Is around 200 carbs/day considered as a lot??

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Replies

  • HeyGoRun
    HeyGoRun Posts: 550 Member
    i saw some of your diary, I do think you should eat more, maybe your carbs for the few calories you eat are too high. You could try a 40-30-30 plan and cycle your calories, so your body wont get used to such low calories all the time. Plus I think your loss is very good, if you lose to much too fast it might come back. There is plenty of info in books and online if you feel confused with this, so do some research.
  • Lupercalia
    Lupercalia Posts: 1,857 Member
    I only looked back at a few days worth of your diary entries, but I think your protein and fat intake both look pretty low. I'd consider upping both those to reasonable amounts and also trying to eat a bit more total calories than what you're averaging now.
  • Fullsterkur_woman
    Fullsterkur_woman Posts: 2,712 Member
    So, I had a look over your food diary over the last week, and since you asked for suggestions, I have a couple of areas where you could improve.

    Firstly, your calories are low. I am not sure that you are reporting everything completely though. I find the counts for palak paneer in particular suspiciously low. There should definitely be more protein, unless you're just not eating the cheese at all, which, for me, defeats the purpose of delicious palak paneer!

    Are you a vegetarian? If so, you may need to drop some of your starch-only carbs (cereal, bagels, chapati, etc.) in favor of carbs that carry more protein with them (lentils, chickpeas, beans, quinoa).

    If it was me, I'd be limiting myself to two servings of fruit per day, to make sure that I had room in my budget for vegetable carbs. Broccoli, spinach, and mushrooms are all fairly high in protein for their calorie counts as vegetables go, but bear in mind that you cannot get enough protein by eating a serving of each of these!

    I eat a goodly number of calories more than you do daily (about 1800-1900, but I get a good bit of exercise and weight loss is not my main goal), and I would find it next to impossible to get enough protein in on a vegetarian diet. It's the main reason I am no longer a vegetarian.

    Rather than focusing on what to take out, why not focus on making sure that you get your five-a-day fruits and vegetables (lean more toward the vegetables than fruits), and then you can see how many other carbs you can have an stick to your calorie budget?
  • conniemaxwell5
    conniemaxwell5 Posts: 943 Member
    Hello,

    Could you guys please check my food diary and suggest if I am taking in too much of carbs?

    I am in my 3rd month of work out and have just lost 8 pounds in last 2 months where as I was expecting more due to big change in eating habits.

    I weighed myself yesterday after a week and noticed that I gained 1 pound so now after 2.5 months my exact weight loss is 7 pounds. Not sure if its muscle or is it due to my irregular workout habits.

    I am 5'3". Was weighing 186lbs and now I weigh 179lbs. I still have around 36lbs more to lose.

    If I lose at this slow pace then I guess it will take me an year to reach my goal.

    IMO, you're not eating enough. Read this

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/974888-in-place-of-a-road-map-2k13

    and do the calculations and follow the format. I eat about 1700-1800 calories a day and have lost 48 pounds. I'm usually around 250-300 carbs a day but most are from whole grains, fruits and vegetables.
  • Special flower? haha thanks :wink:
  • tworthen79
    tworthen79 Posts: 1,173 Member
    Overstreet....I like your style! I hate when people correct someone and then turns around and acts like whatever they say is the ONLY right way. Come on, get off your high horse.
  • steffiejoe
    steffiejoe Posts: 313 Member
    It's considered a lot for me. Everyone is different.
  • _EndGame_
    _EndGame_ Posts: 770 Member
    To be fair, Vanillabean only made a suggestion. What he/she does clearly works for them, so he/she went to the effort of making a suggestion, regardless of whether it coincided with anybody else's opinion or not.

    Personally I wouldn't lower my carbs, as I seem to have a steady enough weight loss at what I am currently eating, and I usually end up close to my carb allowance.

    OP, I would suggest you eat more calories, change your diet up a bit, etc. Apparently ones metabolism becomes used to patterns, and changing up your diet from time to time will keep it guessing, ergo keep it burning properly (that is advice I have been given on here multiple times) Personally, I don't know how anybody could be content on less than 1200 calories a day, I would be constantly hungry.
  • wamydia
    wamydia Posts: 259 Member
    Hmm. . . well, as a general rule I don't think it's wise to immediately assume that if your weight loss isn't progressing that it is the fault of one particular food group. It is possible that you will find out that lowering our carb intake somewhat will work well for your body, however my experience is that when people's weight loss isn't progressing, it is more often an overall issue of eating and/ or exercise plan. Did you use MFP to calculate your suggested calorie intake for a reasonable weight loss goal (1-2lb/week)? Have you been following the suggested calorie and macronutrient intakes pretty closely? If not, that is where I suggest you start. If you do that for a while and get no progress, then would be a good time to start making changes to your macros, exercise, etc. to see if you can find something that works better for you.

    Also, please don't eat less than the suggested calories in an attempt to boost your weight loss. We tend to assume that if the software says to eat 1500 calories and we only eat 1000, that must mean we're doing awesome and are going to lose a ton of weight. It can really backfire, though, and it doesn't lend itself well to a long-term lifestyle change. Also consider eating your exercise calories back. It's one of those case by case basis things, but some people find their weight loss gets much easier when they are also eating back the calories they burn during exercise.

    Good luck and don't get discouraged. Just take some time to really read up on all the different areas of weight loss so that you have a good understanding of how your body works. You can get a lot of insight as to what is going on with your body and how to treat it well.
  • ewrob
    ewrob Posts: 136 Member
    I have a large, large base of knowledge. Not gained through reading out-dated text books and passing a few exams which require a tick or a cross to pass.

