My doctor

nycpips wrote: »

__drmerc__ wrote: »

I wonder who understands your health situation better, your doctor or MFP

lol all input is welcome. It was my first time seeing this doctor. I haven't seen one in a long time because I was without any health insurance, so I always put if off.

He just recommended cutting back.

Depending on the doctor, this is usually a low carb plan:

Limit this: bread, pasta, pizza, rice, corn, potatoes, cereal, sweet treats.
Limit this: fruit

Eat this: beef, pork, chicken, fish, eggs, dairy, nuts, beans,

Eat lots of this: broccoli, swiss chard, kale, spinach, romaine, cabbage, mushrooms, asparagus, avocados, okra, cauliflower, bell peppers, snow peas, eggplant, zucchini, yellow squash, winter squash, brussels sprouts

LadyHobbledehoy wrote: »

techgal128 wrote: »

Eh, just cut calories. Cutting out carbs can help some people lose weight because it's easier to stop gorging yourself on chips, cake, and other tasty junk. Your goal, however, should be a lifestyle change. The last thing you want is to lose a ton of weight on a low carb diet and gain it all back again when you start to eat normally again.

Sorry, I had to chuckle.

"Don't listen to your stupid doctor that you personally went to see and talk to. Listen to a perfect stranger like me! I certainly know what's better for you."

It's almost universally accepted in the medical community that a calorie deficit burns fat (example). But many doctors don't have the time or inclination to verify that their patients understand what a calorie deficit is (many don't even know what a calorie is), and to explain the importance of logging meals. It could take 10 minutes or more to explain how to improve one's diet, and which exercises to do. It's so much easier to just say "eat fewer carbs". That's kind of understandable.. but what if they already eat low carbs? Or what if patients compensate by increasing non-carbohydrate calories, or by reducing their exercise level (due to the reduced energy that low-carb diets can cause)? It sure would be nice if doctors gave patients a handout explaining the basics of fat loss, so that we here at MFP don't end up calling the doctor an idiot or lazy.

GaleHawkins wrote: »

Cherimoose wrote: »

Sleep apnea seems to be an overdiagnosed condition. Expect to be told you have it.

Cherimoose where did you come up with that idea?

sinusitisblog.com/2014/08/obstructive-sleep-apnea-diagnosed/

That's just been my observation of people who have had sleep studies. I can't recall a single person who had one done say they tested negative for sleep apnea. I did a quick search and found this study where false-positives were fairly common:
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15653964

OP, i assume you're getting tests to determine why your tonsils are enlarged. If not, i would push the doctor for an explanation. Enlarged tonsils can cause sleep apnea.

That could mean anything. But I understand that 40% of your macros gives you a relatively low carb intake while giving you the good carb nutrients you need. I eat about 150 gr of carbs per day, or 40%. That is not real low carb but low enough for me. Lower than average. I love eating that way and have lost a lot of weight. But you need to know why he/she wants you to do this to know really what you should do.

Thin crust pizza. Open faced burger. Salad instead of fries.

Oh, ok, we all have those days now and then! I have my macros at 35p/35c and 30f....I lift heavy, am in my mid forties and try to keep as much muscle as possible..... For me it works out to about 130g of carbs, 140g of protein and 40g of fat, depending on how much I worked out.
Higer protein works for me, as it keeps me satisfied longer and prevents cravings. If I eat too much carbs, my blood sugar spikes and rops too much, which just makes me want more carbs....
You can custom set your macros. On my one "off" day, I eat as much carbs as I feel like...

Did your doctor say to lower your carbs or to do a low carb plan? Was there some background to it, like your talking about being more successful on Atkins or him saying that he'd seen many be successful in losing by lowering carbs, or perhaps some suggestion that it was needed due to a particular health issue (as opposed to losing weight)? From what you've reported it sounds more like advice on how to lose weight, but if you aren't sure you might want to check. If it's related to a specific condition you'd want more specifics, like how low, any particular foods to be wary of, that kind of thing. A referral to someone for help or written information would be expected.

