Carbs or Cals??

Total Calories is the most important, BUT...

if you eat more carbs and skimp on your protein, you are just giving your body fuel to burn, but not the necessary building blocks to make more lean tissue (muscle), so you will end up eventually storing the excess as fat and not having enough muscle tissue to keep burning Calories when you are not exercising, which will make it harder to keep the weight off and harder to lose as you approach your goal weight. So... once in a while isn't going to do a lot of damage, but in the long run you are better off eating less than your carb allowance and all of your protein allowance.

In order to accomplish that, here are some suggestions:

1) Only eat half the bun when ordering a hamburger, hot dog, or chicken sandwich, etc. I usually just take off the top and throw it away, since the top of the bun is generally bigger.

2) When making a sandwich, I use Whole Wheat or other whole grain bread and only use 1 slice instead of 2.

3) For breakfast, I have a bowl of cereal OR a slice of toast (see type of bread in #2 above) with natural peanut butter, but not both.

4) For spaghetti or pasta, measure a serving by making a circle with your 2 thumbs and 2 index fingers.

5) I fill up on vegetables. The Green Giant Steamables are usually less than 100 Calories for 1/2 of the bag, and they are really good!

6) I add Cold-Milled Flax Seed to my cereal in the morning (or to yogurt), to add fiber, omega-3s, and other nutrients. It also adds protein.

Hope this helps you some. Please feel free to add me as a friend if you want to look at my food diary for ideas.

Good luck!


Created by MyFitnessPal.com - Free Calorie Counter

If I'm under on my calories, I mark the day as a success, but I've been working on improving the balance of my diet, and also added 5% more protein at the expense of carbs.