How can I reduce carbs?

FlittyGetsFit

I'm a carb lover. Bread, pasta and rice used to be staples of my diet. I have reduced their intake since starting my weight loss, but id like to try reducing further, to hit the 40/30/30 ratio. But I'm clueless about how to do it! I'd like to carry on eating fruit, it makes me feel good, despite the high carb content!

My diary is open, please can someone advise me on the best way to reduce my carbs?

Many thanks.

leahhugh

I would like to know this too!



Try lettuce wraps with sandwiches instead of bread! YUM! Or I have found a low carb wheat wrap, it hasn't been around lately, so I'm not sure what the brand is.

dls06

Cut your portion size of pasta and find a lower carb option for bread. I try to keep my carbs under 40/per meal.

hippietofugirl

If you are hitting your protein goal of 30%, your carbs should be fine also. Try eating more protein dense items like meat, greek yogurt, cereals high in protein like Kashi, eggs, peanut butter and nuts. I always find that protein bars help also. I just recently switched to the 40/30/30 ratio, and I've had to cut way back on my fruit. I've found that you have to be very decisive about how you spend your carbs. White pastas and breads are for the most part completely out, because they just aren't worth the carb count. Fruits and a few whole grains are the way to go. Hope that helps

NoAdditives

I'd say cut out the cereal, eat pasta less often, and eat more fresh vegetables. Also, the WW snack bars probably aren't great.

Zichu

I just had a quick look at your diary for today and you could easily halve the amount of pasta you are having for Dinner and increase the amount of tuna. This will give you an increase of protein as well.

The Square Wraps are also great, I use them for pizzas from time to time, but I only have one and try and get as much on one as I can. Increase the amount of ham and use only one wrap. Doing just this has already kept you under your carb intake and increased your protein intake.

kayemme

use other, more nutritious or less calorie-dense options

quinoa is a good rice replacement
grated squash is a good pasta replacement
rice wrappers (spring rolls) are a good sandwich bread replacement
riced vegetables like cauliflower make a good "mashed potato" or other "side dish"
cauliflower crust pizza (shut the hell up!)


or mix things up; have some pasta, but mix a considerably smaller portion in with the grated squash
mix rice & quinoa together

use everything you would for a sandwich and wrap it in a spring roll wrapper (except sauce...save that for the side)

keep your fiber intake way up; drink lots of water.

rlmadrid

Veggies are great ways to feel full without having too high of a carb count. Certainly the way to lower carbs is to transfer the majority of your calories over to protein. Chicken breast, eggs, and lean beef are great ways to fill up on a meal that stays low in carbs.

mccindy72

Look for Dreamfields pastas in the black box. They have high fiber and are low on the glycemic index, with less total carb intake. The higher the fiber, the better the carb is, and you need to eat some carbs. Also look for sandwich thins, they make a great sandwich or bun and are low carb and calorie. There are some really good low-carb wraps and tortillas as well. Fruit is so good, and a better carb to eat than others, but try to focus on vegetables! You can eat a TON of vegetables, no carbs and low calories. I avoid carbs for supper, I eat them for breakfast and lunch but not for dinner.

secretlobster

I used to be a huge carb lover myself... I still do love pasta on occasion. But I normally do not eat a lot of carbs in my daily diet. Tried paleo/primal for about six months and while I couldn't continue it forever (it's just too limiting), it did have a profound effects on my eating habits. I rarely eat bread or pasta at all, low-carb bread doesn't ever make it to my shopping basket. My diet is mostly meat and vegetables, with some fruit and some dairy. If you're not normally consuming grains, the amount of carbs in the amount of fruit you eat isn't as significant. I find myself eating a lot of salads and soups especially for lunch.

Focus on 30% protein and 30% fats. Once you hit those goals, you have room for some carbohydrates. But bread and pasta can't be the focus of your meals if you're trying to lower your carb/protein ratio.

MrsLVF

It may sound silly, but keep it simple.
Look at your past diary to see exactly what foods are carbs.
Plan your meals ahead of time to meet your macros.

therealangd

First of all, I eat carbs and lots of them.

I don't eat bread anymore. Or very rarely. Bread is just way too many calories for what you get out of it.

