Daily Carbohydrate Intake Level

leenites

I have read too much on the internet that I get myself confused. I am madly in love with oatmeal and I think I will just go ahead and switch up my own macro to tolerate more carbs as long as I am below my daily calories allocation.

That should be fine right? I mean seriously speaking, the basic idea of fat loss still lies in calories in vs calories out. But then if I increase my carb intake, that probably mean I need to cut down on some protein. Won't that be a bit of a problem considering that I need protein to recover from workout, repair muscles and whatnot?

For your information, I am not looking to lose like 50lbs or something excessive. I already lost more than 10lbs prior to joining this site. I am just looking to lose that final 5lbs of fact so that my body fat is around 20% (now is about 23%-25%). I want to be fit and strong, not weak and skinny. 99lbs of fat walking around looks so much worse than a healthy 108lbs running a marathon!

I am doing INSANITY program Round 2 in preparation to build up stamina. Then I'll switch to running and eventually hope to complete a marathon before the end of 2012. I had knee injuries before, hence I am taking things slowly.


Comments? Advices?

SouLThinking

Make your carb choices healthy ones.
Real oatmeal, add some splenda to it. Stay from frankencarbs. Eat whole grains. Eat fresh fruits. If you are a runner you will need more carbs then someone who isn't but you don't want to eat refined processed carbs.

I will never go back to white table sugar, white rice, white bread, white pasta.

Your doing the right thing by moving and burning those calories.

Real foods. that is the key.

brandenocs

That is entirely based upon your body. My body HATES carbs. They're like glue to my tummy. I have to maintain a 50/30/20 diet, with protein being the main part. My wife on the other hand, can eat a pound of spaghetti and still lose weight. It's annoying. I miss french bread sometimes. Haha.

SergeantSunshine_reused

Hmm I eat white potatoes, white rice, white pasta....YUM!

What are you switching your ratios to?

MissFit0101

Don't mind me I'm just lol'ing about the pound of spaghetti... I'd love to eat a pound of spaghetti.. with meatballs of course :laugh:

Rompa_87

Basically the science keeps coming back with the conclusion that any ratio of macronutrients are fine so long as your daily calorie intake is lower than your output.

If you are physically active and do lots of intense exercise or excessive endurance activities like me then you can get away with around 60% of your energy coming from carbs and still shed body fat.

You might want to play around with your carbs to as low as 40% if your exercise is not as intense

Hmrjmr1

You have already been given some very good advice here about your carbs particularly the one about whole grains and staying away from processed white foods, Rice etc. I would just mention the fact that its carbs your body will convert to glucose and store as fat. Unused protien cannot be stored and is sent packing in the waste stream.
Complex or good carbs come in veggies and fibrous fruits, and nuts. Good luck on your completion and maintenance program. Hooah!

SergeantSunshine_reused

You have already been given some very good advice here about your carbs particularly the one about whole grains and staying away from processed white foods, Rice etc. I would just mention the fact that its carbs your body will convert to glucose and store as fat. Unused protien cannot be stored and is sent packing in the waste stream.
Complex or good carbs come in veggies and fibrous fruits, and nuts. Good luck on your completion and maintenance program. Hooah!

Uhhh... no xD

If you go over your calories it doesnt matter if it fat/carbs/protein. It will be stored.

babyblake11

i think dont go higher than 60% or lower than 45% (unless told by a doctor) and its fine to change it around to your liking, dont go lower than 15% protein and dont go lower than 20% fat i think. i dont have any hard evidence to show you but i have read on many reliable sources, i think you can find it on the heart foundation site. i love my oatmeal or weetbix so im at 55% carbs and my body loves that

SouLThinking

Hmm I eat white potatoes, white rice, white pasta....YUM!

What are you switching your ratios to?

First of all congrats on your weight loss.
I looked at your diary for over a week and I see you mainly eat whole grain pasta, brown rice and I did see potatoes once. I too eat potatoes. I also see you keep your carbs at about 90 grams. Very healthy diary. I think your choices in your diary are much better than white rice and white pasta.

leenites

Hmm I eat white potatoes, white rice, white pasta....YUM!

What are you switching your ratios to?

First of all congrats on your weight loss.
I looked at your diary for over a week and I see you mainly eat whole grain pasta, brown rice and I did see potatoes once. I too eat potatoes. I also see you keep your carbs at about 90 grams. Very healthy diary. I think your choices in your diary are much better than white rice and white pasta.

