[MindiV]

I use SparkPeople to keep track of daily calories and other values, and it's got me set at 215-310 for carbs, per day; 42-74 g. fat; 60-167 g. protein; 100-150 calcium (which I always fall short on); 0-250 cholesterol; 0-25 saturated fats; 25-36 fiber; 0-2,300 sodium.


In the past week, my high/low numbers are:

Calories: 1,399-1,584 (I was shooting for 1,450 calories a day for months and lost regularly, but wasn't counting my tea with sugar. Decided to take most sugar out of my diet and upped it to 1,550 calories, on average, in the past weeks)
Fat: 42-79 (eek...the high number was a weekend, with a cheeseburger)
Carbs: 144-245
Protein: 58-86
Calcium: 32-106
Cholesterol: 90-199
Sat. Fat: 11-24
Fiber: 6-36 (usually too low)
Sodium: 2283-4062 (darn you, tasty burger!!!)

I guess I'm just wondering if all that seems healthy, as far as the levels go? Reading around on here, most people are counting one thing or another...no carb/low-carb to low-fat, etc. I just worry about getting too many carbs, for example....or not enough....

[aphil]

Your carbs are going to vary a bit day by day, as is anything else.

The main thing, if you are a calorie counter, to worry about is the KINDS of foods that you are eating. Don't worry so much about the fat grams, or the carbs. What you want to aim for, is that the carbs, protein, and fat come from good sources. If some of your daily fat came from bacon...not so good, but if it came from a bit of olive oil or nuts, then that is a better fat.

If your carbs came from fruit, veggies, and some oatmeal-excellent, however, if most of your carbs come from low fat cookies...not so good.

It's nice to take a look at the numbers other than calories, but don't obsess about them. It's more important to concentrate on making the foods healthier, than it is to concentrate on the amount of carbs, etc.