low carb and 1200 calories

hyphenbobbit
hyphenbobbit Posts: 81 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hi,

Just embarking on a low carb diet but don't know what percentage of each food group I should be aiming for. Today is my first day and having eaten my evening meal I'm still only on 787 calories which is obviously too low.

Clearly, I need to eat something else but don't know which food group to target? Can anyone give me any help on what the ratio's should be?

Thanks in advance - also be interested to know if this method is working for others (have around 20lb to lose)

Replies

  • lynnprice
    lynnprice Posts: 101 Member
    I don't know about percentage of food group is going to work for you, I can only say what works for me. I avoid fruit at this point in time and all starchy veggies. If you feel you need something more to eat, cottage cheese, protein, veggies, diet jello (if you're ok with the artificial sweetners) are excellent.
  • hyphenbobbit
    hyphenbobbit Posts: 81 Member
    Thanks for the info Lynn, will go with your suggestions as it's definately working for you:smile:
  • AlabasterVerve
    AlabasterVerve Posts: 3,171 Member
    Your body has two sources of energy fat and carbs. If you reduce your carbs you have to increase your fat to compensate. Think cooking with butter, coconut oil or animal fats -- heavy cream, sour cream, full fat cheeses -- butter on your vegetables, full fat dressings on your salads -- well marbled beef, skin on your poultry, things like that. It takes a little while to get used to eating fat again and it can seem a little scary when a tablespoon of fat has so many calories but your body is going to love it. Good luck!

    ETA:
    http://www.dietdoctor.com/lchf
  • healthymission92
    healthymission92 Posts: 157
    I have this problem. When lowering carbs I struggle to get enough.
    I have recently started cooking with oils and using p.nut butter. Still not enough though, I need to maybe switch my meals to 5 smaller ones throughout the day
  • harpercutie
    harpercutie Posts: 118 Member
    aim for as much protein as possible. ive already lost 17 lbs
  • hyphenbobbit
    hyphenbobbit Posts: 81 Member
    Glad I'm not the only one struggling with this - how much fat is too much? Are you eating more fat than protein?

    Sorry for all the questions, been going with mfp a few months and haven't lost very much - just want this 'new approach' to work. waffle over!!:smile:
  • healthymission92
    healthymission92 Posts: 157
    Yes, thats a good question. I'm always wary about eating more fat tbh
  • AlabasterVerve
    AlabasterVerve Posts: 3,171 Member
    In order to figure out what you should be eating marco wise the first thing you need to do is calculate how much protein you need. This will be a fixed number and not a percentage of calories. You'll have to look online for a protein calculator or search the forums to figure out your protein needs -- there's so many different ways to calculate protein I don't really know the best way to determine it. I can't remember what I did to calculate mine but I know it involved using your lean body mass to determine it.

    Once you have your protein sorted you need to decide how many carbs you want a day. Everything else should be fat--and depending on how strict you are with the carbs your fat will be at least 50% of your calories if not higher.

    Do not use vegetable oils, margarine, spreads or any hydronated oils. And depending on your diet you might want to look into taking a fish oil supplement as well. It's important to keep a healthy balance between omega6 and omega3 fats.

    And that's all I've got--hope it helps!

    Some info. on calculating protein:
    http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/zonediet/a/zoneprotein.htm
  • hyphenbobbit
    hyphenbobbit Posts: 81 Member
    Perfect, Thank you - according to that I should be getting around 70g protein so I can now taylor carbs and fats around it.
  • PaleoPath4Lyfe
    PaleoPath4Lyfe Posts: 3,161 Member
    Hi,

    Just embarking on a low carb diet but don't know what percentage of each food group I should be aiming for. Today is my first day and having eaten my evening meal I'm still only on 787 calories which is obviously too low.

    Clearly, I need to eat something else but don't know which food group to target? Can anyone give me any help on what the ratio's should be?

    Thanks in advance - also be interested to know if this method is working for others (have around 20lb to lose)

    If you are eating the low carb way and are eating fresh, whole foods (meats, fat, fruits, veggies) you are naturally going to have lower calories then the people that eat a lot of junky, processed foods (yes there are a lot of low carbers that eat a lot of processed foods too).

    Eating healthy is NOT about the NUMBER of calories one takes in. It is more about the QUALITY of the calories you take in.

    When you eat nutrient dense foods the body is satisfied on less, therefore your calories will be lower.

    Listen to your body.
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
    Today is my first day and having eaten my evening meal I'm still only on 787 calories which is obviously too low.
    Not sure it is obvious, if you are not hungry.

    30% protein, whatever % carbs and the rest fats & oils - so 30 / 10 / 60 or 30 / 5 / 65 and so on.
  • ItsMeRebekah
    ItsMeRebekah Posts: 909 Member
    i eat low carbs and more then 1200 -- add or look if you wish!
  • Amysgetnfit
    Amysgetnfit Posts: 231
    You can add a snack of nuts, almonds, walnuts cashews etc,... high in protien, & good fats, add protien,fish, egg whites, beans etc. all good for you

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