are carbs really the enemy?
momjan
on 3/23/12 11:45 am, edited 3/23/12 11:45 am - Canada
on 3/23/12 11:45 am, edited 3/23/12 11:45 am - Canada
Some people will tell you that carbs are OK. But, processed carbs - the ones found in white bread, flour, potatoes, rice, crackers, etc., are your enemy. The GOOD carbs found in veggies and fruits are just that...good. Some people will tell you that whole wheat pasta, grain breads are OK. But if you note that most people that are experiencing regains have said that they have started eating those exact things....and they are regaining.
It seems that carbs basically convert to sugar and then you crave more of them and it's a circle. There are so many other things you can eat.... things like Shirataki/tofu noodles, zucchini strips in place of lasagna; matchstick pieces of zucchini in place of spaghetti. Think of things that are VALUABLE to your health and fill yourself with them first. Using romaine lettuce to hold your sandwich ingredients is another one. Your stomach is small and will always be smaller ..... fill it with things that provide you with nutrients and you will be better off.
That being said, if you ate a few bites of crust from that pizza and all the toppings, you wouldn't ruin yourself.
I find that if you keep your proteins up -100+ grams per day, you probably will not be craving carbs! And why are you trying to push yourself...are you testing your new stomach or are you trying to sabotage your loss????????
I would suggest you research recipe sites that are wls friendly and find food that will fit into your life's food plan and enjoy them instead of 'the bad white carbs'...!!!
You will of course, get a gazzillion different opinions on this subject; research, read and make your decisions based on what you have read and learned and what's comfortable for you.
You will only get out of this tool what you put into it (in more ways that one!!! So make it good!
It seems that carbs basically convert to sugar and then you crave more of them and it's a circle. There are so many other things you can eat.... things like Shirataki/tofu noodles, zucchini strips in place of lasagna; matchstick pieces of zucchini in place of spaghetti. Think of things that are VALUABLE to your health and fill yourself with them first. Using romaine lettuce to hold your sandwich ingredients is another one. Your stomach is small and will always be smaller ..... fill it with things that provide you with nutrients and you will be better off.
That being said, if you ate a few bites of crust from that pizza and all the toppings, you wouldn't ruin yourself.
I find that if you keep your proteins up -100+ grams per day, you probably will not be craving carbs! And why are you trying to push yourself...are you testing your new stomach or are you trying to sabotage your loss????????
I would suggest you research recipe sites that are wls friendly and find food that will fit into your life's food plan and enjoy them instead of 'the bad white carbs'...!!!
You will of course, get a gazzillion different opinions on this subject; research, read and make your decisions based on what you have read and learned and what's comfortable for you.
You will only get out of this tool what you put into it (in more ways that one!!! So make it good!
I guess it depends on how big your small portions are and how often you eat them. I'm also guessing you're talking about starchy carbs, not all carbs; if you mean all carbs, then no, they won't destroy your weight loss, but if you truly eat no carbs at all, you will become very, very ill. Your body needs some carbs in order to function.
I eat starchy stuff sometimes. Not every day. But most days, probably one serving of something. It hasn't destroyed my weight loss but everyone has different experiences.
I eat starchy stuff sometimes. Not every day. But most days, probably one serving of something. It hasn't destroyed my weight loss but everyone has different experiences.
Kelly
Please note: I AM NOT A DOCTOR. If you want medical advice, talk to your doctor. Whatever I post, there is probably some surgeon or other health care provider somewhere that disagrees with me. If you want to know what your surgeon thinks, then ask him or her. Check out my blog.
Tawnia 
If you have declared war on the excess flesh you currently own (fat) and you wish to win the war, then the soldiers in your fight are CALORIES
Because you've been bypassed, every calorie you consume is NOT created equal.
Post Op:
A Carb calorie, particularly a simple one, is worth one carb calorie, so every carb you consume is either going to go to the enegy you use in a day, or if you already have enough energy, your body is going to store it away for a rainy day. (this includes alcohol, but one alcohol gm = 1 and three quarters of a sugar gram.
A complex carb calorie, by its complexity, might not really be a REAL calorie completely. Some of the calorie might just get passed through and out of the system. So complex calories are not as one-to-one as simple carbs.
A Fat calorie you consume will likely .... particularly in the beginning be only partially absorbed. So fat is really not nearly as big a deal as it might have been in the past. Before you were altered, a gram of fat was worth two and a quarter grams of carbs.
A protein calorie, like fat, is not processed fully, and you lose some in the mix....
NOw.... as part of the "battle" you've commensed, you've decided that there are some parts of your body that HAVE to go. You want to keep your skeleton, all your muscles and the important jiggly stuff hanging out in your torso and head. But the fat stuff.... now MOST of that just has GOT to go!
As part of the war, you treat everything like a bank account.
