Calories, Fat or Carbs?

twin2
twin2 Posts: 404
in Health and Weight Loss
I have found over the years I have a more difficult time losing weight if I don't watch my carbs. On MFP my daily goal on carbs are 193, I have not idea where to set my daily goal at. I love bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, usually any starchy vegetable, so when it comes to limiting my starches I get a little cranky. I watch my fat also but still having a hard time with carbs. Any ideas?

Rhonda

Replies

  • twin2
    twin2 Posts: 404
    I have found over the years I have a more difficult time losing weight if I don't watch my carbs. On MFP my daily goal on carbs are 193, I have not idea where to set my daily goal at. I love bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, usually any starchy vegetable, so when it comes to limiting my starches I get a little cranky. I watch my fat also but still having a hard time with carbs. Any ideas?

    Rhonda
  • MrsTomy
    MrsTomy Posts: 504 Member
    Avoid simple carbs (breads, pastas) but still eat plenty of fresh fruits (give you energy) and veggies. They have "carbs" but it takes your body a while to digest them so you stay full longer. if you have to "splurge" and eat pasta have whole wheat and watch your portions!

    Low calorie, low fat "diets" arethe best, most healthy ways to lose weight.
  • wriglucy
    wriglucy Posts: 1,064 Member
    I agree..make sure the first ingredient on the ingredient list of a food is "100% whole wheat, or whole grain". otherwise it's still processed grains and you're wasting calories on carbs that don't do much for your body.
  • Lisabeth
    Lisabeth Posts: 268
    I have this same exact problem. Every entry I make I watch the "carbs" left go down and down. I ate Kellogs Cereal (healthy one) and it took lots of my carbs. Pissed me off because if I'm gonna use up carbs, then I'd rather use it up on bread.
  • twin2
    twin2 Posts: 404
    I have this same exact problem. Every entry I make I watch the "carbs" left go down and down. I ate Kellogs Cereal (healthy one) and it took lots of my carbs. Pissed me off because if I'm gonna use up carbs, then I'd rather use it up on bread.

    Agreed, I had Kelloggs Vanilla and Almond this morning, good for you & ymmy and CARBS!
  • banks1850
    banks1850 Posts: 3,475 Member
    anything with white flour in it is a simple carb. Best to stay away from those as much as you can. Try replacing it with wheat if possible. You can get whole wheat pizza, pasta, and bread easilly enough. Simple carbs are processed very quickly by the body, usually too quickly for your body to burn much of it so it is stored as fat. complex carbs take much longer for your body to break down, and they don't spike the blood sugar, so not only do you not store anywhere near the fat, you don't crash after the spike either.
  • Lisabeth
    Lisabeth Posts: 268
    Ok, here is where i'm confused. Simple Carbs and Complex Carbs. If Simple carbs are processed very quickly then why shouldn't it burn off quickly??????? I mean anything of "substance" that's gonna stick to your gut and fill you has to be some kind of carb, and then on top of that we only get a little bit of carbs per day? It's very very hard for me to eat like a rabbit and survive.
    anything with white flour in it is a simple carb. Best to stay away from those as much as you can. Try replacing it with wheat if possible. You can get whole wheat pizza, pasta, and bread easilly enough. Simple carbs are processed very quickly by the body, usually too quickly for your body to burn much of it so it is stored as fat. complex carbs take much longer for your body to break down, and they don't spike the blood sugar, so not only do you not store anywhere near the fat, you don't crash after the spike either.
  • snakeskin
    snakeskin Posts: 21
    Being Italian, we grew up on pasta and bread, pasta soup, pasta and meatballs, home made italian bread, pasta salad, and pasta finger cookies, haha. But breaking the pasta habit was very, very tough. We would sit around, drinking wine, and confirmed that whole wheat pasta was for sissies.

