Carbs but no protein, sugar or sodium?

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Jaime2159
Jaime2159 Posts: 4
in Health and Weight Loss
So I'm pretty new here and absolutely love this sight! Have already lost 6 pounds!!
Anyway, I am having a hard time getting all my calories and carbs. (you can view my food diary) and yesterday I actually gained weight, from my body going into starvation mode I think... But I don't have any protein, fat, sugar or sodium to spare.
my question is what snacks could I add that have carbs, but none of the other stuff?

thanks for any input.

Replies

  • Fieldsy
    Fieldsy Posts: 1,105 Member
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    you don't want to be concentrating on carbs

    Carbs are the easiest to consume because they are high in so many foods. You should be eating more protein and fats. Eat atleast 1 gram of protein per 1lb of lean body mass everyday, but if you do weight training then you should aim for 1g of protein per 1lb of your actual weight.

    I know it seems high but protein is your best friend for burning fat.

    I am for 35%carb/40%protein/25% fat
  • aballew05
    aballew05 Posts: 8
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    whole grain brown rice, low in protein (4g), no sugar, no sodium
  • sportygal
    sportygal Posts: 221 Member
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    I can take a look at your food diary...not sure how to do that on here though....
    First, how much do you weigh? I don't like that this site reccommends 1200 calories...I that is really low unless someone weighs like 120 lbs. Second, what is your activity level. If you are training hard, you need to eat more to burn more.
    I weigh 175, train 5xs a week and eat 1600-1800 calories a day...granted what means more to me is a protein, fat, carb ratio. I do not eat any starches except for my mornin' oatmeal. I balance a 30% healthy fat, 30% protein and 40% carbs which again doesn't include starch or refined sugar.
    Just remember, the quality of calories is more important that pure calories. You can have 6, 64 calorie beers 384 calories, but no nutritional value! A typical lunch for me is:
    3 oz turkey
    pear
    cheese stick
    3 T avacado
    It seems small but it is filling!! Anyway, you definitely don't want to starve yourself! You'll deplete your muscles! Weight also is only a number. At 175, I have tons of muscle and feel great! Now, I just need to keep training hard to reach my performance goals! :)
    Good luck!
    150768.png
    Created by MyFitnessPal.com - Free Food Diary
  • byHisgrace
    byHisgrace Posts: 175
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    I took a peek at your food diary and my first thought was the banana has to go. Sorry, I love them too but they are not best fruit option, and may be one of the worst, depending on what you take into consideration.

    Some snacks I would recommend would be celery and peanut butter, pita, crackers or veggies with hummus, roasted chick peas (check for a recipe online, they are amazing).

    You really want to be careful with fruit, it's healthy and you need it to eat a well balanced diet and nourish your body with all of the good things in fruit but it does contain sugar and it shouldn't make up a large part of your diet.
  • byHisgrace
    byHisgrace Posts: 175
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    I can take a look at your food diary...not sure how to do that on here though....

    150768.png
    Created by MyFitnessPal.com - Free Food Diary

    Click on a screen name and when their profile page comes up there is a green button that said diary you can click on, if that person's food diary is public.
  • Fieldsy
    Fieldsy Posts: 1,105 Member
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    theres nothing wrong with eating a banana...

    theres nothing wrong with natural sugar....

    If you do decide to eat something like a banana...eat it early in the day so it burns out throughout the day. Get your simple carbs in earlier and starchy carbs in later.
  • jmdolan
    jmdolan Posts: 128
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    Someone wrote yesterday in thread saying that you should never take a members direction as what is definitely right. you need to do good research on the foods. A banana is a highly nutritous fruit, and I am not sure what research we have to prove it should be excluded from your diet. Now I did not look at your log, but you do need fruit in your diet. You need to be careful with fruit as it does contain alot of sugar however, I would consider consulting a nutritionist before you cut bananas completely out of your diet.
  • Valtishia
    Valtishia Posts: 811 Member
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    Someone wrote yesterday in thread saying that you should never take a members direction as what is definitely right. you need to do good research on the foods. A banana is a highly nutritous fruit, and I am not sure what research we have to prove it should be excluded from your diet. Now I did not look at your log, but you do need fruit in your diet. You need to be careful with fruit as it does contain alot of sugar however, I would consider consulting a nutritionist before you cut bananas completely out of your diet.

    I addition I would replace those seasoned veggies that you are having with fresh veggies or frozen unseasoned veggies. The sodium in them is crazy from what I see...
  • bates
    bates Posts: 122
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    Someone wrote yesterday in thread saying that you should never take a members direction as what is definitely right. you need to do good research on the foods. A banana is a highly nutritous fruit, and I am not sure what research we have to prove it should be excluded from your diet. Now I did not look at your log, but you do need fruit in your diet. You need to be careful with fruit as it does contain alot of sugar however, I would consider consulting a nutritionist before you cut bananas completely out of your diet.

