Carb intake.

sassy1fp
sassy1fp Posts: 24 Member
edited November 24 in Health and Weight Loss
Okay, so naturally now that im taking my change of lifestyle serious w clean eating and excercise, my body is craving carbs. This morning I was fening for a bagel, which i happily did not deprive my self of. My question how much carbs should i be eating on 1, 500 Cal goal 1lb week, 120mim excercise a week?
«13

Replies

  • Nikion901
    Nikion901 Posts: 2,467 Member
    What did you get when you input your info for you goals on MFP? It defaults to 50% carb calories, but you can change that in 5% increments as long as you keep the total from Carb-Fat-Protein at 100%
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,620 Member
    sassy1fp wrote: »
    Okay, so naturally now that im taking my change of lifestyle serious w clean eating and excercise, my body is craving carbs. This morning I was fening for a bagel, which i happily did not deprive my self of. My question how much carbs should i be eating on 1, 500 Cal goal 1lb week, 120mim excercise a week?

    You can have as many carb-containing foods as you want, as long as that doesn't prevent you getting enough of essential nutrients like proteins, fats, fiber, micronutrients.

    Strictly speaking, carbs aren't an essential nutrient, but some people definitely do better if they include carbs in their eating.
  • meritage4
    meritage4 Posts: 1,441 Member
    You can track carbs in your food diary and it gives you a goal daily.
  • glassyo
    glassyo Posts: 7,759 Member
    There are really only two reasons to limit carb intake. One is to avoid filling up your calorie target with low nutrition food, since many high carbohydrate foods contain little else but calories (potato chips, for example).

    Potato chips are mostly fat, they aren’t a high carb food. Baked potatoes would be a high carb food.

    You have a point. I consider them high carb because carbohydrates do make up over a third of the calories (36% for Wavy Lay's). They are an empty calorie food. Perhaps snack crackers and Hostess cakes would have been a better example.

    Potato chips are a pretty good source of potassium, actually.
  • hoopduck
    hoopduck Posts: 8 Member
    That depends on what your long and short term goals are. Low carb, high fat diets like Paleo, Atkins, and Keto have helped many people shed weight. I am doing keto right now, and limit my carbs to under 25 net grams per day, and keep within my calorie deficit. I eat vegetables, meats, a bit of dairy, and healthy fats like butter and coconut oil. In the first three weeks I lost 14 pounds. Carbs do not need to make up a large portion of our diets unless we choose to consume them.
  • Kst76
    Kst76 Posts: 935 Member
    What carbohydrates can i eat that keeps me full for a longer period of time?
    I love bagels but get hungry an hour after i eat one.
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,097 Member
    What carbohydrates can i eat that keeps me full for a longer period of time?
    I love bagels but get hungry an hour after i eat one.

    What foods are satiating is going to vary from one person to the next. I personally find higher-fiber, eaten with at least a little fat and protein, to be most satiating. Like a baked potato with a some full-fat greek yogurt.
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
    What carbohydrates can i eat that keeps me full for a longer period of time?
    I love bagels but get hungry an hour after i eat one.

    As lynn said, it varies from person to person, so you will need to experiment. I find beans, potatoes, and white rice most filling. For snacks I find apples most filling, although many here find they make them hungrier! Shows how differently people respond to food.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    What carbohydrates can i eat that keeps me full for a longer period of time?
    I love bagels but get hungry an hour after i eat one.

    carbs don't really keep me full. protein and fat for me.
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,986 Member
    For me it's a proper bread, a good amount of pasta or rice that keeps me full. Fats or protein doesn't work for me, plus they make me tired during daytime. Like said above: everybody is different.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    You all have good points. However, most people when they think 'high carb' their mind goes immediately to all the grain-based packaged foods, breads, pastas, dry cereals and cereal bars, that sort of thing.

    I think most people think about potatoes, sweet potatoes, rice, and pasta, and probably bread, none of which are typically eaten alone or necessarily low nutrient and as for calories what you eat with them is what matters -- a pasta meal with lots of veg, a little olive oil, and lean meat (for example, shrimp) is a different meal than pasta carbonara, and the pasta itself plays no role in the difference.
    If someone is limiting their total carb grams, they are often more likely to make those grams count with things that are more nutritious, such as the vegetables and fruits.

