[silver_queen]

Would it be a good idea to completely cut out some sources of carbohydrates and replace it with others? I'm considering cutting wheat, pasta, cereals, rice, and potatoes, and whatever else I can think of, out of my diet, and replacing them instead with vegetables and fruits. Would this have any health benefits or not? I've read that the human body can easily live without wheat and cereals since they are a product of agriculture, but is this true of things such as potatoes too?

[Maven]

First, let me say, I am not a dietician. But, based on what I've read--and I recommend you do some investigating yourself--it's a good idea to cut those things out of your diet, because they all convert into sugar, and sugar is in almost everything these days, even things you wouldn't think it's in. Much of our food is processed, and it's really not the best thing for us.

If you consume sugar, it would be good to cut down on that, too. You don't need to cut out those foods altogether; that's up to you. But it's very good to cut down if you eat a lot of them. I eat way too much sugar, and should do the same. Eating more fruits and vegetables is almost always a good thing. Make sure you wash them well first!

There are lots of sites online where you can find recipes to keep the food interesting and yummy. Here's some:

AllFood.com
FoodNetwork.com
MarthaStewart.com: Recipe Finder
Recipe.com
RecipeSource.com
Recipe*zaar

[silver_queen]

ty for the links! I'm going to have a good look at them - I suppose I shouldn't cut things out all at once

[(JD)]

A diet without carbs is not healthy. There are healthy carbs, and your body needs them for balance. Carbs such as found in juice are bad because the sugars are metabolized so quickly. Carbs such as wheat pasta are healthy, and give you a slow release...plus ...

The only thing to cut out of a healthy eating plan...completely, all at once are non foods. You know what kinds they are: those with no nutrients... fluff and additives... and fried stuff... ugh.

Add good items even if you don't delete any ... olive oil (extra virgin, not cooked), walnuts, almonds, tomatoes, garlic, onions, omega 3 foods like sockeye salmon..

it's easier to give up junk food once your body has good foods to live on! Good wishes in your endeavor!

[bebop]

carb free diets can kill your kidneys too

[January]

(((((((( Silver ))))))))

You need some carbs. You can't go without them. It will destroy your kidneys.

Hugs,

Jan

[Rhapsody]

Check out this FOOD LADDER that I placed on the forums a few weeks back..... and please do keep in mind that an average serving is the size of your clenched fist, for both the carbs and the protein.

LINK: http://forums.psychcentral.com/showf...t=1&PHPSESSID=


LoVe,
Rhapsody -

[Maven]

I just read an article today on AOL that one way many people keep weight off is by eating a lot of fiber. They compared people, and the difference of those who kept their weight off was that they ate a lot more fiber than the others. About 33% of their diets consisted of fiber. Fiber makes you feel fuller, and most high-fiber foods are low in fat and calories.

[Lexicon78]

Your body needs carbs to produce energy and also for some of its nutrients.

Don't cut them out completely...but cut down on them.

[silver_queen]

ty everyone ... you've all given me some food for thought there

I wasn't thinking of cutting out carbs altogether, more to replace the high-calorie things with fruit and veg, but maybe it wouldn't work anyway... or maybe if I just cut out some things and not others...

I don't really eat junk food much at the moment anyway... but I do eat the same things as my dad, which I've been thinking I don't need, because he was in a hard physical job and needed a lot of energy and stuff and of course I don't ... and I also sometimes go into binges of chocolate, sometimes months long... my last one started in February and didn't end until the end of May ... by that meaning I ate a lot of chocolate nearly every day ... but I didn't really gain as much weight as I thought I would from it, but it was still about 20lb! So that isn't healthy at all, of course, and I can see that my body has suffered from it

Anyway, at least there is a lot of variety being sold in shops now, even though it is sometimes hard to work out which is marketed as being healthy and is unhealthy, and which is healthy anyway... I could spend hours in a food shop reading the food labels... when I care about them that is lol. I've already stepped up my exercise anyway... and my wonderful new weighing scales (which tell me things like my body fat and hydration %) are very useful...

[January]

The dark bittersweet chocolate is ok to have in a tiny amount per day.

How do your scales know how hydrated you are?

Hugs,

Jan

[silver_queen]

</font><blockquote><div id="quote"><font class="small">Quote:</font>
January said:

How do your scales know how hydrated you are?

</div></font></blockquote><font class="post">

They shoot some kind of weak electric (or electro-magnetic?) current through your body (or something like that, anyway) and somehow or other it can tell the difference between fat and water because fat is denser ... or something along those lines, looks like I should read the manual again

[(JD)]

btw when looking at "dark" chocolate...you need to find the % of cocoa in the product...that's the reason it's healthy (and make sure it doesn't have milk chocolate in it either!)