I only had potato once in the past few months. No white rice for me too. Only oatmeal, muesli, and brown rice. I don't take pasta so it doesn't bother me.

I take at least 2 servings of fruits a day and plenty of water. I just need to shed those last 5 annoying lbs without having to sacrifice my oatmeal. In faact, I can just eat oatmeal plain. no sugar, no splenda, no honey. It just tastes good as it is.

Trying to switch my ratio to higher protein because this site has abnormally low protein allocation. but that means sacrificing carbs. That's why I get slightly conflicted.

SergeantSunshine_reused

Hmm I eat white potatoes, white rice, white pasta....YUM!

What are you switching your ratios to?

First of all congrats on your weight loss.
I looked at your diary for over a week and I see you mainly eat whole grain pasta, brown rice and I did see potatoes once. I too eat potatoes. I also see you keep your carbs at about 90 grams. Very healthy diary. I think your choices in your diary are much better than white rice and white pasta.

Thank you :]
I do eat potatos regularly ^-^
Started cleaning up my diet abit more recently. used to eat white pasta and rice a lot a couple of months ago and still lost :]

Acg67

Make your carb choices healthy ones.
Real oatmeal, add some splenda to it. Stay from frankencarbs. Eat whole grains. Eat fresh fruits. If you are a runner you will need more carbs then someone who isn't but you don't want to eat refined processed carbs.

I will never go back to white table sugar, white rice, white bread, white pasta.

Your doing the right thing by moving and burning those calories.

Real foods. that is the key.

what makes brown rice better than white rice? just wondering

also can you explain how body composition would differ if one ate mostly processed carbs vs "healthy ones" assuming carb amount is kept the same?

chevy88grl

It'll depend on how YOUR body responds to carbs. Personally, my body LOVES them. I could eat carbs all day, everyday and do just fine with it. My body actual functions better when I consume a large quantity of carbs (low carb made me sick, gain weight and exhausted - added carbs back in and I felt better and lost weight!).

It is just going to depend on your own body's reaction to carbs.

Cathleenr

what makes brown rice better than white rice? just wondering

also can you explain how body composition would differ if one ate mostly processed carbs vs "healthy ones" assuming carb amount is kept the same?
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Rice is naturally 'brown', the color, because of the husk surrounding the seed. Parboiling it removes the husk and the white seed is esposed, and you have 'white rice', so white is more processed than brown. When you eat the unprocessed rice, your body has to work a little harder to digest it (very simplified explanation, but it'll do) and as a result there is no spike in blood sugar levels because of the quick infusion of simple starches.
As for body composition, not sure what your question is as it relates to eating processed (simple) carbs and unprocessed (complex) carbs, except that complex carbohydrates take longer to digest and release their energy.
Here is a rather dense description of macros:


Macronutrient Needs
Once you work out calorie needs, you then work out how much of each macronutrient you should aim for. This is one of the areas that is MOST often confused but This should NOT be based on a RATIO of macro intakes. (eg: '30:40:30 or 40:40:20') Your body doesn't CARE what % intake you have. It works based on SUFFICIENT QUANTITY per LEAN MASS or TOTAL MASS. So to try to make it as simple as possible:

1. Protein: Believe it or not - Protein intake is a bit of a controversial issue. In this, the general recommendations given in the 'bodybuilding' area are nearly double the 'standard' recommendations given in the Sports Nutrition Arena.
The GENERAL sports nutrition guideline based on most studies out suggest that in the face of ADEQUATE calories and CARBS then the following protein intakes are sufficient:
STRENGTH training -> 1.2 to 1.6g per KG bodyweight (about .6 / pound)
ENDURANCE training -> 1.4 to 1.8g per KG bodyweight (about .8 / pound)
ADOLESCENT in training -> 1.8 to 2.2g per KG bodyweight (about 1g / pound)
BUT they also acknowledge that protein becomes MORE important in the context of LOWER calorie intakes, or LOWER carb intakes.

