Okay, quick diet question. . . .
I've been doing AMAZING (almost too good--I'm afraid I'll ruin it somehow) with my eating. I feel amazing, and the scale is down to 136 even!
However, I'm struggling to keep my carbohydrates from soaring each day. I limit my breads/rice/pasta, etc. to one (maybe 2--as in, 2 slices of bread for a sandwich) per meal, eating about 3-4 servings a day. However, my carbohydrates are still around 300 each day. I noticed in my fitday that they're coming from my veggies, and therein lies the problem. Vegetables are the one food I let myself pretty much eat however much I want, because they are low-calorie, high-nutrient, gut-filling bits of colorful wonderfulness. I'm sometimes low enough in calorie intake at the end of day that I can afford to eat something of a high-protein and fat, low-carbohydrate sort (like tonight--I had plenty of calories left over so I ate two cheese sticks to bring up my protein and fat levels and balance out my lovely fitday pie chart a bit more).
But other days I don't have so much left over. My mom cooks very low-fat meats (90-97% lean beef, VERY RARELY 80% lean, always lean cut of chicken, etc.) for dinner, but other than that I don't eat a whole ton of meat. How can I up my fat and protein intake without eating seconds on meat (ie--8 oz of meat instead of my usual 4-6 oz)?
Secondly, my sugar is always WAY over at the end of the day, even though I've cut out all refined sugar (except the tiny bit in the wheat bread we buy and the 10-12 grams in nonfat yogurt). Should I be concerned about this, even though I know almost all those grams of sugar are coming from fruits and vegetables?
Thanks! <3
Last edited by oneoftwelve; 08-04-2010 at 09:12 PM.
Well, I'm not the best on this since my carbs are usually over 200g and my protein usually under 100g...
But I try to work cottage cheese and greek yogurt into my menu every day. I get low sodium, low-fat cottage cheese, and while I have always gotten nonfat Greek yogurt, I just bought 2% and I am going to give that a try. If you look them up on fitday you'll see that both cottage cheese and Greek yogurt are good low-carb sources of protein. Of course, I usually put fruit in the yogurt, but it's a good way of eating some protein along with your fruit, which helps moderate blood-sugar swings.
I tend not to worry about the sugar and carbs I get from fruit and veggies. Especially in the summer, when good, fresh, local produce is so abundant. I'm interested to see how my balance changes over the winter.
Also, how do your percentages break down? I feel I've succeeded if my carbs are under 50& and my protein and fat are about equal.
I'm no expert.. in fact new to losing weight, but I had a good friend that lost all her weight on a very high carb diet. (from processed food)
If you are getting the carbs from healthy sources and you are losing weight, I would not worry about it. If you are concerned, try switching to lower carb fruits such as berries and lower carb veggies such as broccoli, salads etc.
If you are that concerned with getting specific ratios of carbs/ protein/ fat... then you may have to really focus on cutting out some of the high starch things.
But, if you are not too worried about it, and you are getting the results you want I say it's not a big deal.
And, I would try to add maybe some more leaner proteins if you are trying to stay under a calorie limit. Turkey, egg whites, low fat string cheese, etc.
My carbs % usually runs in the high 60s to the 70s, and my protein in the 20s. My fat stays pretty limited (between 10 and 15%) just because other than nuts and olive oil and such, I eat very little fat.
Cheese is a good idea. If we make sandwiches and have fruit and chips for lunch, I skip the chips but am still hungry. I usually grab another piece of fruit or another slice of whole-wheat bread. Maybe I should just put on that piece of cheese (one of my favorite foods, gave it up in an effort to minimize calories) will bring my protein and fat up. I've never liked cottage cheese, but I discovered recently that I LOVE Greek yogurt (have to put a teaspoon of sugar in it, but that is way less than a highly processed yogurt). What brand of Greek yogurt do you buy? All the kinds I've seen in my grocery store are quite expensive.
Thanks!
I think you're supposed to subtract out the fiber grams when counting carbs. Since the fiber goes right through it has no affect. At least that's what I learned when reading the Zone books. They call it the 'net carb' number.
I can't imagine eating too much veggies would be a problem.
Last edited by ainsleymom; 08-04-2010 at 10:08 PM.
I buy Fage yogurt and it costs an arm and a leg. It tastes fabulous with honey, too, if you don't want to use sugar.
I thought I didn't like cottage cheese but for some reason now I love it. Strange, because I'm usually a little picky about textures, and for most people texture is the killer for cc.
One of twelve, I think it's great you are thinking about all these things. Yes, they are matters of great concern.
The link in my signature, Eat Fat and Grow Slim, is an easy-to-read explanation of how to eat the way you are considering. It was written by a very kind doctor, Richard MacKarness, who helped many, many people recover from being overweight, those with serious allergies, as well as those with much worse illnesses. Reading that book changed my life. Even though the book was written in 1958, I consider it the best primer for changing one's eating.
A note: the margarine he mentions in the book was then made from animal fats, not hydrogenated junk, as it is today.
If you would like to know more about what sugar and carbohydrates do after you've swallowed them, more than what is in the Dr. MacKarness book, the two links in my signature, to PaNu and Hyperlipid, are blogs written by doctors, who explain a great deal about protein, fat, and carbohydrates, and how various kinds of foods effect our health, how and why.
High glycemic fruits and vegetables can be just as sugary as bread and sugar/honey, etc.
I wish you all the best!
Last edited by SilverLife; 08-05-2010 at 06:11 AM.
Reason: added underlining
I get Chobani Greek yogurt at Costco. You can get a pack of 12 for under $12, and each has 14 grams of protein. They have between 14g and 15g of sugar, but they are all natural: the sugar is from fruit.
I don't worry about my carb intake, as long as I am taking in good carbs. I don't worry about the sugar in fruit and vegetables either. I just try to get a lot of lean protein as well. I eat a lot of chicken, and also shrimp. Those are my most typical high-protein, low-fat go-to foods. I also eat nuts, nut butters, cheese, cottage cheese, pork, and Greek yogurt of course, and I drink milk and protein shakes. But, really, I do eat a lot of chicken. It just packs such a protein punch, and is very low in fat as well.
Last edited by Petite Powerhouse; 08-05-2010 at 01:13 PM.
Diet questions
Vegetables are the one food I let myself pretty much eat however much I want, because they are low-calorie, high-nutrient, gut-filling bits of colorful wonderfulness. I'm sometimes low enough in calorie intake at the end of day that I can afford to eat something of a high-protein and fat, low-carbohydrate sort (like tonight--I had plenty of calories left over so I ate two cheese sticks to bring up my protein and fat levels and balance out my lovely fitday pie chart a bit more).
It tastes fabulous with honey, too, if you don't want to use sugar. 
