Have you figured out a number?

amother

Wed, Jun 05 2024, 4:03 pm

I cannot cut out carbs or treats completely. I've tried every diet method that exists. If I cut them out, I'm gorging on them within 3 months.
I've come to the conclusion that I need to eat some carbs and some treats if I'm ever going to change my lifestyle long term.
Have you figured out how many treats or how many carbs a week is good for weightloss but also sustainable?
Please share!

amother

Canary

Wed, Jun 05 2024, 4:04 pm

Wouldn’t each individual be different?

amother

Mistyrose

Wed, Jun 05 2024, 4:11 pm

I keep to one fruit as a snack
Handful of Nuts
Roasted chickpeas
Baby carrots with a small amount of hummus
Avocado to add to the salad occasionally 2x a week

If really conscious about losing weight I mostly eat lean protein and salad vegetables with a spritz of evoo and lemon juice.

It’s really your own body
(But when losing weight stop eating 3 hours before bedtime. Lots of water
3 meals and 2 snacks a day)

amother

Wed, Jun 05 2024, 4:12 pm

amother Mistyrose wrote:

It’s really your own body
But when losing weight

I keep to one fruit as a snack
Handful of Nuts
Avocado to add to the salad occasionally 2x a week
Eat mostly lean protein and vegetables with evoo and lemon juice

None of these are carbs or treats. I know how to eat the other stuff. I'm asking how to incorporate the unhealthier parts.

amother

Wed, Jun 05 2024, 4:14 pm

amother Canary wrote:

Wouldn’t each individual be different?

Probably but maybe some people can tell me what works for them and how they figured it out and I can go from there.
I've only ever done no carbs/sugar or calories counting. I want to eat mostly unprocessed foods but have some exceptions so I don't blow it all. I don't know how to figure out how much.

amother

Vermilion

Wed, Jun 05 2024, 4:25 pm

Calorie counting would probably be the best method for you for weightloss.
Cheshbon in which treats you want to eat during the day - subtract that from your caloric intake and the rest is what you have for the rest of the day.

IMHO, you should probably just break your food rules, allow yourself to eat, not care about weight loss so much, and embrace intuitive eating which incorporates gentle nutrition. If you're not sure what I'm talking about, the internet is full of info. Or you can just purchase the Intuitive Eating book (I found it most helpful with the Intuitive Eating Workbook companion).

sara1232

Wed, Jun 05 2024, 4:32 pm

amother OP wrote:

I use a calorie counting app for weightloss. That way you can eat whatever you want, just in moderation.

amother

Snapdragon

Wed, Jun 05 2024, 5:04 pm

For me I don’t limit carbs or treats but I include healthy carbs and healthy treats.
So I eat potatoes- this is my fav food 🙈 and lots of it. But I won’t eat any refined carbs
For treats I eat dark chocolate, dates with peanut butter ect.
Going on 3 months and this is the first time I’ve easily been able to keep to the eating plan. I think the reason it works is I don’t have any limits and when I want a treat I think about what treat will make me feel good. I always keep in mind the long term reason I’m eating healthy.
I’m curious when you say no carbs does that mean you don’t eat any grains? Like quinoa ect.

BmoreBubby

Wed, Jun 05 2024, 5:18 pm

amother OP wrote:

I think you are asking the right question that most people don't ask, which is how to change your eating as a lifestyle change and not as a diet. If you can afford it, you would best hire a registered dietitian who will give you a customized eating plan for your body, your tastes and your goals. Even 1 or 2 sessions would be worth it. If that's not possible for you, here are a couple tips - first, if you don't have the stumbling block foods in the house, you can't eat them, and if you do have them in the house, they will eventually be eaten. I'm that way with certain treats and therefore they are not in the house. If I buy them for a Shabbos treat, by Sunday the leftovers are in the trash.

In terms of your specific question how much to allow yourself a week - again, it's a Q for a RD but if you are going to go it alone you need to work out first and foremost your total daily CALORIE goal and then from there start counting calories and teaching yourself how to eat. The calorie counting isn't forever, it's until you learn the portions you need to eat in order to achieve your goals. But beware - added sugar lurks in many foods that we don't consider treats or carbs. We all have sugar addiction to some degree and the only way to conquer that is by reading labels, measuring portions and counting calories. There are many good resources out there few times in other posts in this forum I've recommended Torah Health only because I think it's great to have a Torah approach to this topic and it has personally helped me. But if anyone else has other resources that have helped them I hope and assume they would share them because I'm personally into whatever works, whether or not it's "Torah".

chanatron1000

Wed, Jun 05 2024, 5:22 pm

What is your reason for not wanting to eat carbs? Most people do best when more of their calories come from carbs than from protein or fat.

PrairieFairy

Wed, Jun 05 2024, 5:51 pm

amother OP wrote:

I wonder where these diets came from that you tried?

Unless there is a specific underlying health condition, I don't think cutting out carbs is a great idea.

The dieting culture works on fear and desperation and many of these "diets" don't have scientific basis for long term sustainability so it makes sense your intuition is letting you know you need carbs.

Through all my years of schooling in nutrition (majored in it it college), it was always said that the default preference (again, medical exception and personalization for specific things not included) should be 50% of diet from carbs.

20 and 30 from protein and fat.

These percentages are flexible but the ratio gives an idea of how much carbs are actually encouraged!

Balance is important for satiety.

I'd suggest going to an RD, preferably someone who is familiar with creating food plans that include all foods and groups so you can fit everything in. Quality and quantity is going to be more important in weight loss than macronutrient specifics.

Balancing all will help you feel fuller with less craving and therefore, need for less quantity.

I like to give people a food plan that is bases on exchanges (carbs, fat, protein etc) groupings vs specific foods. Helps learn intuitive eating and has room for all foods.

Bread and rugellach are both carbs. Just the rugellach has a fat component as well.

So where one slice of bread would be one carb, one rugella would be one carb and one fat.

You can eat accordingly.

With time, the intuition let's you see that the rugellach aren't filling and the appeal for them decreases but part of that is knowing you CAN and WILL have them if you want and that it fits. Helps remove the fear based craving (of wanting what "can't" have or "cheat" mentality or "bad" vs "good" food emotional shame/judgement".

A food plan has meals and "snacks" (just means eating routine that has less quantity than a meal so that eating is consistent to train the body and not get too hungry or too full). So if a snack consists of a carb and a fat, you can have a slice of bread and a bit of peanut butter for example.....or that rugella we mentioned because it fits the carb + fat criteria for the same balance and caloric equivalence.

It's not a cheat or a treat. It's just part of that plan and fits in it.

Good luck!

Last edited by PrairieFairy on Wed, Jun 05 2024, 5:55 pm; edited 2 times in total

amother

Vermilion

Wed, Jun 05 2024, 5:53 pm

PrairieFairy wrote:

Preach!

chocolate moose

Wed, Jun 05 2024, 6:21 pm

Some of it probably stems from motivation and discipline. I'm prediabetic and don't want it to get worse, so it's easy for me to control my eating. if you're just doing it to fit into a dress for a simcha or so, it's not a strong enough motivation.

amother

Violet

Thu, Jun 06 2024, 4:03 am

OP,
I am T2 diabetic (controlled by diet BH) and have tried the super low carb or keto and I cannot stick to it . I break after a day, 3 days , sometimes a week, but I can't do it long term.

With trial and error, I've found that counting grams of carbs and eating 100-120 grams per day is the magic spot for me.
I can eat anything, but if I stick to this amount I BH stay healthy and within my goals (normal A1c)