think.

[shaft.ed]

You might not have to drastically change what you eat. Just get other non-carb foods to fill in for fullness.
I like some sauteed veg to mix in with my rice or pasta so I can cut back on the carb portions. I usually eat a half cup of uncooked pasta and that's more than enough for one meal. Rice portions are about 1/2-3/4 cup cooked.
My go to for veggies are onion and zucchini/summer squash. Just chop and toss in a pan with about a tbsp of oil and salt until they are caramelized. For pasta I add half a tomato sliced and about 1.5 oz of cheese at the end instead of sauce. Peppers and eggplant also work well along with roasted root veg.

For protein I like to just bake some meat. Usually chicken thighs seasoned with salt and pepper, skin removed. Sometimes pork seasoned with soy sauce and sugar cut into 1-2 inch cubes. Baking these on top of the root veg kills two birds with one stone and adds a lot of flavor.

I've also recently started eating lentils for some meals instead of rice, and have been adding beans into my diet. I'm still not a fan, but the nutrition on lentils/beans/chickpeas etc. is pretty hard to outdo. And they are quite cheap for what you get out of em. Lentils I just cook in the rice cooker with a little salt and toss in the sauteed veg like I would rice. For beans, I go with turtle beans/black beans braised in chinese cooking wine, soy sauce, fennel seeds and sugar for an hour or two. I wouldn't go buying fennel seeds just for this, but had some lying around. I'm sure there are much tastier ways to cook lentils etc. but I haven't bothered to figure out how.

[popsofctown]

When I tried a sandwich with lettuce leaves instead bread, I was surprised how tasty it was. I really think the reason people don't do it is because it's a pain to handle and to not get messy if you add mayo (verify whether the brand of mayo has added sugar) moreso than the taste. It is a pain to handle, bread is not wet and slippery. It's inconvenient. If I ever live in New York next to a good pizzeria I'm willing to go ahead and die; it's that delicious. But I won't die over inconvenience.

[Sudo_Nym]

I've been eating a lot of meat and cheese, and some fruits and eggs. I hope that that's actually low carb and not me making things up.

I don't know what a lentil is, but I thought rice was a carb?

[shaft.ed]

to your body, fats and carbs are fairly interchangeable. Carbs are converted to fats for long term storage. So you might think about reducing cheese intake in that regard if this is just about weight loss. Not sure how much cheese your talking about. As with most things, its fine in moderation. As I said I try to go for 1-2 oz a day.

Fruits are fine as long as you dont go crazy with them. They contain more sugar than most people realize. But the 3-5 of fruit and veg a day is a good low end target. The more you can make that veg the better. You really want to avoid fruit juice, or any caloric beverage for that matter, since these are mostly carb based calories.

Lentils are kinda analogous to beans. They are a legume seed, so they contain a good amount of nutrition. High in fiber and protein relative to their carb content.
Rice is a carb as is bread and pasta and potatoes etc. All of these are fine to eat, just people tend to overdo it with them. Obviously I'm not your doctor, so I can't say how severe your need to remove/reduce carbs is from your diet. If you're trying to do a ketogenic diet you would avoid all of these things.

just for reference:
Lentils (1/2 cup): 12g carb*/9g protein/0.5g fat
Beans, Black (1/2 cup): 12g carb/6g protein/0.5g fat
Quinoa (1/2 cup): 17g carb/4g protein/1.8g fat
Rice, White (1/2 cup): 18g carb/2g protein/0.1g fat
Potato (1/2 cup): 14g carb/1.5g protein/0.1g fat
Pasta (1/2 cup): 18.5g carb/3.4g protein/0.5g fat
Bread, White (2 slices): 23.5g carb/4.2g protein/1.8g fat

*carb is subtracting dietary fiber from total carbs

[Lycanfire]

A lentil is a legume. They're high in carbs, protein and fiber,

but

I'd be hesitant to say they would be a bad food to eat if you're going low carb, because low carb doesn't mean no carb. If you compare to say, pasta, lentils would be much more filling, and you'd be eating less carbs overall. You can buy them in bulk for cheap. Shop where ethnic groups shop: you WILL get ripped off if you go to a big name grocer.

