Zugg Software :: View topic - Zugg's Low-carb thread

Wizard Joined: 10 Oct 2000 Posts: 1551 Location: Australia

It's a pain. For the most part I drink bottled water (because tap water is somewhat meh-tasting). In the morning I'll usually start with a glass of orange juice or cordial, and then 1-2 600ml bottles of water. At lunch, I'll usually have another glass of juice, or if I'm feeling naughty a regular strength soda (complete with far too much sugar, I know). Throughout the afternoon another 1-2 bottles. At dinner usually a glass or two of cordial, and maybe one more bottle of water during the evening if it's been a hot day. I do miss the soda, but it's one of those things I decided. From what I've read, artifical sweetner gives cancer and aluminium cans give alzheimer's, and given that I've been drinking 5-6 cans a day for 10 years I may already be doomed, but smokers give up smoking to stop going further downhill, so I've given up diet soda to stop going further downhill.

I'm sure a dietitian is going to say I should drink even less OJ/cordial, because they contain a fair bit of sugar and so I'm getting a fair whack of calories from that. Not sure how many carbs you'd get in OJ either? So it may be that your choice is between water and diet soda?

I'd drink more milk-based drinks in my day, but I find they don't always agree with me. I'm a bit of a sucker for a smoothie.

And you probably noticed 0 hot drinks in my usual intake. Maybe I should find a tea that I enjoy the taste of, because that at least would be flavoured water which doesn't contain much bad stuff.

Site Admin Joined: 29 Sep 2000 Posts: 389 Location: USA

Site Admin Joined: 29 Sep 2000 Posts: 389 Location: USA

What is cordial? Is that a sugar sweetened fruit flavored syrup that you mix with water? We had that growing up in France.

squash · Posted: Thu Jan 17, 2008 2:19 am

Wizard Joined: 10 Oct 2000 Posts: 1551 Location: Australia

<bites> yeah, my friends are all like "soy ice cream" this, and "soy chai latte" that, and "soy milk smoothie" the other thing... it's all very icky and not-foodlike.

That recipe sounds like something we make - beef strips stir fried in chilli with <insert random asian-style sauce here>, add snow peas and capsicum, spring onions (the australian term for scallions) and then a bunch of thick egg noodles (which I'm tipping is the big no-no for a low carb lifestyle). Delicious, I think if I tried it without the noodles I'd cry, how long did it take you guys to get over the desire for things like noodles, pastry, etc?

Yeah, cordial is what you said... about 5% fruit juice, 90% sugar syrup which you mix about 1 part cordial to 4 parts water. I'd say with all the sugar both cordial and OJ are out for you. They call it squash elsewhere. You can get varying qualities of the syrup. There's the bright red/bright green stuff for kids, and then there's the stuff I buy which is pretty much concentrated fruit juice with extra sugar. Not as good as the cordial that my grandma used to make out of real raspberries from her garden.

Water with lemon and/or lime is pretty tasty. We also tried water with strawberries which had an interesting flavour (plus you could eat the strawberry after finishing your drink :D). When I was talking tea, I was thinking probably a herbal variety. I think my problem is I like strong flavours, and most teas I've tried are kinda just hot water with a hint of <blah>, which doesn't inspire me all that much hehe.

But again, water with a hint of <blah> is still tastier than water with a hint of water :)

Posted: Thu Jan 17, 2008 2:47 am

Just to make clear the distinction I was trying to make - at least in Britain, cordial is a syrup and has lots of sugar. Squash is very much a liquid and usually has no added sugar. You know how if you put the cordial in the glass first, it doesn't mix properly? That doesn't happen with squash.

Peach water is my favourite flavoured water. Mmm mmm.

Wizard Joined: 10 Oct 2000 Posts: 1551 Location: Australia

It's funny all the naming differences, we consider "squash" to be homemade lemonade (possibly lightly carbonated). We also wear thongs on our feet... although I'm a kiwi living in oz, so I call them jandles :p

Site Admin Joined: 29 Sep 2000 Posts: 389 Location: USA

Posted: Thu Jan 17, 2008 3:16 pm

What brand of almond flour do you use? I tried rice flour, but that didn't work too well. I have an unnamed genetic disorder that made me intolerant to a bunch of stuff after I turned 30. Here's the list of stuff I'm not supposed to eat:

Wheat
Milk
Asparagus
Cherries
Barley
Celery

As you can see that eliminates a LOT of stuff from my diet. I did find out that I can eat Subway sandwiches, if I have them put vinegar in it.

Posted: Thu Jan 17, 2008 3:33 pm

Posted: Thu Jan 17, 2008 5:57 pm

During the winter I find it easier to drink a lot of tea. Unlike Chiara, I'm a black-tea person. English Breakfast, Earl Grey, Irish Breakfast, etc. I don't care for a lot of the herbal teas that Chiara likes. The main problem with tea is the caffeine, but I've got a decaffeinated brand of Earl Grey that I drink in the evenings that seems to work well. But it's still hard to drink enough water with tea. Especially here in Colorado where the humidity is so low.

It's harder in the summertime though. One thing that we have tried is these small packets of powder flavoring that are sized to add to a bottle of water. Sort of like KoolAid powder, but it uses Splenda instead of sugar. Even though it still has artificial sweetener, it's better than commercial diet sodas. I also try to drink more iced-tea than soda in the summer. But I still haven't gotten past the diet sodas yet.

