Need help getting carbs lower
briteyes
Posts: 435 Member
I used to be so good at this but I am really struggling to keep my net carbs under 20 these days. Any suggestions? I pretty much don’t eat fruit.., if any it is berries, but even a small handful of blueberries was too many carbs!!! I feel like everything i eat has a couple carbs here and there.... please take a look at my food diary. It’s inconsistent but I think I did a good job yesterday filling it out... that’s pretty close to how I typically eat. I hate tracking my food so that’s why I don’t track consistently lol
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The biggest suggestion that I would make is to ditch the Truvia and go with a liquid stevia - it will not have the sugar alcohols that the powders do so you lose 24 grams of carbs from that entry. You will probably need to play around with the liquid a few times to get the right flavor, but it would be worth it.
I would also ask why you are using the protein powder? There are lots of options to get protein from food so why not use those?0 -
Is there a reason you’re aiming so low? I’ve seen 20 as a target number pretty frequently on this site, but don’t understand the basis for it.0
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The biggest suggestion that I would make is to ditch the Truvia and go with a liquid stevia - it will not have the sugar alcohols that the powders do so you lose 24 grams of carbs from that entry. You will probably need to play around with the liquid a few times to get the right flavor, but it would be worth it.
I would also ask why you are using the protein powder? There are lots of options to get protein from food so why not use those?
I normally use now stevia but I haven’t been able to get to the store that sells it. But from what I understand the truvia is zero net carbs anyways... so that shouldn’t affect me. And I eat a lot of protein (I love meat) but it’s for my preworkout or to boost my morning coffee since I do not like truvia that much. Again, that’s also pretty low carb - I think only a couple grams. I had it yesterday right before I did 90 mins of BJJ. I don’t have protein powder every day. I notice a huge difference in my performance when I have it as a preworkout though....
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Can you see my good notes? MFP diary isn’t the best for eliminating sugar alcohols from the total carb count, so I had to do my own calculations in the notes... cane out to 25 net carbs yesterday1
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Concur with ditch the Truvia and try for something that is just Stevia or if you have no concerns with artificial sweeteners any of the pink, green, blue packaged stuff might do. Edit since answered, interim.
I also wonder why only 20 carbs. Are you eating a ketogenic diet for a medical reason such as control of epileptic seizures? Migraines?
If that is you in the profile pic and if the bike is any indication of an ongoing high/er level of exercise/activity that is more reason you could be in ketosis at a somewhat higher level of carbs (if ketosis is a goal).0 -
death by a thousand cuts. All the foods you eat have carbs. When you shoot for such a low carb level like 20g (which is very low) you cant have pizza and cottage cheese. I eat a bag of steamed asparagus or broccoli a day, but other then that items with carbs are just not on my menu.
I did recent find a low carb tortilla shell (50 cals, 5 net carbs) that i use to make pizza now. but the pizza is with hot sauce (no carbs) and one serving of shredded cheese.
Remember though that 20g of carbs a day is on the low end. you work out and exercise, so even 30 to 40g of carbs will burn out fast. I try to say around 25, but might go 30 or so on heavy training days.
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I moved my limit up to 50 grams daily to make it easier but I do not eat foods with added sugar and any form of any grain so it is the nuts and apples that can get me. I have been at this over 3 years now and really do not worry about carb limits that much. My pain levels and carb cravings return if they get too high so that makes it easy to manage my carbs.2
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Wait we are supposed to be counting Stevia?
I allow myself 1 stevia in my green tea daily. *head on desk* 1 -
I used to be so good at this but I am really struggling to keep my net carbs under 20 these days. Any suggestions? I pretty much don’t eat fruit.., if any it is berries, but even a small handful of blueberries was too many carbs!!! I feel like everything i eat has a couple carbs here and there.... please take a look at my food diary. It’s inconsistent but I think I did a good job yesterday filling it out... that’s pretty close to how I typically eat. I hate tracking my food so that’s why I don’t track consistently lol
I would dump the yogurt dressing and make a homemade oil based vinaigrette. The yogurt has carbs as do most non cheese foods.