Here's a recipe for authentic toor dal: you can substitute basically anything
1/2 cup toor lentils, soaked
1/2 cup mung bean (if these gross you out, double the lentils), soaked
3 and 1/3 cup water
1/2 tsp salt
1-2 tbs vegetable oil
1/4 tsp mustard seed
pinch of cumin seeds (less than 1/2 tsp)
pinch of ajma seeds (substitute powder for seeds if you don't have any)
2 cloves
(optional) 1-2 hot peppers, slit
1 small tomato, blended
1/4 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp garlic
1/4 tsp cumin powder
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp crushed hot pepper
1 1/2 tsp sugar
1 tbs chopped coriander leaves
2 tbs tamarind chutney (or lemon juice)

preparation:
prepare a pot
soak lentils, beans for 1 hour or more
drain, wash legumes
add water and salt to boil
add legumes, boil until soft (roughly 30 minutes)

in a pan
heat oil, add mustard seed, cumin, ajma, cloves, hot peppers
blend until smooth

after the legumes are prepared, transfer contents of pan into pot
cook for 2-4 minutes
add tomato, ginger, garlic, cumin powder, turmeric, salt, crushed hot peppers, sugar, chopped coriander, chutney or lemon juice to the pot
cook 7 minutes

(optional)
serve over rice

this is peasant food by the way. it's good to eat once a week, but if you eat it every day (like they do in india) you'll hate it.

IANAN
I'm not a nutritionist

[Sudo_Nym]

I appreciate the help, guys, I really do. But I have a lot of trouble following the conversation sometimes, since up to now in my life, my approach to nutrition has been "eat whatever sounds good" for that meal. Which is probably why I'm having so many weight related problems now.

As far as keto goes, I don't know that I plan to go keto, exactly. Just that my doctor said "lose weight" and "try to eat less sugar and less carbs", and a lot of stuff about how I've got early warning signs for adult-onset diabetes, and some mysterious spots on my liver that I should "try not to worry too much about." This whole thing is basically me trying to react to that.

It's the same problem I had when I thought about going vegetarian- I know so little about cooking, nutrition, and meal planning in general that I wind up going back to what I know how to make, which is mostly slabs of meat and pasta.

[popsofctown]

Fruits vary widely in actual carb content depending on the fruit.

to your body, fats and carbs are fairly interchangeable. Carbs are converted to fats for long term storage. So you might think about reducing cheese intake in that regard if this is just about weight loss. Not sure how much cheese your talking about.

That's what they told me in primary school too. I read somewhere "try keto, eat absolutely as much food as you want as long as none of it contains carbs, you will still lose weight", in defiance of calories in calories out logic. I tried it and for me that just works. It doesn't really make any sense to me.
I'm a yuppy who eats out all the time and is too lazy to cook or prepare food. I ate a bunless fastfood cheeseburger every breakfast and as many wings as I could cram down my throat for early dinner/late lunch, then however many cheese sticks I felt like eating out of the fridge as a snack virtually every day. Same place every day. 1 cheeseburger, 12-15 wings, 0-2 cheese sticks. Keto maybe ratchets down your appetite so a few packages of cheese sticks lasted a long time, mostly 0's.

I Am Not A Nutritionist for sure, there's a criminal neglect of diverse nutrients in there, I tried to pick up broccoli with ranch sometimes but it was honestly very rare. But I just kept going and going until 30 pounds down. Keto really deletes weight and I have no scientific understanding why. I don't know if people actually do. The explanations I've been given sounds sketchy.

[Lycanfire]

If your doctor isn't telling you to go no carbs you should look to incorporate some into your daily diet.

