BellaOnline Forums Food and Wine Low Carb My carb vice- advice needed

Hi Charise,

I have been doing this for a LONG time and have a great solution for you....Sugar Free Flavored Syrups! There are several brands sold in the coffee section at the grocery store. You can also get them at places like World Market. They are made with splenda and you can have your vanilla flavoring. Then add some 1/2&1/2 to make it creamy or use whipping cream (o carbs). My cupboard is full of flavored syrups (mostly Torani)in vanilla, peppermint, toasted marshmallow, almond roca etc!) I am a coffee-aholic too, so I feel for ya!

Jenn

It's really impossible to nail the carb count exactly on ANYTHING. Not only are apples different sizes, but there are hundreds of different varieties of apples. They all vary wildly. Think of tomatoes. There are hundreds of types of tomatoes - some are very sweet, some are very not-sweet.

I know it's nice to count numbers, but you have to be realistic here. Even if you try to do things by cups, you are always guessing. You have to keep things in a reasonable range - but you will never know the exact number. It's important that you're in a healthy RANGE - but the exact number is not important. You are going to have different amounts each day, different levels of exercise each day. You can't just aim for 'barely breaking even'. You have to exercise enough that what you intake is what you burn. That means you get exercise daily, eat healthy daily, and the rest is academic <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

To the maybe-pregnant woman - exercise is CRITICAL to a healthy pregnancy. Every doctor I know says that you should exercise right up until the 9th month. I wouldn't recommend boxing of course, but you MUST keep exercising to have a healthy metabolism and healthy system to have your body sustain a pregnancy. If you just give up exercising, you're causing problems for yourself.

Hi JennC,

thanks for the tips, I will definately check out those syrups next time I'm at the store.

In the mean time, Nestle's French Vanilla creamer (my horrible vice)just came out with a new french Vanilla creamer! It's a ~Carb Select~..no sugar and 1g of carbs per serving <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> I started using just over a week ago and have to say I don't even taste a difference!

So it's solved... splenda- although now the 1 spoon full for each cup I use to need (or think I needed) has gone down to 1/2 spoon and a splash of sugar free carb select nestle French Vanilla... life is good!!!

*added note*
The week that I made the switch to low carb french vanilla... I didn't change anything in my daily carb intake trying to keep it down around 20g's- vegies/salads fish chicken etc.... along with my walking everyday and drinking lots of water... I dropped 8 pounds *shock!!*... all I could think was that high carb french vanilla was horrible horrible stuff!! lol

ohh... forgot to add in reply to chefmichelle,

I've tried the fat free french vanilla before and honestly just didn't care for the taste.. it left a yucky after taste as well... maybe my taste buds are just very highly tuned..lol..but I couldn't handle it..blah- seemed sort of slimy too if that makes sense.. <img src="/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

Now the sugar free carb select on the other hand... perfect! <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

As a kinesiology major I specialize in health and fitness and also know quite a bit about nutrition. First off I commend you for taking the steps to better your health. The walks and mowing the lawn is a great start. You can add some extra activity by doing simple things such as parking further at stores and using stairs instead of the elevator. Another crucial component to physical fitness is adding resistance training. Muscle burns more calories than fat and will help to boost your metabolism and give you more tone and definition.

As far as the low-carb diet goes it is a big mistake. The bodys most efficient source of energy is carbohydrates. The best diet is one of variety that gives you 55-65% of calories from carbs, no more than 30% of calories from fat, and no more than 15% of calories from protien. The body is not designed to handle more than that and ingesting too much protein for an extended period of time can lead to many problems such as ketoacidosis, edema, and liver problems just to name a few. There is one way and one way only to lose weight BURN MORE CALORIES THAN YOU TAKE IN. The reason why low-carb diets work initially is because you cut out the refined carbs (simple sugars) and fats such as candy and chips that provide high calories and no nurtitional value. Thus leading to less caloric intake. You can cut these foods out of your diet with out taking in a dangerously high amount of protien.

I can not stress enough the importance of regular exercise, especially if you are pregnant J3nny, but balanced nutrition is also very important. Moderation and variety is the key to a healthy diet. Charise, and anyone else who has jumped on the low-carb fad diet, I highly recommend you consult with a nutritionalist.

One more thing try to stear clear of the of refined breads and such. If there is a whole wheat alternative go for that. Everything I get is whole wheat from my pastas, to my bread, to even my tortillas. Also add in some dairy, if you can, preferably low fat. Studies have shown that dieters who get 3-4 servings of dairy lose more weight than those who cut calories alone. But remember that diary has calories too so factor that into your daily caloric intake so you don't over do it on the calories.

Here is a recipe for a great snack or breakfast that is 100% healthy and surprisingly filling. You may want to water down the apple juice, I personally find apple juice a little too sweet so I always water it down slightly.

1 cup apple juice
8 oz. vanilla yogurt (fat free)
1/2 cup of strawberries (fresh or frozen)
1 banana
Blend until smooth and enjoy

hmm..

well...I don't take in a lot of protien. I'll add some grilled chicken with my meals or maybe grilled salmon but rarely do I eat beef or pork. I'll occaissionally splurge and buy steak when it's on sale at King Soopers..but even then, I just have half of the piece of steak- my little one gets the other half..lol..The 'main course' for my meals is the vegie dish- whatever it may be at the time- green bean casarole, salad or whatever..

I also include cheese with my meals string cheese with a snack now and then and sprinkle cheese on my salads, I even drink milk .. dairy is something we definately allow ourselves <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I just stear clear of starchy breads and pastas basically. If I need some sort of dry bland solid based something to hold my food..it's when I make an enchillada casarole and then I use tortilla shells.. I just make sure to get the healthy shells that are lower in starchy carbs.

We honestly and truly do eat healthy...we just -as you put it yourself- "stear clear of refined breads and such".

Refined breads are white breads. They have little nutrition. You should be eating whole wheats. Whole wheat breads have a lot of nutrition that your body needs.

Kat, it's sort of called flaming to go into a support group on a topic and telling people that that topic is invalid. It would be like me, a wine drinker, going into an AAA group and telling everyone to drink alcohol. There are many other weight loss forums on this site that will share your opinion, but if you read through my low carb site I have HUNDREDS of pages on why your point of view is outdated. I don't know of any modern study that says you have to get 65% of your intake from carbs - and not only that, but it appears you haven't read any material on low carb diets to realize what we are cutting out is BAD CARBS like ice cream, cookies, processed foods and overly processed white bread. Surely you are not actually advocating that people eat those things!!

Low carbing is about eating HEALTHY fresh natural foods - fresh salmon, fresh broccoli, lots of salads. I am baffled that you could think we somehow end up with a "dangerously high amount of protein" by doing this. Mankind did not evolve by being a vegetarian.

Apple juice is FULL of sugar - what they do to make apple juice is start with a very healthy apple, eliminate all the fiber and the skin, and leave you with just the sugar. It is far, far healthier to eat an apple vs drinking apple juice. In fact I'll go write an article on that right now for the site. Most parents realize the problems with fruit juice but there are of course some left who feed their kids fruit juice daily and end up with obese kids. I was just reading 2 different news reports about this problem.

On whole wheat breads, don't be fooled by that. MANY bread makers claim their bread is "whole wheat" and all that means is that they made a white bread (out of wheat) and then added wheat flecks back in to make it look brown. You can't just buy a bread that says it's whole wheat and think you are getting a healthy product. If you're going to eat bread, what you are going after is the UNprocessed natural high fiber variety. I'll write an article on that too to help explain what a critical difference that is.