I would also take a hard look at your protein powder. It's got a nice hit for carbs too.1 -
Thanks for all the helpful feedback! I truly appreciate all of it. I started eating Keto (20 net carbs) about 3 years ago and lost about 20 pounds pretty quickly, felt great etc., but eased up a lot, stopped tracking, etc for over a year, well, sure enough, my weight is creeping back up, so I wanted to go super low carb for awhile until I get back down to where I was before and then do a better job of maintaining, and eventually lose another 10is lbs. That's why I chose such a low carb count to aim for each day.
I am very active (train jiu jitsu 3-4 times a week, run, bike, kettlebells, etc), so maybe I am ok with more carbs - if so, awesome!!! LOL I like carbs (err I like food haha). I avoid grains because i don't like how they make me feel, so my carbs are coming mostly from things like cheeses, etc. If I do that, I guess this conversation has actually taken a different course than what I thought when I started it.
If I remember correctly, before I lost a lot of weight by eating eggs, bacon, avocados, and meat with some veggies. I never gave up my morning coffee and always used stevie and HWC for it, sometimes also coconut oil. So maybe I am eating way more cheese/dairy products than before. That does make sense. I think I can keep the protein powder, if I ditch other things like the cottage cheese, yogurt dressing, etc.
I just got back from the store with a rotisserie chicken, jalepenos for bacon poppers (something I used to live on), avocados, bacon, and some italian meats. I made sure everything that came in a package had zero carbs, that way I have plenty of room for my veggies...
I've tried understanding if I should have more carbs due to my activity level, and if anyone has insights or links to this info, that would be great!!!3 -
death by a thousand cuts. All the foods you eat have carbs. When you shoot for such a low carb level like 20g (which is very low) you cant have pizza and cottage cheese. I eat a bag of steamed asparagus or broccoli a day, but other then that items with carbs are just not on my menu.
I did recent find a low carb tortilla shell (50 cals, 5 net carbs) that i use to make pizza now. but the pizza is with hot sauce (no carbs) and one serving of shredded cheese.
Remember though that 20g of carbs a day is on the low end. you work out and exercise, so even 30 to 40g of carbs will burn out fast. I try to say around 25, but might go 30 or so on heavy training days.
I don't eat pizza unless it is low carb (fathead) pizza... probably still some carbs, but I don't do actual pizza crust anymore. If I'm lazy, I eat toppings only when we order pizza. Problem is I LIKE pizza, but it would only be once a week. I think the highest carb part of pizza is the sauce. I need to make a low carb sauce and freeze it for when I need it.
The hardest part of eating so low carb for me is often the food prep due to our very busy schedule, and the fact that my husband and kids eat the normal SAD. even though they don't whine if all I serve for dinner is meat and veggies. They just don't want the low carb substitutes for traditional foods.1 -
The hardest part of eating so low carb for me is often the food prep due to our very busy schedule, and the fact that my husband and kids eat the normal SAD. even though they don't whine if all I serve for dinner is meat and veggies. They just don't want the low carb substitutes for traditional foods.
Each family is going to be different but what has helped me manage to eat the way I want to while maintaining the integrity of Family Dinner Time is to really move the starches that my littles love into the true SIDE DISH category. No more is pasta the main point of dinner, but it's there for those that want and like it and can eat it with impunity.
I apparently think I'm cooking for the military, as I've always struggled to make small dishes, but this comes in handy when you need to meal prep for tomorrow. Most of my meals/snacks during the work day are left overs from dinner the night(s) before.
Having things like Epic meat bars, raw almonds, hard boiled eggs, smoked salmon, pickles, and avocados on hand help me have quick, non dairy based, filling quick meal options for when planning ahead got put behind Tae Kwon Do practice and soccer games.
