carb consumption question - too few?

[Aways2Go]

Would it matter if I have WAY UNDER 20 carbs in a day? Is there any noticeable effect?

Some days I am just not as hungry as others - today being such a day.
So far I have had close to half of what calories I will probably eat for the day (not that I count calories, necessarily, I just know from logging things in to fitday what is likely to happen), and have only had a couple or three carbs (granted I have not eaten much of anything in the way of veggies/salad items yet today - I just was not hungry enough to stuff much else in to what little bit I have eaten!).

I intend to eat a salad and some broccoli w/cheese with dinner, but I am thinking it likely won't go over (or much over) 10 carbs for the day, with dang near all of them coming from the salad/veggies and maybe 1 or 2 for cheese.

Is there any reason at all this should concern me? I know for one day it wouldn't matter, but if that became a regular pattern for extended induction, THEN would it matter?

Just curious - normally I have to work at it a little bit to stay around 20, but since it occurred today that I will likely end up with half that, it just got me to thinking about it.

[JulieB]

Re: carb consumption question - too few?

I wouldn't worry about the carb count being low, as long as you get your 3 cups of veggies in.

The more nutritious veggies have higher carbs than lettuce, etc, so it would be good to eat some of those. I often eat my veggies first, then meat, etc if I'm still hungry

[imagood1]

Re: carb consumption question - too few?

When I'm not real hungry I make sure to eat my 1 cup from the "Other" veggie list and a salad. Pumpkin seems to be something that really helps on these days.

[Aways2Go]

Re: carb consumption question - too few?

Thanks for the input. Not that this is likely to happen to me all that often, LOL, but it just made me curious if there were any notable negative effects of too few carbs, assuming salad and veggies were eaten.

I like a HUGE variety of vegetables, so I can't imagine it being a question very often (bok choy being one of my favorites, though, and about as low as it goes in the veggie carb category).

In fact, I spent a weekend once (snowy weekend, not too much to ponder about, LOL!) casually trying to think of vegetables I truly did not like and would not eat... other than not being crazy about brussel sprouts (although I will eat them in small portions) and not too fond of raw swiss chard, the only vegetable I could really come up with was oriental bitter melon (spiny cucumber looking thing) - which I did actually eat a plate of a few times, but I can't say I enjoyed it too much, LOL! Even at that, I might not select it on purpose at the farmer's market (or grow it in my garden), but if it was on the menu at a dinner party I would still eat it. It was fairly bitter, but certainly not inedible (at least the way I have eaten it - sauteed, I think with some bread crumbs or something but I can't recall now).

Looking forward to the latter OWL stages and being able to enjoy more (variety and quantity) veggies - jicama, parsnips, winter squashes, baked sweet potatoes (OWL or maintenance?), gingered carrots, jerusalem artichokes, turnips, sauteed beets over beet tops (maybe not until maintenance - I haven't even checked yet because that is a ways off, but I'm sure the beets are sugary, though the tops probably not so much), leeks, kohlrabi, peas, etc. Eating some of these now (the allowed ones), but not at the quantities I was used to (the bulk of my diet) - but it's always good to have things to look forward to! An excellent reward as the weight comes off.

Now that got me started - gotta go look up my recipe for mediterranean style kale (chopped, raw) and see if it is induction friendly!

[liv]

Re: carb consumption question - too few?

If you like veggies a lot you can move to rung one. You can stay there as long as you want.

[mitzimarie]

Re: carb consumption question - too few?

Looking forward to the latter OWL stages and being able to enjoy more (variety and quantity) veggies - jicama, parsnips, winter squashes, baked sweet potatoes (OWL or maintenance?), gingered carrots, jerusalem artichokes, turnips, sauteed beets over beet tops (maybe not until maintenance - I haven't even checked yet because that is a ways off, but I'm sure the beets are sugary, though the tops probably not so much), leeks, kohlrabi, peas, etc. Eating some of these now (the allowed ones), but not at the quantities I was used to (the bulk of my diet) - but it's always good to have things to look forward to! An excellent reward as the weight comes off.

You don't need to wait till the later stages of OWL to enjoy many of the veggies you listed... jicama, turnips, beet greens, leeks, and kohlrabi are all Induction veggies. In fact, jicama is classified as a "Salad" veggie, so you can eat more than a cup of it.

