Low carb newbie with questions...

jessvaughn74

I decided to change my carb goals from 130g to 98g..I am going to try and hit between 65-98g a day. So thought I could just do it with what I had on hand at the house....after a little research I see that I am wrong about that so have to start after grocery day on Saturday. Anywho...I have been scouring the pinterest boards for low carb recipes and I keep coming upon a theme. All low carb recipes seem to use the full fat of sour cream, mayo, cream, etc. Also seems like quite a few low carbers do not count calories.Is it

So my questions are...

1. Why the full fat?
2. Can I count calories and do low carb? (Counting calories has been my key to success so far and not willing to give that up)
3. Will using full fat products inhibit my ability to stay within my 1300 calorie range?
4. Can I still eat my daily steel cut oats and stay low carb? ( I just love them so much!)
5. Lastly, I have been reading about net carbs. Do I have this correct that if I subtract my daily fiber intake from my carb intake that will give me my net carbs? And that is the number I should be using as a goal number?

Thank you in advance for all your help!!

My diary is open to the public for anyone to look at and give me any tips as well. ~J~

nickiboop

Hi and welcome :-)

Hope these answers help

1) the 2 things that make food taste nice are fat and sugar, if company's take fat out of products they usually put sugar in.
As low carbers we are aiming to minimise sugar. Look at the sugar content on full and low fat yoghurt as a good example
2)Yes you can still count calories, however people on low carb will usually loose weight whilst eating higher calories, and not being hungry is a much nicer way to live
3) it depends how hungry you are! Yes cheese has more calories than the same amount of pasta but I would be surprised if you
Could eat the same quantity! And fat fills you up for longer
4) unfortunately oats are not really classed as a good food on a low carb diet, Google chia seeds they make a good (ish) alternative
5) yes and yes :-)

Good luck it takes a while to get into this way of life BUT it does get easier and most people feel really good on it

And you get to eat steak with cream sauce whilst being on a diet
Hope this helps

danni_l

Pretty much covered on the above answer!

Re. the calorie counting, because a lot of the favoured low carb meals are higher in fat, you could find it hard to keep around 1300 every day, so maybe try to be flexible where possible. I dont go nuts on my calories, Im set to 1200 and usually hover around that mon- fri, but thats as I have salads for lunch at work and easier to make, healthier dinners, then on the the wknd I go over, as I have more time to make delicious lunches and dinners!
I still loose weight though so dont waste my time counting

jessvaughn74

Thank you both for your help! It is amazing the things I have learned since starting this healthy lifestyle. And honestly makes me sad to think about the way I used to live!

shar140

I'll 2nd what danni and nicki said!

Have you read any low-carb books, to understand the science behind lower-carb eating? That should help answer some of your questions. Try "Why We Get Fat" by Gary Taubes, one of the Atkins books, Jonny Bowden's "Living the Low-Carb Life", which goes over 30-some lower-carb diet plans. I get books from the library so they're free.

rae_32

Hey, I thought I'd post parts of my response to in a different thread awhile ago as it seems to apply (and I also agree with the other posters):

If you are going to do low carb- fats are your friend! Doing "low carb" properly means that you will be obtaining the majority of your nutrients from fat (healthy oils, nuts, seeds, etc.) as well as protein in an effort to switch your body over to naturally burning fat at its primary fuel source. Fat is naturally more dense in calories; so you should expect higher calories than you would in a HCLF diet. In other words- I wouldn't stress too much if your calories are over and above what you're used to in a conventional diet! I also agree with what someone earlier wrote that fat and protein tend to be more filling so you'll find yourself naturally feeling hungry less often. I think that a common mistake early on with people who want to do low carb is that they do low carb AND low fat because of their own misconceptions about fat, and that really won't help you at all...

That said, at the end of the day you do want to aim for a calorie deficit in order for your body to burn excess fat for energy. I would also recommend doing some reading about LC. Make sure it's something you understand and can find reasons why you believe in it. I would recommend Why We Get Fat or even the first few chapters of New Atkins For a New You... There are also some decent blogs out there if you don't mind doing some research...

Good luck!

highervibes

I do low carb (less than 50g) and still count calories. I eat about 1900/day on average. (I'm 5'6", 212lbs, 32F) I find the more fat I eat the more satisfied I am and my carb cravings are GONE. It's so much more humane this way lol I'm not sure how you would find it with only 1300 calories/day though, that sounds challenging. I calculated my TDEE and BMR (1744) and I eat at a deficit but definitely above my BMR and lose about 1lb/week... sometimes NONE... sometimes 2!
Steel cut oats aren't really low carb, I'd say you would have to ditch those. I use plain full fat yogurt and 3TBSP roasted golden flax seeds (they're mostly fibre) with some raspberries and a Truvia for a net carb count of 9g. It's sort of oatmealish when you mix with the ground flax Best of luck on your journey and congrats on your success thus far!

JanetLynnJudy

Great information above.
I do a HFLC diet and I love it. It has seriously changed my life. I finally have the energy to exercise every single day and I actually look forward to it.

Some things I want to add.

- It will probably take a little while for your body to get used to a HFLC diet, but once you do it's pretty easy to stay under on calories and feel satiated. I do stay pretty low on my calories. I think it really helps to log everything, so you are already off to a great start there!

-Net carbs are just carbs minus fiber and sugar alcohol. Though some people may choose not to consume sugar alcohol (it affects people differently). Honestly, I know it's better when I don't have sugar alcohols, but I've been eating quite a bit lately. YMMV.

-As mentioned above, you could try flax seed meal as a replacement for your oats. It's 4 carbs a serving, but all of those carbs are fiber (1soluble, 3 insoluble) so it's pretty much zero net carbs. Insoluble fiber speeds up digestion so it helps with one problem some low carbers have. In addition to the fiber content it has omega-3 essential fatty acids and lignans which act as antioxidants. You can eat it like a cereal with unsweetened almond, coconut or soy milk. The unsweetened part is very important when it comes to almond, coconut or soy milk (check label - unsweetened has about 1 carb).

Looking forward to hearing more about your experience with this change. Grats on your weight loss so far!

elena0559

Wow im glad I found this thread. Im trying to start a lower carb plan, I actually havent even figured out how many carbs I should be having. But all of you gave great answers to the eaxct same questions I would have asked. Thank you to all of you.