Carbohydrates and Protein

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crosslife15
crosslife15 Posts: 8 Member
in Food and Nutrition
So...ever since I started, I've been having trouble keeping my carbohydrates down. Since I'm suppose to eat 1200 calories a day, I have to be below 135 grams. Is there any food that has low carbs, because it seems that every food that i eat has carbs, even rice. Im a little struggling with protein too. Besides meat, what other foods have high protein?

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  • MichelleSilverleaf
    MichelleSilverleaf Posts: 2,028 Member
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    Calorie deficit matters for weight loss. Unless there's some medical reason to keep carbs low, I wouldn't stress about the amount you're eating.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,876 Member
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    crosslife15 wrote: »
    So...ever since I started, I've been having trouble keeping my carbohydrates down. Since I'm suppose to eat 1200 calories a day, I have to be below 135 grams. Is there any food that has low carbs, because it seems that every food that i eat has carbs, even rice. Im a little struggling with protein too. Besides meat, what other foods have high protein?

    Of course rice...rice is a grain...grains are largely carbohydrates. Carbohydrates are starches, fiber, and sugars.

    as mentioned above, calories are what matter, not going over this macro or that. In regards to protein, things like greek yogurt, eggs, dairy, tofu, etc are all good sources of protein.
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,013 Member
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    Low carb foods would be meat and fish, some cheese and other dairy, eggs, low cal veggies.
    Foods high in protein would be meat and fish, dairy, eggs, beans and lentils, soy products, protein powder.

    Don't worry too much about macros though, they're just a general guide, not numbers you must stay under.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 33,943 Member
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    Here's a great chart for you to look at for protein (and fiber and other stuff)

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10247171/carbs-and-fats-are-cheap-heres-a-guide-to-getting-your-proteins-worth-fiber-also/p1
  • Panini911
    Panini911 Posts: 2,325 Member
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    make sure to eat back your exercise calories. 1200 is the base minimum an adult woman should eat and that's for a sedentary and very short woman.

    going over on carbs won't impact weight loss, no reason to stress over that number. i don't even look at carbs.

    to help with protein my snacks usually include beef jerky (or chicken), greek yogurt and protein cereals. I also make my own protein bars (so I could get them to the stats I prefer, found most store bought ones too high calorie).
  • earlandrew48
    earlandrew48 Posts: 18 Member
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    Hey panini911. Thanks for the confirmation on the protein bars. I love the cliff bodybuilder bars. I used to buy the 18 pack at Costco, but felt they were hurting my efforts. At 300 calories per bar, 2 bars take up 600 calories. Maybe I'll look up some protein bar recipes and try making them. How much calories do you think your eating per homemade bar?
  • Panini911
    Panini911 Posts: 2,325 Member
    edited May 2019
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    earlandrew48 wrote: »
    Hey panini911. Thanks for the confirmation on the protein bars. I love the cliff bodybuilder bars. I used to buy the 18 pack at Costco, but felt they were hurting my efforts. At 300 calories per bar, 2 bars take up 600 calories. Maybe I'll look up some protein bar recipes and try making them. How much calories do you think your eating per homemade bar?

    i mean in part it was making them so i like them more as well. and cheaper. i was also on 1300 calories a day so a 150-200 calorie bar was a significant portion of my daily calories. for someone who has over 2000 calories a day then a protein bar that's 150-200 is a perfectly good snack.

    my home made ones are "desserts" and about 70-85 calories per. they are my lunchtime "dessert". 10grams ish of protein. i don't use the sugar (truvia) as it's not my favorite and i was fine with the taste just removing it.
    https://amyshealthybaking.com/blog/2015/05/31/mocha-brownie-protein-bars/

    I also like simply bars.
    https://simplyprotein.ca/en/
  • Christinewray2013
    Christinewray2013 Posts: 9 Member
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    I have the same problem no matter what I eat I can’t keep my carbs down 😭 x
  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,885 Member
    edited May 2019
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    There is no need to keep carbs down if calories, protein, and fat are sufficient, but it really should not be hard to do if you are tracking. Look at where your carbs are coming from and eat fewer of those foods in a day or smaller portions. Look at foods that have more protein and fat and fewer carbs and eat more of those foods or larger portions. The exception might be if one is 100% or close to 100% plant based, as so many protein sources will also have carbs, but that's a reason why you might not want to worry about the carb # assuming the diet as a whole is good.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,897 Member
    edited May 2019
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    Panini911 wrote: »
    earlandrew48 wrote: »
    Hey panini911. Thanks for the confirmation on the protein bars. I love the cliff bodybuilder bars. I used to buy the 18 pack at Costco, but felt they were hurting my efforts. At 300 calories per bar, 2 bars take up 600 calories. Maybe I'll look up some protein bar recipes and try making them. How much calories do you think your eating per homemade bar?

