labonitafarms

Hello everyone - I am new to this site so excuse my ignorance if this doesn't come out exactly clear - I have to lose some SERIOUS weight; however, I am a little confused. I am counting calories and fat intake. I shop accordingly; however, I have noticed that foods that are low in calories/fat and HIGH in carbs - the foods that are low in carbs are high in carolies/fat????? I like to count my calories/fat so I am ok with that, but am I messing up by consuming low calories/fat and high carbs - I feel like I am damned if I do and damned if I don't. Does anyone know if you are on a 1200 calorie diet what are your daily carbs are suppose to be? Thank for the chat! By the way, my name is Dot and I am a 41 year old female.

kathietaylor

Hi Dot,

I am fairly new too, joined Jan 1! My New Year's Resolution is to get down to my goal weight and STAY THERE!

I find it very challenging to to get my macronutrients right as well carbs/fat/protein! I think a safe range is 40% carbs, 30% fat and 30% protein. Not an easy task!!

I do find that eating more whole foods and less processed food really does help with this. The problem with the processed is if it is low in fat, it is usually high in sodium or sugar! If it is lower in sugar it is higher in fat, or it is full of aspertame or some other chemical sweetener. It is challenging to say the least. Cooking from scratch seems to be the best bet for keeping your fats, sugars and carbs in line. The only processed foods I actually eat are cereals, breads, yogurt and cheese...everything else is natural. Another killer is the dressings, sauces, butter, margarines, etc! It isn't the food, it is what we PUT ON the food!!

I have discovered that balsamic vinegar is delicious on a number of different veggies and even some fruits. Mixed with a wee bit of olive oil it makes a tasty and healthy dressing.

I don't know if any of this is helpful or not! Good luck!

Shell250

Hi Dot, Kathie,

I am new too, on week 2 and feeling better already.

I am trying to stay away from highly processed food too. I am striving for 40-30-30 as well. Processed foods are terrible...in addition to the usually high sugar and/or salt and/or calories, all the other 'mystery chemicals' listed cannot be healthy!

In my past weight loss missions I have depended on these 'low ca/low fat/portion controlled' products and they were somewhat pushed in the weight loss groups I participated in. I did have some success, but overall I find they are not satisfying, and I usually ended up eating larger quantities of them, defeating their purpose..sigh. Taking a more natural approach this time and trying to fuel my body with what it needs to function in a healthy way.

Thanks for the reminder on the Balsamic vinegar dressing Kathie; I like it, and need to pick some up.

I also like to use a variety of hot sauces, in particular Louisianna Hot sauce. Delicious if you like spicy. Curbs my cravings.

labonitafarms

Ok, I have never really followed anything as far as eating goes, so yeah, I'm a dumbo - Just have a quick question..... 40%, 30%, & 30% of what???? Help me out here guys - Thank y'all for though for the info - I love spices too!

kathietaylor

Labonita! LOL!! Don't feel stupid. When you fill out your food journal, if you scroll down you will find the pie chart that shows you what percentage of carbs/fats/proteins you have eaten over the day. You should strive for 40% carbs, 30% fats and 30% protein. You find the carbs in bread, cereals, fruit and most vegetables...plus they are lurking in lots of other foods as well, like beans for instance!! Fats are found in milk, cheese, eggs, meat,poultry, nuts plus the obvious sources like butter and margarine. Proteins are found in meat, fish, poultry, beans, cheese, nuts and even in milk. As you can see there are many crossovers there! That is why the food journal here on fitday is so handy, as you can check the nutrition of everything you are eating and can see where you might be overdoing the carbs or fats....or in my case, underdoing the protein!!

shell, I see we are both from Alberta!!! How cool is that?!

labonitafarms

Kathie - Thanks so much - duh, yea that makes perfect since - I actually found this website on a bulletin board on the Alli program - my bad - I like it much better - I would rather type than write down stuff anyday - Keep in touch - Dot