I do eat a fair bit of these. They are only 80 calories for 1 pita. They work great for all kinds of things. Sandwiches. or I'll cut them up, season them and toast them for chips.



When I have pasta, I cut down the amount of pasta I eat and have a salad with it, or I use some pasta and some spaghetti squash. I've also switched from having Italian pasta on a regular basis to having stir fry's using rice noodles. Get to add more protein and veggies and the rice noodles are less calories.

Jesea

Spaghetti squash!

irishcanadianwoman

Have you tried spaghetti squash? Once you get the hang of cooking it, it is a wonderful pasta substitute. It looks the same and tastes better! Give it a try.

Ninatoots

Buy Dr. Atkins' Carbohydrate Gram Counter. I don't think we need to go as low as he said though.

sammniamii

I hate to say it, if you want to lower them, just do it hun. I went low carb about 2 months ago - dropped all pasta, rice, potatoes, most breads and about 70-80% sugar. Best way to cut back is just go for it, but.... I did alot of research on what I could eat & shouldn't eat, I also went out and bought a cookbook so I wouldn't feel like I was in a rut eating the same things everyday.

It's rough the first few weeks, but things do get better. I aim to keep my carbs between 50-100, which is a great improvement over what I used to.

You could always start slowly, drop 1 item at a time, find substitution then go from there.

Good luck!

sweetsarahj

I'm not sure how to answer this without sounding snarky.... but reducing carbs means avoiding pasta, rice, bread and sugar....not sure what kind of advice you're seeking here. When you avoid the above foods, and replace them with vegetables, voila. Low carbs. If you want to still eat fruit (and who wouldn't) stick to berries and bananas. These fruits have the lowest sugars (and carbs).

secretlobster

If you want to still eat fruit (and who wouldn't) stick to berries and bananas. These fruits have the lowest sugars (and carbs).

Bananas are VERY high in sugar and carbs compared to other fruits. It probably has the highest sugar content of any conventional fruit.

dls06

If you want to still eat fruit (and who wouldn't) stick to berries and bananas. These fruits have the lowest sugars (and carbs).

Bananas are VERY high in sugar and carbs compared to other fruits. It probably has the highest sugar content of any conventional fruit.

This. Berries, watermellon, grapes are lower.

spngebobmyhero

You kind of have to re-vamp the way you eat. Don't do replacements for sandwiches or breads, pick a completely different meal.

Have a giant salad with tuna on it and some olive oil and vinegar or leftovers from dinner (which shouldn't be pasta based!). For dinner, pick a protein and cook up one or two veggies with it. Roast the veggies, saute them, or steam.

Cutting out the pasta, bread, and rice for 30 days will reduce your reliance on them and reduce or eliminate your cravings. You can take a look at my diary if you want, I don't eat any pasta or bread and my other grains are very, very limited. Go back to last week, this weekend has been really rough.

sweetsarahj

If you want to still eat fruit (and who wouldn't) stick to berries and bananas. These fruits have the lowest sugars (and carbs).

Bananas are VERY high in sugar and carbs compared to other fruits. It probably has the highest sugar content of any conventional fruit.

My mistake. I was thinking of the fructose level, not the general carb level. Bananas are lower in fructose, higher in glucose. My trainer has advised me to eat a banana after a workout to replenish gylcogen stores. I've also read that it's important to eat fruits with higher glucose than fructose, because glucose will replensih glycogen while fructose will not- it will get stored as fat.

Wikipedia has a good chart of fructose/ glucose ratios in fruit:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose

LaMujerMasBonitaDelMundo

BUMP... I have the same problem too & I would like to see more responses

Justacoffeenut

bump

shbretired

use flat bread for sandwiches.

Substitute frozen veggies for pasta, or even squash. No white potatoes only Yams or Sweet Potatoes, no white rice use brown.

Also there is a vitamin to stop your body from soaking up the carbs; White bean extract, the brand I bought is Terry Naturally Dieters Choice for Carb Control found in my local Vitamin Store.

shbretired

My gym suggests eating an orange after a work out, less calories than a banana, and NO grapes are the sweetest fruit there is (sugar) per Dr Oz.

ninerbuff

Well the SIMPLE answer is to just eat less of them. HOW to do that without driving yourself nuts is a different story. It has to be HABITUAL.
I used to eat rice with almost every meal daily with no issues till age caught up with me. Now I just have rice with just one meal a day. But I started by just eliminating it one meal at a time.

