Question about carbs...?

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marie_2454
marie_2454 Posts: 881 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Ok, so I was talking to my mom today and she mentioned that I might be eating too many carbs. I eat oatmeal and fiber plus bars daily (usually only 1 of each) and I also tend to eat a lot of fruit and yogurt. I almost always go over on my carbs by 20% or so, but I rarely go over on my fat, and protein is usually within 10 grams of my goal, sometimes it's even more. Anyways, I've only been on this site for (maybe?) two weeks, and I've lost a little bit over 3 pounds so far, but I wasn't sure about this whole eating too many carbs thing. I don't eat meat, besides fish on occasion, so that's one of the reasons why i eat a lot of carbs. i also try to eat mainly whole grains too, so i eat very little white carbs. Anyways, is this slowing my weight loss, or should I not even worry about it? Thanks everyone!

Replies

  • titletown
    titletown Posts: 377 Member
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    Remember to subtract any fiber in a carb meal as those are carbs your body can't absorb.

    So, if you eat a nutrition bar with 50 carbs in it and it also has 15 grams of fiber for example, you are technically eating only 35 carb grams.

    Fruit carbs are a lot different than carbs from white bread, potatoes, etc and your body won't actually spike your sugar as quickly.

    Everyone's metabolism is a bit different so I won't give you specific numbers as far as carbs to eat daily, but I personally try and stay well under 200 on most days.
  • xTattooedDollx
    xTattooedDollx Posts: 426 Member
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    Try lowering your carb intake. My dr lowered my carbs to 40/day and I'm l've been losing weight like crazy and the best part is that I'm never a starving idiot anymore.
  • marie_2454
    marie_2454 Posts: 881 Member
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    Try lowering your carb intake. My dr lowered my carbs to 40/day and I'm l've been losing weight like crazy and the best part is that I'm never a starving idiot anymore.

    So what all foods do you eat? I'm not sure I could drop down that low, but I though about aiming for 100. Either way this would require me to really plan out my eating a lot more than I have been.
  • titletown
    titletown Posts: 377 Member
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    I've done strict low carb in the past, think Atkins, something like 20 carbs a day or less.

    You can lose a ton of weight very quickly, but it's hard as you are pretty limited on what you can eat and it gets pretty monotonous in a hurry.

    Things like cheese, any seafood, meats...
  • Knightrobs
    Knightrobs Posts: 33 Member
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    First off, reducing your carb intake is very effective in promoting fat loss because you are no longer creating (or reducing) an insulin response. Insulin is THE storage hormone, so if you do not consume carbohydrates, your body is in a much more efficient state to continually burn energy because insulin is not produced as often.

    Replace those carbohydrates with non-hydrogenated fats (i.e. stay away from vegetable oil products... kraft cheese, margarine etc.). My personal favourites are greek yogurt with a few blueberries, or macadamia nuts, or if I'm in a hurry a 1/4 cup of 35% whipping cream + blueberries. High fat foods will keep you full longer as well as promote body fat metabolism, AND they taste good.
  • arjmom03
    arjmom03 Posts: 3
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    Doubting your Madre, eh? lol, that's ok chica. I saw something interesting on the Rachael Ray show this morning (yes, when I should have been working....) but they were talking about the Carb Lover's Diet. Not a carb loading free-for-all, but talking about eating some of the healthier carbs that contain Resistant Starch. Anyway... here are a few links that look informative, although I haven't read them yet, lol. This might be an interesting book for my class, too!

    http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/health/diet/diet-carb-lover-hammock-0705
    http://www.carblovers.com/health/carblovers/article.jsp?category=food&article_id=1
    http://www.everydiet.org/diet/carb-lovers-diet

    They said slightly green bananas have 10 grams of resistant starch, which is the daily recommended amount under this plan. Hmmmm.....

    Also, check the glycemic index of the foods you eat a lot of here: http://www.glycemicindex.com/ You want to eat more of the foods with a lower GI value and minimize the ones with the higher values. =)
  • marie_2454
    marie_2454 Posts: 881 Member
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    Doubting your Madre, eh? lol, that's ok chica. I saw something interesting on the Rachael Ray show this morning (yes, when I should have been working....) but they were talking about the Carb Lover's Diet. Not a carb loading free-for-all, but talking about eating some of the healthier carbs that contain Resistant Starch. Anyway... here are a few links that look informative, although I haven't read them yet, lol. This might be an interesting book for my class, too!

    http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/health/diet/diet-carb-lover-hammock-0705
    http://www.carblovers.com/health/carblovers/article.jsp?category=food&article_id=1
    http://www.everydiet.org/diet/carb-lovers-diet

    They said slightly green bananas have 10 grams of resistant starch, which is the daily recommended amount under this plan. Hmmmm.....