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From what I’ve read all you need for ketosis is to keep your net carbs between 5-10% of your calories. The more you eat, in other words, the more net carbs you can take in while staying in ketosis.
(Total carbs - fiber) x 4 = your calories coming from carbs; compare that to your current calorie total to see if you’re in the zone. If you’re eating 1200 kcal/day you want 15-30 net carbs; if you’re eating 2000 kcal you’re looking for 25-50.
Considering that you’re active and presumably need to eat food to fuel that, it’d be really hard to stay under 20. I was trying to stay under 30 at first, and felt like I had to choose between being WAY below my calories or just not eating produce, and that’s a lousy choice. Eating carbs on a sliding scale feels MUCH better, and I’m consistently in ketosis. Might be worth a try.4 -
FlyingMolly wrote: »From what I’ve read all you need for ketosis is to keep your net carbs between 5-10% of your calories. The more you eat, in other words, the more net carbs you can take in while staying in ketosis.
(Total carbs - fiber) x 4 = your calories coming from carbs; compare that to your current calorie total to see if you’re in the zone. If you’re eating 1200 kcal/day you want 15-30 net carbs; if you’re eating 2000 kcal you’re looking for 25-50.
Considering that you’re active and presumably need to eat food to fuel that, it’d be really hard to stay under 20. I was trying to stay under 30 at first, and felt like I had to choose between being WAY below my calories or just not eating produce, and that’s a lousy choice. Eating carbs on a sliding scale feels MUCH better, and I’m consistently in ketosis. Might be worth a try.
I've actually often wondered the same thing. I am allowing for a higher calorie count because when I train BJJ I am burning somewhere between 500-900 calories. MFP says I am burning almost 900, but I don't know how accurate that is. I don't eat back my calories, rather I just try to stick around 2,000 a day and I'm ok with a slow loss because I know that will be better in the long term. Plus I get hangry.
So, the thing is, I always assumed/thought that carbs are gram based, not percentage based, so to be in Ketosis, that I have to keep it around 20 Net carbs... percentage would be easier...
So I set my calories, then I set my carbs at 20 (well actually higher, because I'm looking for net carbs which MFP doesn't do), set my protein to 1g / lb of lbm, and my fat at whatever is left.1 -
So, the thing is, I always assumed/thought that carbs are gram based, not percentage based, so to be in Ketosis, that I have to keep it around 20 Net carbs... percentage would be easier...
I thought the same, but it was throwing me off that everybody seemed to be recommending a different number. So I took to google and found a lot of keto-ers referencing “5%” and a few talking about times they’ve almost gone over 10%, and then I did the math on the two most common gram recommendations I’d seen (30 and 50) and realized they were each 10% of two widely-referenced generic calorie goals.
So I took the leap and it works so much better for me. I usually wind up between 6-8%, but that’s almost always more than 30 net, especially on more active days. But I’m eating the same “kind” of diet every day—just more or less of it, depending on activity. And I have room for variety and colorful things, which is nice.
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I stay under 20 net, but I get those carbs from leafy greens and things like broccoli and cauliflower. Fruit is off the menu. Counterintuitively eggs and bacon will have a couple of carbs. I was at 7 net carbs for the day today. Yesterday was 10.4
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Thanks for all the helpful feedback! I truly appreciate all of it. I started eating Keto (20 net carbs) about 3 years ago and lost about 20 pounds pretty quickly, felt great etc., but eased up a lot, stopped tracking, etc for over a year, well, sure enough, my weight is creeping back up, so I wanted to go super low carb for awhile until I get back down to where I was before and then do a better job of maintaining, and eventually lose another 10is lbs. That's why I chose such a low carb count to aim for each day.
I am very active (train jiu jitsu 3-4 times a week, run, bike, kettlebells, etc), so maybe I am ok with more carbs - if so, awesome!!! LOL I like carbs (err I like food haha). I avoid grains because i don't like how they make me feel, so my carbs are coming mostly from things like cheeses, etc. If I do that, I guess this conversation has actually taken a different course than what I thought when I started it.
