I can't think of a cereal that isn't a carb. But I'm wondering, is there a specific reason that you have decided to cut out all carbs? There are different types of carbs, namely simple versus complex carbs. Simple carbs (breads, etc.) give you quick energy but don't stay in your body long. Complex carbs (fruits, whole grains) give you energy as well, but they stick around in your stomach and provide more nutritional value.

From my perspective, cutting out all carbs is a somewhat difficult lifestyle change to maintain, since carbs are everywhere. It might be more effective to try limiting yourself to only having carbs once a day or 300 calories worth of carbs - if cereal is something you really like, maybe have cereal once a day, but go for a whole grain cereal like Kashi Go Lean Crunch or simple bran flakes. Then, you can try to avoid carbs the rest of the day (I LOVE cereal, and would have a hard time living without my Honey Bunches of Oats).

i base most of the diets i give to my clients are no carb for a short period but i add in a carb day or two specific to what the goals of the individual are. if you are interested in getting a meal plan PM me.

If you're cutting out carbohydrate then you'll want to cut out fruit, veggies, bread, rice, pasta, potatoes, cereals, grains, oats, milk, all sugar, the list is endless. Your diet will consist of protein and fat, which includes meat, fish,and healthy fats such as extra virgin olive oil.

I strongly advise against doing this for any more than two weeks. This diet is shown to have adverse effects in the long term. Also be aware that your body is likely to go into ketosis which won't feel (or smell) great for the first few days.

Since I know nothing of your current health or reasons for doing this diet, I would also strongly advise you to speak to your doctor before starting this diet.


On a slight side note, the sugar in fruit as we know is fructose, a monosaccahride. Other monosaccharides include glucose and galactose. These are single unit sugars and otherwise known as 'simple carbs'.

I don't think it's a very realistic diet.
The best diets feel like you're not dieting at all, and you WILL feel like you can't eating anything with this diet and will be hard (and unhealthy) to keep up.

Try controlling portion size rather than elliminating something completely.

Can you tell us more about why you want this diet? What are your goals and what have you tried already?

to each their own i disagree completely. i'm on it now and am leaner,stronger and feel better than ever!

I completely agree, one of the most important keys to weight loss is controlling portion size. Many people focus far more on 'what' to eat when their issue is more with 'how much'. Benefits aren't limited to those wishing to lose weight, there are many people suffering faigue, emotional imbalances, bloating and various other symptoms primarily because their portion sizes are too large.

It is a case of each to their own unfortunately, extreme carbohydrate cutting is a very controversial diet in itself besides the fact that everyone's body is different. Some people feel great on a lower arb intake, others not so good.

Cutting carbs to <20g is essentially a ketogenic diet. The ketogenic diet is known primarily for it's use with epileptic children, it's been successful in helping with certain types of seizures in just over 50% of cases. Unfortunately in adults the diet wasn't shown to be very successful.
The diet has become very popular among dieters and weight lifters who take advantage of the ketogenic state for fat burning.

There are very good arguments both for and against ketosis. It's generally agreed that after the initial feelings of being hit by 50 trucks, you become more energetic as your body adapts to breaking down fat for energy. As your body breaks down fat, ketones start to build up in your blood. For most people this doesn't appear to cause any immediate issue and can be detected using the bran Ketostix or similar product. Excessive build up of ketones is thought to cause the blood to turn acidic so this state should be monitored with care. As good as ketosis is reported as being for fat loss, harmful long term effects on the body are still up for debate. Current known effects include kidney stones, liver disfunction, and high cholesterol.

Personally, from my own research and experience (yes I have followed this diet myself), I believe a ketogenic diet to be acceptable in the short term (two weeks). Long term use of this diet should be avoided as it's potentially very harmful to the body. Our bodies are not designed to live in a state of ketosis for any prolonged period of time.


However, lowering your carbohydrate consumption, especially if you have been consuming a high amount of carbohydrate for some time, could benefit you in the long run. By lowering your carb intake I mean no lower than 120g, this will allow you adequate fuel to function healthily while helping avoid the negative effects of consuming too much carbohydrate. This is my recommendation and is not official.


DPGfitness, you're not a weight lifter by any chance are you?

ok thanks so how many grams of carbs should i be eating a day

Recommended intake is around 285g a day depending on your body weight.

okay would 50g be enough

I am a weight lifter. I was an athlete turned Powerlifter turned bodybuilder. I know the importance of nutrition, health and exercise. I have tried numerous diets and know what works and what doesn't. I am a personal trainer and nutritionist. Depending on the person diets with carbs will not work, case and point me. Actually the might work for me but why lose 20lbs over 20 weeks when I can lose the same weight in 9 weeks all because my body reacts differently.

Who are has the leanest bodies on the planet? Bodybuilders. Why not do what they do. Size and bulk is a different story so lets not get into that. I'm saying it comes down to nutrition and less than 50g a day of carbs is what all of them do (unless they are taking insulin shots, another topic for another day though yet again). Almost 300g/day would mean bulking up and that would be equivalent to 50-70% of your calories. Get lean get off the carbs, plain and simple. Ask yourself how bad do you want it. Its not easy but to the serious ones it doesn't matter you just do it!

I will offer my services again if you want to put a meal plan together. PM me!

The problem I have with losing weight fast is that most people tend to reach their goal and then STOP whatever it is they were doing. Yes, it's great that they can lose 20 pounds in half the time, but keeping it off is what's important. Sometimes people don't even get that they are needlessly yo-yo dieting and how unhealthy that is. They are just so focused on losing pounds that they aren't realizing they have been losing and gaining back the same twenty pounds.

If charmedwitch is the average person, then learning to control portion size and keeping up a daily exercise is more beneficial than some crash diet without supervision. People aren't all body builders for a reason DPG, it's hard to keep up for most people and many aren't really that in tune with their body!

Charmedwitch, there's no magic number for carb intake. Why don't you try 175-200g for awhile and start to take away carbs until you start to lose weight? If you could be losing weight when eating 175g then why go any lower?

Perhaps carb cycling would be a moderate alternatove to both approaches

I think that'd be something worth trying.

ok ill have about 150 g a day

I just wrote the most massive informative post ever. But I got logged out so it vanished when I submitted!

Maybe a general "low carb - good or bad?" thread could be constructed in the debate forum.


I'll settle for 150g a day

Don't forget to have small meals, often, and healthy choices. That's the key.

Yep, we could do that in general debate forum and I'll put a link to it in a few other relavant forums. I'd rather people who are interested are able to find it you know? Thanks for the suggestion!

I hate it when I get logged off. There's a remember me check under the log in on the upper left hand corner. It won't ever log you out that way

Unfortunately my laptop blew up last night so I'm hopping on my husbands when I can. I didn't want to leave my account logged in. Will have a replacement PC tomorrow though so back to normal

Anyway, off topic.

Good luck charmedwitch. If you need anymore guidance let us know!

Victoria, I know it probably took you awhile to type that up, but I am interested in what you had to say!

Low carb debate can be found here.

I suggest having high,med,low/no carb days

ex:

Mon:med
Tue:high
Wed:med
Th:low/no
Fri:med
Sat:high
Sun:low/no

Low should be 50g or less
Med 51-100g
high 100-200g

Just judge days by your workouts like on legs day i would carb up all day so high carbs would be good for me as fri is bi/tri so low/no would be perfect as well.