Intake of Carbs

stolendestiny

Hi Guys,

I had a query about the amount of carbs I should be consuming. I have read at a couple of places that if you limit your carbs to under 100 gms, there is a good chance that the body will start consuming stored fat for energy (ketosis). My current weight is about 180 lbs and my target weight is 145 lbs. My recommended net calorie intake is 1270 calories.

I exercise about 4-5 days a week and burn about 1500 calories on an average on each of those days through mountain biking, tennis, badminton and a combination of these. On days when I don't exercise, my net calories reach about 1600 calories. On days that I exercise, my net calories stays at about 500 calories. So every week, apart from exceptions, I on an average net about 150 calories below my net calorie goal.

My question is that with so much of cardio through exercises, I end up consuming between 200-300 gms of carbs everyday (mix of bread, rice and milk mostly). E.g. after burning 1400 calories through exercise today, my target carbs was 368 and I ended up consuming 314 (higher than usual). Is it too high? What should be my target carbs intake?

I usually eat bread with eggs or potato in the morning and rice with curry at night. I would welcome easy to make vegetarian suggestions, if you think the carbs are getting too high.

Sorry for the long post, was my first one

Cheers,
Aditya

gogophers

You want to make sure you don't develop or have a pancreas issue as that amount of carbs is a little high. I'd recommend eating more nuts to get more of your calories from protein. I would also strongly recommend that you have a handful or so of nuts both before and after you exercise. If you're doing high intensity work, you're not going to want to eat those nuts after you exercise, but you should pretty much force yourself to do so.

One more thing, I'd recommend trying to keep your net calories similar each day. When you exercise more, eat more, when you exercise less, eat less. This has the added benefit of allowing you to train yourself to eat when you're hungry and not eat when you're not.

stolendestiny

On days that I don't exercise, if I just eat 1270 calories, I will be left feeling pretty hungry. Also, that is below my BMR, which I believe is not healthy?

Which nuts would you recommend? A quick browse showed me that though nuts have good protein levels, but they are also high in fat. E.g. 1/4 cup of almonds contain 14g of fat and 6 g of protein. Is that a healthy ratio? If not, is there some other nut you would recommend?

I do enjoy eating almonds but haven't eaten them for a while. I especially like to soak them in the water for a few hours and then peel off the skin. Bitter almonds have been mentioned at various places to be having Hydrogen Cyanide, which if consumed in large quantities is poisonous.

gogophers

The fat content in almonds is fine. You're only eating a small amount of them. Instead of your body using carbohydrates for energy, it'll use the fatty acids in the nuts. If you're eating too many carbohydrates but want to stay at the same calorie intake, you have to get the calories elsewhere. If you'd rather take some sort of protein supplement that has less fat content, you can, I just try to get my nutrients solely through food since I'm doing the paleo diet.

As for the toxins in nuts, if you're worried about them, you can always get roasted ones. However, there are tons of food items that are toxic at certain levels, we just don't eat these foods at those levels. This includes potatoes, beans, nuts, many roots, etc...

I think I'm having a little trouble following the numbers, but if you're saying that you only eat 2k Calories on days where you burn 1.5K through exercise alone, you need to increase your caloric intake on those days, not necessarily reduce your caloric intake on the other days.

Jacwhite22

Hi Guys,

I had a query about the amount of carbs I should be consuming. I have read at a couple of places that if you limit your carbs to under 100 gms, there is a good chance that the body will start consuming stored fat for energy (ketosis). My current weight is about 180 lbs and my target weight is 145 lbs. My recommended net calorie intake is 1270 calories.

I exercise about 4-5 days a week and burn about 1500 calories on an average on each of those days through mountain biking, tennis, badminton and a combination of these. On days when I don't exercise, my net calories reach about 1600 calories. On days that I exercise, my net calories stays at about 500 calories. So every week, apart from exceptions, I on an average net about 150 calories below my net calorie goal.