    I addition I would replace those seasoned veggies that you are having with fresh veggies or frozen unseasoned veggies. The sodium in them is crazy from what I see...

    just like above, i try to stay away from sodium if i can, glorified name for salt, meaning you'll retain water more, and look bloated, imo. i use to have the same problem with sugars when i started out, when you eat a lot of fruits, especially sweet fruit like strawberries they tend to have more sugars in them, but they are simple sugars and will burn off faster. to be honest there are some stats i dont really pay attention to like sugar and protein. if you are eating healthy foods like fruits the sugars will be natural compared to idk a tootsie roll where they are fake. and protein for example as we all know helps build/rebuild muscle and being that I work out extremely hard will take in all the protein i can or want, protein shakes aside.

    if you are having trouble with the carbs try to stay away from the white breads or pasta and opt for whole wheats
  • MacMadame
    MacMadame Posts: 1,893 Member
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    The default settings on the site give you too little protein and too many carbs IMO so I always set the values to what I am aiming for. For protein, I consider the number to be a floor -- I want to get at least that much. For carbs, I consider the number to be a ceiling -- I don't want to go over that amount.

    And there is nothing wrong with bananas!
  • chgudnitz
    chgudnitz Posts: 4,079
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    Sorry, but the banana comment was wrong. Bananas are high in natural sugar, but also high in potassium and other vitamins. Eat the bananas. As far as needing more carbs, don't worry about it. Grab a spoon of peanut butter and eat it if you need fast calories. Don't just cut yourself short.

    But like someone else posted, each person needs to research for themselves. Don't take people's words on here as medical advice.

    Good luck...
  • chgudnitz
    chgudnitz Posts: 4,079
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    Me again. Just looked at your diary.

    Start eating your exercise calories!!!
  • lessertess
    lessertess Posts: 855 Member
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    Just a few thoughts:

    This site makes no differentiation between a refined carb like white bread and a complex carb like asparagus. It also makes no differentiation between a natural sugar like a banana (and they are good for you) and a chocolate chip cookie. The same goes for fat...the site doesn't recognize the difference between the essential fats and unhealthy fats. So don't get too hung up on making all of your numbers.

    Concentrate on eating a balanced diet (see the new food pyramid) and on staying within your calories.

    Also, it would take more than a day or even a week for your body to go into starvation mode. It is normal for weight to fluctuate a few pounds. Whatever changes are happening in your body due to diet usually take a few weeks to show up. So if you had a calorie deficit of 1700 yesterday it does not necessarily follow that you'll be a half pound lighter today. Our bodies just do not show changes that immediately. Give yourself time.

    I looked at your food diary and don't see any glaring issues. If sodium intake is important to you than you might want to cut out processed veggies, or you can just balance it with more water and a higher potassium intake. Experiment and find what works for you.
  • JoyousMaximus
    JoyousMaximus Posts: 9,285 Member
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    I just want to highlight what I think are the two best peices of advice people have given you so far.

    1) Do your own research. The people here have some great advice. They can tell you what they do and why but it isn't law. What's good and bad in terms of the finer points of healthy eating is different based on the results you are looking for. That is why one expert will recommend one thing and another expert will recommend something else.

    2) Experment. Just because something worked amazingly well for me doesn't mean it it going to be right for you. Try something. If it isn't working, tweek one thing at a time till you get it right. This whole thing is a learning experience.

    I just want to add one thing. Try to keep the whole thing in prospective. When you are trying to lose weight and develop a healthy lifestyle, you will probably make mistakes and won't always make (or even want to make) the healthiest choices. It's just imporant to realize you aren't perfect and you don't have to be.

    Good luck!
  • Nelski
    Nelski Posts: 1,607 Member
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    Me again. Just looked at your diary.

    Start eating your exercise calories!!!
    x2
    I don't think you are eating enough for all the exercise you do
  • byHisgrace
    byHisgrace Posts: 175
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    LOL....I maybe should have clarified, I only suggested laying off the banana because it seemed to me, as I skimmed the food diary, that a lot of fruit was being consumed, including a banana everyday. Sometimes, we eat things out of habit or to fill in the blank for something not so healthy we used to eat. While there is nothing wrong with that, eating a nice sweet, and yes, sugary banana every morning could throw some people off for the rest of the day.

    It was a suggestion folks, relax, really! I don't think anyone would take one person's comments from a forum like this and then competely eliminate a food from their diet, at least I hope not!
  • byHisgrace
    byHisgrace Posts: 175
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    Someone wrote yesterday in thread saying that you should never take a members direction as what is definitely right. you need to do good research on the foods. A banana is a highly nutritous fruit, and I am not sure what research we have to prove it should be excluded from your diet. Now I did not look at your log, but you do need fruit in your diet. You need to be careful with fruit as it does contain alot of sugar however, I would consider consulting a nutritionist before you cut bananas completely out of your diet.

    EAT BANANAS!!!!! Please see the link below, bananas have the lowest water content and the second highest sugar content, next to dates, in most commonly eaten fruits. I simply was suggesting that fruits be weighed carefully and not given the blanket of "healthy" foods...

    http://www.thefruitpages.com/contents.shtml

    Starting to think a certain persons buddies are climbing out of the wood work here...I am SO NOT going there. If you have something you'd like to say to me, let's try to be adults about it, lol.
  • jmdolan
    jmdolan Posts: 128
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    To clarify, I was not trying to start a war here. I was simply just explaining that nothing is written in stone and just to do research before taking anyones opinion too seriously. Im sorry if I offended anyone, I just semi disagreed with a comment made and suggested that a nutritionist be consulted before making any decisions that are too hasty. That is all. I thought thats what these forums were about. Everyone explaining what has worked for them, and also others playing devil's advocate so that everyone can make the most informed decision possible.

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