Help & advice with lower carb
bookworm221
Posts: 35 Member
HI there
Has anyone got any advice? I have been on Atkins since March - i'd lost 2 stone (29lb) before my holiday but put a bit on while away! I have about 4 stone (56lb) more to lose so have quite a way to go. I'm really struggling with Atkins since i've been back & want to up my carbs a bit so that I could take a sandwich to work occasionally or eat a bit of rice - i'm bored with salad & lean meat! I know I should try & be a bit more of an imaginative cook but it's not going to happen!!
I've not counted calories up til now only carbs & i've been keeping my carbs below 35g a day. So I planned to up my carbs a bit & count calories.
At the moment my macros are:
Net Calories 1,390 cal/day
Carbs / Day 35 g
Fat / Day 93 g
Protein / Day 104 g
If I get MFP to auto calculate I get 191g carbs a day & I don't want to go that high with carbs. Low carb suits my digestion - I used to suffer terribly with indigestion & don't get it at all now.
Sorry this is getting a bit long!! I suppose the question is - if I up my carbs to say 70g manually what do I reduce to compensate is it the fat? Or can you let me know what your macros are if the carbs are a bit higher than mine?
Many thanks for your help
Has anyone got any advice? I have been on Atkins since March - i'd lost 2 stone (29lb) before my holiday but put a bit on while away! I have about 4 stone (56lb) more to lose so have quite a way to go. I'm really struggling with Atkins since i've been back & want to up my carbs a bit so that I could take a sandwich to work occasionally or eat a bit of rice - i'm bored with salad & lean meat! I know I should try & be a bit more of an imaginative cook but it's not going to happen!!
I've not counted calories up til now only carbs & i've been keeping my carbs below 35g a day. So I planned to up my carbs a bit & count calories.
At the moment my macros are:
Net Calories 1,390 cal/day
Carbs / Day 35 g
Fat / Day 93 g
Protein / Day 104 g
If I get MFP to auto calculate I get 191g carbs a day & I don't want to go that high with carbs. Low carb suits my digestion - I used to suffer terribly with indigestion & don't get it at all now.
Sorry this is getting a bit long!! I suppose the question is - if I up my carbs to say 70g manually what do I reduce to compensate is it the fat? Or can you let me know what your macros are if the carbs are a bit higher than mine?
Many thanks for your help
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Replies
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(Sorry ahead of time, as I'm not answering your question).
Have you considered going higher fat? I follow keto which is low carb, high fat, moderate protein. I target 70% fat / 25% protein / 5% protein. I don't think I'd have survived almost a year doing this if I were eating lean meats. Cooking my pork chop in butter, or eating a half rack of ribs is one of my great joys on this lifestyle.
Just a thought. For myself, when my fat grams are lower than my protein carbs it affects my ketosis and weight loss.
Good Luck, with whatever you decide!0 -
I bought some Protein Powder (chocolate flavored) and make smoothies--ice, protein powder, and a few raspberries in a blender. Could also add yogurt or skim milk if you can take the carbs.
To give myself more snack/food options, I added olives, avocado, nuts not to the smoothie! but to the diet plan. These all increased the fats %, but these are "healthy" fats.0 -
If you are going for keto I recommend getting the keto sticks and playing around with how many net carbs you can eat and stay in keto.
I have a higher amount of carbs in my diet than many on the keto plan but the keto sticks say I am staying in keto and that works for me. I am doing lean meats too just because I Don't eat red meat and I dont' eat pork. But a higher fat proportion does keep it interesting.
I've gone up to 65 or 70 carbs (just over 50 net carbs ) and remained in keto. I've been trying to go with lower glycemic carb items.
It might be worth it for you to try eating whole wheat spaghetti or long grain rice and see if those lower glycemic items are tolerated by you with the keto sticks.
but I really don't know if glycemic index has any effect on Keto. I suspect it might but I really don't know.0 -
If you are going for keto I recommend getting the keto sticks and playing around with how many net carbs you can eat and stay in keto.
I have a higher amount of carbs in my diet than many on the keto plan but the keto sticks say I am staying in keto and that works for me. I am doing lean meats too just because I Don't eat red meat and I dont' eat pork. But a higher fat proportion does keep it interesting.
