Talk Nutrition/Macros to me?

Makoce

Over the past almost year and a half, I've lost over 60LBS eating under goal.
I ate whatever foods I wanted regardless of how bad and unhealthy - and did not track macros.
I would chronically do the elliptical at the gym for hours on end to eat more.
This worked for me to lose weight, but now I am much more curious about HEALTH.

Over-exercising left me burnt out, and eating whatever I wanted ( mostly processed sugary carby foods ) left me having blood sugar crashes hours after I had just ate.

I recently drank the kool-aid and eat in a "primal" guideline. But please dont attach this to something anal or relevant to a post-argument or something. Im just giving the information.
It works for me in terms of hunger, but now I am curious about macros and nutrition.

Can I continue to not pay attention to macros as long as I am eating healthy foods?
I try to include protein in every meal, but you know there is a lot of low carb talk in the community for this lifestyle.

I did lose eating 100 - 200g of carbs, if not more on days that I had ridiculous elliptical days ( like 500g of carbs of crap food ) But I was very active.

But since I am NO LONGER doing cardio ( unless its once a week for like 30 minutes ), and just doing lifting / hiking / walking and other slow moving exercises, does it matter my carb intake for energy?
Can I have 100 - 200 g days from fruits, vegetables and potato/rice ( I allow starch ) even on days that I sit on my *kitten* most of the day or take a walk?
Will this cause insulin or blood sugar issues and lead me back to binging and hunger?
Would having a lower goal be better on my body?
Im keeping them between 40 - 100g at current because Im unsure what leeway I have or how this chemically works.

Im pretty ill-educated on nutrition/macros/etc and I want to get more knowledgeable about health instead of weight loss, and how your body is suppose to take in nutrients for your lifestyle.
Is there a certain combination of foods you need? No carbs during the day and eat them at night? Fruit is bad? What!

Please let me know in a open-minded informative way!
TALK TRUE FAX

bcattoes

Advice from real nutrition experts - The Harvard School of Public Health

http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/

Makoce

Thanks, Ill play around on the site and read up on it.

Im not really looking for "experts" Im just looking for opinions / knowledgeable individuals / first hand experiences / and of course some re-assurance.

I'm seeing that the site does say "The type of carbohydrate in the diet is more important than the amount of carbohydrate in the diet", this sounds a bit more assuring in terms of what I was thinking.

But on the general Paleo/Primal forums, you get the biased message of low-carb is pretty much the only way for weight loss.
( Generically speaking. I could just be ill-informed though)

Everyone here practices different eating styles / trends and has different opinions so I figured Id come here to a much more diverse group of answers!

_John_

most of your micronutrition comes from carbohydrate containing foods (fruits and veggies). The paleo argument of "carbs aren't necessary while fat and protein are" kind of sabatoges itself if taken too far by the wrong individual.

You can still eat "low carb" you just better plan out nutritious foods for those carbs by maximizing your micronutrition with things like greens, cruciferious vegetables and berries as your fruit.

You can also eat a high fiber diet while still limiting carbs if you're smart.

The lower your carb # the smarter you have to be with what you consume as your carbs is the take home message. A diet with a lot of processed grains for carbs or not enough fiber from fruits and veggies (veggies in particular) is likely to be missing some key nutrients.

Makoce

Gotcha! Makes sense.
So really, it's like the website Bcattoes posted, where it states it's not how much, it's the type.

So the different between being at the higher spectrum of carbs, say, 200g a day of Carbs from fruits and vegetables, or a sweet potato all in one day - vs. popcorn, instant oatmeal & cereal is the real point.

As long as I am eating things "from the earth" as much as I can, and limiting or eliminating processed foods, wheat, etc - I really dont have to worry about the issue of gaining weight, blood sugar, or whatever else.

And the other issue behind low carb with these diets and lifestyles, is these people dont usually track calories / weight food.
Granted I am tracking calories and staying under, its really all still "calories in vs calories out".
Correct?

The other concern is I have high cholesterol and trig levels, as well as a slightly elevated liver for "fatty liver" - only by like .1 points or something but I guess it was enough for the doctor to mention.
I was told low-carb can help lower these things
Is this true?

My main issue is I dont want to have to obsess over a certain amount of carbs in my day, Id like to eat as much fruit as Id like - within reason obviously - with a potato, hell, even some rice - along with my protein and veggies and not have to worry about the fact I havent exercised, my health, or my blood sugar - or some weird concept that Ill get fat.

Id like my diet to be sustainable AND healthy, limiting any obsession or ridiculous planning day-to-day to be withing my macro ranges, you know?

_John_

I've done two approaches that have worked for me, not counting calories while eating "clean" (whole foods for me including all types of food) for every meal, or IIFYM where I set the protein # I want to hit, set my fat at 30% and eat the rest of my calories as carbs while being concious of my micronutrition as well.

In the first I would have ended up at 10-15% fat, which I feel was detrimental to my overall diet/health (this is why I'm on MFP at all). I feel MUCH better eating the 25-35% fat when I'm tracking. I can also moderate treats better when I'm tracking my caloric intake whereas I had to be much more ridgid on food choices when I "ate clean" because I was likely pushing my caloric needs by not tracking. I feel that being able to moderate foods that are "just calories" while getting my macro-micro nutrition is a much more sustainable longterm way of going about it, as even though i easily maintained a healthy weight I'd binge eat some weekends when I allowed myself to eat "unclean" foods.

That's just been my experience, and I should note that I exercise a lot and am a large 5'10" guy, even when my body fat % is in the teens.

Makoce

Thanks! Interesting how certain things work for different people.
Im glad you found what works for you now, though!
Is there a reason why you wern't tracking while eating clean though?

_John_

Thanks! Interesting how certain things work for different people.
Im glad you found what works for you now, though!
Is there a reason why you wern't tracking while eating clean though?

Era before smartphones/MFP...too cumbersome

Makoce

Ah! Just wasn't sure as a lot of people in the clean eating / paleo / whole foods community don't believe in logging.
Didn't know if it was just lack of a calorie count community, or that belief.

So, what do you recommend / think then for someone with lower now activity level like myself, since you're higher in your activity -- in terms of carbs and macros in that respect?

At current Im set to 25% Carbs ( 111g ), 30% Protein ( 136g ), and 45% Fat ( 88g )
I weigh 102lbs currently on my scale, ( multiple doctors scales seem to say 106 ), and Im 5'2.
Dont know BF%, and Im spastic with a measuring tape.

I strength train maybe 2 times a week for 40 minutes, and walk 30 minutes - an hour daily.
Might hike once a week and get a bike ride in there.
But otherwise Im pretty sedentary when Im not doing these activities.

Makoce

Bumping this.