Too many Carbs!

nspferchy

I can't seem to stay within my daily limit of carbs. I'm ALWAYS going over. It seems like everything, including fruit, is high in carbs. I can stay within my limit for fat and even calories. Any suggestions?

ackeebee

i am looking forward to the replies on this one. i keep going over carbs and fiber but am ok with everything else

lilybug13

Limit pasta and bread and eat more meat, cheese, and nuts

bry_all01

the numbers on MFP are automatically set low.

Nomomush

I don't know what your diary looks like but the main culprits are bread, pasta, rice, etc. Cut the portions in half and see how that works for you.

Nomomush

the numbers on MFP are automatically set low.

Only protein settings are set low on MFP. Carbs are actually set higher .

cillytilly

Fiber is one of the few things that it is ok to go over on. Fiber in the typical diet is extremely low and fiber is something that the body uses to bind toxins for elemenation from the body.

PrincessStubbie

My husband was recently diagnosed with diabetes and to help keep track of his daily carbs we started with myfitnesspal. This program does not deduct the fiber from the carbs. Which is what we were told to do. So, look at your total carbs for the day and the total fiber and subtract them and that will be your carb count. My mother is also diabetic and that is what her nutritionist taught her. I hope that helps!

P.S. Use the same rule when reading labels...if something is 32g carbs, but has 3g of fiber then the carb total is 29g.

tnorkus

I agree. I've removed Sugars from the macronutrients that I keep track of but added Fiber and Sodium. Luckily I am not diabetic and dont have to worry as much about limiting sugars. I find the benefit of fiber outweighs the negative of going over my sugar totals.

dawnm92

Limit pasta and bread and eat more meat, cheese, and nuts

Exactly! And if you think you may be insulin resistant or have trouble losing weight with carbs, also watch your intake of fruits, especially the sweeter ones.

I control my carbs by eating meat, cheese, nuts, salads with lettuce and spinach (no croutons), broccoli, and other low-starch veggies. I love potatoes and corn but I severely restrict them because they are so high carb.

42hockeymom

I'd suggest reading your labels and watching your processed food intake. I'm no expert, so please only take this as INHO, but 300 is way way way too many carbs. I'm happily keeping my carbs around 100g and finding it's not hard at all. Yes there are days when I go over, and if it's because of fruits and veggies, I don't sweat it. If it's because of processed stuff, then I'll take a step back and re-assess where I'm at. For me, lunch seems to be the hardest meal, probably because I'm only cooking for myself, so I'm looking for quick stuff like prepared frozen meals. Those are not the best when it comes to carbs, sugars, and sodium. It does take a little extra planning, but I'm feeling better every day for it.



Disclaimer: This is only from my personal experience and what is working for me. It may not work for you, or anyone else. I am not telling anyone to radically change anything, only to be aware of some things.

epj78

I agree with everyone that generally the carbs are high on here.

HOWEVER!

That being said, what works for body? If you are not hungry and still losing weight eating like you are, does it matter? If your carbs are healthy, and you feel good, does it matter? Seriously.

Now, it does matter for me. I get hungry if I eat to high of a percentage of carbs vs. protein and fat, but for others it doesn't matter one bit.

So, are you worried just because MFP tells you so, or are you noticing things with how your body is reacting that has you thinking you need to tweak?

yarmiah

What has worked for me?:

steer clear of simple carbs(most white carbs), opt for complex carbs and limit those.
Fill up instead with protein and high fiber foods. My trainer suggests not eating carbs after4pm as well.

I have found from personal experience, eating simple carbs only makes me want to eat even more simple(EMPTY)
carbs. Remove them from the equation and everything else gets easier!

Good Luck!

dawnm92

I'd suggest reading your labels and watching your processed food intake. I'm no expert, so please only take this as INHO, but 300 is way way way too many carbs. I'm happily keeping my carbs around 100g and finding it's not hard at all. Yes there are days when I go over, and if it's because of fruits and veggies, I don't sweat it. If it's because of processed stuff, then I'll take a step back and re-assess where I'm at. For me, lunch seems to be the hardest meal, probably because I'm only cooking for myself, so I'm looking for quick stuff like prepared frozen meals. Those are not the best when it comes to carbs, sugars, and sodium. It does take a little extra planning, but I'm feeling better every day for it.