Ketosis is not something you want to undergo without a plan. It's swapping your body's energy source, and during that time you'll feel awful.

Picking out something new to cook each week seems like a good place to start.

When we're talking lentils we mean these flavorless bulbs of satan in the bulk food section:

[Sudo_Nym]

I haven't cut out carbs yet; I've definitely eaten some carbs. So far, I've just tried to cut out the obvious sources: bread, chips, potatoes, and so forth. That's part of what this thread is about: trying to plan out meals that aren't pasta or potato based where possible.

I may go keto, just because I apparently need to drop a lot of weight. And several of my family have done keto successfully. If I'm going to try it, I'd like to get to it sooner than later, since anything I put off will go undone

[shaft.ed]

Fruits vary widely in actual carb content depending on the fruit.

to your body, fats and carbs are fairly interchangeable. Carbs are converted to fats for long term storage. So you might think about reducing cheese intake in that regard if this is just about weight loss. Not sure how much cheese your talking about.

That's what they told me in primary school too. I read somewhere "try keto, eat absolutely as much food as you want as long as none of it contains carbs, you will still lose weight", in defiance of calories in calories out logic. I tried it and for me that just works. It doesn't really make any sense to me.
I'm a yuppy who eats out all the time and is too lazy to cook or prepare food. I ate a bunless fastfood cheeseburger every breakfast and as many wings as I could cram down my throat for early dinner/late lunch, then however many cheese sticks I felt like eating out of the fridge as a snack virtually every day. Same place every day. 1 cheeseburger, 12-15 wings, 0-2 cheese sticks. Keto maybe ratchets down your appetite so a few packages of cheese sticks lasted a long time, mostly 0's.

I Am Not A Nutritionist for sure, there's a criminal neglect of diverse nutrients in there, I tried to pick up broccoli with ranch sometimes but it was honestly very rare. But I just kept going and going until 30 pounds down. Keto really deletes weight and I have no scientific understanding why. I don't know if people actually do. The explanations I've been given sounds sketchy.

The keto diet likely disrupts insulin signaling since, if youre doing it right, you won't have any/much glucose in your bloodstream. This should short circuit fat storage pathways so that the fat you're eating doesn't get absorbed very much and you subsequently burn the fat you have stored. All conjecture though since how exactly keto works isn't very well understood. And long term effects are not well characterized.

That said, don't do keto if you don't have a diet plan because if you take in too much carbs you'll put on weight.

[shaft.ed]

I haven't cut out carbs yet; I've definitely eaten some carbs. So far, I've just tried to cut out the obvious sources: bread, chips, potatoes, and so forth. That's part of what this thread is about: trying to plan out meals that aren't pasta or potato based where possible.

The easiest suggestion I would have is to just cut your carb portions back significantly. And actually start measuring them so you know what you're eating. Depending on your levels of activity, about 1/3 - 1/2 cup of pasta (raw) should be plenty for a meal. Add in some veggies for filler if you're feeling hungry.

Additionally, convert to less carb/higher protein-fiber sources. If you don't like other starches, even just going from regular pasta to whole wheat pasta will reduce your carbs per serving a bit.
Add a salad to your meal to get more nutrients and fullness without the carbs (obviously don't dress it with unhealthy shit)


Another thing that might help is just documenting what you eat every day for a week and working out your nutritional breakdown of those meals. You might be surprised that some of what you're eating is actually more healthy than you though, and something you thought was highly nutritious actually isnt a good idea. I did this a while back and it helped a lot to see where I could optimize different elements of my diet.

[Sudo_Nym]

I've been told my whole life that apples and bananas are super healthy. They do not fit into a low carb diet, though.

[shaft.ed]

are you sure you're not doing keto?
how low is low?

[Sudo_Nym]

I decided to just do the keto. I'm going to feel like shit while I adjust anyway, I may as well just do it. Plus, maybe I'll stop being 100+ lbs overweight for once.

