The thread on vegetarianism got me thinking: We used to be told that meat was evil and carbs (like pasta and rice) were good. Now, we’re told pretty much the opposite. And I have many times tried to eliminate carbs (like rice and pasta), but I think I’d have an easier time eliminating meat. It’s just so easy (and tasty) to make rice or pasta the base of a meal, and then put whatever on top. And that whatever could be meat or non-meat stuff. But the rice and pasta are the “must haves”.
As long as I could be ovo-lactarian so I could still have eggs and cheese, I could say goodbye to the meat pretty easily but then be able to eat al the rice and pasta I wanted. Or, maybe have meat just a few times a year, as I’m sure it’s OK to have rice or pasta a few times a year, too.
It’s not so much the existence of either in your diet as it is the serving size… it’s okay to have carbs for breakfast, just don’t have pancakes and hash browns and toast and maple syrup… and don’t have steak and eggs and sausage. Or for lunch, have a salad instead of fries with your burger.
Yes, I know, but I’m looking at a what if. What if you had to give up one or the other, which one would you choose? I was a bit surprised at first when I came to the conclusion that I’d probably give up meat rather than rice and pasta. Not that I even eat all that much meat to begin with, but it just seems like a meal, for me, is less complete without the carbs than it is without the meat.
I was vegetarian before, I could be again. I resumed eating meat because I was getting dangerously skinny. Ten years later and a middle-aged potbelly in full bloom, it’s only inertia that keeps me eating meat.
If I had to give up one, I would give up carbs. But living life without quality bagels, fresh bread, good pasta, homemade mashed potatoes, biryani or arroz con pollo would make me sad. So I choose to enjoy meat and limit carbs. Cut the garbage carbs and triple up on the veggies. Something will undoubtedly kill me, but I don’t think it will be my diet.
Well, a high protein + low carb diet is the way to go if you’re looking to decrease your body fat percentage. That, and a small 200-300 calorie deficiency. I believe this is what a lot of weight-lifters will do right before Summer; so if you’re looking to show off your washboard abs, this is the diet for you.
That said, IMO the best tasting foods have loads of carbs. So if you’re a fan of alcohol, baked-goods, pasta, potatoes, dairy foods and just about anything sugary, then the choice is obvious.
This. I would miss carbs. But to me, a meal of just carbs makes me feel unfed, and hungry. I need my protein and fat. I could feel satisfied without grains and starchy roots. Sad, and missing yummy food, but I’d feel like I had enough to eat. Without meat I’d constantly feel hungry and feel like I was missing something.
Well… Can I eat eggs and cheese and shellfish? How about birds? If I just had to give up mammal meat I could do that. I’d be an extremely cranky and unhappy vegan, though.
I could easily give up meat if I had a reason. Most of the meat I eat now consists of lunchmeat in sandwiches. Come to think of it, most of that is fish or poultry, so giving up red meat would be even easier.
The Hundred Year Diet is a great book about the history of dieting in America, and the ongoing yo-yo between the low-fat and the low-carb approaches.
I eat meat in moderation, but would not find it that hard to cut entirely. Same with refined carbs for that matter, which is what I assume OP means, since we gotta eat veggies.
The real challenge for me would be dairy. I get like 30% of my calories from dairy. And my favorite foods mostly involve cheese. I hope it’s not the next big bad thing, but you occasionally hear talk about inflammatory foods and cheese is usually top of the pile.
Yes, refined* cards. Hence the multiple references to pasta and rice (meaning white rice). But how is it you get 30% of your calories for dairy, and what percent is from cheese?
But on thinking about it, I already go without meat most meals, anyway. But I’d be hard-pressed to find a meal where I don’t eat any carbs. A sandwich has bread, hot dogs have buns, pizza has crust, and so on. I think that giving up carbs completely would be even harder than bacon.
I’d say around 60% of my fat and half my protein is dairy.
Cottage cheese and string cheese for snacks. Cheese and sour cream in burritos. Milk or dairy-based protein (casein or whey) in smoothies. Greek yogurt, often to make dips and spreads. Copious butter and cream cheese.
Not saying it’s the healthiet, but it’s not too bad. Fits my macros.
Man, I can’t offer any super-researched comments about this but, we need carbs. It is our basic fuel. The problem is the crazy over-abundance of processed, simple carbs in the diest. It’s true–there are way too many of those is the average American diet. But the answer is to cut way down and/or eliminate the simple, over-processed carbs. Not to cut down too much on carbohydrates in general.
This. Of the two I could give up carbs the easiest but I’ve seen the result of friends who tried the nearly-carb-free thing and none of them were good. They all ended up heavier and/or less healthy than they started.
Eat what you want. In moderation. Trying to “give up” one entire dietary component (unless it gives you some sort of mental peace) sounds useless and self-defeating.
I’ll give up spaghetti when they rip the package out of my cold, dead hands.
*Portion control is working nicely for me at present, thank you very much.
Naw, nutritionally, we need to eat either carbs or fat. If your only calorie source is protein you develop rabbit starvation, so you need another calorie source, but it doesn’t need to be carbs. Your body can burn fat, too.
(Hmm, I wonder how alcohol fits in there? I wouldn’t want to get most of my calories that way, but I wonder how sustainable it could be? Or glycogen? Not a lot of dietary sources, but we can digest it)
I’d have real trouble elminating any broad category from my diet. I just love food – all kinds of food – and thinking about, planning, preparing, and eating food is a very large part of my life.
I have successfully cut back in a big way on carbs and sugar in the last year or so. If anyone is actually planning to make a big change, I think big cutbacks (say, eat mostly salads and/or soups for lunch and dinner, with an “anything goes” splurge about once every three weeks or so) are much easier and more likely to be successful than totally eliminating some big category.
Don’t make any change to your diet that isn’t a change for life. So that means don’t make any change that you won’t be successful in sticking to.
Some options are 16/8, 18/6, 20/4. The first number is how many hours you fast in a given day, the second, period of time you can eat. Mine is the latter.
Of course, you can’t eat anything and everything within arm’s reach. You have to stick to a healthy diet that doesn’t exceed your allowable amount of calories to either maintain or lose weight.
But this way of eating has lots of benefits and has worked for me for well over 10 years.
I do agree that whatever approach you choose, you must pick the one that you can realistically maintain as a lifetime practice. Eliminating an entire nutrient rich food group that you enjoy and would miss seems unrealistic and unnecessary.