Agreed! 300 carbs is pretty astronomical. Shooting for around 100 is better and making more of those higher fiber, complex carbs is ideal. A lot of people simply cannot lose weight successfully with the extremely high carb recommendations. If you can manage to lose weight and feel good when eating 300 carbs, then I guess you are one of the lucky few.

bcattoes

Can't see your diary, but substituting non-processed whole grains (brown rice, barley, bulgar wheat, oats, etc.) for breads and pastas (even whole grain) can reduce the carbs. If you are eating a lot of fruit maybe substitute more veggies for some of the fruit. And stay away from sugar!!

SueInAz

I found that limiting carbs to around 70-80 grams per day helped me to break a plateau and start losing weight again. I merely cut out the processed stuff (bread, candy, rice, etc.) and stick to a few whole grain sandwich wraps, Greek Yogurt and veggies for my carbs. My snacks are usually a handful of nuts.

I've also found that if I eat a high carb diet that I end up craving more carbs and end up eating more junk just because it's "low fat" and within my calorie goal.

coppercurlz

I thought I would just offer up what has been working for me. I have major carb/sugar problems...I can't just "consume in moderation". Once I have a little, I want it all and it's hard for me to stop. So, knowing that about myself and struggling to "moderate" for a long time, I decided to go cold-turkey and completely eliminate my trigger foods for about two weeks (kind of treating them like allergens!) and add them back when my will power grows. And it's growing! I'm already adding some foods back, and will continue to add foods back but promising myself they can only be CLEAN FOODS!

So here's what I did the first two weeks. I set my carb limit to 15% on MFP (it was about 53 grams for me). Fiber intake left alone on MFP is WAY too low. Minimum recommended...MINIMUM....for women is 20-25, for men 25-30. I try to overshoot that everyday and set my limit for 35. FIBER IS GOOD FOR YOU! It fills you, has tons of health benefits, And, you can subtract it from your carb count, because your NET carbs are what impact your blood sugar (or for me and others like me, they impact your impulses and triggers to eat more of what isn't good for you). That said, I bumped my fiber up (feel free to take a look at the last 3 weeks of my food diary!!!).

Every meal, in the first two weeks, I tried to make my fiber numbers be over half what my carb numbers were. For instance, for breakfast if my carb count was 11, I want my fiber to be at least 6. Make sense? I don't track sugar as it's always been under for me, and I don't track Fat because I don't believe Fat makes you fat. Your body and brain need fats to function and most the fats I get come from things like nuts and avocados - my goal is clean eating forever. Also, I try to have my Potassium levels OVER whatever my sodium levels are for the day. Potassium aids in a lot of things when you are controlling your foods and exercising, but a big thing it does it regulate fluids in your body. Hence, my trying to have my potassium higher than my sodium. As for PROTEIN, I try to eat at LEAST the number of proteins that I know my muscles/bones/blood weigh (I had it checked). Some people say to eat the protein number of what you weigh or what you want to weigh. That would be a good place to start guessing if you don't have a way to be tested for muscle mass.

Most importantly I made a switch in my head. Clean eating is the only way for me and I've come to find out that eating clean is naturally lower in carbs, sugars, sodiums. It's hard to get to that place though. I've lost about 16 pounds in the last 3 weeks and my energy levels are through the roof. Sleep and exercise are also important when you are doing this kind of rebuilding for your body. It's a mind set. You can be low carb and still be eating crap. I've done it and couldn't figure out "why I wasn't losing". You can eat low calorie and not lose weight. You can exercise until you drop and not lose weight. I'm a firm believer and have crossed over to the other side Clean eating, sleep, vitamins, exercise...they are the fountain of youth and the bringers of doom to muffin-tops. Good luck! Feel free to check out my diary if you are confused about what I was talking about

