Carbs

[ameliaj]

Hello, I'm Ameliaj and I'm a Carboholic.

It's a vicious cycle. Once I eat good old pasta or potato chips, I really, really, really, really want to eat the whole pot/bag. The only solution is to give them up entirely and get some good carbs from veggies/fruit. But it's not nearly as much fun.

 

[DD]

Hello, I'm Ameliaj and I'm a Carboholic.

It's a vicious cycle. Once I eat good old pasta or potato chips, I really, really, really, really want to eat the whole pot/bag. The only solution is to give them up entirely and get some good carbs from veggies/fruit. But it's not nearly as much fun.

Oh yeah, I know all about this. With me, it's bread & pasta. I could eat a whole loaf of fresh out of the oven bread, or about 10 really good yeast rolls, or about 10 bread sticks at Olive Garden. You get the picture. Olive Garden.....the garden of good and evil.

 

[Teresa]

Oh yeah, I know all about this. With me, it's bread & pasta. I could eat a whole loaf of fresh out of the oven bread, or about 10 really good yeast rolls, or about 10 bread sticks at Olive Garden. You get the picture. Olive Garden.....the garden of good and evil.

not one, but two plates of pasta.

hot buttery yeast rolls from one of those buffet restaurants..........

 

[DD]

not one, but two plates of pasta.

hot buttery yeast rolls from one of those buffet restaurants..........

Uh uh.

 

[Beach Runner]

The thing is, I don't know what to eat for breakfast. When my cholesterol level went up this fall, my doctor asked me what I was eating. When I told him I was eating Cheerios with 1% milk and fruit for breakfast, he told me that was too many carbs. But what is the alternative? Eggs have too much cholesterol, and I can only eat EggBeaters for about two days before I feel like I'm gonna throw up.

Doc told me to have no more than two teaspoons of fat a day. Wha-wha-what? Last night I broke down and we had angel hair pasta with low-fat sour cream, goat cheese, and basil. And a salad. I know that is probably wrong. But I am so confused about what is bad or good.

I mean, having grilled chicken and veggies or black beans and brown rice just doesn't do it for me as my permanent menu.

I have re-read the letter from the doc (he did his residency at Mayo in Rochester, so he sends me Mayo handouts), and I am still confused. Time for an appointment.

 

[Teresa]

The thing is, I don't know what to eat for breakfast. When my cholesterol level went up this fall, my doctor asked me what I was eating. When I told him I was eating Cheerios with 1% milk and fruit for breakfast, he told me that was too many carbs. But what is the alternative? Eggs have too much cholesterol, and I can only eat EggBeaters for about two days before I feel like I'm gonna throw up.

Doc told me to have no more than two teaspoons of fat a day. Wha-wha-what? Last night I broke down and we had angel hair pasta with low-fat sour cream, goat cheese, and basil. And a salad. I know that is probably wrong. But I am so confused about what is bad or good.

I mean, having grilled chicken and veggies or black beans and brown rice just doesn't do it for me as my permanent menu.

I have re-read the letter from the doc (he did his residency at Mayo in Rochester, so he sends me Mayo handouts), and I am still confused. Time for an appointment.

time for doing your own research & reading on best nutrition for you!!! Yes, the doctor can advise, but I find much more information from experts in the field of nutrition - some are MDs and some are not - but the good ones focus on what we now know about food and diet.

BR - here are some breakfast ideas for you:
oatmeal - not the instant kind, but use the plain quick cooking oatmeal which only takes 5 minutes, or even the steel cut oatmeal which takes about 20 minutes. other hot grain cereals are good as well.

Whole grain toast or english muffin with jam, mascerpone (not sure about fat),

soysage is actually pretty good these days, but not sure about fat content.

smoothies - with nothing but the healthiest ingredients - and not necessarily milk based. cranberry juice concentrate (no sugar) with water added, frozen fruit, whey protein, flax seed and flax oil, super green powder, and maybe half banana for smoothness, or dollop of yogurt.

fritatta with plenty of veggies.

nonfat yogurt with granola and fruit.

I like cereal too - its easy and fast and pretty good to eat! but it is a processed food without a lot of nutritional value. you could use nonfat milk, soy milk (light), rice milk, etc. I like to eat cereal about once a week. they say cereal eaters are healthy eaters overall because they do eat breakfast... so don't sweat it too much.

for me, breakfast is the easy part. eating well the rest of the day with healthy proteins and plenty of vegetables is HARD. I'm working on it.

 

[Beach Runner]

time for doing your own research & reading on best nutrition for you!!! Yes, the doctor can advise, but I find much more information from experts in the field of nutrition - some are MDs and some are not - but the good ones focus on what we now know about food and diet.

BR - here are some breakfast ideas for you:
oatmeal - not the instant kind, but use the plain quick cooking oatmeal which only takes 5 minutes, or even the steel cut oatmeal which takes about 20 minutes. other hot grain cereals are good as well.

Whole grain toast or english muffin with jam, mascerpone (not sure about fat),

soysage is actually pretty good these days, but not sure about fat content.

smoothies - with nothing but the healthiest ingredients - and not necessarily milk based. cranberry juice concentrate (no sugar) with water added, frozen fruit, whey protein, flax seed and flax oil, super green powder, and maybe half banana for smoothness, or dollop of yogurt.

fritatta with plenty of veggies.

nonfat yogurt with granola and fruit.