[Lycanfire]

I think that can work since you said you had a support network for it.

[Sudo_Nym]

I think as long as I'm allowed coffee, I'll be okay. The real tough parts seem to be breakfast and snacks; my favorite breakfast foods are all grain or oat based, and my favorite snacks are either fruit and candy. So getting those replaced will be huge towards getting the goal.

[Lycanfire]

My snacks are low carb: tree nuts, especially pecans, macadamia or brazil nuts are the most keto friendly. Personally I eat whatever is on sale (also, I don't do keto). For candy I don't eat anything besides 90% dark chocolate, which seems to be a valid keto choice. My reasoning is that if I really want a treat, I'll enjoy the chocolate, and if it was my animal brain telling me to forage for food, the dark chocolate will beat it into submission.

For coffee I either drink it black or with a shot of whole milk... If you're one of those sugar drinkers, butter is a no carb alternative.

[shaft.ed]

About 3-5 bites of dark chocolate are roughly equivalent to a piece of fruit in carb content

[Lycanfire]

1 serving according to lindt dark chocolate is two thirds of the carbs of an apple: and it's an overly generous serving of 30g. I don't eat more than 20g (two squares) a day. The problem isn't the chocolate if you're eating too many carbs...

I don't think I can make any good suggestions when it comes to fruit tbh... I commit a big nutritional sin by happily making smoothies everyday, and while IANAN I do know that you're not supposed to be drinking your calories. I would suggest eating high fiber fruits, unprocessed with skin in tact, such as apples or strawberries opposed to say, bananas, and if you wanted the electrolytes from the banana to go with coconut water instead. Genuine coconut water (with a high potassium content) is usually quite pricey: but I think there's powdered forms that aren't total scams if cost is an issue?

[Postie]

I can't speak for weight loss, but I've found that I function better on slow-release energy stuff (i.e. mostly fats) as opposed to quick release simple carby things since I can't exercise much because of chronic illness. Here are some high-fat staples I use that aren't just meat:

• Avocado - Put it in a salad, or make guacamole, or make guacamole to put in your salad. You can also use mashed avocado as a substitute for rice in homemade sushi, provided you can find an avocado that is miraculously both ripe and not mushy. Also also, surprisingly decent chocolate mousse if you mash it up with some banana and cocoa powder; although if you're doing keto then I guess that's reserved for "I need sweet dessert goodness but don't want to completely ruin everything".
  
• Peanut/almond/whatevernut butter - Check the ingredients and make sure you're getting the kind without a ton of added sugar. You can dip carrot, cucumber, or celery sticks in it this, or just eat it out of the jar if you're into that.
  Dipping dark chocolate in is the greatest thing though
  
  
• Coconut milk - Dump a bunch of it in sauces or soups, or use it to make smoothies be actually at least a little filling and not just slightly healthier sugar water.

[Lycanfire]

confirm that i'm a slut for dark chocolate dipped in that oily organic peanut butter

avoid the mass market chemical soup. they take the peanut oil out of it and put cheaper oils in. i'll pay 2-3x more for organic. the separation isn't an issue... you get to control the consistency of the spread, and you should only be thoroughly blending it if you're baking anyway.

[Sudo_Nym]

I tried buying some keto friendly snacks today, and I'm still not great at it. I found organic peanut butter, but it's like 7g per serving, and 2 tbsp per serving, and I just don't know that I have that level of discipline. One of the keto websites also suggested beef jerky, but all the stuff at the supermarket is like 5g per half-ounce, and I can't imagine weighing out beef jerky to make sure I'm not going over.

[Raskolnikov]

For my keto snack pick I got a large bag deshelled pistachios which is about the most hedonistic snack you can imagine, as well as some low-sugar chocolate milk I've been drinking like it's water. The sheer decadence of living such a fallen life of dissipation in the first world while meanwhile the earth goes to hell will have you want for nothing else, carbs or otherwise.