Regardless of this, the general 'bodybuilding' guidelines would be as follows:
- If you guess your bodyfat is AVERAGE = 1-1.25g per pound TOTAL weight
- If you KNOW your bodyfat = 1-1.5g per pound LEAN weight

If you are VERY LEAN or on a VERY LOW CALORIE INTAKE then protein should be higher:
- Average bodyfat, lower calorie intake = 1.25-1.5 per pound total mass
- Very lean, lower calorie intake = 1.33-2 per pounds lean mass

If you are VERY OVERWEIGHT, VERY INACTIVE, or on a HIGH calorie diet then you can decrease BELOW the above levels if desired*= ~ 1 x LEAN mass to 0.8-1 x total weight in pounds

Anecdotally, most find the HIGHER protein intake better for satiety, partitioning, and blood sugar control. So UNLESS you are specifically guided to use the GENERAL sports nutrition guidelines, I would suggest the BODYBUILDING values.


2. Fats: Generally speaking, although the body can get away with short periods of very low fat, in the long run your body NEEDS fat to maintain general health, satiety, and sanity. Additionally - any form of high intensity training will benefit from a 'fat buffer' in your diet - which acts to control free radical damage and inflammation. General guides:
Average or lean: 1 - 2g fat/ kg body weight [between 0.45 - 1g total weight/ pounds]
High bodyfat: 1-2g fat/ LEAN weight [between 0.45 - 1g LEAN weight/ pounds]
IF low calorie dieting - you can decrease further, but as a minimum, I would not suggest LESS than about 0.35g/ pound.
Note 1: Total fat intake is NOT the same as 'essential fats' (essential fats are specific TYPES of fats that are INCLUDED in your total fat intake)...


3. Carbs: Important for athletes, HIGHLY ACTIVE individuals, or those trying to GAIN MASS, carbs help with workout intensity, health, & satiety (+ sanity).
For carbs there are no specific 'requirements' for your body so for 'general folk' to calculate your carbs you just calculate it from the calories left over from fats/ protein:
carb calories = Total calorie needs - ([protein grams as above x 4] + [fat grams as above x 9])
carbs in grams = above total/ 4

If you are an athlete - I would actually suggest you CALCULATE a requirement for carbs as a PRIORITY - then go back and calculate protein / fat:
moderately active: 4.5 - 6.5 g/ kg (about 2 - 3g/ pound)
highly active: 6.5 - 9 g/ kg (about 3 - 4g/ pound)

Sidesteal

^ Ain't that Emma-Leigh's sticky?

michedarnd

You have already been given some very good advice here about your carbs particularly the one about whole grains and staying away from processed white foods, Rice etc. I would just mention the fact that its carbs your body will convert to glucose and store as fat. Unused protien cannot be stored and is sent packing in the waste stream.
Complex or good carbs come in veggies and fibrous fruits, and nuts. Good luck on your completion and maintenance program. Hooah!

Uhhh... no xD

If you go over your calories it doesnt matter if it fat/carbs/protein. It will be stored.

I'm guessing that that's not entirely true, or Atkins wouldn't work, but the point about watching your calories, regardless, is well taken.

Ebbykins

LOL Ohhh I see this going somewhere very bad shortly.

PB67

You have already been given some very good advice here about your carbs particularly the one about whole grains and staying away from processed white foods, Rice etc. I would just mention the fact that its carbs your body will convert to glucose and store as fat. Unused protien cannot be stored and is sent packing in the waste stream.
Complex or good carbs come in veggies and fibrous fruits, and nuts. Good luck on your completion and maintenance program. Hooah!

Uhhh... no xD

If you go over your calories it doesnt matter if it fat/carbs/protein. It will be stored.

I'm guessing that that's not entirely true, or Atkins wouldn't work,

Atkins (like any diet) only "works" by keeping calories under maintenance.

PB67

what makes brown rice better than white rice? just wondering

It isn't.

__________________________________________________________________________________


Comparison of the nutritional value between brown rice and white rice.
Callegaro Mda D, Tirapegui J.

Departamento de Tecnologia e Ciência dos Alimentos-CCR-Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, RS.
Abstract
Cereals are considered an important source of nutrients both in human and animal nourishment. In this paper nutritional value of brown rice is compared to that of white rice in relation to nutrients. Results show that despite higher nutrients contents of brown rice compared to white rice, experimental datas does not provide evidence that the brown rice diet is better than the diet based on white rice. Possible antinutricional factors present in brown rice have adverse effects on bioavailability of this cereal nutrients.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

leenites

So, just wondering.
If the site tells me to eat 1,500 a day and I do 1,500 a day, does that mean I maintain my weight ceteris paribus? I get a bit confused as to what happens if I eat slightly over or slightly under but keeping it within the range given. This is because I am not sure if the number represents how much I should eat to lose weight or how much I should eat to maintain weight.