Will I lose by Replacing potatoes with carrots?

Ladyandbump

If I stop eating potatoes and replace them with carrots will I lose a bit of weight and are carrots better?

Stella3838

Very simply, it doesn't matter what you eat, only the number of calories you eat. So if you stay in your calorie target eating potatoes, eat them. Each has it's own health benefits, so one isn't necessarily better than the other. But you have to keep within your calories for the day and expend more to create a calorie deficit. That's how you lose weight.

crzycatlady1

To lose weight you need to be in a calorie deficit. Doesn't matter what foods you're eating within your calorie parameters though.

diannethegeek

It's impossible to say without more information. If the swap causes you to be in a calorie deficit then you would lose weight. But you have to look at how they fit into the grand scheme of your diet to figure that out. Likewise on the second question. Whether one vegetable is better than another depends on which one fits your nutrition goals better. We have no way of knowing.

Skyblueyellow

I don't know- it depends on if you would be in a calorie deficit doing that.

Personally I eat the potatoes AND the carrots. I just weigh it out.

lemurcat12

Carrot have less calories for the same volume, but it's unlikely to make that much difference.

For example, potatoes, red, raw, have 70 calories for 100 g. Carrots have 41 cal for 100 g. They have different micronutrients, so depends what you need most in your diet. The carrots have about 10 g carbs, 1 g protein, 5 g sugar, 3 g fiber, while the potatoes have about 16 g carbs, 2 g protein, 1 g sugar, 2 g fiber.

Personally I eat potatoes a couple times a week (often with carrots, usually about 100 g or so) so as you can see subbing carrots would make a minimal calorie difference and not cause me to lose weight. On the other hand if you eat more, eat them for every meal, or add lots of butter and cream to them, could be a bigger calorie savings.

Are carrots better? Not inherently, both are good IMO. I eat both -- they aren't an either or thing.

bkbirge

If the potatoes are French fries and the carrots are raw and you are using equivalent volumes then probably.

cwolfman13

Ladyandbump wrote: »

If I stop eating potatoes and replace them with carrots will I lose a bit of weight and are carrots better?

Better is relative...both are highly nutritional whole foods.

VeryKatie

Mm... they're pretty close to the same calories. And if you eat too many carrots compared to how many potatoes you might gain. Since it's calories that matter for weight loss, not what you eat.

I would just like to say that potatoes have plenty of nutrients. Just try not to eat them in fry form all the time.

amusedmonkey

Carrots have 45 or something calories per 100 g (from memory) and potatoes have 75 or something, so in theory, if you eat 300 grams of potatoes every single day and replace them with 300 grams of carrots, you would lose an extra 1/4 pound a month, much less if you don't eat potatoes every day. BUT, potatoes are often more satiating so you may be hungrier with the carrots requiring you to eat more of them, so there wouldn't be much difference in weight loss. If you stubbornly stick to the same volume regardless of satiety, then possibly, but then again you could just reduce the quantity of potatoes to achieve the same caloric effect.

I hope you can see what I'm trying to do here... you are basically making things needlessly complicated.

The simple answer is: when you feel like eating potatoes pick potatoes, when you feel like eating carrots pick carrots. They are both pretty nutritious in different ways. In both cases make sure you are within your calorie budget and you will lose weight regardless of the choices you make.

WinoGelato

How many potatoes are you eating, on a weekly basis?

As others pointed out, the calorie difference by volume is not statistically significant.

In my opinion, a balanced and varied diet with foods consumed in moderation is best; and if there is any one food that is such a significant component that swapping it out would make a difference calorie wise, then I wouldn't call that a balanced and varied diet...

RoxieDawn

This made me chuckle a bit! My thinking took me to replacing a gram for gram potato with carrots. Replacing a 250 gram white potato with 250 grams of carrots you would save around 90 calories.

But potatoes are good for you and for me they are filling. So potatoes do not prevent you from losing weight. As others have stated its if you stay within your daily calorie budget no matter the calorie choices you choose is will allow you lose weight..

You can lose weight eating all the foods you already like as long as you stick to your calorie deficit.

Enjoy your potatoes!

thelovelyLIZ

I mean, I guess if you eat potatoes every day and replace them with carrots, yes? Carrots are much less calorie dense than potatoes. But you should eat potatoes because they're delicious.

aikilady

Potatoes are amazingly healthy. Why would you want to cut them out? Don't believe the myths surrounding carbohydrates and especially whole plant foods.
Potatoes pack a huge potassium punch, as well as Vitamin C, fiber, improve mood and satiation. They also lower blood pressure.
Enjoy!