    What really helped me to choose whole wheat (pasta, rice, bread, etc) was when I would switch and go back to my old starchy habit - I would walk away from the table feeling like I completely over ate, when I didn't. The yeast in the starch will "fill" you up and actually bloat you. The whole wheat choice never gave me that uncomfortable after-effect.

    But if you get a little creative with your recipes, you will definitely benefit from the whole wheat.

    Best of luck!
  • banks1850
    banks1850 Posts: 3,475 Member
    Ok, here is where i'm confused. Simple Carbs and Complex Carbs. If Simple carbs are processed very quickly then why shouldn't it burn off quickly??????? I mean anything of "substance" that's gonna stick to your gut and fill you has to be some kind of carb, and then on top of that we only get a little bit of carbs per day? It's very very hard for me to eat like a rabbit and survive.

    I'll answer in reverse order:
    I think you're confusing carbs with energy density. energy density is the amount of calories food has based on how much volume it has.

    As to your carb confusion here is the low down:
    Simple carbs are broken down quickly, your metabolism can use a certain amount of calories at any 1 time as energy, any left over energy is converted to fat for storage. So the faster you digest something the faster you build up the available energy, when the total energy available is higher then the body's ability to use it, it is stored as fat. Your metabolism doesn't burn energy faster if more is available, it just stores the extra.
    Complex carbs usually have fiber (which makes digestion take longer) and are longer molecule chain that takes longer to break into it's component energy, that being the case, the body has more time to divvy out the energy and burn it so it doesn't have as much need to store it as fat.
    So that bowl of pasta (or white bread, or doughnut, or muffin...etc) is all white flour (simple carb) which means it hits your stomach overloads your metabolism with energy, kicks of fat storage, spikes your blood sugar, and eventually crashes your blood sugar, which is why you feel a little sluggish after eating a big meal full of pasta or bread or other simple carbs.

    You don't have to eat "like a rabbit" though, whole wheat foods are just as filling as regular, and much better for you. I certainly don't eat like a rabbit, but I intake almost no simple carbs on a normal day, maybe like 50 of my carbs are simple, out of my 350 allotted carbs (I'm a big dude and my calorie allotment is around 2700 a day). That's a pretty good ratio.
  • Lisabeth
    Lisabeth Posts: 268
    Thanks Banks, btw, i saw your pics of the race! Great job!
    Ok, here is where i'm confused. Simple Carbs and Complex Carbs. If Simple carbs are processed very quickly then why shouldn't it burn off quickly??????? I mean anything of "substance" that's gonna stick to your gut and fill you has to be some kind of carb, and then on top of that we only get a little bit of carbs per day? It's very very hard for me to eat like a rabbit and survive.

    I'll answer in reverse order:
    I think you're confusing carbs with energy density. energy density is the amount of calories food has based on how much volume it has.

    As to your carb confusion here is the low down:
    Simple carbs are broken down quickly, your metabolism can use a certain amount of calories at any 1 time as energy, any left over energy is converted to fat for storage. So the faster you digest something the faster you build up the available energy, when the total energy available is higher then the body's ability to use it, it is stored as fat. Your metabolism doesn't burn energy faster if more is available, it just stores the extra.
    Complex carbs usually have fiber (which makes digestion take longer) and are longer molecule chain that takes longer to break into it's component energy, that being the case, the body has more time to divvy out the energy and burn it so it doesn't have as much need to store it as fat.
    So that bowl of pasta (or white bread, or doughnut, or muffin...etc) is all white flour (simple carb) which means it hits your stomach overloads your metabolism with energy, kicks of fat storage, spikes your blood sugar, and eventually crashes your blood sugar, which is why you feel a little sluggish after eating a big meal full of pasta or bread or other simple carbs.

    You don't have to eat "like a rabbit" though, whole wheat foods are just as filling as regular, and much better for you. I certainly don't eat like a rabbit, but I intake almost no simple carbs on a normal day, maybe like 50 of my carbs are simple, out of my 350 allotted carbs (I'm a big dude and my calorie allotment is around 2700 a day). That's a pretty good ratio.

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