Carbs instead of fat?

sournotez
sournotez Posts: 14
edited September 20 in Health and Weight Loss
Every day, I'm way short on fats, but I always am over on carbs. Does anyone have an opinion on this? It's really hard to stay within my carb limits after a bowl of cereal at breakfast and a sandwich at lunch! I'm vegetarian, so I'm not eating a lot of fat. I'm wondering if maybe the carbs are contradicting all the exercise and dieting I've been doing.

Replies

  • Shanta1983
    Shanta1983 Posts: 1,228 Member
    Same here with me as long as their are good carbs then to me its okay I am extreme low on fats but just a little over on carbs because I increase my fruit and vegetables intake:flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: and Im okay so if you still loosing weight I wouldnt worry to much about it:flowerforyou: :flowerforyou:
  • drfelle
    drfelle Posts: 6
    If you're exercising you should be earning a bunch of carbs.
  • azwildcatfan94
    azwildcatfan94 Posts: 314 Member
    Don't know if carbs can blow the exercise and dieting you've been doing. I think the calories in v. calories out equation is the overarching principle. Much more so than what your calories consist of. Well, OK, 1200 calories of veggies, legumes, nuts and whole grains do have better nutrition that 1200 calories of potato chips, but... you know.

    Now, having said that, if you want to increase your fat, try incorporating olives, nuts and avocados. All have good fats, but be careful, because they also have a lot of calories. Moderate fat (20 - 30% of calorie intake) is healthy for you and fat is necessary to help with vitamin absorption.
  • JoyousMaximus
    JoyousMaximus Posts: 9,285 Member
    Unsaturated fats are quite beneficial to your health. This link is to a post another user did on the health benefits of fats: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/54538-don-t-fear-fat?hl=Good+Fat#posts-617276

    I would recommend increasing your fat intake for health reasons other than weightloss. Personally, most of my fat intake is from nuts which really should be part of a vegetarian diet since they are full of vitamins and minerals. For an example, a single Brazil nut has a days RDA of the trace mineral Selenium and a serving of walnuts have almost 95% of your RDA of omega 3 fatty acid which has been connected with heart and brain health.

    As a bonus, fats have been linked to added weightloss so while your high carb diet may not be preventing you from losing weight, you may get additional benefits by replacing carbs with fat.

    http://proteins-carb-fats.suite101.com/article.cfm/good_dietary_fats_help_reduce_weight

    Sorry if I seem preachy. I just think balance is important to health as well as weightloss.:flowerforyou:
  • SDawgW
    SDawgW Posts: 160 Member
    Unsaturated fats are quite beneficial to your health. This link is to a post another user did on the health benefits of fats: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/54538-don-t-fear-fat?hl=Good+Fat#posts-617276

    I would recommend increasing your fat intake for health reasons other than weightloss. Personally, most of my fat intake is from nuts which really should be part of a vegetarian diet since they are full of vitamins and minerals. For an example, a single Brazil nut has a days RDA of the trace mineral Selenium and a serving of walnuts have almost 95% of your RDA of omega 3 fatty acid which has been connected with heart and brain health.

    As a bonus, fats have been linked to added weightloss so while your high carb diet may not be preventing you from losing weight, you may get additional benefits by replacing carbs with fat.

    http://proteins-carb-fats.suite101.com/article.cfm/good_dietary_fats_help_reduce_weight


    I agree with the importance of the "healthy" fats in your diet. They are good for many reasons.

    I find nowadays (post-Atkins) that people are afraid of carbs. As long as you stick to the recommended servings per day of complex carbs and exercise the right amount, you shouldn't think of carbs as a bad thing.

    Carbs are beneficial for you, too. I guess it all boils down to the right amount of daily servings of the right kind of foods + the right amount of exercise. It can seem like a difficult balance, but it is attainable :)

    Good luck!
  • JoyousMaximus
    JoyousMaximus Posts: 9,285 Member
    Unsaturated fats are quite beneficial to your health. This link is to a post another user did on the health benefits of fats: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/54538-don-t-fear-fat?hl=Good+Fat#posts-617276

    I would recommend increasing your fat intake for health reasons other than weightloss. Personally, most of my fat intake is from nuts which really should be part of a vegetarian diet since they are full of vitamins and minerals. For an example, a single Brazil nut has a days RDA of the trace mineral Selenium and a serving of walnuts have almost 95% of your RDA of omega 3 fatty acid which has been connected with heart and brain health.

