Carbohydrates. We can never live without them. Missing them even for a single day, looks like we have gone through a century.

Would it be possible to follow a diet without carbohydrates for an entire month? 

Which are the difficulties you meet during this period?

What sort of difficulties are in this program and how we could deal with them in an intelligent way?

Are there any tricks or information you should know and what you should avoid?

I do not know if there really are people living their entire life with no carbohydrates, but I personally find it impossible and intolerable.

So I decided to try for the first time (due to upcoming summer) to lose a few kilos following a diet with no carbohydrates.

I’ll have to admit, even the idea made me anxious, creating a personal hyper tension.

With the arrival of the first diet’s day, I had already thought about what I would eat for breakfast, feeling quite loose (a situation not going for long as appeared later).

The truth is that in the past I had never made any serious effort to follow a diet. At times when I wanted to lose 2-3 kilos I just had smaller food portions, without changing WHAT I eat, always reaching the desired result. 

For the first time I decided to try something so drastic (and so prohibitive) in my diet and maybe that is why I experienced so much stress, tension and embarrassment about how it all will turn out.

This diet covers a period of only 30 days (not permanently), aiming at “cleansing” the organism and reduce the belly fat.

Here are the basic rules:

• no cereals

• no pasta

• no dairy products

• no soy products

• no legumes

• no soft drinks

• no alcoholic beverages

• no sugars

• no processed foods

At the end of 30 days, the gradual reintegration of the various foods into the diet begins … but always in moderation.

This process has – in addition to the goal of losing weight – another, a deeper goal. To “check” which foods affect your psychology, your health and your organism functionally and in which way (positive or negative).

This way (even after 30 days), you will be able to better control your emotional overeating, emergency bulimia, your need for unhealthy snacks.

That was another important reason why I decided to take this test / challenge.

To see the effect of food on my organism, how sugar controls my mood and how carbohydrates affect my concentration and activity during the day.

The Challenge Begins

The first week was really a nightmare. Though I started optimistically (despite the fact I was anxious), the first few days I felt a discouragement. I realized that no matter how much I did not believe it, I ended up being really addicted to many nutrients in my daily life.

What cost me a lot (without expecting it at all) was this little chocolate I have every afternoon at work.

It seemed unbelievable how bad I felt refusing to eat it. How long I have been thinking about it and how nervous I was feeling about this restriction.

Regarding the other daily meals, I had no major problems in terms of food amount. I did not have a particular problem not eating pasta or bread.

I had a big problem with my dinner meal where I used to eat yogurt with breadsticks or rusks. As unbelievable it might sound, this made it difficult for me to stay loyal to the 30-day program.

Another issue I had to deal with was the weekly meal plan. What would I eat that I am not crazy about the idea of ​​constantly eating meat or fish.

I had to put my thoughts in order right away and then my diet.

Step 1: Poultry

I selected to include poultry in my diet (in sufficient amount), as I do not really like the red meat. I also added eggs (helping me to get energy especially in my breakfast).

However, excluding legumes and nuts, as well as some vegetables I used to in my diet (tomatoes, broccoli), but especially fruits (especially those containing many carbohydrates like bananas), was torturous.

I did not know what to have in my plate. I stood for minutes looking on the empty plate, trying to think about what I was allowed to eat.

Can I eat whole grains and pasta or they are prohibited?

Brown rice or white rice?

Quinoa?

I visited various websites and I confess I was even more confused. Some mention a strict ban on all carbohydrates, while others urge a partial ban (especially allowing the moderate consumption of whole grain products).

The truth is that after 6 days (I was able to take almost a week without any carbohydrates) I felt quite weak and without energy. However, what started to become obvious was that I had started to exclude sugar and sweets.

I was encouraged

I decided to go ahead and just add some fruits and vegetables to my diet, for receiving with the necessary sugars and carbohydrates so that I do not feel tired, irritable, nervous and in a bad mood. I also tried this natural diet pill “Phenq”, but still need time to have clear results if it helps or not.

As soon as I put a few carbohydrates, (carbs) back in my diet I realized that the constipation caused by this diet, started to subside again. The same applied for some headaches becoming frequent (feeling they had a relation with the sugar added).

I put apples in my daily routine, plenty of berries, pears, while for my breakfast I selected to eat a whole orange (not juice) to get more fiber and facilitate my defecation.

In my morning omelette I added zucchini and a few seeds (so creating another side dish).

Stinking Breath

I was very embarrassed when one day my girlfriend told me about my breath. I wanted to disappear from the earth at the same time.

My routine of cleaning my teeth had not changed at all.

What was wrong?

Being curious about the condition, I asked an expert who informed me that the bad breath was a result of the diet followed.

A diet including reduced or no carbohydrates leads the body to fat burning, producing and providing the necessary amount of energy. This process – also known as ketosis – usually affects the breathing due to acetone (a ketone responsible for bad breath).

I wondered does Jennifer Lopez (who follows this diet) face the same problem of stinking breath?

That was for laughs.

I decided to focus on the benefits offered by this process and not on the difficulties (which objectively emerge constantly).

Basic Benefits of a free/reduced Carbohydrate diet

• weight loss

• control of bulimic and overeating episodes

• appetite suppression

• sugar and carbohydrate dependency control

• higher energy (long term)

• better cardiovascular function

• reduction of blood triglyceride levels

• better digestive process (especially after reintroduction of some carbohydrates)

Foods excluded from my diet for 30 days

• sugar

• starchy vegetables

• fruits with a lot of carbohydrates

• white cereals & pasta

• sweet

• bakery products

• packaged food

• sauce

• sweeteners

• soft drinks

• alcoholic beverage

• pastries

Foods allowed in my diet for 30 days

• meat (mainly lean beef)

• poultry

• fish

• seafood

• eggs

• coffee (wit no sugar or sweeteners)

• green tea (with no sugar or sweeteners)

• seeds

• herbs

• spices

• greens

• non-starchy vegetables

• low carb fruits

• dairy products (low fat)

• sparkling Water

• soda

• natural peanut butter or other fruit butter (with no sugar or other sweeteners)

• pasta and  whole grain products (rare)

CONCLUSIONS

Following 30 days, I can say safely that I feel much better without dependence on sugar and carbohydrates.

It was quite a difficult challenge (at least for me, having no other experience with diets) and faced certain difficulties with my intestine from changing my eating habits.

Nevertheless, as the days passed by (emphasizing, especially after the reintroduction of some basic carbohydrates into my diet, such as fruits and vegetables) I started to feel much lighter, full of energy and stronger spiritually. I had more concentration, higher sharpness and more ingenuity.

Sugar ceased (though with great difficulty) to be a purpose and I finally felt free from a “slavery” from which I did not even know I was suffering.

After 30 days I continued a healthy eating plan, slowly bringing back some foods into my diet (such as pasta or whole grains) to provide more energy to my body (especially since I selected to start an exercise program).

Personally, I would never follow a total carbohydrate diet again, as it did not work well for me.

However, the partial detoxification from sugar and carbohydrates had a good result on and cleared – apart of my organism – my mind from this underground addiction.

I think that I would do a similar diet again if I felt that I have “rolled” back to nutrition with the same bad habits, in order to bring me back to a normal & healthy diet program.

Finally, it is worth mentioning that I actually lost 4.5 kilos in the end (I imagine some of them were due to the many hours I walk around for my work).

Walking helped me a lot to deal with the gastrointestinal difficulties I faced especially in the first days (almost 1 week) of dieting.

Now that I combine a more relaxed diet of reduced carbohydrates with physical exercise, I feel much better.