I like cereal too - its easy and fast and pretty good to eat! but it is a processed food without a lot of nutritional value. you could use nonfat milk, soy milk (light), rice milk, etc. I like to eat cereal about once a week. they say cereal eaters are healthy eaters overall because they do eat breakfast... so don't sweat it too much.

for me, breakfast is the easy part. eating well the rest of the day with healthy proteins and plenty of vegetables is HARD. I'm working on it.

Thanks so much for your help.

 

[Miss Critter]

I gave up gluten and lost 30 pounds. That was over two years ago, and it's still off without any effort on my part. First time in my adult life that I have not had to fight to stay at a size 8. (I know that's huge for some of you, but it's skinny for me.) As an added bonus, no more arthritis in my fingers and knees. I did not substitute other grains for the gluten-filled kind. I do eat Ezekiel bread, and rice pasta (Tinkyada's our favorite), and organic potatoes and rice. I eat organic butter and cream and an avocado nearly every day and am convinced that eating fat will not make you fat any more than the cholesterol in eggs will raise the cholesterol in your blood (for most folks). Giving up gluten meant giving up nearly all processed, packaged and prepared foods. Inconvenient? You bet, but worth it. After all, we aren't born knowing how to approach the drive-though window at the fast-food joint; we needed to learn it. So, I decided to unlearn it.

My weakness is still sugar, though I eat far less of it than I used to. Your body processes simple carbs and alcohol as pure sugar. It's the drop after the spike that causes the craving for more. That's why it's preferable to eat some fat and/or protein with sugar/simple carbs. It slows the absorption and moderates the spike. That's why fat free snack foods are a disaster. They send your blood sugar sky high. Cutting back on sugar is hard, but if you can ignore the craving for about 72 hours, it will miraculously disappear. I swear.

Soappedaler, I just received Gary Taubes' new book from Amazon, and look forward to reading it.

 

[Alicia Leonard]

I gave up gluten and lost 30 pounds. That was over two years ago, and it's still off without any effort on my part. First time in my adult life that I have not had to fight to stay at a size 8. (I know that's huge for some of you, but it's skinny for me.) As an added bonus, no more arthritis in my fingers and knees. I did not substitute other grains for the gluten-filled kind. I do eat Ezekiel bread, and rice pasta (Tinkyada's our favorite), and organic potatoes and rice. I eat organic butter and cream and an avocado nearly every day and am convinced that eating fat will not make you fat any more than the cholesterol in eggs will raise the cholesterol in your blood (for most folks). Giving up gluten meant giving up nearly all processed, packaged and prepared foods. Inconvenient? You bet, but worth it. After all, we aren't born knowing how to approach the drive-though window at the fast-food joint; we needed to learn it. So, I decided to unlearn it.

My weakness is still sugar, though I eat far less of it than I used to. Your body processes simple carbs and alcohol as pure sugar. It's the drop after the spike that causes the craving for more. That's why it's preferable to eat some fat and/or protein with sugar/simple carbs. It slows the absorption and moderates the spike. That's why fat free snack foods are a disaster. They send your blood sugar sky high. Cutting back on sugar is hard, but if you can ignore the craving for about 72 hours, it will miraculously disappear. I swear.

Soappedaler, I just received Gary Taubes' new book from Amazon, and look forward to reading it.

I got tested this week for Gluten, RA, and a few others. I'll know the results next week. Even complex carbs spike my blood sugar and make me crash. I have to have some protein and fat in the mix or I'll be shaking and sweating in 30 minutes to an hour if I ate a potato with the skin or an apple. Cod forbid if I ate a doughnut and a cup of coffee. Someone would have to give me a glucose tab an hour later.

 

[Teresa]

I gave up gluten and lost 30 pounds. That was over two years ago, and it's still off without any effort on my part. First time in my adult life that I have not had to fight to stay at a size 8. (I know that's huge for some of you, but it's skinny for me.) As an added bonus, no more arthritis in my fingers and knees. I did not substitute other grains for the gluten-filled kind. I do eat Ezekiel bread, and rice pasta (Tinkyada's our favorite), and organic potatoes and rice. I eat organic butter and cream and an avocado nearly every day and am convinced that eating fat will not make you fat any more than the cholesterol in eggs will raise the cholesterol in your blood (for most folks). Giving up gluten meant giving up nearly all processed, packaged and prepared foods. Inconvenient? You bet, but worth it. After all, we aren't born knowing how to approach the drive-though window at the fast-food joint; we needed to learn it. So, I decided to unlearn it.

My weakness is still sugar, though I eat far less of it than I used to. Your body processes simple carbs and alcohol as pure sugar. It's the drop after the spike that causes the craving for more. That's why it's preferable to eat some fat and/or protein with sugar/simple carbs. It slows the absorption and moderates the spike. That's why fat free snack foods are a disaster. They send your blood sugar sky high. Cutting back on sugar is hard, but if you can ignore the craving for about 72 hours, it will miraculously disappear. I swear.

Soappedaler, I just received Gary Taubes' new book from Amazon, and look forward to reading it.

great info, Miss Critter, thanks!

I can't say I've given up gluton but I definitely watch out for and try to eliminate processed foods and try to choose healthy grain/fiber products. I eat Ezekiel bread and cereal (hot or cold). or just leave off bread altogether.

Proteins/fats are important. sometimes we need to take the time to relearn, as you mention, how to eat... its worth it since there is so much more new knowledge every day!