    i mean in part it was making them so i like them more as well. and cheaper. i was also on 1300 calories a day so a 150-200 calorie bar was a significant portion of my daily calories. for someone who has over 2000 calories a day then a protein bar that's 150-200 is a perfectly good snack.

    my home made ones are "desserts" and about 70-85 calories per. they are my lunchtime "dessert". 10grams ish of protein. i don't use the sugar (truvia) as it's not my favorite and i was fine with the taste just removing it.
    https://amyshealthybaking.com/blog/2015/05/31/mocha-brownie-protein-bars/

    I also like simply bars.
    https://simplyprotein.ca/en/

    @Panini911 https://amyshealthybaking.com/blog/2015/05/31/mocha-brownie-protein-bars/ says to not use whey-based protein powder - have you?

    Can't tell if this is an actual recipe thing or a vegan thing.
  • Commander_Keen
    Commander_Keen Posts: 1,181 Member
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    crosslife15 wrote: »
    So...ever since I started, I've been having trouble keeping my carbohydrates down. Since I'm suppose to eat 1200 calories a day, I have to be below 135 grams. Is there any food that has low carbs, because it seems that every food that i eat has carbs, even rice. Im a little struggling with protein too. Besides meat, what other foods have high protein?

    fish is high in protien
    Rabbit food is low in carbs (Celery, lettuce, etc..)
    Some Yogurts, like 3-0 is high in Protein but low in calories, no, carbs, no fat.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,876 Member
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    Christinewray2013 wrote: »
    I have the same problem no matter what I eat I can’t keep my carbs down 😭 x

    Do you understand what carbohydrates are? You keep carbs down by eating less carbohydrate rich foods...not that it's necessary.

    So if you want to low carb, you would avoid or limit things like grains, starchy vegetables, beans, legumes, anything with a lot of sugar, etc.
  • Maxxitt
    Maxxitt Posts: 1,281 Member
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    I think a 1200/day intake is challenging, and if a person is going to get enough protein to minimize muscle loss (also resistance work helps with that) and enough fat to allow proper utilization of micronutrients and help with gut issues and the like, there's not just a *kitten*-load of room for a lot of carbohydrates. It might be helpful for the OP to up total calorie intake a bit.
  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,885 Member
    edited May 2019
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    Good catch about the 1200 cals, I somehow didn't notice that aspect. OP seems to be aiming for 45% carbs and probably 25% protein, which I think is reasonable on 1200 (and she looks young so I also suspect 1200 could be lower than necessary or too low). I did 1250 for a bit and was eating 30-30-40, and didn't find that difficult, but I tend to naturally gravitate less to many high carb foods or feel happy with smaller portions of them.

    OP, if you are still around, some more specifics would be helpful, or opening your diary so we can give you ideas based on actual meals.
  • Panini911
    Panini911 Posts: 2,325 Member
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    kshama2001 wrote: »
    Panini911 wrote: »
    earlandrew48 wrote: »
    Hey panini911. Thanks for the confirmation on the protein bars. I love the cliff bodybuilder bars. I used to buy the 18 pack at Costco, but felt they were hurting my efforts. At 300 calories per bar, 2 bars take up 600 calories. Maybe I'll look up some protein bar recipes and try making them. How much calories do you think your eating per homemade bar?

    i mean in part it was making them so i like them more as well. and cheaper. i was also on 1300 calories a day so a 150-200 calorie bar was a significant portion of my daily calories. for someone who has over 2000 calories a day then a protein bar that's 150-200 is a perfectly good snack.

    my home made ones are "desserts" and about 70-85 calories per. they are my lunchtime "dessert". 10grams ish of protein. i don't use the sugar (truvia) as it's not my favorite and i was fine with the taste just removing it.
    https://amyshealthybaking.com/blog/2015/05/31/mocha-brownie-protein-bars/

    I also like simply bars.
    https://simplyprotein.ca/en/

    @Panini911 https://amyshealthybaking.com/blog/2015/05/31/mocha-brownie-protein-bars/ says to not use whey-based protein powder - have you?

    Can't tell if this is an actual recipe thing or a vegan thing.

    the page isn't vegan by any means.
    I dont' buy whey based protein for...well no real scientific or ethical reason i just don't. so I don't know.

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