If I remember correctly, before I lost a lot of weight by eating eggs, bacon, avocados, and meat with some veggies. I never gave up my morning coffee and always used stevie and HWC for it, sometimes also coconut oil. So maybe I am eating way more cheese/dairy products than before. That does make sense. I think I can keep the protein powder, if I ditch other things like the cottage cheese, yogurt dressing, etc.
I just got back from the store with a rotisserie chicken, jalepenos for bacon poppers (something I used to live on), avocados, bacon, and some italian meats. I made sure everything that came in a package had zero carbs, that way I have plenty of room for my veggies...
I've tried understanding if I should have more carbs due to my activity level, and if anyone has insights or links to this info, that would be great!!!
This is a good calculator https://ketogains.com/ketogains-calculator/ be sure to rerun it after you lose 5-10 lbs. And you are active so choose the correct level there.
This is a wonderful site with food lists that fit your goals. I use the nutritional ketosis list of foods from here which aligns with my T2D husband's needs. I started with this link for weight loss but there is a drop down for the other lists on that page. I am in maintenance now so only concern is nutritional ketosis to keep it off and eat well at the same time. I too love my food.
https://optimisingnutrition.com/2015/03/28/optimal-foods-for-weight-loss/2 -
I go by grams and cap it at 50 total. Some days I have an oops like today. I had cottage cheese for breakfast and lunch. Oops. 20 carbs right there. I don't strive for ketosis and lost my weight eating about 100 carbs per day. I keep carbs lower now for hunger and craving control. If I'm not eating cookies and ice cream, I'm in control and happy. 50 carbs for me is 15% of calories.3
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Raspberries and even strawberries are much lower in carbs then blueberries. Frozen ones are pretty satisfying too for dessert. I used to get sugar free whipped cream to put on top.
Unless you don't lose weight anymore even though your calories are low enough I wouldn't give up yoghurt as it's so good for you in so many ways. I stayed in ketosis and losing last year consistently eating greens, cauliflower, yoghurt, nuts, berries etc.. in addition to protein and fat. Everyone's different of course but as others have said 20 is the low end of carb grams. You may be ok with more.1 -
Thanks everyone again for all the tips! I have come to the conclusion, that I can probably eat a few more carbs, especially on training days. I figure, as long as I'm at minimum maintaining, and not gaining, it's a win win because I love my food and don't want to feel like I'm on a diet LOL so crazy, I have the argument almost daily anymore with myself. I know when I eat too many carbs, I gain weight and I feel gross. It affects my training negatively.
Also, in the past two days, my carb counts are doing so much better!!! I actually only hit 16.5 net carbs yesterday. I almost blew it with a packet of lite Balsamic Vinaigrette from Chic Fil A. Then I read the label and exchanged it for Avocado Ranch. Much less carbs!
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You might be interested in this article by Dr. Attia
https://peterattiamd.com/ketones-carbohydrates-can-co-exist/1 -
That article was fascinating, thank you for sharing!1
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Also, in the past two days, my carb counts are doing so much better!!! I actually only hit 16.5 net carbs yesterday. I almost blew it with a packet of lite Balsamic Vinaigrette from Chic Fil A. Then I read the label and exchanged it for Avocado Ranch. Much less carbs!
You can also ask Chik Fil A to not add the corn to their Cobb salad, its not much but it does add more carbs. Their grilled chicken options are pretty good I tend to load up on them even though they are pricey. I don't add the fried pepper topping on their salad since it adds carbs as well. I think you can substitute that for mixed nuts.
You are pretty active so I would think you can make slight adjustments to your carb/fiber intake and it should help out. I know that artificial sweeteners, too many nuts, and low carb tortillas will stall my weight loss so I need to re-evaluate those items from time to time because I like my tortillas I just can't have them other than a treat.
Good luck
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Good article. Is an answer/example/actual demonstration to many questions that are often asked in the forum.1
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