Combo pack eating

caseyjmc

I have a question that maybe a nutritionist or very knowledgable person can answer:

I've lost over 30 lbs in the last two years by cutting my portions way down, and then another 20 by eating whole grains, oat bran & such, and keeping my calories down a la myfitnesspal pal. I've been at a standstill for a bit. A friend who started a low carb diet lost 75 in a year. But this low carb plan is from the American Diabetes Assoc., and the plan is much higher carb than any low carb plan I've seen. 30-45 carbs per meal, assuming 3 meals a day.

Just for fun, I tried it for two weeks. I lost a couple lbs at first, but then nothing. No weight gain either. My calories were 1000 over my usual myfitnesspal calories, but my carbs were consistently under 100 per day.

Here's my question...
If I keep my carbs at 120 or less, and my calories at 1700 or less (myfitnesspal cals are at 1340), and continue my usual exercise routine, which is to burn 200-700 calories per day, will I likely lose weight and still stay healthy? I use only good oils like olive and canola, and whole grains and foods with lots of fiber (30-60 grams daily).

Thanks!

caseyjmc

Well, no one has posted on this, so I'll just write an update.

I'm doing 30% carbs, 40% protein and 30% fat, and it seems to be working. The thing I really like about this system is that when I exercise all the numbers change according to the amount of effort I'm putting in. The only difficulty I seem to be having is that I can't seem to eat enough protein without ending up with more fat than I really want. So, what I'm doing, is I'm learning more about protein drinks that are low-fat like the one that Costco sells, The Cytosport powder sport drink and I like the vanilla right now.

I've gone from 176 pounds to 172 pounds in the last four or five days, and I'm not eating all the calories that I'm allowed.

Also, from what I'm reading, foods that have cholesterol in them are not as bad for me as other people have said. Apparently, the cholesterol that we eat has little to do with the our blood cholesterol. Given the fact that people who are doing low-carb eat a lot of cholesterol and their weight goes down and they're blood tests come out great, this would make sense.

So, by changing my percentages the way I did I end up eating under 100 carbs per day and I'm still staying within my calorie range picked for me by myfitnesspalcom.

Feel free to discuss this anytime. Thanks!

Janene_Indy

Thanks for the update. I found your post intersting. I am a similar situation where my weight loss has platued for 2 weeks. I need to look at my intake and look to see if I am getting enough fiber and protein in my diet.

caseyjmc

It's hard for me to eat enough protein. Each day I can't even come close to the amount of protein I'm supposed to eat. Exercise seems to make the biggest difference. I have a recumbent stationary bicycle at home that I got after my knee surgery, and I recently picked up an iPad. I have a desk that fits over my bike and I put the iPad on the desk and watch movies while I exercise. That makes it easy for me to put an hour on the bike, which adds up the amount of calories I can eat.

The weight is coming off me pretty quickly. So, this particular percentage grouping seems to be working well for me. I hope you do well breaking the plateau you are on. Two weeks isn't really a long time to be on a plateau. But I know it's frustrating either way. Good luck to you!