I agree with Liv - I like the idea of moving to Rung 1 (more veggies) soon after Induction. One of the most important parts of OWL is finding your CCLL (Critical Carbohydrate Level for Losing). This is the highest number of carbs you can eat without stopping the weight loss or throwing your blood sugar out of whack. You can do that in Rung 1, if you wish. In fact, I actually favored that idea. In OWL, I didn't want to add new foods and up the number of carbs in the same week... if your losses slow, how do you know whether it was the type of carb, or the number of carbs that was the culprit? Non-starchy veggies are relatively safe for most people. By upping my number of veggie carbs each week, I was able to come up with a number. I found that I could lose just as much weight eating 35 net carbs, as I could at 20g net carbs. So now, I was ready to start moving up the other rungs with a higher number of carbs to "spend". I didn't need to leave out veggies, just to free up carbs to try other things with. Since I knew that I could lose at 35g, if my losses did stop, I new that it was the type of carb that was the problem.

[Aways2Go]

Re: carb consumption question - too few?

I probably will move to rung one in the very near future to expand my veggie intake a little.

Mainly what is keeping me from doing so right now is my desire to get to my next mini-goal (which is only ten pounds away) as quickly as possible.

For one, I would greatly enjoy knowing it is the least I have weighed in 14 years
I never did yo-yo with my weight much... slow steady climb up post-college to my high weight, then down as much as 50 pounds over a one year period when I switched to a whole foods diet a few years ago, then slowly rising and falling within about a 15 pound range for the past few years. This makes it pretty easy for me to remember what I weighed during any given year. I touched 289 for a few days once LOL! the year I switched to a whole foods diet, but otherwise haven't seen the 280's since 1994. That's a long time.

My second reason has to do with clothes and clutter.

I started a big sorting-out project earlier this summer right before I started on low carb. I had half a dozen or so big boxes stored of perfectly nice (and often still with tags on) clothes that were anywhere from one size down to several sizes down from my starting sizes earlier this summer. Many I bought in the past couple years when I thought I would keep losing, some gifts that were too small, some things that hardly got worn before they got outgrown, etc.

So a few months ago I decided something needed to be done with these boxes. I drug out the boxes and began sorting through them... rounded up all the things that were out of style or I just wasn't really crazy about and gave them to charity and a few folks in need. That still left me with some large stacks of jeans, polo shirts, t shirts, dress shirts, khaki pants, etc that I still couldn't wear but would if I were smaller.

It was about this time that I started on Atkins. So then I really didn't want to pack the next size or so down and re-store them, since I hoped to get into them sooner rather than later. It was also going to be going from summer to fall in a couple of months, so I didn't want to pack up anything for fall, but if I lost enough pounds quickly enough, I also had some summer items in there I could wear through mid-fall. So other than a handful of things that were REALLY small, I didn't know WHAT to pack back up. Summer? Fall/winter? One size down? Two sizes down? A shirt that says XL but I think fit more like a 2x the few times I wore it? A shirt I think SHOULD fit in 20 more pounds but have never gotten into so I don't really know?
CHAOS! LOL!

So as a means to inspire me BECAUSE I HATE CLUTTER, I left all this stuff out, stacked neatly in open boxes, taking up floor space in my bedroom. I have had to walk past these several times a day for several months now, and I am right on the cusp of solidly moving down a shirt size and pant size.

I just can't hardly contain myself wanting the next 10 pounds plus to come off and my clothing sizes to change (I am currently wearing the "bigger" items of the next size down, but not many of them). Then I can start giving away the biggest clothes in my closet and replacing them with the jeans and shirts out of these open boxes cluttering up the bedroom, LOL!

Getting rid of clutter is a huge motivator for me. I like simplicity.

I also like the idea of testing out the carb limits before adding in all the other foods on the rung. I agree it simplifies the issue of knowing if your weight loss stopped due to a particular food item or just the increase in carbs.

Thanks everybody.

[msanjelpie]

Re: carb consumption question - too few?

Post a typical menu for the days when your carbs are the lowest...

[Aways2Go]

Re: carb consumption question - too few?

Oh, they AREN'T too low most days - I should have clarified that MOST days I struggle to stay AT 20 carbs without going over. It was just this particular day that I was going to be way under 20, and it made me wonder if that was an issue or what effect it had on Atkins dieters if it happened regularly.

I know myself enough to know that it will be a fairly rare occurance, LOL, but I have a scientific mindset and am always curious about how things work, LOL!

[Aways2Go]

Re: carb consumption question - too few?

But as an example, for one day, if I had some steak, a ground beef patty, an egg or two, maybe a string cheese for a snack, a very simple salad and some green beans or broccoli, and nothing much else for the day, I would probably stay very full and wind up pretty low on the carb count for the day.

