Carbs are just every where

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charcharxxx
charcharxxx Posts: 8
in Health and Weight Loss
So day one of my new healthy eating, I thought I was doing really well but today I have had 45% carbs 35% fat and 20% protein :( is this really bad?

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  • girlviernes
    girlviernes Posts: 2,402 Member
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    Nope! Some of the healthiest foods are made up mostly of carbs- veggies, fruits, whole grains, beans...
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
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    It's really hard to say without knowing anything about your stats and goals. Keep in mind that calories are what you need to track for weight loss. Your macros (carbs/fat/protein) can help with health and body composition goals, but MFP's default numbers are just a starting point. Your macros can be set a lot of different ways and that's going to depend a lot on you, your activity, and your goals.

    I found this topic to be really useful in helping me to set up my personal goals: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/819055/setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets
  • AJ_G
    AJ_G Posts: 4,158 Member
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    Percentages are basically meaningless. It would be more helpful if you included your height, weight, calorie intake, and gram amounts for each of the 3 macronutrients.
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
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    You posted another thread about giving up soda. I'm all for making changes toward a healthy lifestyle but you may want to be careful making too many big changes at once. Moderation is key with sustainability. You don't have to give up things, restrict carbs, or demonize foods. Set realistic goals, figure out what approach you are following and make small changes one at a time to help things "stick". Good luck!
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
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    No, eat in a calorie deficit and you will lose weight.

    unless you have some kind of medical condition that makes you sensitive to carbs, then you may want to consider restricting them..

  • lalepepper
    lalepepper Posts: 447 Member
    edited December 2014
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    Carbs are a healthy part of the diet, and you don't need to cut them out to lose weight or maintain healthy eating habits. Some people choose a low-carb diet for medical or personal preferences, but it's not required to lose weight/eat healthfully by any means! I have lost ~85 lbs and normally eat 40-50% of my calories in carbs. 45% of your calories coming from carbs is perfectly fine, but where the carbs come from makes difference in how satisfied you'll feel with what you're eating - you'll likely feel your best by eating your carbs in the form of fruits, vegetables, lentils and legumes, and whole grains. If many of your carbs are coming from added or refined sugars (like soda, "low fat" foods [when they remove fat, they usually add sugar], or white breads/pasta), you will probably find that you don't feel full very long, and you might get lethargic not too long after your meals. Whole foods take longer to be digested and don't usually lead to as extreme blood sugar fluctuations as processed foods can.

    If you're finding that you don't feel full long enough after meals to avoid extra snacking or overeating, it might be worth adding a bit more protein to your diet. I found increasing my intake of protein to 25% or so helps me feel fuller longer than if I eat more carbs.

    Weight loss is pretty straightforward - if you eat less calories than you burn through living and general activity, you will lose weight. A nutrition professor once put this idea to the test by eating only Twinkies and other sweet convenience foods with limited veggies and protein added (but only totalling 1,800 calories a day), and he lost nearly 30 lbs. While he probably felt hungry and tired almost all the time, it's a great example of how weight loss really comes down to your total intake of calories vs. where the calories come from.
  • CA_Underdog
    CA_Underdog Posts: 733 Member
    edited December 2014
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    Are they bad, with respect to what? From a weight loss perspective (the focus of this sub-forum), it's your calories you ultimately want to focus on. Did you hit or miss that goal?
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,565 Member
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    Unless you have a medical reason to hold off of carbs, there is nothing wrong with them.
  • harmar21
    harmar21 Posts: 215 Member
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    malibu927 wrote: »
    Unless you have a medical reason to hold off of carbs, there is nothing wrong with them.
    Unless of course, you are like me and they make you more hungry causing you to eat more or go starving,

  • LAWoman72
    LAWoman72 Posts: 2,846 Member
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    harmar21 wrote: »
    malibu927 wrote: »
    Unless you have a medical reason to hold off of carbs, there is nothing wrong with them.
    Unless of course, you are like me and they make you more hungry causing you to eat more or go starving,

    This is me too. :) If I ate 45% of my diet as carbs, and still managed to stick to my calorie goal, I'm sure I would lose weight. However, lots of carbs in any one sitting drive my hunger through the roof. I end up clawing through the fridge and cupboards like a bear tearing through garbage cans at a campsite.

    If this doesn't happen to you, then no, 45% carbs, for you, probably isn't "bad" by any means.

  • GaleHawkins
    GaleHawkins Posts: 8,159 Member
    edited December 2014
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    LAWoman72 wrote: »
    harmar21 wrote: »
    malibu927 wrote: »
    Unless you have a medical reason to hold off of carbs, there is nothing wrong with them.
    Unless of course, you are like me and they make you more hungry causing you to eat more or go starving,

    This is me too. :) If I ate 45% of my diet as carbs, and still managed to stick to my calorie goal, I'm sure I would lose weight. However, lots of carbs in any one sitting drive my hunger through the roof. I end up clawing through the fridge and cupboards like a bear tearing through garbage cans at a campsite.

    If this doesn't happen to you, then no, 45% carbs, for you, probably isn't "bad" by any means.

    One carb calls for two carbs. Two carbs call for four carbs, etc in my case. Adding back some vegetables now but had to go off cold turkey to break the cravings after 40 years of abuse. I plan to leave off sugar and grains for the rest of my life at this point in time. Everyone is different. If one can address carb intake when young that would be best I expect if they currently trip you up.

  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
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    Yes, carbs are everywhere.

    Kinda like air.
  • ScottDowell
    ScottDowell Posts: 95 Member
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    Yes the carb is everywhere you can find it in all things of different percentage. It is not harmful.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    LAWoman72 wrote: »
    harmar21 wrote: »
    malibu927 wrote: »
    Unless you have a medical reason to hold off of carbs, there is nothing wrong with them.
    Unless of course, you are like me and they make you more hungry causing you to eat more or go starving,

    This is me too. :) If I ate 45% of my diet as carbs, and still managed to stick to my calorie goal, I'm sure I would lose weight. However, lots of carbs in any one sitting drive my hunger through the roof. I end up clawing through the fridge and cupboards like a bear tearing through garbage cans at a campsite.

    If this doesn't happen to you, then no, 45% carbs, for you, probably isn't "bad" by any means.

    Lots of carbs alone in one sitting are bad for me too. But 40% carbs (my goals) or even 45% carbs does not necessarily mean that at all. For some lowering carbs more is helpful, but there's nothing inherently bad about eating 45% carbs or even more or about carbs (which include helpful to me foods like veggies, fruit, potatoes, and sweet potatoes, oatmeal, and even a decent percentage of dairy).
  • GatorDeb1
    GatorDeb1 Posts: 245 Member
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    Even in your brain!

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