The FastDay Forum

I am without doubt addicted to carbs, mainly in the form of bread. I stopped losing weight and gained some. I think some of it maybe down to carbs I eat on non-fasting days. I love Pasta, rice and bread. I am going to try and cut right back. How many of you have found carbs to be the evil wrecker of diets? I know atkins etc are based on removing most of the carbs from the diet but do many of you 'low carb' it on your normal eating days? PS any advise ?

Yes. I make my own bread too so it's gluten free flour and no yeast and no sugar/sweeteners, a soda bread recipe. A couple of thin slices a day works for me.
50-100g of carb a day is apparently the sweet-spot for health and weight loss, though up to 150g won't hurt. You'd need to do recording of all daily intake on something like myfitnesspal to learn your carb numbers though.
Basically all starches and sugars (including fruit) are carbs but do keep eating real foods for fibre.
Good luck :0)

I am obviously not normal, because when I cut carbs it makes no difference whatsoever to my weight, so I don't worry about carbs anymore. That said, I try to make sure most of my carbs come from whole grains or vegetables and pulses, rather than refined stuff, but I do eat the odd piece of baguette when I want to.

Unfortunately we don't all work in the same way, and a lot of people on here have found cutting carbs to help weightloss, so good luck, hope it makes a difference for you!

I am wheat intolerant and approaching the menopause i find that too many carbs are causing hot flushes, so I try and keep my carbs down. I did do a massive 6 month wheat and gluten free stint which cleared up some niggling heath problems, but I have since slid back into eating wheat again. Its addictive isn't it and so convenient to just slap a slice of something between two slices of bread or grab a cake on the run.

One thing I have found is if I eat a carb heavy meal the night before a fast, I will struggle with that fast. Whereas if I just have veg and protein the night before I sail through the fast.

Hi,
When I started 5 2 on my non fast days I ate as I always had (loads of bread, basically). I did lose weight at first - then it slowed down to almost nothing. I had been reading about carbs and their impact on weight loss especially if someone is insulin resistant (as most overweight people are - and my brother has type 2 diabetes so that's another clue). At first I thought how on earth could I not eat the stuff like bread etc that I loved - so I have done it gradually and nowadays I eat around 60-70g carbs a day, which has really helped the weight loss and also my appetite - I find the lower carbs and more fat I eat, the less my appetite. Carbs just make me ravenous. Also when I eat them in large quantities now (ie on holiday last year when I packed 4kg on in 4 days) I PILE weight on. I did it gradually but there is no doubt that if you're struggling to control your appetite, reducing carbs will really help some people. I find it really easy to eat like this now and I eat LOADS of food without feeling restricted (and I certainly couldn't do Atkins which seems really hard work to me). Hope that helps?

PS I'm with@julieathome with the carbs and hot flushes thing - they are much worse if I eat lots of bread etc.

Hi @philxjr I unintentionally reduced my carb intake at the beginning of my fasting journey by stopping the bread on my lunchtime sandwich then quickly realising I woke up days after f/day not hungry so skipped my large cereal based breakfast both of these small changes saved calories big time for me, then learned from this forum that carbs cause water retention from which I suffer really badly with so looked into the Low Carbers tent to find other ways to reduce further.
My health issues are greatly improved so nowI'm a convert.I'm still eating most carbs but in moderation don't eat much bread never have, plus on a recent trial with Debs where carorees told her to try very low carb for 3 days at 20g daily to kickstart the weightloss worked for me but sadly not Deb.
I'm now doing that trial again this week having returned from a holiday 4kg/9lb ish gain!!! Ouch payback time.
Good luck Phil and join us in the tent.

Hi Phil,
I low carb everyday - 50-100 grams a day. I get my carbs from veges, eat more healthy fats and meat., cheese. I have just decided to reintroduce small amounts of cooked and cooled ( then recooked ) potatoes and rice because of the supposed benefits of 'resistant starch' they give ( feeding your gut bacteria and not spiking blood glucose)
I have decided to try a 3 week break from wheat to see if my sore heel ( plantar fascitis) gets any better as I believe the wheat causes inflammation. When I did eat bread, afterwards I would feel like a nap. For further info perhaps Google ' marks daily apple' and search for ' carbohydrate curve' and ' resistant starch'.
I shouldn't have too much trouble giving up wheat except I will miss my fabulous home made Saturday night pizza so today I have made a pizza dough with gluten free flour so we shall see how that goes. It feels very weird. My theory that anything with tomato sauce and cheese baked in the oven tastes good!
Best wishes Phil,
Xxx

I was happy with the way I ate before I started 5:2 and have deliberately not changed it. OK I eat less but still eat bread , potatoes, pasta etc and I have lost weight. My feeling is that if you cut a food group out you are going to have a reaction when you eat it again and I don't intent to spend the rest of my life worrying about food types.

Was it on this forum that I read that if your ancient ancestors were hunter gatherers you couldn't cope well with carbs but if you came from ancient farming stock you could cope with carbs. I also read somewhere years ago that if you craved a particular food type it was likely that you were allergic to it. I know I love carbs but when I eat them I put on far more weight than the calories would suggest. We are all different and have to find out what our bodies need.

I read something the other day that said spelt flour was slightly better than normal flour because it is closer to the wheat that the war generation had? Is this true does anyone know?

My feeling is that if you cut a food group out you are going to have a reaction when you eat it again and I don't intent to spend the rest of my life worrying about food types.

@Merlin carorees told me our bodies don't NEED carbs
I also have no intention of giving up any food group whatsoever but for me personally reducing my carb intake from what had become excessive amounts well as I've said on many times my personal health issues are greatly improved therefore making it an easy and worthwhile decision to make
Yes were all different well said @Nessie for some of us needs must and willingly in my case.

[Tracieknits]

In all honesty, I would rather be fat than give up carbs. I really hate low carb diets.

Now that my thyroid is healthy again, I'm losing weight at a reasonable clip without low carbing it.

That being said, I eat a lot of whole foods and prefer brown rice to white. I cook most of our meals from scratch. But I eat regular (white) pasta at least once a week, and I love baguette and dessert. I try to be moderate with sugar - I don't have it in my coffee any longer, and when I make a dessert, I try to use a bit less sugar than the recipe might call for. But I certainly haven't eliminated it from my diet!

Last week I decided to try low carb to see if it made any difference and I'm a total convert now- this past week I have lost over 3lb and even after a normal weekend I am still a lighter weight this morning. I have a terrible sugar addiction and breaking that is what's done it for me I think. I don't eat bread anyway, I'm cutting back on pasta/rice/potatoes/sweet corn and it's making a world of difference. Try giving it a go

[carieoates]

Phil. My advice is ditch the carbs for a few weeks. I started 5.2 last June and lost a bit. But then I stalled. Since cutting carbs three weeks ago I lost 2lb a week for the first two weeks then had bank Hols mixed in with birthdays. You get my drift. I've had great weeks of getting into ketosis but then it drops out when the weekend comes and I have some chocolate, cakes, bread wine etc. The usual weekend fun in used to. Interestingly I've maintained the loss well over the last few weeks also. Check it my signature for exact numbers so far.
Ps my hubs has gone into low carb, past fortnight and lost 9lb all from his beer belly.