[Aways2Go]

Re: carb consumption question - too few?

After another week on Extended Induction with no weight loss and no noticeable inches lost, I decided that it did not seem to be helping me move any faster towards my next mini-goal (and getting those clothes out of the boxes on my floor!) so I am moving to OWL level 1.

The last 4 pounds I lost was after two weeks of no loss, then a gain of several pounds, then a quick loss of the gained pounds plus another 4 pounds. This was after cutting out aspartame items and a couple other things. But that may be what I am experiencing again (although no aspartame to cut out this time). I would much rather lose in a somewhat more consistent manner (half a pound down overall every several days even if a temporary gain of a pound or so on some days) although I know that can't necessarily be controlled. I know weighing every day is not recommended, but my weight loss has been such a rollercoaster of ups and downs and staying the same for days on end (although down overall) I feel I need to track it consistently to try to determine what foods may be affecting me. I don't find it discouraging, I find it educational. I also think I need to experiment with cutting out some things from my diet that may be contributing to this potential pattern... cream in coffee, a spice mix I have used numerous times on vegetables (although sugar is not listed, I don't like the generic term "spices" on the label which can be damn near anything), etc. I already know I have a few food allergies (shellfish, msg), and suspect I may have others with less dramatic and immediate noticeable effects that I have yet to identify, so I think it may take quite a while for me to experiment and determine foods that may affect my weight loss. Given that, might as well have a more varied menu in the meantime if staying on extended induction is not quickly and steadily moving me further down.

Thanks all!

[liv]

Re: carb consumption question - too few?

Moving to rung one may just be what is needed. Some people lose better with more veggies.
Not usual to have a bit a pause right after induction though. - the dreaded PISS (post induction stall syndrome )

[Aways2Go]

Re: carb consumption question - too few?

I hope extra veggies help, Liz - I love them anyways even if they don't, though.

I know about P.I.S.S., LOL! But I thought/hoped I had already gone PAST that - I lost about 18 pounds during a number of weeks of induction (about two months but interrupted two weeks when company was visiting then went back to induction), then weighed the same for a couple weeks, didn't seem to be losing inches inches either, etc. Then gained several pounds over a few days... Re-evaluated my foods and took out aspartame items and over the next week lost the gained pounds and four more. Great! Thought I had the problem solved. Don't really know if it was just P.I.S.S. or the aspartame removal. Maybe both.

Then the same thing immediately started again. Scales haven't moved from the 4 pound loss at all for something like a week, maybe more... now started creeping up again by several pounds. I HOPE this is going to do like last time and fall off all at once again after another few days.

But since it hasn't been just a slow primarily downward drop (I don't worry about a pound up or down daily wobble, even two, as long as it falls off again over the next day or so) I am thinking it is might take me a LOT of time to try to determine what foods affect my weight loss. Hard to tell if, say, adding nuts is making you not lose weight, when you lose weight by staying the same for a week or more, then gaining several pounds, and then dropping all at once - if this pattern starts repeating itself as my body's method for losing, which it seems to be doing at this point. If I eat 3 servings of nuts in a week, I might have to wait through 2 weeks or more of this type of cycle to complete itself to see if the nuts affected it or not. I regularly (pre-atkins) would eat walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts, pine nuts, sunflower seeds, and several others. I'm thinking I will need to try these in groups of a few at a time so over the course of a few months, I could hopefully get through all the items I might regularly eat and see if they bother me or not.

It's gonna be a long trip through OWL for me, I think, to try to determine what interrupts my losing and what doesn't - of course with 100 pounds still to lose, it woulda been a fairly long trip anyhow, LOL! I don't mind much other than occasionally wishing for something completely forbidden like a piece of French Silk pie or some freshly baked sourdough slathered in some creamy butter!
(which I haven't had in probably 8 months or more anyway, way before I started Atkins)

Off to OWL I go! And eliminated the coffee cream and the veggie spice mix for now to see what that does (or doesn't do).

[liv]

Re: carb consumption question - too few?

I think it is a good thing to take your time in OWL. That is what I did too and I found I got a fairly good relationship with a lot of ingredients that way. Start with veggies and linger there a bit. The body will give in and start dropping those pounds.

[Aways2Go]

Re: carb consumption question - too few?

Just wanted to add that moving to OWL level 1 got the scales moving again. Or at least I assume that is what did it - I suppose it could have been a coincidence. In any case, I'm happy with it and having a little more variety in my daily diet.