    My observations are that this is not always true, and focusing on nutrition is probably better for most than focusing on "carbs." (I do think some do better on lower carb diets and that getting more protein can help others. Beyond that, I'd focus on the nutrient density of an overall day, and point out that many of the most nutrient dense foods are primarily carbs.)
    I'm certainly not trying to say carbs are bad. What I am saying is that limiting carbs -can- help steer someone away from a lot of the high calorie, low nutrition convenience foods if they are having an issue with hitting their calorie goals but still being hungry or not getting enough other nutrients. When you get down to it, for the most part the high-carb nutritious foods we've talked about are relatively low in calorie density, which means that even if most or all of their calories come from carbohydrates, they still offer fewer grams of carbohydrates than a similar quantity of "junk" food.

    Most (not all) "junk" foods are half fat, half carbs, so I don't see the point of focusing on them as "carbs" or scare-mongering about carbs. You'd get the same result limiting fats, but I think focusing on that isn't a great idea either, for the same reason.

    And not everyone has 2500 calories on a deficit. At a 1500 g limit, 20% carbs would be 75 g, and I know when I did keto (as an experiment) trying to stick to about 60 total was hard just eating avocado, vegetables, and nuts, plus a bit of dairy. So 75 g would mean one additional piece of fruit or a small amount of potatoes, probably, when a healthful diet could easily include many more carbs -- oats or more fruit at breakfast, some legumes, sweet potato, plus all the veg and some nuts and dairy.

    NOT saying 20% is wrong for you, but focusing on cutting carbs vs. a nutrient-dense overall diet that is pleasurable and satisfying and sating to YOU seems to me the wrong approach. Lower carbs may be helpful for some, but certainly not all.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    edited February 2018
    What carbohydrates can i eat that keeps me full for a longer period of time?
    I love bagels but get hungry an hour after i eat one.

    Like others said, depends on the person, so experiment.

    Bagels (bread in general) aren't filling for me. But most starchy carbs when eaten with protein and fat are, even if the starchy carbs make up most of the meal -- oats and potatoes and pasta (weirdly, since it's basically the same as bread) all work.

    Beyond that, fiber is filling for me, so beans and lentils are foods I find super filling, and vegetables always make a big difference (and unlike many here I find plain cooked vegetables quite filling, and same with fruit).
  • collectingblues
    collectingblues Posts: 2,541 Member
    You all have good points. However, most people when they think 'high carb' their mind goes immediately to all the grain-based packaged foods, breads, pastas, dry cereals and cereal bars, that sort of thing. If someone is limiting their total carb grams, they are often more likely to make those grams count with things that are more nutritious, such as the vegetables and fruits.
    I'm certainly not trying to say carbs are bad. What I am saying is that limiting carbs -can- help steer someone away from a lot of the high calorie, low nutrition convenience foods if they are having an issue with hitting their calorie goals but still being hungry or not getting enough other nutrients. When you get down to it, for the most part the high-carb nutritious foods we've talked about are relatively low in calorie density, which means that even if most or all of their calories come from carbohydrates, they still offer fewer grams of carbohydrates than a similar quantity of "junk" food.
    This kind of veers into the whole "clean eating" thing. Generally speaking I consider the philosophy to be a bunch of woo, but to give credit where it is due, avoiding the packaged/convenience foods does tend to steer a person toward a diet with a higher nutritional density but lower caloric density. Limiting carbohydrate intake can have the same effect.
    Also to note, when I say limiting, I'm not talking about extremes like keto diets with 20 grams or less per day. For myself, setting my carbs at 20% gives 124 grams per day (not counting fiber) at 2500 calories. I can eat all kinds of vegetables (if I cared to) and a fair amount of most fruits without threatening that limit. I cannot, however, eat a bunch of things like white bread and mac-n-cheese. I have to be much more careful about quantity with those.

    Just because people "think" something doesn't mean that they are right.
This discussion has been closed.