bcattoes

I'd suggest reading your labels and watching your processed food intake. I'm no expert, so please only take this as INHO, but 300 is way way way too many carbs. I'm happily keeping my carbs around 100g and finding it's not hard at all. Yes there are days when I go over, and if it's because of fruits and veggies, I don't sweat it. If it's because of processed stuff, then I'll take a step back and re-assess where I'm at. For me, lunch seems to be the hardest meal, probably because I'm only cooking for myself, so I'm looking for quick stuff like prepared frozen meals. Those are not the best when it comes to carbs, sugars, and sodium. It does take a little extra planning, but I'm feeling better every day for it.

Agreed! 300 carbs is pretty astronomical. Shooting for around 100 is better and making more of those higher fiber, complex carbs is ideal. A lot of people simply cannot lose weight successfully with the extremely high carb recommendations. If you can manage to lose weight and feel good when eating 300 carbs, then I guess you are one of the lucky few.

MFP often recommends well over 200 carbs for me. Once it was 265 after I entered my exercise. Honestly, I never try to limit carbs, but do stick to healthy carbs (veggies, whole grains, some fruit) but I just can't eat that many without going over on calories. I can rarely even come close.

ackeebee

I thought I would just offer up what has been working for me. I have major carb/sugar problems...I can't just "consume in moderation". Once I have a little, I want it all and it's hard for me to stop. So, knowing that about myself and struggling to "moderate" for a long time, I decided to go cold-turkey and completely eliminate my trigger foods for about two weeks (kind of treating them like allergens!) and add them back when my will power grows. And it's growing! I'm already adding some foods back, and will continue to add foods back but promising myself they can only be CLEAN FOODS!

So here's what I did the first two weeks. I set my carb limit to 15% on MFP (it was about 53 grams for me). Fiber intake left alone on MFP is WAY too low. Minimum recommended...MINIMUM....for women is 20-25, for men 25-30. I try to overshoot that everyday and set my limit for 35. FIBER IS GOOD FOR YOU! It fills you, has tons of health benefits, And, you can subtract it from your carb count, because your NET carbs are what impact your blood sugar (or for me and others like me, they impact your impulses and triggers to eat more of what isn't good for you). That said, I bumped my fiber up (feel free to take a look at the last 3 weeks of my food diary!!!).

Every meal, in the first two weeks, I tried to make my fiber numbers be over half what my carb numbers were. For instance, for breakfast if my carb count was 11, I want my fiber to be at least 6. Make sense? I don't track sugar as it's always been under for me, and I don't track Fat because I don't believe Fat makes you fat. Your body and brain need fats to function and most the fats I get come from things like nuts and avocados - my goal is clean eating forever. Also, I try to have my Potassium levels OVER whatever my sodium levels are for the day. Potassium aids in a lot of things when you are controlling your foods and exercising, but a big thing it does it regulate fluids in your body. Hence, my trying to have my potassium higher than my sodium. As for PROTEIN, I try to eat at LEAST the number of proteins that I know my muscles/bones/blood weigh (I had it checked). Some people say to eat the protein number of what you weigh or what you want to weigh. That would be a good place to start guessing if you don't have a way to be tested for muscle mass.

Most importantly I made a switch in my head. Clean eating is the only way for me and I've come to find out that eating clean is naturally lower in carbs, sugars, sodiums. It's hard to get to that place though. I've lost about 16 pounds in the last 3 weeks and my energy levels are through the roof. Sleep and exercise are also important when you are doing this kind of rebuilding for your body. It's a mind set. You can be low carb and still be eating crap. I've done it and couldn't figure out "why I wasn't losing". You can eat low calorie and not lose weight. You can exercise until you drop and not lose weight. I'm a firm believer and have crossed over to the other side Clean eating, sleep, vitamins, exercise...they are the fountain of youth and the bringers of doom to muffin-tops. Good luck! Feel free to check out my diary if you are confused about what I was talking about

]

thanks for this!

surely though, 16 lbs in 3 weeks cant be healthy

ackeebee

my carb is set at 132 (this is before adding any exercise) and on the days when i dont go to the gym, i often go over by upto 50.

rml_16

I see by your ticker that you're losing weight, so why are you concerned?

