klayr

Hi...need a bit of advice here I'm on day three of a low carb diet...and i don't think i'm doing well. ok...on average my % of carbs is fluctuating between 53 and 75% Now...is that way too high?
many thanks in advance if you reply to this

vsabino

It does seem high... For what I've heard low carbs diets suggest you not to go higher than 50 grams of NET carbs a day (the % calories really varies). Atkins for example starts out at 20 grams net carbs a day, and the % calories suggested for fat-prot-carbs is 65-35-5 (your 53-75% seems really far from the 5% atkins suggests).
45-60% carbs is the percent regular diets suggest.

klayr

thanks...i thought it was too high...although, i'm ashamed to admit it..but it's a lot less on what i used to eat...just really need to tweak the carbs down...okay "tweak" is a bit lame...maybe "monkey wrench" them would be better! right...back to the drawing board...i'm wondering what i'm eating wrong? i've cut out bread, pastries, cereals, potatoes too. where am i going wrong i wonder? on the diet i'm kind of following (it wasn't really specific in the amounts as such) but it was saying seeds and nuts were an okay thing to eat (around 1/2 cup) Hmm...
Any way...thanks again

almeeker

Carbs as you've noticed are in lots of foods, not just grains. Corn, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, beets and peas are actually pretty high in carbs, as well as fruit especially bananas, and some brands of yogurt can contain as many carbs as a hot dog bun. Personally I limit grain based carbs to 1-2 servings/day (whole grain, low-cal and low-fat), limit fruit to 3 servings/day, try to keep my protein intake around 30-40%, and eat as many veggies as I want (well as many as my calorie budget allows anyway). My ultimate pie chart is 40% carbs, 40% proteins and 20% fats. But when that's not an option, I just try and keep my carbs from going over 50% and split the difference between the fats and proteins.

vsabino

klayr, if you want to share your log we can have a look.
As almeeker says, carbs are pretty much everywhere. I was suprised to see how many carbs tomato paste has...
If you find it particularly hard to cut carbs, then pick another diet because this is not going to be a sustainable one for you. That's just what happened to me; I tried a low carb diet for 2-3 weeks but this is just not a diet I want to do for the rest of my life. I love fruit, tomatoes, yogurt and sometimes a few chips and I don't feel like not eating them freely (well, freely is a big word!). Plus, what I hated most of low carbs diets was that they work best if your % calories from fat are >65%, which I just couldn't stand.
So my suggestion is just to pick a diet you think you can do for a LONG time!
Good luck =)

klayr

just thought i'd let you know, have decided to just cut the refined carbs out of the diet..potatoes, bread etc. Any way...in the week, i have lost my first 5lbs!!! so pleased, a good motivation, and because i haven't stopped carbs i.e fruit, i feel a lot better, probably sounds silly, but i feel more awake too! still controlling the portion size, i think to keep control of the amount you eat helps doesn't it? A good friend said to me that i had to look at my body as a refrigerator/ freezer, and to stop piling things in the refrigerator compartment so the body has to go to the freezer to collect the fat stock piles to convert it to energy. so that's my motivation, for the body to use the "freezer" compartment...and boy! does it have plenty of stock piles fat to use!!
thanks to all who have replied...you helped a great deal...especially you vsabino, your words helped a lot about the carb restrictions, and to find a diet that will suit me...it was through you that i went back to the more natural diet, hopefully it will continue to work for me as i feel great on it!
best wishes and good luck to all
Klayr

me2forever

A you continue with LC you will learn what foods have the most carbs and it will be easy not to eat those. Your mind and body knows what's good!
I try to stay under 50 but don't stress if one day it's over alittle. And some days you might not even be hungry............don't stress over that either.
Good Luck, keep posting often.

rpmcduff

Great refrigerator/freezer analogy!

klayr

I love the analogy too. HEY.... Fantastic results Ron with your weight loss, you seem to have it sorted in your mind which helps a great deal, i seem to be on track, i feel great the way i'm going, don't feel hungry, which is a BIG boost, i used to think being hungry would be the answer in losing the pounds, but it's a load of (insert appropriate caption here).
Way to go again Ron..how are you doing it? if you don't mind me asking!

vsabino

You are very welcome Klayr, glad to help.
By sharing all our stories we cen all win this race =)

BTW I'm enjoying my fruit, yogurt and bran cereals looking "just" at calories and not at carbs (although I don't think that low carb is bad or unhealthy, I only think this stuff tastes too good to quit it!).

Congrats on your 5 lb loss, that's amazing! And yeah when the scale goes down you don't even feel hungry any more...!
Keep it up!