Help me cut down on simple carbohydrates

kennysarmy

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I've been advised to cut down :(

Trouble is I love em....

I start the day with a large bowl of cereal and at the weekend also have 3 or 4 slices of toast with home made jam :)

I eat pasta maybe twice a week usually with white bread...

I don't eat a great deal of cakes to be honest or chocolate.

I could substitute the pasta for wholemeal pasta so that might cut that down and I could have less toast ;)

What about a cereal that is not so high in simple carbs?
Any recommendations?

Cheers.
 
I've been advised to cut down :(

Trouble is I love em....

I start the day with a large bowl of cereal and at the weekend also have 3 or 4 slices of toast with home made jam :)

I eat pasta maybe twice a week usually with white bread...

I don't eat a great deal of cakes to be honest or chocolate.

I could substitute the pasta for wholemeal pasta so that might cut that down and I could have less toast ;)

What about a cereal that is not so high in simple carbs?
Any recommendations?

Cheers.

Muesli, one that has different grains and isn't just wheat flakes, and no added sugar, with nuts and chopped fresh fruit.

Keeps my hunger at bay until lunchtime most days.

I can empathise though. I love carbs too.
 
You could try something like DeCarb, which is supposed to cut 66% of carb intake. I'm having a go with them atm in conjunction with a low carb diet, although so far all they've done is caused my Psoriasis to flare up again :suspect:
 
Go on the atkins for a month. You'll lose the taste for carbs and develop one for sausages :)

You only think you love them as it is the sugar hit you are craving. Up the protein in your diet and you'll find you're less interested in carbs as protein keeps you feeling fuller for longer.

If you must eat carbs then the low GI ones are better. http://www.the-gi-diet.org/lowgifoods/
 
If you're going to have carbs try and stick to the brown/wholemeal stuff so have brown/granary bread, wholemeal pasta and rice etc. Avoid doubling up on high carb foods in single meals so if you're having pasta for dinner don't have bread on the side. My dad does this and I can never understand why he'd want both :thinking:

Carbs you eat at breakfast in particular, but lunch also, tend to get burnt off in a typical day whilst those we consume at dinner aren't required until the following day meaning they're in the system and getting stored. One of the best ways to moderate carb intake is to balance it with any exercise you take. Eat carbs before and not after exercise.
 
Porridge is a great way to start the day, you can add honey, raisins, sunflower seeds etc to add to the flavour.

I'd watch out for some healthy museli etc some of them have a very high fat content.

Also have some protein in the morning to help fill you up...like a yoghurt.

I eat wholemeal pasts now and now wouldn't go back. As others have said carbs in the evening are not great.
 
try to replace them with protien, its it will fill you up still but also speeds the motabalism up as its harder to process, also harder to store as fat
 
You cen get low carb foods here:
www.lowcarbmegastore.co.uk or www.avidlite.co.uk

I can recommend Lizi's belgian choc granola as a breakfast cereal.
Dreamfields pasta is very low carb but tastes just the same as any other pasta.
The main difference is the price, you pay over the odds for low carb versions of food.
 
Thanks for all the replies.

Plan is:

Porridge for breakfast instead of cereal.
Wholemeal pasta instead of what I normally eat.
Try to avoid white bread.
No more crisps as a mid-morning snack at work.
Drink more water!

Cutting down on the cards is on the advice of a sports therapist as we try to work out what's been causing some recent migraines.....
 
Thanks for all the replies.

Plan is:

Porridge for breakfast instead of cereal.
Wholemeal pasta instead of what I normally eat.
Try to avoid white bread.
No more crisps as a mid-morning snack at work.
Drink more water!

Cutting down on the cards is on the advice of a sports therapist as we try to work out what's been causing some recent migraines.....

What I do is if I have a carb-y lunch, then I will have minimal for dinner. If I have a salad/soup (etc) for lunch, then I have carbs for dinner. Always brown rice/pasta/bread. Sweet potatoes are a very healthy substitute for normal potatoes (though normal 'taters are good in moderation). Muesli/Bran Flakes/All Bran/Porridge for breakfast.

I usually always tend to have a banana mid-morning, sometimes a bit of bio yoghurt/other fruit, keeps you going til lunch, and again in between lunch and dinner.
 
Cutting down on the cards is on the advice of a sports therapist as we try to work out what's been causing some recent migraines.....
Bananas and chocolate caused my migraines.
My sister's were caused by dairy foods or fried foods.
 
The best advice I've been given is to switch to brown rice, brown bread, whole wheat pasta etc and cut down on portion size by literally a handful of rice, pasta etc. Always wash rice before cooking as it rinses away alot of starch and new potatoes are much better for you than old. Baked "old" potatoes have alot of sugar in them so sweet potatoes are better for you. I used to put a "circle of rice" round the plate and plonk the chilli or curry or whatever in the middle which isn't what is recommended.

Imagine your dinner plate and half should be filled with vegetables or salad and one quater carbs and the other quarter protein.

Some of the above advice I have been given to by my step-dad as he suffers from diabetes.
 
