New Recruit looking for advice: Cutting the carbs

[R-0-Dbl-L-O]

Hello fellow rebels,

For about 18 months I have been staging my own revolution against the imperial processing empire. I am vegetarian at the moment, though from what I have been reading and thinking that may change. I cut out the processed sugars but I am still stuck on the baked goods. I am a fan of anything vegetarian stuck between two slices. I pose a question to my fellow rebels following the paleo lifestyle; Is it better to cut the carbs cold turkey or ween myself off?

FOR THE REBELLION!

[RussTheAerialist]

I think it's better to challenge yourself for 30 days and do it cold turkey. For myself, I found there is definitely an addiction-withdrawal phase when giving up baked goods and grains in general, and setting a goal of "Let me just do this for 30 days and see how I feel" was a great thing for breaking that addiction-cycle. And after my 30 days, I didn't want bread anymore, it's been about 90 days, and I'm allowing myself a little cheating here and there (only on the weekends), but in general, I don't have the cravings anymore.

I would also advise not to try the paleo-substitute route for those 30 days, so no paleo-bread, paleo-pizza, or paleo-dessert.

I personally think it's hard to do it as a vegetarian, but other people on the forum have done it successfully and I'm sure they'll give good advice on how to do it.

WELCOME TO THE REBELLION (from a newbie rebel)

[Antiope]

I'm a bit of a sandwich girl. To the point that most of the sandwich shops around my area know my order. I weened myself off of processed stuff like you did, and when it finally came to sandwiches, pasta, and rice (the very staples of my diet) it was a knock down, drag out. Needless to say, sandwiches were the last to go, and I really did it via salad. For me, a sandwich was always a salad between some bread. So I just cut out the bread and added more meat and veg. Worked like a charm. Clearly this doesn't work for pb&j. What does work, strawberries w/ almond butter (a new addiction I need to control).

['Roos]

I've found cold turkey to be the best for any sort of addictive food (sugar, wheat, milk/dairy) as you go through a few days of awfulness (as everything in your body rebells and goes, "Nooooo! ME WANT!"*grabby hands*) but then you're done. With weaning, you are always looking at what you're eating and asking, "Is this good enough? Should I have less? Can I get away with more?".

I have had good success with cheat days, after an inital cold turkey period, provided they stick to ONE DAY and don't spill over into the next "because there's just that one slice of pie in the kitchen" or "It's only a bite or two". I've been really strict with myself in this respect and am getting decent results (probably not as good as if I didn't have cheat days, but I probably couldn't stay strict and good the rest of the time without the incentive of, You can have this later, just not whenever you have a bit of a hankering).

[Crooked]

I went cold turkey as well and it worked well for me. Given the destructive effect gluten can have on your body, weaning just prolongs the amount of time you are continuing to incorporate that bad food into your diet. Also, I find that just saying "No, never" is a much easier task than saying "Maybe a little" and trying to gauge how much that little should be.

I'm a former vegetarian, and I now eat a pescetarian paleo diet (basically no land animals). What does your diet look like these days?

Since it can be hard to know what to eat when you're not eating grains, here are some suggestions:

-Get enough protein and fat! When you're cutting carbs (which is kind of inevitable when grain intake decreases), you might not be getting enough calories; plus, protein and fat are much more satiating than carbs anyway. Eat protein at every meal. I recommend tempeh if you're going to continue with the vegetarianism. Quinoa and lentils are also better options than things like tofu and seitan.

-If you find yourself at a loss for what to do for lunch, try throwing all the things you would normally have on a sandwich onto a bed of greens instead.

-You could bake normally wheat-containing goods with almond/coconut/flax flour. There are recipes for almond breads, coconut flour pancakes, wheat-free muffins on many paleo websites. This isn't ideal if you use baked goods as a psychological crutch, but if you're just looking for a treat every once in a while, this could be an option. In terms of sandwich replacements, there's an interesting spinach "bread" recipe on the Mark's Daily Apple primal website, and I think that could be a great savory sandwich base. It probably wouldn't work for PB&J, but definitely veggies, protein and some kind of spread would make sense. I also think trying lettuce wraps is a great idea.

[R-0-Dbl-L-O]

Russ

A personal, 30 day challenge is how I became a vegetarian. I will say that I am a better vegetarian than I was a year ago. My motivation was mostly my health and weight loss, but I think my body has figured out my routine and I feel like I have hit a wall in the weight loss area. Physically Im great, but I think its time for a much more significant source of protein other than soy. Have you read up on soy? It is almost as bad as corn in terms of farming and processing, it everywhere and destructive.

Thanks,

Dave

[R-0-Dbl-L-O]

Crooked,

My Diet right now is down right awefull, not enough of anything a lot of greens mostly spinach, beans when I can. I have been supplementing with a vegan protein shake I found. Eggs seem to be a staple in my diet at the moment, plus the $.25 vending machine at work doesn't help I tend to stay away from soy products as much as I can, processing and such but generally its 3 meals a week with a soy protein like seitan or Tempe. Plus beer on the weekends, maybe five or six on average. I think a food log is looking better and better.

[Crooked]

A food log is a great way to get a baseline and start taking real inventory of your health. Eggs are absolutely a staple in my diet, and I think they're a great source of protein and nutrients. Of the major soy protein sources, tempeh is widely considered to be the best because it's the least processed and it is fermented, so it's good for your gut bacteria. Maybe try tracking your food for a week, then post in one of the nutrition forums (or back here) and we can start to help you work out a better plan. What kind of changes are you willing to make to your diet to accomplish your fitness and health goals?