    Also, check the glycemic index of the foods you eat a lot of here: http://www.glycemicindex.com/ You want to eat more of the foods with a lower GI value and minimize the ones with the higher values. =)

    hahaha I would never ever even dream of doubting my Madre! Thanks for the links :laugh:
  • TK421NotAtPost
    TK421NotAtPost Posts: 512 Member
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    First off, reducing your carb intake is very effective in promoting fat loss because you are no longer creating (or reducing) an insulin response. Insulin is THE storage hormone, so if you do not consume carbohydrates, your body is in a much more efficient state to continually burn energy because insulin is not produced as often.

    Correction... if you do not consume carbohydrates, your body is in a much more efficient state to burn FAT. Your body is always burning energy and simply modulates between getting its energy from fat or carbs....depending on what you eat.

    When there aren't any carbs around, your body will burn fat. When carbs are ingested, your body's insulinogenic response will cause it to start burning carbs for energy. Either way, energy is continually being burned.
  • heatherfrancis
    heatherfrancis Posts: 100
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    bump
  • Scheherazadea
    Scheherazadea Posts: 54
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    I've had my issues about low-carb diets because for an active individual, or a student (like myself) carbs are often necessary for sustained energy throughout the day. I find that with a low-carb diet, like Atkins, it's very hard to adjust metabolically. This is my 3rd day of Atkins and it's unbelievable how fatigued I am. Despite getting a full night of sleep, I still get tired in the late afternoon. However, from what I've heard, this fatigue only lasts a little while, afterwards the body acclimates a lot better.

    As for the dietary monotony...I honestly don't mind it. I am very carnivorous, so I love eating meat and just meat. Summer is also the perfect time for Atkins--grilled meat is superb. I just use a lot of spices to flavor my meat and I'm good to go...

    Here is a rundown of the metabolic pathways in our body with relation to levels of carbohydrates:

    1) If you have just enough carbohydrates available, glucose is completely oxidized and converted to chemical energy (ATP).

    2) If you have more than enough carbohydrates available, some of the glucose is oxidized, while the excess is stored as fat.

    3) If you have no carbohydrates available, fatty acids must be broken down to get energy. Ketogenesis is activated, which is the production of ketone bodies for energy.
  • mapexdrummer69
    mapexdrummer69 Posts: 445
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    First off, reducing your carb intake is very effective in promoting fat loss because you are no longer creating (or reducing) an insulin response. Insulin is THE storage hormone, so if you do not consume carbohydrates, your body is in a much more efficient state to continually burn energy because insulin is not produced as often.

    Correction... if you do not consume carbohydrates, your body is in a much more efficient state to burn FAT. Your body is always burning energy and simply modulates between getting its energy from fat or carbs....depending on what you eat.

    When there aren't any carbs around, your body will burn fat. When carbs are ingested, your body's insulinogenic response will cause it to start burning carbs for energy. Either way, energy is continually being burned.


    This. Transient hormonal fluctuations play VERY little part in body weight and body composition in the context of proper daily nutrition. Low carb diets are in no way more effective at overall fat loss over an isocaloric diet.
  • mursey
    mursey Posts: 191 Member
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    Add one "vote" from me for low carband low sugar, and NOT low fat.

    Been living low carb for years and low-fat never worked well for me. But .. . I would just tell you to read up on it and try it out if you want and see if it works for you. You have to give things at least a few weeks though. . I think. . when dealing with diet changes. Also keep in mind if you go very low carb it is normal to be cranky and tired the first 2 weeks as you get over your carb and sugar addictions (of course this depends on how low carb you go.) Read the old Atkins book (newer ones aren't written by Dr Atkins.) The book really explains a lot, and debunks all the myths that people try to perpetuate.
  • Knightrobs
    Knightrobs Posts: 33 Member
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    This. Transient hormonal fluctuations play VERY little part in body weight and body composition in the context of proper daily nutrition. Low carb diets are in no way more effective at overall fat loss over an isocaloric diet.

    Not that I don't want to believe you, but for interest sake can you point me to a study or two comparing high carb vs high fat diets for body fat loss?
  • lizzil0
    lizzil0 Posts: 181 Member
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    ...but for interest sake can you point me to a study or two comparing high carb vs high fat diets for body fat loss?

    I've got some interesting studies-

    http://www.youtube.com/user/StanfordUniversity#p/search/4/eREuZEdMAVo

    http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/post.cfm?id=mummy-says-john-horgan-is-wrong-abo-2011-05-19
  • TrainingWithTonya
    TrainingWithTonya Posts: 1,741 Member
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    Remember the old saying, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!" That is the case here. You're seeing results so why are you wanting to change it? Because you Mom told you to? Is your Mom a dietitian? A nutritionist? No? Unfortunately, people in general tend to listen to the media and believe the hype of this fad diet or that fat diet instead of talking to professionals. Not everyone responds to low carb, or low fat, or high protein, or whatever. You have to find the plan that works for you and what is going on in your body and what you are doing for workouts. Listen to your body and keep up the good work and don't stress what non-experts recommend.

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