So earlier this month, my household decided it was time to change our diet. We ate a LOT of high-carb foods like pasta, pizza, and breads... probably up to 1000g a day or more.

That was not healthy at all, so we've gone on a low carb diet. It's not really a full blown Atkins diet, but it's pretty close. So far I've lost almost ten pounds so I am happy.

The downside is that around here there is not really many low-carb friendly alternatives, and when you ask for a burger wrapped in lettuce instead of on a bun they just look dumbfounded.

Lol! Love the lettuce instead of bun thing! That's awesome! XD

Any good subs for like pizza and such?

Nice! Cutting processed carbs and sugar out of your diet, including sugary drinks, can really help weight loss. I don't eat "low-carb", but I try to find alternatives to processed wheat and refined sugar wherever possible. For example, eating quinoa, rolled oats, barley, wild rice instead of white breads. And eating naturally sweet fruit such as dates instead of refined sugars and syrups.

I do not trust diets.
95% of them do not work (Stats as of 2006,2008,and 2010.)

Though I will admit there are some foods that are easier on the stomach than others.
Each persons body develops differently and burns or stores food differently.

My body burns food at a very phenominal rate just standing still and doing very little.
The cool part about this is I only need a few days of training (About a month or two) to be a match for professionals in athletics.
The Down side???
I eat allot, Like "Michael Phelps" portions, Whenever I work out like a pro. (Imagine $600.00 dollars a month feeding one.)

What I learned from my experience is working out does my body more good than controlling the diet.

For me. When I push at a work out?
My body can only digest foods that are good for a body.
(Then again...not many people can imagine an 8-hour workout routine. Much less do one.)
(I incorporate my job into my workout. ... Part of a solid idea of looks matching the profession.)

I discovered this when I craved Pizza for two months but could not get past 2 slices and needed a steak with veggies to settle my stomach.)

Wish it worked on my smoking habit.
But... that is the case.

When I have a tuff month slotted into my schedule?? I can not drink soda due to the pain of gas in my gut. But I can have coffee. Eases the gut and lets out any unwanted stuff my system knows should not be there.

I can vouch for the Bread free diet.
There is only so much I can handle during a rough month.
Though I do eat allot of noodles here and there on the odd day. ("Ramen Noodles." Easy on the wallet. Not on the stomach.)
Rice... (Good replacement for Bread for me. For others? I can not tell. The Eastern Culture People who eat it regularly though have an ability to stay light weight with it though. Do some homework before practicing.)

There are ways to cheat right with the no bread diet if you are serious about abandoning the product altogether and know there are going to be the odd days that you have to eat and not enough time to prepare or shop. ("Lunch time quickies".)
I will devote another paragragh or two post to this if it is needed. (Requested.)

I am done for the day on this topic.
Good Luck To All.
I'm done. Stick a fork in me.
Peace.

Low carb does not actually mean starving myself. I eat quite often during the day... string cheese is amazing for snacks.

For right now at least, pretty much all grains are kinda off limits because of their high carb content (potatoes actually have lower carbs than rice and other grains... crazy, right?). Once we've broken the hold a bit, we can go back to having small portions of it. On the plus side, I have discovered that spaghetti squash is freaking amazing. I think I actually like it better than real spaghetti.

I have the slowest metabolism known to man, so I have to work hard to get it back to a good place. I've also started going to the gym again... I am seriously out of shape. I suppose 12 years without a physical education class will do that to you.

BluemageKyle : You are referring to the fasting during Ramadan. They are not the only religion that practices some kind of fasting, and they actually eat once a day I think. I forget the specifics.

I still take in about 20-80g of carbs a day... I try to keep it close to 20g for right now since I am trying to sorta keep to the induction phase of Atkins... except not really since I still eat fruit. The whole purpose of the induction phase is to cut the carbs so much that it kicks your body into ketosis (burning fat instead of carbs for energy), but it is super strict and I have zero will power.

Low carb/paleo "diet" (I hate the word; it sounds too restrictive) has worked miracles for me. I finally lost the (small) surplus fat I had; I now have a "two-pack". I actually eat much healthier than I used to: 10-13 servings of vegetables (1-2 of fruits), no grain (except wheat bran), regular ground meat, "fat" (butter, dried coconut), regular yogourt, regular milk and cheese... I just wish my metabolism weren't so high; I could gain more muscle

Don't completely cut out carbs. That's where your body gets energy. Eat whole wheat bread, brown rice, yams, and beans. If you completely cut out carbs then proteins will not work the way they're supposed to. Just make sure to eat complex carbs, high protein, and good fats from stuff like nuts and fish. You'll drop weight while keeping almost all of the muscle mass you have. And make sure to do like 30 minutes of steady state cardio along with some weight training. Weight training doesn't make you bulky like most women think.  Build muscle while losing fat, and you'll lose weight even faster. And congratulations on losing the ten pounds. It's been a year, and I've lost about 75 pounds. Just stick to it.

djent : The point of the diet is to burn fat for energy instead of carbs. Then to gradually bring the carbs back to a normal portion. I ate healthy carbs for awhile... I have a body that just automatically turns it into fat.

Wow, that's great! Congrats on the 10lb weight loss! And in only less then a month, wow. I could never go on a carbs diet... or an anything diet . I can't go without my cheddar blasted goldfish! I'm too skinny to have to go on a diet anyways

@djent

be it complex or simple carbs, it all ends up to be the same : sugar. Unless one is a pro athlete running an hour a day, then carbs in veggies and fruits are enough. I get most of my energy from fat and proteins

janus : I know that all carbs are sugars. But certain carbs like those found in brown rice, and not white rice, make the body more insulin resistant. Eating carbs like these actually make it easier to control blood sugar levels and allow for faster fat loss. And you don't have to run an hour. You can do 10 minutes of 30 second sprints followed by 90 seconds of walking and burn a lot of calories, build muscle, and create an afterburn effect for hours.

Elara : You're body doesn't automatically turn anything into fat. I can eat 1500 calories a day of terrible food. If I keep it at that level and do very little exercise, I'll still lose weight. You're body will only turn the carbs to fat if you have a caloric surplus for the day.

I would hate to change my diet... but I know I'll have to when my teenage metabolism starts losing its momentum..
While I'm here any tips for diet changing? ...

djent : Low metabolism. And 1500 calories of crap is like three slices of pizza. I don't eat a whole lot of calories because most high calorie things are also high carb (it's the sugar). From all you describe, you have a high metabolism... good for you. I am sure that makes it a lot easier for you.

So a monkey wrench has been thrown in my way in the form of a nasty cold. Kinda hard to go to the gym and work out when you can barely breath. Hopefully I will have it under control in a day or two.

Update

So here we are three months down the road and I have lost 26 lbs. What's more, with the gym visits I have actually lost more fat than that and gained some muscles. I have dropped almost two whole pants sizes... 16s are still a bit tight at first but I can wear them with no problem and I am getting many compliments.

Also, I have discovered that I am mildly allergic to wheat. Joyful.

But yeah... I can actually have a bit of carbs now and then and be fine, my body has adjusted enough that it has little to no impact on me as long as I keep up my activities.

Elara : Actually I have a very low metabolism. I lost 80 pounds over the past year. Glad to hear you lost 26 pounds though. Makes me happy when people get in shape because I never was until lately, and I know what it's like to have to work so hard to lose the weight.  Keep it up.

Congratulations! Recently I've started eating better too, cutting all sugar out of my diet (not natural sugars like fruit sugars, but ice cream and cookies and the like). I think changing bad eating habits is a very good thing.