Hi, today is my first day on the no carb diet, and i was just wondering if it is okay to cut carbs out completly. I just went grocery shopping today and didn't buy anything even if it only had one carb in it. Am I suppose to cut carbs down gradually? Or is it okay to stop eating them all together?

What plan are you following? You need to go buy a book and read it first, to get a good understanding why you need to cut carbs.

You need to eat vegetables every day, so you will be getting carbs from those. A lot of us follow the Atkins way of eating (woe), and when you begin, you are at the induction level, and you limit your carbs to 20 per day, and those should be from 3 cups of salad a day, or 2 cups of salad and one of an acceptable vegetable, and 3 or 4 oz of cheese a day, plus cream if you want in your coffee or tea.

You will burnout really fast if you try to eat no carbs. You have to have the nutrients from the vegetables, and later from fruit like berries and melon. Your body will rebel if you don't get them, and you also need the fiber from the vegetables.

Please do yourself a favor and read up on low carb diets. There are lots of them out there. There will probably be others who have read up and can recommend some books for you. Look at the websites, too. The Atkins site has a list of acceptable foods for induction. You'll find there is a huge variety you can eat.

Wishing you success.

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Nita

Ditto all of what Nita said.

As to your question....
No. It isn't. First of all, it's not healthy. Secondly, take a look at the banner of this site. It's all about LOW carb, not NO carb.

Pick a plan, get the book, read said book, educate and inform yourself, then go from there. Welcome. I hope you stick around because this is the best online support site for low carb BAR NONE.

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April

The face of a child can say a lot -- especially the mouth part of the face.

My Blog

Amen, April.

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Nita

I agree with Mom(QueenMama) and April. You need to pick a plan that you think will work for you and read about it. Do some research! Atkins is probably the most restrictive with the carbs. That is the one I'm doing. South Beach allows you more carbs than Atkins, but both of them are LOW carb, not NO carb.

You need to have some carbs, especially from vegetables. Your body needs the fiber. Otherwise, you're in for lots of health problems.

This is a great site to visit. I'm here every day, several times a day. I like to get everyone else's input as well. It's a great support system, especially if you don't have one at home!

Welcome, and make yourself at home! I have!

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Thanks, I definatly will read up on it. I was kinda worried because i went grocery shopping today and noticed even some veggies have carbs. I definatly plan on sticking around and can't wait to start seeing some results!

No matter what your plan, eat at least 3 cups of low glycemic vegetables each day.

At least.

You will glean most of your carbs from low glycemic vegetables. That's where your carbs should come from.

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April

The face of a child can say a lot -- especially the mouth part of the face.

My Blog

welcome.

sounds like you've already discovered one of the popular (and very incorrect) myths about low-carbing: calling for cutting out carbs completely. not a good idea! veggies and fruit are an important part of low-carbing, too. not all carbs are created equal.

if you're interested in losing weight, your very best bet is to select a plan to start out. that will both educate you on how this process works, and give you the best possible chance for good, consistent results in a healthy way. many of us here do atkins or a variation, but if you don't know where to start, after reading some of the beginners articles here, check out johnny bowden's book, living the low-carb life, which gives some plan comparisons.

once you've decided on a plan, get the book! do not pass go, do not collect $200. this is your roadmap and from what i've seen, MAKES THE DIFFERENCE between success and failure for a large percentage of people. if you go with atkins, for example, dr. atkin's new diet revolution is less than $6 most places. i'll tell you one thing: that's the best $6 i've ever spent in my life!

for now, please start eating veggies again! low carb is NOT a crash diet, and that's good, because people gain weight back they've lost with crash diets. done properly, it's a safe, healthy and easy way to manage your weight for the rest of your life. so start eating those veggies, start educating yourself, and do read the info around here as it's a great resource.

good luck to you.

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EatSmart Nutritional Scale Review

That reminds me of me when I was in my post-college days.

My first attempt at dieting, I went strictly vegetarian (as most of the vegetarians I knew were thin, you see). So I ate a lot of rice and beans, hummus, pasta, portatoes in butter etc. I went about a month and gained 5 pounds. Then it dawned on me (a co-worker told me), that there was a lot of fat in the things I was eating (Hummus in particular).

So instead of vegetarian, I switched to eating less than 10 grams of fat a day. Do you realize how hard that is? There's fat in EVERYTHING. I starved myself for about two weeks before I gave up dieting for the next ten years.

I guess the moral of the story is that I'm a big believer in education and research before jumping into a diet at this point.

I admire your moxy and completely understand your desire to lose weight quickly (Who among us doesn't want that?). If low carb gives good results, than no carb should give GREAT results, right? Unfortunately, that's not true. You'd crash out quickly and have major GI problems.

As you do your reading, you'll learn that it's not carbs we count, it's NET carbs. If you can keep the total of net carbs you eat in a day to less than 20, you'll see significant weight loss. There's more to it than that. The kinds of carbs you eat should be from vegetables (broccoli, spinach, salad), not from grains/sugars etc. And drink a lot of water too!

But I digress, you'll learn all this when you do your research. The good thing is that you've taken the first step and commited yourself to a HEALTHY way of eating that's going to help you lose weight, lower your blood pressure and lower your cholesterol levels.

Good luck. If you have any questions, we're always here.

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Sven
305/218/200
Start Date: 1/1/06

Welcome to low-carb eating.
The food's not bad here.