A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

amy1612

I agree, just cut them down and replace with more protein. 2 of those wraps is quite a large portion, theyre quite filling. Go for one instead and add more salad or veg with it.
Also, you can eat more things like lentils and squash, roast veg, mixed beans, etc. I LOVE tuna and mixed bean salad for lunches, really delicous.

I also like sweet potato, its still carbs, but less starchy than white and is amazing baked

turquoise_elephant

You eat a LOT of bananas! Probably the highest carb fruit you could choose. Fruit is good, but stick to less starchy ones like berries, melon, grapes etc.

Your pasta portion is quite large. Most packets I've seen suggest 60g (uncooked) per person. I would personally cut that even lower to 50g.

Have brown rice with your curries instead of naan breads. Remember portion control with rice too.

You seem to eat quite a few vegetables, but what about salad? I only looked at a few days of your diary but there wasn't a single salad in sight! I would save your carb meals like your pasta dish and curries to once or twice a week, and the other days choose other options like salads, grilled meat/fish with fresh veg etc.

I would also choose different snacks to those WW bars. What about fat-free greek yoghurt with an apple? Peanut butter and apple, cottage cheese with pineapple etc. Choose protein-rich snacks, rather than high-carb ones and you'll see your carb intake go down straight away. Plus, if you up your protein intake, you probably won't feel the need for too many carbs.

Hope that helps, and good luck!

Zumbagurl64

all this is good info.....I agree with it all. bananas are very high in sugar/carbs, as well as watermelon and pinapple is total sugar as I have learned this weekend, and fresh cherrys! I'll have a sandwich, 100% whole grain, 1 slice, and load it up turkey, string cheese or low fat cheese, and a bunch of veggies, like a subway sandwich, if you will....it's filling and keeps your numbers in order, and clean.... have some low fat cottage cheese on the side..... I stay away from white carbs, ie potatos, pasta, breads, rice, etc.... go w/brown/wild rice, whole grains, sweet potatos, eat lots of veggies, eggs, almond unsweetened milk, low fat yogurt, pb2 for my peanut butter fix (yummy)...berries are great! apples are pretty high in sugar.... soups are fabulous also...

I agree too that your portions could be smaller....

good luck!

crrc78

I hate to say it, if you want to lower them, just do it hun. I went low carb about 2 months ago - dropped all pasta, rice, potatoes, most breads and about 70-80% sugar. Best way to cut back is just go for it, but.... I did alot of research on what I could eat & shouldn't eat, I also went out and bought a cookbook so I wouldn't feel like I was in a rut eating the same things everyday.

It's rough the first few weeks, but things do get better. I aim to keep my carbs between 50-100, which is a great improvement over what I used to.

You could always start slowly, drop 1 item at a time, find substitution then go from there.

Good luck!

THIS. My ob-gyn suggested that I try the eating plan that his own doctor put him on - here's what he gave me:

Shoot for 50g/carbs per day.
Avoid Bread, Pasta, Potato, Corn and Rice products.
Focus on lean protein and green veggies.
Eat one apple or orange per day (this does not count toward the 50g)
Drink water all day - and WITH your meals too.

It gets a little boring but it definitely works. I go in phases with it and am much better during the week than weekends, BUT...
before I started this, I was eating 200+ g/carbs each day, and now even on a "bad day" I rarely go over 100. I don't miss the rice and pasta at all!

desertdutchman

Well the SIMPLE answer is to just eat less of them. HOW to do that without driving yourself nuts is a different story. It has to be HABITUAL.

I agree. Make up your mind and stick to it.
I've been eating 50g of carbs a day for 13 months by cutting out all bread, potatoes, rice, pasta. I am eating much more leafy greens and other vegetables. At first (I would say for 5 months) I felt deprived.

The benefit for me was the boost in mid-morning and mid-afternoon energy. Feeling better all day was a good trade off for the momentary pleasure of tasting that bread, etc.