Ectomorph husband who is worried about dropping the carbs page

[Sianburton]

Hi everyone

Ive almost finished reading the Primal Blueprint book and having already dropped most grains from my diet due to gluten intolerance am now quite happily dropping the rest. With a bit of persistence (and some nagging) my husband is now starting to cut the grains too but he's concerned about it at the moment (he hasnt yet read the book) but to fill you in

My husband is a classic ectomorph at 6ft he weighs 144lbs (6% bf) on a good day (if we've just been on holiday this is more like 140lbs) in addition to this he is a carpenter and frequently spends his days shifting doors and timber backwards and forwards and generally being very active. On top of this daily work he loves to climb and spends about 3 hours a week at it. He also weight trains really hard to try and keep some muscle on his frame (otherwise he would quickly drop down around 137lbs). So with a super fast metabolism and a very active lifestyle he has heavily relyed on grains to get calories in. His previous diet would be

Breakfast
Large bowl of homemade museli with oats, pumpkins seeds and raisins with organic natural yoghurt and raw milk

Lunch
Home made rice or pasta salad (about 300g of carbs dry!!) with tuna, pepper, onions, tomatoes olive oil etc
2 pieces of fruit and some cashews and almonds (soaked and dried)

Dinner
Stir fryed steak with veg and soy sauce with rice or fresh home made spag bol (no jars sauce) or thai chicken curry again made fresh


So at the moment, whilst he's happy to cut the grains, he's worried he wont get enough calories, will not have enough energy and will be hungry. The hunger bit doesnt worry me too much as I think he will realise that the foods keep him full but I'm worried he wont be able to get enough calories without breaking the bank on food (we spend £400 a month already!!).

What would you all suggest. Is it ok if he adds non grain carbs in at lunch say to get some extra energy for the afternoon he likes potatoes and sweet potatoes and I'm going to get him to try quinoa again.

Everything in the book and online is very heavily focused on those trying to loose weight which I get as this is the majority but there isnt a great deal of info about for people like my hubby who are already very low body fat and need to do the opposite and add weight really.

All help is greatfully received

Sian

[Danielle5690]

Someone as thin and active as him definitely can use more carbs than the rest of us. Keep plenty of potatoes (white and sweet), bananas, and white rice on hand. And he needs waaaaaaay more protein. I'm shocked that he can keep his energy up between breakfast and lunch on muesli and yogurt. I know I couldn't. Try eggs, bacon, veggies, or even leftovers from dinner. Put butter and cheese (if you guys are ok with dairy) on everything.

Smoothies are a good way to get some extra calories for people who really need them, and a homemade smoothie with coconut milk and bright-colored fruit is much more nutrient dense than a plate full of pasta.

[Dirlot]

This is not a low carb way of eating. It can be for fat loss but it is not the emphasis.

Let him eat all the whole, real foods he wants, eggs, meat, fish, tonnes of veggies, fruit, sweet potato etc. If he really wants some empty calories he can add some rice to up his caloric intake.

[Neckhammer]

Thow some more fatty meats in there and see if he'll eat some eggs with that breakfast.