Cut out bread. I used to eat sandwiches every day. I've now cut that out and have wraps or pasta or soup instead. Lost nearly 4 stone in 13 months. I've not done any diets or anything as the weight just goes straight back on unless you stick to that diet for life

Pasta - I love it, I haven't cut that out at all and still losing weight. Pasta is a complex carb and you will only put on weight if you don't burn it off. But it's a good carb to have as it burns slowly. Brown rice, wheat pasta still has the same amount of carbs
 
Sorry - just read the original post again properly and ignore what I said about cut out bread - that's a complex carb

Simple carbs are stuff like things with glucose in. So cut down on that. Flour is a complex carb. Wholemeal is better as it's more complex so takes longer to break down but normal pasta and white bread is still good.

When people hear about cut down on carbs, they automatically assume it's bread and pasta but it's not. It's more often than not the simple carbs. You say you don't eat chocolate or cakes but simple carbs can be found in fruit too. Fructose and glucose are simple carbs.
 
Ah I stand corrected :D Should have paid more attention when the dietician was talking to me!!
 
I mostly cut down on bread along with cycling to work every day (mostly adding loops on to get the miles up) and I lost 4 and half stone in two years..

I still eat bread but very little, also changed to wholemeal pasta and rice
 
I eat Eat Natural cereal (can be bought at Tesco's) gluten free - toasted museli, made up of crisped rice, raisins, sultanas, nuts, seeds and buckwheat, it's delicious and really fills me up.
 
Cutting out carbs is easy to do if you know what you are doing.

Like some have said change to brown rice, brown or wholemeal bread, and wholemeal pasta. Cut out sugar and sweet things in the day.

One thing you have said though, is what you do in a day? are you burning energy? are you burning what you eat or are you over eating?

Definately add more protien in your diet and fruit, but more to the point try and eat smaller meals, thats the key.

You can eat up to 300grams of complex carbs a day if your burning it off.

You also haven't mentioned your age, your weight, or your current body fat? again these all play a big part.

I train at the gym 4 days a week and lift heavy weight, i'm 15st at 6ft1inch and low body-fat, its all about finding an even balance between food and excersise.
 
Cutting out carbs is easy to do if you know what you are doing.

Like some have said change to brown rice, brown or wholemeal bread, and wholemeal pasta. Cut out sugar and sweet things in the day.

One thing you have said though, is what you do in a day? are you burning energy? are you burning what you eat or are you over eating?

Definately add more protien in your diet and fruit, but more to the point try and eat smaller meals, thats the key.

You can eat up to 300grams of complex carbs a day if your burning it off.

You also haven't mentioned your age, your weight, or your current body fat? again these all play a big part.

I train at the gym 4 days a week and lift heavy weight, i'm 15st at 6ft1inch and low body-fat, its all about finding an even balance between food and excersise.

Thanks for taking the time to reply.
I am cutting down on simple carbs. on the the advice of a sports therapist after suffering a few migraines - he was initially treating me as I am recovering from a disc injury.
I am not cutting down on carbs. as part of a losing weight initiative.

I am 41, 6 feet 1 and around 13 stone I am guessing though as I don't have any scales. I would be considered slim to average I guess.

I am now back playing 7-a-side football once a week and hoping to get back in to playing golf now my back issues seem to be abating.

I am now eating brown rice and cutting down on cereals for breakfast and crisps during the day (was my mid morning snack).

Cheers.
 
Thanks for taking the time to reply.
I am cutting down on simple carbs. on the the advice of a sports therapist after suffering a few migraines - he was initially treating me as I am recovering from a disc injury.
I am not cutting down on carbs. as part of a losing weight initiative.

I am 41, 6 feet 1 and around 13 stone I am guessing though as I don't have any scales. I would be considered slim to average I guess.

I am now back playing 7-a-side football once a week and hoping to get back in to playing golf now my back issues seem to be abating.

I am now eating brown rice and cutting down on cereals for breakfast and crisps during the day (was my mid morning snack).

Cheers.

Ah right, well its a healthier alternative anyway even if its not for weight loss. Carbs give you energy simple as that, too many carbs can have an adverse effect, but don't read into it too much it could be something else.

I suffer from kidney stones and ten years later they still dont know what causes them, but i have had all sorts, stop drinking tap water, dont eat protien, lol, don't eat dairy, if i listened to the doctors i would be on a diet of nothing, :)
 
Simple carbs = sugar/alcohol, Complex carbs = pasta, rice, spuds, bread etc. stop chucking stuff down your throat, protene will make you feel fuller for longer.
Anyway pasta is overrated, bread n spuds are the best! Both with cheese FTW!
 
I suffer from kidney stones and ten years later they still dont know what causes them, but i have had all sorts, stop drinking tap water, dont eat protien, lol, don't eat dairy, if i listened to the doctors i would be on a diet of nothing, :)

Have you tried l'arginine capsules. They are a protien themselves but they help keep the kidneys healthy and working properly. Too much protein will "poison" the kidneys, leading to bright yellow urine etc. In a man, a sign of healthy kidneys is the 6 'o' clock rock. One capsule a day should be enough for a normal diet. I have a high protien diet due to weight training so I take, 5 to 9 capsules a day. As a side note take 6 capsules around 45-60 mins before sex, all I'll say is, be careful as you'll have someones eye out.:lol:
 
Simple carbs = sugar/alcohol, Complex carbs = pasta, rice, spuds, bread etc. stop chucking stuff down your throat, protene will make you feel fuller for longer.
Anyway pasta is overrated, bread n spuds are the best! Both with cheese FTW!
Bread just makes me feel bloated and I only ate wholemeal. Haven't eaten bread in over 4 years.
 
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