Carbs feed your brain and give you energy to exercise.

ackeebee

I see by your ticker that you're losing weight, so why are you concerned?

Carbs feed your brain and give you energy to exercise.

i like your attitude :-)
my only concern is that my weight loss is not consistent. a week again my sticker was saying 4 lb lost and on my last weigh in on saturday, i had gained a lb. still, i am not overly concerned as i am only trying to lose abt 5-10 lbs total

QueenHanifa

My husband was recently diagnosed with diabetes and to help keep track of his daily carbs we started with myfitnesspal. This program does not deduct the fiber from the carbs. Which is what we were told to do. So, look at your total carbs for the day and the total fiber and subtract them and that will be your carb count. My mother is also diabetic and that is what her nutritionist taught her. I hope that helps!

P.S. Use the same rule when reading labels...if something is 32g carbs, but has 3g of fiber then the carb total is 29g.

This is what I also do and I'm a diabetic (as told by my doctor to do)

JNick77

You can back-out Fiber from your Carb count.

sleepytexan

I have eaten carbs my entire life without paying attention to how many. I still do it. I have never had a weight problem; even my highest weight (outside of pregnancies, and still within healthy range for my height) was only 12 lbs. more than I weigh now, and that weight gain had been from not eating enough food relative to the exercise I do. And no, I am not "skinny fat"; my body fat % is appx. 18%. I am not unusual in my ability to consume carbs and stay at a healthy weight--in fact most of the people I know at the gym, who surf or SUP with me, who cycle with me and who dance with me, and even large numbers of acquaintances whose kids go to the same school as mine -- WE ALL EAT CARBS! We all celebrate birthdays with cake. We all have pizza and eat Mexican food and eat English muffins for breakfast. We put all manner of sugar in our coffee and we eat Clif bars during and/or after workouts.

Just my humble opinion, but it seems that any and all "secrets" to losing weight that include cutting out or severely restricting any particular food macro result in temporary results.

So many people on here quoting "last time I lost weight, I avoided all such-and-such foods and it worked great". um . . . last time? So . . . it worked great to lose weight, but not to keep it off . . . hmmmmm. Doing the same thing over and over while expecting a different result = insanity.

Take your cue from normal, healthy-weight people who don't yo-yo. Take your cue from any average American pre-SUPERSIZE-era.

Fresh, UN-processed food without chemicals and partially hydrogenated oils. Appropriate quantity. If you want to live life healthy, you must be able to live life. Absolutes rarely work.

blessings.

sleepytexan

I had to go check my food page to see how many carbs I consume. I've already had 53 for breakfast out of 347 total calories, and yesterday my total was 295 out of 2095 total calories.

On Tuesday, my big workout day (I taught a 45 min spin class and had 4 hour dance rehearsal), I had 334 carbs out of 3040 total calories.

Can't imagine staying under 100.

blessings.

JNick77

Theres nothing wrong with carbs, theyre just a double-edged sword and best if most are.consumed before, during, and post exercise.

bcattoes

Theres nothing wrong with carbs, theyre just a double-edged sword and best if most are.consumed before, during, and post exercise.

During exercise? I can barely keep up with Zumba as is. No way I could eat and do it!

coppercurlz

I thought I would just offer up what has been working for me. I have major carb/sugar problems...I can't just "consume in moderation". Once I have a little, I want it all and it's hard for me to stop. So, knowing that about myself and struggling to "moderate" for a long time, I decided to go cold-turkey and completely eliminate my trigger foods for about two weeks (kind of treating them like allergens!) and add them back when my will power grows. And it's growing! I'm already adding some foods back, and will continue to add foods back but promising myself they can only be CLEAN FOODS!

