Lose Weight on Carbs???

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ijohn_001
ijohn_001 Posts: 29 Member
in Getting Started
Anyone have any suggestions on how to lose weight while maintaining a diet consisting of about 75% carbohydrates vs. 15-20% protein?

My wife seems to only know how to prepare high carb meals... I get the feeling this would be much easier if I had more protein.
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  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
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    Small portions?

    Learn to cook yourself?

    Both you and your wife learn to cook a wider variety of meals?
  • melaniecheeks
    melaniecheeks Posts: 6,349 Member
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    Well, it's possible. A calories deficit is all that's needed. But maybe you and your wife might enjoy exploring different meals using Pinterest or similar.
  • HappyStack
    HappyStack Posts: 802 Member
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    There's no need to fiddle with your macros to achieve weight loss unless you have a specific goal in mind or you're having trouble feeling sated with your food. If the latter is the case, I would look at my calorie count before my macros.

    Your diary isn't open so nobody can see your calorie or macro goals.
  • cinnamonkitty
    cinnamonkitty Posts: 21
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    I'm vegetarian and eat lots of carbs and still lose weight. Calories count. If you think you would feel better with more protein then eat some even if you have to learn to cook a bit. A couple of ounces of store- bought roasted chicken would be an easy fix.
  • CynthiasChoice
    CynthiasChoice Posts: 1,047 Member
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    Do you have an outdoor grill? You might enjoy grilling up some meats twice a week to last you 3 - 4 days. Then you can have smaller portions of what your wife makes, while enhancing your meal with protein from the grill. Hope you find something that works.
  • Annie_01
    Annie_01 Posts: 3,096 Member
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    I eat carbs...a lot. I still manage to average a 2lb weekly weight loss.

    If I cook pasta I always try to add a good portion of veggies and some protein to it to help balance it out.

    I have tried low-carb...I failed miserably! So I went back to eating them. So for me...allowing myself to eat carbs is probably the reason that I have stuck to the weight loss.
  • lisawinning4losing
    lisawinning4losing Posts: 726 Member
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    Losing weight is always possible as long as you stay under a certain number of calories. And exercise, even just walking, helps a lot. But if you're feeling hungry or having a hard time staying under your calories, an increase in protein and reduction in carbs would help. Different people have different philosophies about this, and about what is most healthy, but you're guaranteed to lose weight if you stay below your target goal.
  • QuietBloom
    QuietBloom Posts: 5,413 Member
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    Two words. Whey protein.
  • NightWriteMermaid
    NightWriteMermaid Posts: 43
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    Hiya. I think I can help with this. After a lot of years of looking at what works best for me, my nutritionist and I decided on a goal of 15% protein, 65% carbs, and 20% fat, so I'm where you are with macros right now. It works really well for me. Honestly, all you have to do is log the calories. I've lost a lot of weight with just this. Just figure out what feels best and what fills you up the most.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    You only eat 5-10% fat? Doubtful.
  • Love4fitnesslove4food2
    Love4fitnesslove4food2 Posts: 711 Member
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    Where are you getting the idea that you're eating 75% carbs? If you eat meat and fat AT ALL that would be pretty had to accomplish. How about eating 3-4 eggs at breakfast to start your day along with whatever carbs she usually makes, having double the serving of meat at lunch/dinner and taking smaller portions of the carbs?
  • ijohn_001
    ijohn_001 Posts: 29 Member
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    Yeah. It's only a guesstimate based on the fact that nearly all of my meals are mostly carbs. Sometimes there some protein in there but even when I was logging everything strictly, I always had a very difficult time eating enough protein to meet my macro requirement.

    BTW, I've made my diary public now.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    Amateur bodybuilder... calorie goal of 1200....:huh:
  • ijohn_001
    ijohn_001 Posts: 29 Member
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    Amateur bodybuilder... calorie goal of 1200....:huh:

    OK look, 1200 calories is just a base.
    Do I eat more than 1200 calories? - always.
    Do I log everything I eat? - never. Not all food or exercise.
    Amateur means just that, AMATEUR - it's more of a hobby and a goal than an all consuming obsession.
    I'm asking for some good ideas on how to cut back on carbs given my individual situation. If you don't have anything but criticisms, then step off, you're not helping and I didn't ask for that.
    Until yesterday, my diary was only open to friends. It will probably revert back to that.
    I'm more about living my life than about recording everything I do or don't do on MFP.

    Thanks to everyone for your kind suggestions.
  • PikaKnight
    PikaKnight Posts: 34,971 Member
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    If you don't log consistently (everything and every day) then how do you know the percentages of macros you are consuming?
  • ijohn_001
    ijohn_001 Posts: 29 Member
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    If you don't log consistently (everything and every day) then how do you know the percentages of macros you are consuming?

    Thank you. If you read the other posts you would've seen that it's a guesstimate, but I'm sure it's relatively accurate. I know what I eat. I'm not mindlessly shoving food in my face, so that's really not hard.
  • mungowungo
    mungowungo Posts: 327 Member
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    Anyone have any suggestions on how to lose weight while maintaining a diet consisting of about 75% carbohydrates vs. 15-20% protein?

    My wife seems to only know how to prepare high carb meals... I get the feeling this would be much easier if I had more protein.

    Hi - I did have a quick peek at your diary. Does your wife cook all your meals? Maybe if you are concerned about high carb/low protein you could start making one of your meals a day - like breakfast? You could have eggs and bacon or a protein shake instead of the bagel or noodles - that would lower the carb count and increase the protein in one fell swoop.

    ETA - if you cook your wife breakfast she might even like the idea - especially if you wash up afterwards :wink:
  • Jgal8123
    Jgal8123 Posts: 1,378 Member
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    Two words. Whey protein.

    X2
  • BeachGingerOnTheRocks
    BeachGingerOnTheRocks Posts: 3,927 Member
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    Here's what works for us:

    Stop by the grocery store and pick up meat. Cook it. Eat it.

    You can lose weight eating anything, so long as you're in a deficit. But if you want to put on muscle, you're going to have to eat a whole hell of a lot more calories and get your protein.

    Don't rely solely on your wife to make all your meal choices. My 3-year-old does that, but my husband surely doesn't. If I make something too carb heavy that destroys his macros, he hands me a pack of meat and smiles. Or he turns on the grill and grills it up and shares.
  • Mikulam93
    Mikulam93 Posts: 10 Member
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    Most peoples BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) is around 1400 calories a day at least. This is the amount of calories your body needs to function healthily. If you eat in deficit of this, your body will store fat and you will feel terrible.

    The best method is to use the Harris-Benedict formula or another if you know. This is where you find the calories you need to eat daily to maintain your weight, based on your height, weight, build and activity levels.
    When you find your maintenance calories, simply subtract 500 calories. This will give you the number of calories you need to eat each day to achieve weight loss.
    For example, i am a young female and my maintenance calories are approx 2100/day. I am currently cutting fat for a competition and eating around 1600 a day. This is very low even for me.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/tools/bmr-calculator

    Weight loss is simple. Calories eaten vs. Calories out.

    If you really want to take it seriously, try adopting a macro counting method where your calories come from 50% carbs, 30% protein, 20% fat method. This in combination with tracking calories is very effective.

    Now, with your wife cooking high carb meals.. That is fine just take only about 1 cup per meal of the cooked pasta/rice etc. Then try to buy chicken breast, fish and other lean meat to eat with it. Eat a can of tuna if you need to.

    Hope this helps a little

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