Go Over On Carbs?

Yeah, I live in Minnesota/Wisconsin (border town)...it's like zero windchill today. Weather cannot be an excuse! I was on my stationary bike at 4:30 am and will be taking a quick walk with my dog this afternoon (buddled up). Most likely, i'll be doing some walking on my treadmill later today as well.

Do whatever you can each day...even if it isn't "ideal."

I wouldn't worry about carbs that much either. Calories are more important.

I agree--dance!!

If you're hungry, eat some fruit, otherwise I'd just close the log for today. It shouldn't hinder your weight loss if you're over on carbs, especially if you balance over the long-run.

Carbs are not bad and what really matters is your overall calorie intake.
And if your working out even better, you'l have more energy.

How are you for fat grams for the day? Have some meat of some kind... tuna? turkey?

And, yeah, turn on the music and dance. Since you're online, check out my Internet radio station... www.ultimatevarietyradio.com. I play all kinds of music that'll get you movin'.

There's always situps, pushups, squats and stuff like that too.

If worst comes to worst, you could do an extra deep cleaning around the house too. (I hate cleaning, so I count it as exercise, for sure!)

I tend to disagree.. Of course it is ok to go over on carbs, every now and than. Going over a bit is not going to kill. But what did you go over with? Did you eat lots of fruit? Or was it cake and cookies?

Yes calories is the only thing you're body cares about when losing weight.. However you're body also cares where it gets its energy from. If you over eat carbs on a daily bases, even while staying lower on calories you are not maximizing you're fat burn, because you're body will have plenty of carbs to use for energy as opposed to burning you're fat.

But don't go over day after day. Yes you need carbs for energy, but as a general rule of thumb, people eat to many carbs.

As for what you can eat the rest of the day.. baked chicken is high in protein, low in calories and has 0 carbs!

the above is quite correct... your body looks for carbs to burn first before it turns to your fat. how are you on your protein. do you have a chicken breast you can grill?

Exercise will burn those carbs right off. Your body will burn carbs for energy first before your body fat. I have a diabetic in the family and I am always carb consious. In the future, if you want to lose weight faster keep your protein higher than your carb count especially if you exercise regularly.

I wish everyone thought this way hahahah. It is rare to hear people talk about high protein, low carb on MFP. Don't get me wrong, I love carbs as much as the next guy. But I'd rather be in shape.

First of all, realize that there are actually ranges our bodies like to be in not set numbers. So, say you are set at 55% carbs (what I've seen as standard for MFP) but you go over by 5 grams of carbohydrate, that still isn't going to put you over the range of carbs that is considered the Acceptable Macronutrient Distribution Range, which is actually 45-65%. And some people function better on higher carbs then even the AMDRs, while others prefer lower carb ranges. Personally, I'm a high carb person. I haven't taken the time to figure my percentages lately, but in the past I've found I lose weight faster and maintain my muscle mass more when I'm at 70-80% carbs. So, basically, don't stress it.

As for the calories being interchangeable, or you can't burn fat when you consume a lot of carbs, those are both false. Nutritional science is a lot more complicated then that. And so is the energy sources of the body. Basically, you burn a combination of carbs, protein, and fat no matter what exercise you do. When you do high intensity, short duration exercise, you burn a higher percentage of carbs. When you do a low intensity, long duration workout, you burn a higher percentage of fat. Protein stays the same unless you don't have enough carbs. If you don't eat enough carbs, then the body breaks down it's protein stores (IE Muscle) to convert them to carbs so that they can be used to provide fuel for activity. In order to get to the stage of the process that burns fat, you have to breakdown carbs to provide some of the necessary components for the chemical reaction to be able to burn fat. Protein isn't actually necessary for the process and is only used in place of carbs if you don't have enough carbohydrate. Thats actually one of the problems with low carb diets. By not having the carbs, you don't have all of the protein you are eating to be able to build muscle, so it ends up being more catabolic (breaking down of muscle) then anabolic (building up of muscle). Carbohydrates are actually considered an anabolic ergogenic aid because they allow the protein to be used for muscle building instead of energy production and they are stored in the muscles so they can increase muscle size (appearance) by being stored there with the water it takes to store them.

First of all, realize that there are actually ranges our bodies like to be in not set numbers. So, say you are set at 55% carbs (what I've seen as standard for MFP) but you go over by 5 grams of carbohydrate, that still isn't going to put you over the range of carbs that is considered the Acceptable Macronutrient Distribution Range, which is actually 45-65%. And some people function better on higher carbs then even the AMDRs, while others prefer lower carb ranges. Personally, I'm a high carb person. I haven't taken the time to figure my percentages lately, but in the past I've found I lose weight faster and maintain my muscle mass more when I'm at 70-80% carbs. So, basically, don't stress it.

As for the calories being interchangeable, or you can't burn fat when you consume a lot of carbs, those are both false. Nutritional science is a lot more complicated then that. And so is the energy sources of the body. Basically, you burn a combination of carbs, protein, and fat no matter what exercise you do. When you do high intensity, short duration exercise, you burn a higher percentage of carbs. When you do a low intensity, long duration workout, you burn a higher percentage of fat. Protein stays the same unless you don't have enough carbs. If you don't eat enough carbs, then the body breaks down it's protein stores (IE Muscle) to convert them to carbs so that they can be used to provide fuel for activity. In order to get to the stage of the process that burns fat, you have to breakdown carbs to provide some of the necessary components for the chemical reaction to be able to burn fat. Protein isn't actually necessary for the process and is only used in place of carbs if you don't have enough carbohydrate. Thats actually one of the problems with low carb diets. By not having the carbs, you don't have all of the protein you are eating to be able to build muscle, so it ends up being more catabolic (breaking down of muscle) then anabolic (building up of muscle). Carbohydrates are actually considered an anabolic ergogenic aid because they allow the protein to be used for muscle building instead of energy production and they are stored in the muscles so they can increase muscle size (appearance) by being stored there with the water it takes to store them.

Not saying you are wrong here on any of these, however;

Low carb diets are used by body builders all the time? Lower the carbs enough to get into ketosis (where the body burns fat stores for energy instead of carbs) and up the protein to maintain muscle mass?

Of course you will need tons of protein to keep the muscle. However isn't it science that say you're body will be in ketosis when carbs are low enough? I understand that for a diabetic person, this can be very dangerous, but for everyone else not such a bad thing?

I am not trying to prove you wrong, just stating my understanding of it. I am always keeping an open mind.

On low carb diets you lose muscle cause without enough carbs your body will look for it and use that precious protein you talk about.
I'm soo done with the protein fanatics there minds will never change.

As for bodybuilders, you have to understand what they are training for in using a high protein low carb plan. They are training for look, not performance. In the off season, they are eating plenty of carbs and bulking up. Then before shows is when they go really low carb so that they cut water weight to make their vascularity show. (Carbs are stored with water, so not consuming them will mean not storing them or the water that goes with them.) At the point that they are on stage posing, they are as weak as kittens. They certainly couldn't perform any max lifts or even 5 minutes of cardio. As individuals, we don't typically train for that, but rather for health and better performance, which requires carbs.

+1 on this as well. Bodybuilders give up a lot for the sake of looking strong. Ironically, one of the things they give up (for show season) IS being strong.