Your body is going to make a withdrawal every day, I'll simplify the numbers a bt, you can look up ones specific to YOUR situation. But lets say that you have 100 pounds to lose. So right now, your body needs 3000 calories just to breathe, pump your heart, run your brain, etc etc etc. So, prior to this surgery, you likely ATE 3000 calories and didn't lose or gain, but remained the weight you didn't want.
the name of the game in the War on Weight is to Make fewer DEPOSITS and more WITHDRAWALS on your calorie balance.
If you use 3000 calories to exist, but you only consume 1000 calories, your body is going to go to your savings account, and it is goign to make a withdrawal in the amount of 2000 fat calories from your storage system. This results in weight loss. Now, if you consume 1000 calories of simple carbs, every one of those calories will be used. But if you only consume 400 carb calories, and throw in 400 protein calories and 200 fat calories.... well then you might only be absorbing 600 or 700 calories, particularly in the beginning. So if you have a balanced meal (with protein and fat and hopefully complex carbs) you get more than the benefit of only consuming 1000 calories. You get the benefit of all those calories that were malabsorbed too! That means that you might have a deficit of 2400 calories.... you're getting closer to goal faster that way. So the more carbs, and particularly simple carbs then you're going to slow down your weight loss by the simple math of it (unfortunately the accountants of calorie Bank are often behind on their accounting, so their ineptitude means that your weight loss isn't strictly linear even though it should be)
Now let's go beyond the simple calorie equation to the health equation.
As I mentioned, your body is malabsorbing fat and protein. But your body NEEDS those to function. If you don't get enough protein in your diet, your body is going to go to your Protein Bank (a different bank than the simple Calorie bank) and it is going to steal some protein to carry out the appropriate functions. Alas, the Protein bank you have inside you is called muscle. And Muscle BURNS more calories than other types of flesh. So if your muscle mass diminishes you won't burn as many calories, and that will slow down your weight loss also! In addition, one of your muscles is your heart. You need your heart to NEVER be depleted by the bodies search for protein!!! that can result in permanent damage! So beyond all the tasty things made of protein that you get to eat, there's the whole heart health thing that is essential. This is why Protein First is one of the many mantras you'll see on this site.
FAT is also essential, you have all kinds of vitamins that are fat soluble, they need some fat to function. Your body also likes to have a bit of fat in the diet, and it won't hurt to have good fats. (in my little universe that means extra virgin olive oil, avocado, olives... stuff like that.
So the simple answer is that a little bit of carbs here and there won't destroy your weight loss, but it might slow it down, might result in poor health if you don't do "protein first" and it might establish a small habit now that becomes a big habit later that might take all of your success and turn it on its head in two or three or four years.
Use this time to discover WHAT YOUR food demons are. Recognize them. Give them the power of recognition and then YOU need to take power over them by understanding their influence on you, and negating or sidelining that influence on you. If you don't spend this time in figuring out your own particular issues for gaining weight, then you might fall back into those same bad habits.
Some folks reward themselves with a little sweet every day, or once a week. I chose a square of dark chocolate a day, until I started forgetting it and I found it didn't really matter.
Because you've been bypassed, every calorie you consume is NOT created equal.
Post Op:
A Carb calorie, particularly a simple one, is worth one carb calorie, so every carb you consume is either going to go to the enegy you use in a day, or if you already have enough energy, your body is going to store it away for a rainy day. (this includes alcohol, but one alcohol gm = 1 and three quarters of a sugar gram.
A complex carb calorie, by its complexity, might not really be a REAL calorie completely. Some of the calorie might just get passed through and out of the system. So complex calories are not as one-to-one as simple carbs.
A Fat calorie you consume will likely .... particularly in the beginning be only partially absorbed. So fat is really not nearly as big a deal as it might have been in the past. Before you were altered, a gram of fat was worth two and a quarter grams of carbs.
A protein calorie, like fat, is not processed fully, and you lose some in the mix....
NOw.... as part of the "battle" you've commensed, you've decided that there are some parts of your body that HAVE to go. You want to keep your skeleton, all your muscles and the important jiggly stuff hanging out in your torso and head. But the fat stuff.... now MOST of that just has GOT to go!
As part of the war, you treat everything like a bank account.
Your body is going to make a withdrawal every day, I'll simplify the numbers a bt, you can look up ones specific to YOUR situation. But lets say that you have 100 pounds to lose. So right now, your body needs 3000 calories just to breathe, pump your heart, run your brain, etc etc etc. So, prior to this surgery, you likely ATE 3000 calories and didn't lose or gain, but remained the weight you didn't want.
the name of the game in the War on Weight is to Make fewer DEPOSITS and more WITHDRAWALS on your calorie balance.