I've gone up to 65 or 70 carbs (just over 50 net carbs ) and remained in keto. I've been trying to go with lower glycemic carb items.
I have to agree with this. For some reason I seem to be able to take in around 60 to 70g in carbs and still stay in ketosis. I never would have known what my threshold is if I hadn't bought the ketostix at the pharmacy.
This allows me a bit more leeway for food choices. I do eat a sandwich every once in a while and can stay in ketosis. I love playing around with the macros and adjusting them.0 -
Thanks everyone that's helpful.
I have ketostix but always find them a bit variable - they have always been a fairly pale colour for me even when I was on induction with Atkins so eating less than 20g carbs a day, so I don't entirely trust them!!
I will play around with the macros & see if I keep losing weight I think. Wholegrain is useful info - we always use wholegrain anyway so I think i'll give it a try.
Yes I'm not too keen on fatty meat - so I stick to chicken, turkey & fish. I do cook in butter but it's work lunches i'm struggling with - I have had a chicken or tuna salad every day this week, & last week!! I have a protein shake for breakfast with some cream in it & that's lovely.
Think i'll up my carbs to 50 & see if I keep losing weight & then take it from there. Thanks again0 -
If you're taking in a lot of water adn diluting your urine it will be a light color. it doesn't matter how light or dark the stick is as long as it has any reading at all. you're either in or out of ketosis. no middle ground.0
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use the Keto Calculator for your Carb, Fat, Protein goals see http://keto-calculator.ankerl.com/
If you really want Atkins to work get back to 20 grams of carbs a day and stop thinking about bread and rice. use FAT to fill you up and get creative with recipes. You're saying you want this goal but then you're saying what's 'just not going to happen'. get past the 'it's just not going to happen' mentality.
MAKE IT HAPPEN.
Life is simple. you decide what you want. you pay the price for what you want. no one pays the same price. it's not FAIR, ok? Get over believing you can negotiate a different price than what life asks of YOU!
that's the challenge. accept it. OK?0 -
I think your pep talk just inadvertently motivated me haha! Thanks Binkie!0
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Low carb suits my digestion - I used to suffer terribly with indigestion & don't get it at all now.
This could be due to not eating wheat, as at 35g of carbs you've probably eliminated most of it. My acid reflux that I took prescription medication to treat for 7+ years, was due to wheat and grains (not the fatty foods, spicy foods, acidic foods, chocolate, coffee, etc that I was always told to avoid - I eat all those fine now!!). So you might not want to add that sandwich back, just as a caution. I know many more folks who will say the same. I've been off PPI's for 2 years now.
For lunches, I usually bring leftovers or a salad - it's always basically meat and veggies, and some fat if it's a leaner meat or fish - cheese, avocado, or nuts, for example. I pack my lunch the night before when I'm putting away leftovers from dinner - easy peasy. I always plan ahead to cook extra for lunches, even if it's extra grilled meat for a salad.0 -
Thanks for the keto calculator that's really useful - i've adjusted my macros & will see how it goes.
I know what you mean shar140 about adding back the carbs - I may not add back bread it is indigestible for me!
I make my lunch the night before as well but i'm the only one doing low carb in my household so I cook for everyone else & then usually end up making myself a salad - easier & quicker!! So then I just do one for lunch as well - not very imaginative! I'm just looking for a bit more variety. I always put avocado & nuts into my salads with the usual greens & chicken. I've made cauliflower 'rice' today so i'm going to see if I can turn that into a 'rice' salad just for a change!!
I'm not wedded to Atkins - I'm exploring alternatives - I've adjusted my macros & will see if my weight loss continues. Thanks for all your suggestions.0 -
I also want to thank Binki for the pep-talk. I really needed that too! I've been slacking off since the holidays...and other events...and here we are past half way through the year and I'm still fluctuating between the same 5 pounds. Time to get back to it.
As far as your question bookworm, is it at all possible to get your family eating the same way you are so you can try some new recipes so as not to get bored with your routine? Maybe just for dinner? (breakfast and lunch are easy, right? everyone can fend for themselves). If you add moderate/high fat, there are a lot of really good recipes to try (like twice baked cauliflower - my favorite!).
Try using the keto sticks first thing in the morning. Whatever change you made seems to be working! Just saw your most recent weigh-in.0 -
You're welcome:happy:0
