Tips for easing in?

sweetteadrinker2

Ok, here's the super brief weight loss bio: lost 12 pounds, gained five back during finals (five weeks ago), lost two of those pounds as of a couple days ago. When I was younger(think 12-13) I used a 'low carb' diet to achieve weight loss. I only cut out the obvious sources at that time and it worked. Now that I'm able to cook and make my own food choices, what advice can you give me? Ratios between carb, fat, protein (I need lots of protein ~90 grams per day, for a medical condition), recipes, etc. Total newb, currently keeping carbs between 50-100 as a starting point. Any way to adjust the goals mfp gives with regard to ratios?

Thanks!

Dragonwolf

If you use the "Custom" option in the Goals section, you can set your macros to just about whatever you want. MFP only uses 5% increments by default, but if you look in the Launch Pad threads in the announcement section of this group, there's a tutorial for how to get more fine-tuned controls, which will then allow you to set your goals in grams. The 5% increments are often close enough, especially for new folks, though, so go with whatever works for you.

50-100g carbs is a good place to start, and 90g of protein is fairly easily attainable, so I think your goals are good there. Make sure your calorie goal is accurate and don't try to do more than a 1lb/week loss unless you're objectively morbidly obese. From there, fill in the rest of your calorie allotment with fat (yes, it will likely seem really high).

90g of protein is easily attainable with about 4oz of meat or 4 eggs per meal. 3-4 eggs, a chicken breast or thigh (with skin!), a steak, etc. The typical 3.5oz serving of meat (or the less typical "serving" of 4 eggs) will get you about 20-25g of protein. Spread across 3 meals, that will get you to 60-75g just on that. Add another ounce of meat at each of those meals and you suddenly add around 15g, getting you to 75-90g. Go with that and track it for a while, and you'll soon learn what meats and meat combinations get you right at 90g without you feeling like you're force-feeding yourself.

For meals in general, start basing your meals around a meat and non-starchy vegetables. Doing that will shift your mindset and make meal planning easier than trying to do what is likely your old way (meals based around a starch or with a big starch element). Also, try not to do substitutes, at least on a regular basis. Most "low carb!" analogs to high-carb favorites are pretty disappointing and expensive. They can also trigger carb cravings, which defeats one of the purposes of going low carb. It doesn't hurt to have a few good recipes or pre-made products for in a pinch (or special occasions), but it's a good idea to try not to make a habit of it, in my opinion.

Also, switch to non-sugar sweeteners, or (arguably even better) start learning how to forego sweetener altogether. Stevia is a popular choice. Xylitol is, as well, though it still does have some carbs, so keep that in mind (Xylitol is a good one for a sweetener that tastes like sugar). Some people use aspartame (Equal), though that seems largely out of favor in this group. Splenda is another popular one, too. I've ended up keeping some of each Stevia (granulated and liquid), Splenda, and Xylitol around, as each have their place in various uses. I don't use a lot of any of them, but they do come in handy.

For both the sweeteners and the low-carb substitutes, it may be worthwhile to cut them out entirely for a month, so that you force yourself to not be dependent on such things, then re-introduce them as a "sometimes" thing. This is especially good if you've already been using things like aspartame, which has been known to have neurological side effects (which you may not realize you're having if you've been using it for an extended period of time).

The Launch Pad post in the announcements section has a bunch of links to various resources, including favorite recipes and recipe sites and various how-tos. I highly recommend checking it out.

sweetteadrinker2

Thank you so much! I got it all set up, and fat tastes so good right now!