I Like My Carbs

[ILLINIgirl]

I had the ben and jerry's low carb "Vanilla Almond"...I thought it was exceptionally good (thought I don't really remember the last time I had REAL ice cream...still working that frosh 15 off ) I haven't tried the chocolate kind though, because I don't like chocolate.

[chideltjen]

Well this was interesting...

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...carb_survey_dc

[krazy]

Have you had the starbucks light-mocha ice cream? Quality. But I agree, the full fat is needed sometimes. And I would much rather eat a little cup of the real thing and get over a craving than suffer the whole day and then lose it and eat the whole carton.

[amgn253]

I am half Italian, so there is no way in hell I will ever give up carbs. I would die. So would my husband, as he is a Type 1 diabetic. He needs carbs to live.

On a related note, my husband works in a food manufacturing plant. One of the products they make is a low carb chocolate coating for ice cream bars. He had me try it once, and it was so sick. It tasted like chocolate, but had so much fat in it, I could feel it slide down my throat. Blech.

[krazy]

Ugh... all of these enginered foods will end up causing problems. People need to realize that they can eat the real thing, as long as they eat decent portion sizes, for heaven's sake.

[chideltjen]

Originally posted by amgn253
I am half Italian, so there is no way in hell I will ever give up carbs. I would die. So would my husband, as he is a Type 1 diabetic. He needs carbs to live.

Word. Though I do like how certain things, like low carb/sugar free syrups, hot cocoa, SF syrups for lattes, and PB are coming in "low carb" products and are more readily available. That stuff is better for the blood sugars since the regular stuff is... eh not so much. But I don't understand lo carb bread. WHY?

And I have always wondered this. If you want to get everyone on the low carb train, why make all the products so freaking expensive???

[PureGoldF2K1]

I work in a liquor store...they now have Low Carb Wine. The merlot is called 1.9 (for the amount of carbs) and the chardonnay is called 1.6. NO ONE buys it...wine is low carb to begin with! Just shows how crazed people are right now!!

I just lost about 5 pounds over the past month and it wasnt by cutting ANYTHING out...just eating less, even just less "bad" carbs and fatty things. It's the only thing that actually works consistently because you dont have deprive yourself...common sense...

[ILLINIgirl]

Is it true that all hard liquor is low carb? Or what alcohol is low carb (other than wine)?

[preciousjeni]

Originally posted by ILLINIgirl
Is it true that all hard liquor is low carb? Or what alcohol is low carb (other than wine)?

Please consider again:

Carbs and Proteins: 4 calories/gram
Alcohol: 7 calories/gram
Fat: 9 calories/gram

Wine has BOTH carbs and alcohol!!! Hard liquor is basically just alcohol (unless you add something) so it's worse than carbs. Plus alcohol consumption slows weight loss, even you don't drink much at all.

ETA: Let's say you have a drink that is 40 grams or whatever...

(for illustrative purposes only - I have NO idea what the breakdown is actually!)

Wine: 20 carb grams/20 alcohol grams
=80 carb calories plus 140 alcohol calories
=160 Calories

Hard Liquor: 40 alcohol grams
=280 Calories

[krazy]

It's the only thing that actually works consistently because you dont have deprive yourself...common sense...

Amen to that. It is about contolling the things you like, not cutting them out. Trying to completely cut them out usually leads to some type of binge.

[aephi alum]

I've seen the low-carb wine. My local liquor store has a big sign advertising it. Someone who works there told me how they make it: They first extract all the sugar, then add a little back in. I'm not racing out to buy it; a glass of wine is typically 2-3g carbs, and by state law, anything over 7g carbs per glass cannot be called ordinary wine. (Mostly this applies to dessert wine.)

Hard liquors like gin, vodka, rum, and tequila have zero carbs. However, your body burns alcohol before anything else, including carbs. The advantage of a ketogenic diet like Atkins is that you burn the few carbs you do eat, then you start burning your body fat; if you drink, you burn the alcohol first, then the carbs, and you may not even get to the fat.

[preciousjeni]

I'm not sure where the misconception is coming from about calories. A calorie is a calorie is a calorie. Different types of calories serve your body in different ways.

A pound of fat is 3500 (estimated) calories to gain or lose. The type of calorie is of no consequence.

So, to lose a pound a week, eat 3500 fewer protein calories, or 3500 fewer carb calories or 3500 fewer fat calories, etc. It doesn't really matter, but it's best to cut across the board rather than cut one segment of your diet.

[Eclipse]

Originally posted by preciousjeni
I'm not sure where the misconception is coming from about calories. A calorie is a calorie is a calorie. Different types of calories serve your body in different ways.

A pound of fat is 3500 (estimated) calories to gain or lose. The type of calorie is of no consequence.

So, to lose a pound a week, eat 3500 fewer protein calories, or 3500 fewer carb calories or 3500 fewer fat calories, etc. It doesn't really matter, but it's best to cut across the board rather than cut one segment of your diet.

You are right, however, when comparing calorie to calorie, it is better to eat say, some brown rice, green beans and a chicken breast rather than a bag of potato chips and a Big Gulp, even if they are the same total number of calories.

[preciousjeni]

Originally posted by Eclipse
You are right, however, when comparing calorie to calorie, it is better to eat say, some brown rice, green beans and a chicken breast rather than a bag of potato chips and a Big Gulp, even if they are the same total number of calories.

LOL! My hope is that people will already know which foods are good for the body and which are not!! You can lose 100 pounds eating nothing but Doritos and Godiva ice cream, if you wanted to.