My question is that with so much of cardio through exercises, I end up consuming between 200-300 gms of carbs everyday (mix of bread, rice and milk mostly). E.g. after burning 1400 calories through exercise today, my target carbs was 368 and I ended up consuming 314 (higher than usual). Is it too high? What should be my target carbs intake?

I usually eat bread with eggs or potato in the morning and rice with curry at night. I would welcome easy to make vegetarian suggestions, if you think the carbs are getting too high.

Sorry for the long post, was my first one

Cheers,
Aditya

What is your weight?
What is your bf% (est is fine)?
How much protein do you eat?
How much fat?

These are the most important questions. Answer these and I can answer yours.

Jacwhite22

On days that I don't exercise, if I just eat 1270 calories, I will be left feeling pretty hungry. Also, that is below my BMR, which I believe is not healthy?

Which nuts would you recommend? A quick browse showed me that though nuts have good protein levels, but they are also high in fat. E.g. 1/4 cup of almonds contain 14g of fat and 6 g of protein. Is that a healthy ratio? If not, is there some other nut you would recommend?

I do enjoy eating almonds but haven't eaten them for a while. I especially like to soak them in the water for a few hours and then peel off the skin. Bitter almonds have been mentioned at various places to be having Hydrogen Cyanide, which if consumed in large quantities is poisonous.

Pistachios are probably one of the best but nuts are not a great source of protein.

Megooo19

I'd recommend getting rid of all bread except for maybe eziekel whole grain bread and cut out potato at least most of the time. Try and get most of your carbs from fruit and veggies oats and nuts. Also if your hungry eat more lean protein, it's filling and will build muscle. I try and keep my carbs under 150 a day.

FrugalMomsRock75

One more thing, I'd recommend trying to keep your net calories similar each day. When you exercise more, eat more, when you exercise less, eat less. This has the added benefit of allowing you to train yourself to eat when you're hungry and not eat when you're not.

Actually, zigzagging has shown to be very effective at continued weight loss with plateaus.

Just sayin'.

OP-don't worry about fat. Dietary fat doesn't make you fat. Excess calories (even fat free ones) is what makes you fat...

Jacwhite22

I'd recommend getting rid of all bread except for maybe eziekel whole grain bread and cut out potato at least most of the time. Try and get most of your carbs from fruit and veggies oats and nuts. Also if your hungry eat more lean protein, it's filling and will build muscle. I try and keep my carbs under 150 a day.

orlly? How do ezekiel whole grain bread, cut out potato, fruit carbs differ from other carbs?

stolendestiny

My weight is 180 lbs.
I haven't measured my bf% as all the online calculators seem to give imprecise/wrong results and I didn't want to spend money on a body fat calculator unless it is really required. My height is 5'8" and waist about 34" if it helps.
On an average I eat about 70 gms of protein.
Average 70 gms of fat.

What is your weight?
What is your bf% (est is fine)?
How much protein do you eat?
How much fat?

These are the most important questions. Answer these and I can answer yours.

Jacwhite22

My weight is 180 lbs.
I haven't measured my bf% as all the online calculators seem to give imprecise/wrong results and I didn't want to spend money on a body fat calculator unless it is really required. My height is 5'8" and waist about 34" if it helps.
On an average I eat about 70 gms of protein.
Average 70 gms of fat.

What is your weight?
What is your bf% (est is fine)?
How much protein do you eat?
How much fat?

These are the most important questions. Answer these and I can answer yours.

you should eat more protein. I am going to estimate 145 grams
you should get 60 grams of fat.
After that, that under your calorie goal and fill in the rest with what works for you.

Megooo19

1. With a few exceptions, veggies and fruit are absorbed into the bloodstream at a much slower rate, offering a more even and prolonged supply of energy and reducing spikes of fat-storing insulin.

2. For the same carb/calorie load as a slice of bread, I can get a huge plate full of veggies that will take much longer to digest, leaving me feeling full longer, and offering a much greater nutrient and anti-oxidant density.