If you use 3000 calories to exist, but you only consume 1000 calories, your body is going to go to your savings account, and it is goign to make a withdrawal in the amount of 2000 fat calories from your storage system. This results in weight loss. Now, if you consume 1000 calories of simple carbs, every one of those calories will be used. But if you only consume 400 carb calories, and throw in 400 protein calories and 200 fat calories.... well then you might only be absorbing 600 or 700 calories, particularly in the beginning. So if you have a balanced meal (with protein and fat and hopefully complex carbs) you get more than the benefit of only consuming 1000 calories. You get the benefit of all those calories that were malabsorbed too! That means that you might have a deficit of 2400 calories.... you're getting closer to goal faster that way. So the more carbs, and particularly simple carbs then you're going to slow down your weight loss by the simple math of it (unfortunately the accountants of calorie Bank are often behind on their accounting, so their ineptitude means that your weight loss isn't strictly linear even though it should be)
Now let's go beyond the simple calorie equation to the health equation.
As I mentioned, your body is malabsorbing fat and protein. But your body NEEDS those to function. If you don't get enough protein in your diet, your body is going to go to your Protein Bank (a different bank than the simple Calorie bank) and it is going to steal some protein to carry out the appropriate functions. Alas, the Protein bank you have inside you is called muscle. And Muscle BURNS more calories than other types of flesh. So if your muscle mass diminishes you won't burn as many calories, and that will slow down your weight loss also! In addition, one of your muscles is your heart. You need your heart to NEVER be depleted by the bodies search for protein!!! that can result in permanent damage! So beyond all the tasty things made of protein that you get to eat, there's the whole heart health thing that is essential. This is why Protein First is one of the many mantras you'll see on this site.
FAT is also essential, you have all kinds of vitamins that are fat soluble, they need some fat to function. Your body also likes to have a bit of fat in the diet, and it won't hurt to have good fats. (in my little universe that means extra virgin olive oil, avocado, olives... stuff like that.
So the simple answer is that a little bit of carbs here and there won't destroy your weight loss, but it might slow it down, might result in poor health if you don't do "protein first" and it might establish a small habit now that becomes a big habit later that might take all of your success and turn it on its head in two or three or four years.
Use this time to discover WHAT YOUR food demons are. Recognize them. Give them the power of recognition and then YOU need to take power over them by understanding their influence on you, and negating or sidelining that influence on you. If you don't spend this time in figuring out your own particular issues for gaining weight, then you might fall back into those same bad habits.
Some folks reward themselves with a little sweet every day, or once a week. I chose a square of dark chocolate a day, until I started forgetting it and I found it didn't really matter.
~Lady Lithia~ 200 lbs lost!
March 9, 2011 - Coccygectomy!
I chased my dreams, and my dreams, they caught me!
Yeah...what Lith said.
RNY Gastric Bypass 1-8-08 350/327/200 (HW/SW/CW). I spend most of my time playing with my food over at Bariatric Foodie - check me out!
Wow! I'm printing your response so I can break it down step by step. So helpful and great information. It is really just a craving. My bigger issue is that I seriously don't like vegetables. I haven't since I was a small child. I wouldn't eat them in baby food, toddler food, or adult food. My veggies are the starchy ones. I do like lettuce and cucumber, but all others are starchy (corn, potatoes, water chestnuts, bean sprouts) so I am very limited on "replacement" foods in the form of veggies for starch. I do crave it, awful. I have 2 children and a husband I cook for so I cannot just tell them that because I can't have it they cant. Not fair to a 9 and 3 year old. I am also very limited at this point in what I can eat. (I'm 5 weeks out). I'm so sick of greek yogurt, soup and protein shakes. I want to CHEW something. I just thought I would ask, but your answer makes so much sense, I just need to process it step by step. Thanks for the help ladies.
PG
PG
Be all you can be, not what someone else says you can. 
I'm not sure exactly WHAT carb you are craving, so the answer may not apply.
but - in my house i DO limit what the rest of the family eats based somewhat on what i eat. fair doesn't have anything to do with it - health does. (i have a 6 and 3 year old). if white bread isn't healthy for me, it's not healthy for them, and why do i want to start them on a bad habit that i'm trying to break?
we rarely have processed foods/carbs in the house anymore. their meals are mostly fruits, veggies and an adequate amount of protein. drastically limit snacks, don't have candy, etc.
it's a lifelong journey and there is no reason the family shoudln't be along for the ride. i can't control what hubby does outside the house, but inside the house we have a united front for the best health for our children.
but - in my house i DO limit what the rest of the family eats based somewhat on what i eat. fair doesn't have anything to do with it - health does. (i have a 6 and 3 year old). if white bread isn't healthy for me, it's not healthy for them, and why do i want to start them on a bad habit that i'm trying to break?
we rarely have processed foods/carbs in the house anymore. their meals are mostly fruits, veggies and an adequate amount of protein. drastically limit snacks, don't have candy, etc.
it's a lifelong journey and there is no reason the family shoudln't be along for the ride. i can't control what hubby does outside the house, but inside the house we have a united front for the best health for our children.
Follow my vegan transition at www.bariatricvegan.com
HW:288 CW:146.4 GW: 140 RNY: 12/22/11
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