So here's what I did the first two weeks. I set my carb limit to 15% on MFP (it was about 53 grams for me). Fiber intake left alone on MFP is WAY too low. Minimum recommended...MINIMUM....for women is 20-25, for men 25-30. I try to overshoot that everyday and set my limit for 35. FIBER IS GOOD FOR YOU! It fills you, has tons of health benefits, And, you can subtract it from your carb count, because your NET carbs are what impact your blood sugar (or for me and others like me, they impact your impulses and triggers to eat more of what isn't good for you). That said, I bumped my fiber up (feel free to take a look at the last 3 weeks of my food diary!!!).

Every meal, in the first two weeks, I tried to make my fiber numbers be over half what my carb numbers were. For instance, for breakfast if my carb count was 11, I want my fiber to be at least 6. Make sense? I don't track sugar as it's always been under for me, and I don't track Fat because I don't believe Fat makes you fat. Your body and brain need fats to function and most the fats I get come from things like nuts and avocados - my goal is clean eating forever. Also, I try to have my Potassium levels OVER whatever my sodium levels are for the day. Potassium aids in a lot of things when you are controlling your foods and exercising, but a big thing it does it regulate fluids in your body. Hence, my trying to have my potassium higher than my sodium. As for PROTEIN, I try to eat at LEAST the number of proteins that I know my muscles/bones/blood weigh (I had it checked). Some people say to eat the protein number of what you weigh or what you want to weigh. That would be a good place to start guessing if you don't have a way to be tested for muscle mass.

Most importantly I made a switch in my head. Clean eating is the only way for me and I've come to find out that eating clean is naturally lower in carbs, sugars, sodiums. It's hard to get to that place though. I've lost about 16 pounds in the last 3 weeks and my energy levels are through the roof. Sleep and exercise are also important when you are doing this kind of rebuilding for your body. It's a mind set. You can be low carb and still be eating crap. I've done it and couldn't figure out "why I wasn't losing". You can eat low calorie and not lose weight. You can exercise until you drop and not lose weight. I'm a firm believer and have crossed over to the other side Clean eating, sleep, vitamins, exercise...they are the fountain of youth and the bringers of doom to muffin-tops. Good luck! Feel free to check out my diary if you are confused about what I was talking about

]

thanks for this!

surely though, 16 lbs in 3 weeks cant be healthy

so I mis-spoke, I did my report after I posted this, and the loss has been since July...so 2 months. I know the loss will slow down anytime now. But, I'm not going over/under on calories or doing anything weird Just found a groove that works!

sleepytexan

Theres nothing wrong with carbs, theyre just a double-edged sword and best if most are.consumed before, during, and post exercise.

During exercise? I can barely keep up with Zumba as is. No way I could eat and do it!

HA HA that's really funny :laugh: depends on the exercise, Zumba not included! Think a long bike ride, 4-6 hours. Cyclists stop and eat a few times.

blessings.

rml_16

I see by your ticker that you're losing weight, so why are you concerned?

Carbs feed your brain and give you energy to exercise.

i like your attitude :-)
my only concern is that my weight loss is not consistent. a week again my sticker was saying 4 lb lost and on my last weigh in on saturday, i had gained a lb. still, i am not overly concerned as i am only trying to lose abt 5-10 lbs total

I wouldn't automatically assume carbs are the problem. Atkins gave them a really bad rap and it stuck around. But carbs don't cause weight gain. In fact, the thing carbs do is hold water, so when you reduce carbs by a lot, you lose water weight (that's why such huge initial drops in weight on low-carb diets).

If you're getting carbs from healthy sources, I wouldn't worry about it.

As for them being set high, they aren't. According to the Mayo Clinic, a healthy carb load is around 200 grams or fewer (so, yes, 300 is a lot, but ...). My carbs are set way below 200 on this site.

And it's NOT just protein that's set low. My fiber automatically sets below 20 grams, which is WAY too low for fiber. 25 is the minimum for a healthy adult.