3. Fruits and veggies shift your PH to the alkaline side of the spectrum, improving nutrient absorption and immune function. Grains and starches make your body more acidic, having the opposite effect. (NOTE: protein and fat also tip acidic, but you literally can't live without them; the same can't be said for grains and starches).

However, I personally feel like whole grains the type that have been minimally processed are slower to digest keep me satisfied and don't send me on a carb induced binge the way good old white bread or other starches do. Also these foods will have more fiber and fiber has been shown to have tremendous health benefits.

gogophers

I'd recommend getting rid of all bread except for maybe eziekel whole grain bread and cut out potato at least most of the time. Try and get most of your carbs from fruit and veggies oats and nuts. Also if your hungry eat more lean protein, it's filling and will build muscle. I try and keep my carbs under 150 a day.

orlly? How do ezekiel whole grain bread, cut out potato, fruit carbs differ from other carbs?

I don't know what ezekiel bread is. But in comparing potato to fruit, the carbohydrates are very different. The carbohydrates in potatoes are "complex" while the carbohydrates in fruits are "simple".

Awkward30

How are you estimating calories? 1400 for someone your size is like 2 hours of pretty intense cardio. Mfp over estimates a lot.

I love carbs, and I haven't had a problem with them. I'm now cutting them down a bit since I'm less than 10 lb from my goal and decided to give leangains (intermittent fasting) a try. You do need more protein. I aim to get my bodyweight (140), but often fall short and just hit my lean mass (around 112). Beans, Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, and protein powder are my main non-meat protein sources. Oh and edamame is a new staple. Love the stuff!

I think you should up your protein and keep doing what you are doing. If it isn't working, cut carbs a bit by only having carbs as a vehicle for fat or protein (as another person said, dietary fat doesn't make you fat, too many calories do). So only have bread as a sandwich or with nut butter. If you have noodles, try to mix in a ton of veggies and chicken.

Omelettes are God's gift to low carbers, since the eggs are high protein and you can fill it with all sorts of veggies.

stolendestiny

On an average I do about 60 minutes of singles tennis, 40 minutes of competitive badminton and 30 minutes of mountain biking. Wouldn't that amount to about 1400-1500 calories?

Thank you guys for your suggestions! You are awesome!

yarwell

The carbohydrates in potatoes are "complex"

The main one is starch which is a set of glucose molecules joined together in a polymer. This breaks up very easily and floods the bloodstream with glucose. So potatoes and white bread are high GI high impact carbs - "complex" or not.

wackyfunster

Eat 180g protein per day. Carbs and fat can be whatever at your current body fat level as long as you are eating at a deficit. Once you get down around 10% (men)/18% (women) it starts to be relevant, but til then keep it simple. Most people here like to over complicate the diet portion. Don't make things harder than they need to be.

The effects of ketogenic diets on individuals with higher body fat are due to 2 factors:
1) lower caloric intake on average
2) higher protein intake
A high carb/high protein diet yields the same effects. Check out Lyle McDonald's stuff if you want to know more... He literally wrote the book on ketogenic diets.

I hope this helps!

stolendestiny

One thing I wanted to clarify was that if I am doing loads of cardio (5-6 days a week, 2 hours a day) and little strength training (2-3 days/week, 1 hour/day), should I go for casein protein or whey protein? I have heard that casein protein keeps you feeling a little full for a much longer duration and it is a slow release protein.

I could find quite a few reasonably priced whey protein shakes on Walmart but just one option for casein protein. They are just way too expensive on Amazon. I would love to get your advice. With my diet, I would need atleast 50 gms of protein/day from protein shakes.

stolendestiny

Bump.

vim_n_vigor

Dude, you should be eating way more than that amount of calories, you are not sedentary and you are male. I am a 5'4'' female and my Net is higher than yours. You should be more like 1600 or higher at minimum.

mermx

love protein low carbs,but this topic can be searched on the website.

It is good that you are asking ,,,,,but you are going to get a myriad of answers to your question with lots of conflicting advice....including my statement.

What works for one wont necessary work for the other.

Protein is good, carbs are good depends what you are hoping for in the long run.