    As a bonus, fats have been linked to added weightloss so while your high carb diet may not be preventing you from losing weight, you may get additional benefits by replacing carbs with fat.

    http://proteins-carb-fats.suite101.com/article.cfm/good_dietary_fats_help_reduce_weight


    I agree with the importance of the "healthy" fats in your diet. They are good for many reasons.

    I find nowadays (post-Atkins) that people are afraid of carbs. As long as you stick to the recommended servings per day of complex carbs and exercise the right amount, you shouldn't think of carbs as a bad thing.

    Carbs are beneficial for you, too. I guess it all boils down to the right amount of daily servings of the right kind of foods + the right amount of exercise. It can seem like a difficult balance, but it is attainable :)

    Good luck!

    I hope I didn't come off as anti-carb because that isn't what I meant at all. I just wanted to express my belief that all the macronutrients should be eaten in balance.
  • SDawgW
    SDawgW Posts: 160 Member
    Unsaturated fats are quite beneficial to your health. This link is to a post another user did on the health benefits of fats: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/54538-don-t-fear-fat?hl=Good+Fat#posts-617276

    I would recommend increasing your fat intake for health reasons other than weightloss. Personally, most of my fat intake is from nuts which really should be part of a vegetarian diet since they are full of vitamins and minerals. For an example, a single Brazil nut has a days RDA of the trace mineral Selenium and a serving of walnuts have almost 95% of your RDA of omega 3 fatty acid which has been connected with heart and brain health.

    As a bonus, fats have been linked to added weightloss so while your high carb diet may not be preventing you from losing weight, you may get additional benefits by replacing carbs with fat.

    http://proteins-carb-fats.suite101.com/article.cfm/good_dietary_fats_help_reduce_weight


    I agree with the importance of the "healthy" fats in your diet. They are good for many reasons.

    I find nowadays (post-Atkins) that people are afraid of carbs. As long as you stick to the recommended servings per day of complex carbs and exercise the right amount, you shouldn't think of carbs as a bad thing.

    Carbs are beneficial for you, too. I guess it all boils down to the right amount of daily servings of the right kind of foods + the right amount of exercise. It can seem like a difficult balance, but it is attainable :)

    Good luck!

    I hope I didn't come off as anti-carb because that isn't what I meant at all. I just wanted to express my belief that all the macronutrients should be eaten in balance.

    No, no! Not at all! I was agreeing with you when it comes to the importance of fats.

    The carb comments were in reference to the original post :smile:
  • patns
    patns Posts: 7 Member
    My daughter is a vegetarian. I could not eat that way totally because I am very carb sensative and would gain rapidly on the whole grains she eats. But she does fine with them. We all react differently. If you are losing with your plan I wouldn't worry about it, but do make sure you get some of the good fats in.
  • SDawgW
    SDawgW Posts: 160 Member
    I'm not a big fan of meat...never really have been. I can tolerate chicken and red meat, but I try not to eat red meat anymore. Since cutting back on meat products, I can't say that my carb intake has increased any.

    I've substituted meat with things like lentils and other legumes, low fat cottage cheese and other low fat cheeses, etc. My carb intake has stayed the same.

    I can't stress enough how glad I am that I saw my dietician. She really opened my eyes to healthy eating. I know what to eat, how much of it to eat and when to eat it and I know that I've got enough of my daily recommended servings for grains, proteins, fruits, dairy, veggies and healthy fats.

    If you're interested in seeing the guidelines she gave me, just let me know and I can send it to you. :smile:
  • lessertess
    lessertess Posts: 855 Member
    A lot depends on what kind of carbs you're eating. Vegetables and multigrains count as carbs but so do things like sugar, refined breads and desserts, etc. The former can help you lose weight and the latter will contribute to gain if you are eating them excessively. If you're a vegetarian you should supplement your diet with healthy non-animal fats like nuts or avocados.
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