Wizard Joined: 25 Mar 2003 Posts: 1113 Location: USA

I was on a low-wheat, low-yeast diet for a while (still am, sorta), and I found that artichoke pasta (spaghetti) tastes as good as, if not better than, the regular spaghetti I love. Tried rice pasta and it just made a real mess, with a taste I could barely stomach. Corn pasta wasn't any good, really. I don't like artichokes, either, but that pasta sure is good!

When they recommend you drink so much water a day, they mean JUST water, too. Heh. Turning it into tea doesn't really count the same, though tea is better for you than soft drinks and such, obviously. Smile

Posted: Thu Jan 17, 2008 6:51 pm

I watched an online news report at Sky around Christmas time and it was a myth busting report. Apparently they had done tests regarding that whole 2 litres of WATER a day thing and other drinks do count including tea and juice!

Site Admin Joined: 29 Sep 2000 Posts: 389 Location: USA

Wizard Joined: 25 Mar 2003 Posts: 1113 Location: USA

Posted: Fri Jan 18, 2008 1:10 am

Posted: Fri Jan 18, 2008 3:35 am

Site Admin Joined: 29 Sep 2000 Posts: 389 Location: USA

Its my opinion that from the stand point of flushing things out of your body, water is best because it isn't brining anything new in that needs to be flushed back out.

On the other hand, research shows that a lot of people eat too much because they can't tell the difference between hungry and thirsty, so whatever you can make yourself drink is better than adding more food you don't need.

Posted: Fri Jan 18, 2008 10:40 pm

One thing I've always been thankful for is that I've got a fairly cast iron stomach. Very little upsets right now, and my poor eating habits (I eat fairly healthy, but not always at regular intervals) has help enforce it. I don't have any food allergens that I'm aware of.

My only concern would be eating red meat or pork, neither of which I've had for over 13 years now. I suspect if I had any my body (at least my digestive tract) would object vehemently.

No recipes to post. Sad

Site Admin Joined: 29 Sep 2000 Posts: 389 Location: USA

Posted: Fri Jan 18, 2008 10:55 pm

Site Admin Joined: 29 Sep 2000 Posts: 389 Location: USA

Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 12:40 am

Wizard Joined: 10 Oct 2000 Posts: 1551 Location: Australia

*taptaptap* Is this thing on?

It has been many a year since we last talked, I've been yo-yo-ing between 100 and 115kg depending on what style of weight watching (or lack there of) that I have been partaking in. Most recently, the latter.

So anyway, I just saw nutritionalist and she was suggesting I go a zero carb, high fat diet, which made me think of this thread, so... necro post!

How have you been going with this new lifestyle?
Have you kept with it, kept healthy?
Still endorse it?
How do you survive in a life without twinkies?!!! :)

Site Admin Joined: 29 Sep 2000 Posts: 389 Location: USA

Yes, we're still doing the low carb lifestyle. We aren't as fanatical as we were but it is definitely a lifestyle. Zugg has eggs with low glycemic fruit every morning for breakfast, a nice salad with meat and cheese most days for lunch unless the office is providing lunch, in which case he makes the best choices from what is available for free, and dinner is usually a stirfry (meat and veggies-no starch) of some sort unless we eat out.

He still finds that he thinks better, longer, when he limits his carbs, and that's a real driving force. Also, although he doesn't lose well unless he's really strict, he can maintain a weight that is comfortable for him (although not slim by any means) easily, with enough slack for the occasional treat weekend and without having to worry too much about a few carbier meals here and there. At his last checkup all his blood work and blood pressure and all that were excellent. It's a life he can live with permanently.

I'm on more of a paleo approach. It's still definitely controlled carb, but I have a lot more dietary restrictions than I used to know about. It's a little insane. And my body requires some starch, having to do with being a middle aged woman with a compromised thyroid. But the quantities are strictly monitored.

Neither of us are working out at the moment. Zugg gets some exercise every day using public transportation to and from work. I've been recovering from being really sick with a thyroid issue last fall and haven't done anything in a while but and making some plans to start something in the next few weeks again. I miss being more active.

See if you can find a book titled "Living the Low Carb Life" by Jonny Bowden. It's one of the best overview books I've read, and he comes to diet from the perspective of physical trainer turned nutritionist. His writing style is light and interesting. Your nutritionist probably meant a zero 'starch' diet, which for a male I'll heartily recommend. Going zero carb is almost impossible as all veggies actually have some carbs. If you allow yourself things like in season low glycemic fruit, canteloup, honeydew melon, and berries, things are a lot more pleasant.

The biggest thing we do as a permanent lifestyle change is that we require that all our food be made entirely out of food. That's not such a big deal elsewhere but the quality of the USerican food supply is genuinely tragic. Processed foods are full of weird chemicals. Almost everything we eat starts as unadulterated meat, veg, and fruit that I prepare. Then there are a very few things that make it past my label reading. A few sauces that are really useful short cuts, like a gluten free teryaki sauce I can buy, or Zugg's favorite sugar free popsicles that make it more possible for him to avoid sugars. I can't use artificial sweeteners either. My need for a very clean diet helps Zugg keep his clean by virtue of what does and doesn't come into the house. We can both really tell that, despite the expense, sticking to higher quality food contributes to better health.

Twinkies are an abomination against all the is good and right. On the other hand, there is a small box of organic mini-cinnamon rolls in the kitchen for our treat weekend. Zugg was very excited to see them.