    Good day.

    Are you serious? What a colossal ego.
  • tiffanyraylene
    tiffanyraylene Posts: 97 Member
    To those arguing, you're not helping. Just cluttering up what should be a helpful thread to the OP with your petty comments back and forth.

    Now, OP-
    I would suggest calculating your TDEE, subtract 20%. This should be your calorie goal per day, while eating back your exercise cals. This will benefit you in the long-term. If you eat too few calories, you will eventually plateau at those levels and have to eat even less and/or increase exercise even more to keep losing, then plateau, it keeps going. To fix this, I have read most people have to eat at maintenance level for an average of 6 weeks for their body to readjust if you get deep enough into that rut. That's a month and a half of making no progress, probably even encountering a slight gain while getting your body back on track. So, you see... you're doing yourself a favor by eating at TDEE-20% right from the start. Every 5 - 10 lb. I lose, I recalculate my TDEE to reflect the weight loss and keep my deficit the same so I keep losing.

    Now, as far as your carbs go... as you can tell by all of the arguing on this thread that different things work for different people. Honestly, I started on this site just worrying about calories. Once I got the hang of that I worked on staying within the goals that were set for my macros. Recently, I was slow losing for about 3 weeks. Numbers are moving again now that I adjusted my macros to 45% protien, 30% fat, 25% carbs. At 1500 cals ish per day, that allows for about 100 g of carbs. It works well for me. :) You will probably have to take some time playing around with the numbers to find exactly what works best for you and your body.
  • ritchiedrama
    ritchiedrama Posts: 1,304 Member
    I have a large, large base of knowledge. Not gained through reading out-dated text books and passing a few exams which require a tick or a cross to pass.

    Good day.

    Are you serious? What a colossal ego.

    Yes. I am serious. Nice input.
  • kellijauch
    kellijauch Posts: 379 Member
    Personally, I try to keep my carbs relatively low, while still eating grains and small amounts of pasta (maybe once a week). For example, my food diary for today is completed (I already know what I am eating for dinner). My carb allowance is set at 172. Total carbs for the day are 98. Not because I tried, just because what I eat is naturally low in carbs. I will admit, I actively avoid pasta most of the time (which took a while for me to accept, but was necessary for me), but I eat bread with lunch all the time (whether it's a sandwich, or a baguette with soup, crackers, etc...) Honestly, do what you think you need to. If you feel like that's what's holding you back, then lower your carbs. Still eat your calories, just find foods that are lower in carbs instead.
  • Hey =) you should try to lower your carbs to somewhere around 165. Don't worry about the weight gain most of the time it's just water weight and it's temporary. As long as you're following your diet plan you should be fine. Best of luck!
    Don't make recommendations without even looking at the persons diary or even given an explanation.


    OP, first off you barely eat 1200 calories, most days you are in the 1000 range. 1200 is probably to low as it is, 1000-1100 is definitely to low. Have you calculated your TDEE? You really need to be eating more food.

    For some people 200g of carbs is to much, for some it's to few. It comes down to personal preference.
    You barely eat any fat? 20-30 grams a day is way to low. You need to eat more fat.
    You also barely get any protein in. That needs to increase.

    Protein - 1g per 1lb of lbm
    Fat - .4-.5g x body weight
    Carbs - Fill with remaining calories or distribute a little more towards fat and protein. Whatever you want.

    Good advice right there, I hat to start eating more to shed the fat, didn't realize I was eating so little and killing my metabolism, you need to eat a lot of protein and some fat so it can be absorbed. Eat more!
  • highervibes
    highervibes Posts: 2,219 Member
    Considering your calorie goal is 1200 I'd say YES that is high. You need more protein and fat and that has to come from somewhere; your carbs.

  • An MD degree has no impact on any of this. Doctors, Nutritionists, Personal Trainers are all clueless in the grand scheme of things.

    What kind of stratospheric qualifications do you have to make such a blanket statement?

    I have a large, large base of knowledge. Not gained through reading out-dated text books and passing a few exams which require a tick or a cross to pass.

    Good day.


    You are also only 24.... I remember being 24 and thinking I knew a lot, and in the last 6 years I have learned I really knew nothing.


    OP, Eat more food. Calories in vs Calories out works, I have friends who eat more than 200g of carbs a day and lose weight so you should be fine. Never put an ONLY in front of your weight loss either, go get 7 pounds of anything at the grocery store and carry it around for a while, you will notice the 7 pounds.

    The fact you've even mentioned my age, shows your mental immaturity. That is all.

    I was reading this thread and had kept my mouth shut until I saw this. Richie, you're just a rude little jerk, and you constantly have to make sure that you've got the last word in, regardless. You have literally attacked (not corrected) every person in this thread that said anything that you didn't agree with. Someone mentioned your age? From an outside perspective, your age absolutely shows, and you prove it more and more with every comment you make.

    If the girl was wrong, then she was wrong. There are ways to correct someone without being the rude little douche that you've proven yourself to be from start to finish. You don't have the right mentality or attitude to offer someone advice.

    Now, I'll sit back and watch you respond to this comment, because you can't stop yourself from doing so.

    A rude little jerk? I've helped over 100 people in the past 2 days and will transform their lives, your opinion of me does not really matter, though.

    Sure it does, otherwise you wouldn't have went out of your way to show how 'valuable' you've been. You're a 24 year old kid that knows nothing about how to interact with others around him, and who always has to have the last word. Enjoy living your life like that.