If it's just "lowering carbs is often a good way to lose weight and losing weight would be good," that's true, although there are other ways to lose weight that work best for many people. Lowering carbs (not low carb) actually works well for me, in the context of an overall healthy diet. What I did sounds somewhat like wamydia above--I changed my breakfast to focus on getting more protein and veggies plus some fat (veggies are carbs but don't have that many carbs, since they are low calorie), my preferred breakfast is a vegetable omelet, I tend to have starchy carbs at either lunch or dinner but not both, and try to add more vegetables plus maybe fruit or dairy to replace the calories the starchy carb (grains, potato, etc.) would have taken, and I largely cut out snacks and try to concentrate my calories on my three meals (plus sometimes dessert), as I tend to have more macro-balanced meals and snacks are often easy to make carb heavy just based on what's around or tends to be offered. I also cut out calories that I ate because they were there without really appreciating, which me tends to be stuff like rice and bread, although if you love these things my method won't work as well. Most significantly for me is I really stress getting at least 120 grams of protein (currently) and lots of vegetables--getting more of one macro tends to cut down on others, and I also tend to get some fat with most of my protein.

After I did this I started logging on MFP and set my carb macro so that it would hit around 100 grams, as that was how I seemed to be eating. Now I'm eating more overall and doing lots of exercise, so I raised it to 40% (around 160). If yours are at 300 or so it sounds like cutting them might be an easy way to cut calories, but if you really love them it might be more challenging. One thing to do is log what you do eat (and reconstruct a few days if you can) and then you can see how to cut calories as some things may stand out to you.

There's also a low carb or keto group here (or maybe a few), which would likely have advice, but might be too hard core if you aren't planning to go really low.

nycpips wrote: »

told me to lower my carb intake, anyone follow a low carb plan?

I have permanently reduced my carb intake and don't miss a lot of former favorites... As for sleep apnea - I have had severe apnea for years and will be re-tested next year. I always believe in listening to my attending physician.

As an example, I always keep in mind that just because "2 slices" of bread is listed as one serving; nothing is stopping me from cutting back to 1 (or a 1/2) slice.

Here is a link to a small sample of the meals (WITH PHOTOS) I eat on a regular basis -- and have eaten for over 1 year.

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10024389/fast-food-frozen-dinners-are-tempting-but#latest

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nycpips wrote: »

astrampe wrote: »

Being overweight puts you at a bigger risk for sleep apnea, so yes, losing weight would lower the risk..
As for carbs - your diary is not consistent, but its obvious that you eat about 2.5 times as much carbs as protein.....And as far as I can see, a lot of junky carbs. Pizza and hamburger and fries on the same day? Thats a load of empty calories with little nutrition.....
-
- If you lower your carbs and up your protein, you might find that you will need significantly less calories to keep you satisfied. Also, you are a big guy, and only eating 115g of proteins is really low.....You want to keep some muscle and lose fat, so you need more protein.....

thanks, that one day you looked at was a day I just messed up. I was on the road and did not prepare any food, not letting that happen again. I said I will have one cheat meal on Saturday's.

How many carbs and proteins would you say per day ?

Protein: I've heard 0.7 g/lb of lean body weight. You can find calculators online to help you estimate your % body fat. Subtract that from your weight to find your lean body weight.

Carbs: I've read that people should be less than 150 g/day - but that wasn't a very good source, and was based on a lot of generalizations. It looks like you're going for 230 right now? So long as that's less than you've been eating, it's a good place to start. You can always adjust it later as you get in stride.

I am also a carb queen who has lost weight by keeping those "evil" carbs in her new way of eating by that lovely word MODERATION. There is no point 'dieting with low carbs' for a few months and then eating 'properly' and piling all your hard earned weight loss back on. This is a life style change so make it one you can keep to for the rest of!!