When you are eating well with a lot of fresh fruit, veggies and whole grains, how are you supposed to keep your carbs down? Right now, I am at a little over 1000 calories and 62% carbs!!!! I am always high on carbs. How do you keep them down?
62% isnt that high necessarily. Depends on you. You need a minimum of fat and protein to be healthy but you should be able to meet those minimums on up to 70-75% carbs.
The only purpose in reducing carbs is keeping blood sugar under control which can help you with your appetite. protein and fat has a higher satiety and IF you are insulin resistant or pre-diabetic then a moderate carb diet can help resolve that.
Are you satisfied by the foods you are eating at the calorie level you need to lose weight. If you are satisfied then I wouldnt worry about it too much. If you are always hungry and cant wait until your next meal/snack and crave foods then it might be a problem
If you are trying to eat very low fat, well then the calories have to be SOMETHING.
A general rule I go by is to never eat carbs alone. I always have some protein and some fat in my diet. I add healthy fats such as nuts and olive oil. But those are high in calories. But I find FOR ME that I can eat fewer calories and be happy at 30-35% fat than I can at 20-25% so I have higher fat than most, and therefor lower carbs.
I would never do a LOW carb diet because I dont think that is healthy
Remember there is no universal "right" carb % as long as you get enough of everything to be healthy.
In the long run for weight loss, all that matters is calories.
I took a peek at your fitday log for today. You are running less than 10% fat. That is a very very low fat percentage. If you are a heart patient and doing Dr. Ornish thats one thing, but that is pretty low for living.
Anyway, if 10% fat works for you, great, but if you are going to only have 10% fat, then having 65% carbs should be seen as normal, not high.
Never worried about carbs either, I usually eat around 200 grams a day.
I focus on:
* Eating 100+ grams of protein a day
* Eating 5+ servings of vegetables a day
* Eating at least 2 different fresh/frozen fruits a day (today was blueberries and a mango!)
* Eating whole grains and nutritionally powerful carbs whenever possible (brown rice instead of white, whole wheat tortillas/pita/pasta instead of plain, oatmeal, quinoa, sweet potatoes instead of white potatoes)
* Avoiding chemicals and fake food (trying to eat as many whole foods as possible)
* Trying to eat 1 serving of nuts (1/4 cup) daily - studies have shown that a serving of nuts, 5 times of week can reduce the chance of heart disease by 30%
* Ensuring at least 25% of my daily calories come from healthy fats (healthy oils, avocado, salmon, nuts/nut butters)
Lost 70 lbs and kept it off for 2 years!
1000 calories is very low and I don't know if that's setting you up for long term success. Good luck!
I read somewhere (a reputable source, I just can't remember where) that you should aim for around 55% of your daily caloric intake from carbohydrates. Yupppp... Just thought I'd throw that out there.
Some days I get a lot of carbs. Some days I don't. It just depends on what I eat. I don't pay attention to the numbers. What I watch carefully is fat and calories. And that's pretty much it.
Thanks for all the great advice. I try not to worry about it, but I see that percentage on my fitday and it seems high, although the range I have set for carbs is always met (under 222). I am just going to let it go.
Glory, I was at 1000 because I had not eaten dinner yet, I flux between 1500-1800, so don't worry.
Fruits. Veggies, Whole Grains and Carbs
