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lunarstar0131 10-15-2010 11:23 AM

Proteins, carbs, need to lose weight and I need help!
 
Hello everyone,

I am new here and I need some help to reach my weight goal. I am not sure what it is that should be eating to lose weight. By that I mean should I be eating more protein than carbs? Should I be taking protein shakes/supplements?

I guess I need more of a guideline of what foods/things I should be incorporating into my daily routine to help me lose weight.

Currently I weigh 188 pounds :eek: and I am 5'3. I would like to get down to 135-140.:D I don't really have a time frame but I want to make sure whatever I am doing is working for me. Currently I am exercising about 40 minutes 5 days a week. Started a month ago. I am doing brisk walking/jogging.

I have eliminated sweets/sodas/junk/fried foods/alcohol from my daily routine.

I see a lot of people here who have reached amazing weight goals and I would like to know what people have been doing that has been working for them.

Any help would be greatly appreciated :)

Jenna_66 10-15-2010 01:11 PM

I usually eat 5 to 6 meals of lean protein and complex carbs. Like a normal day for me is 1/2 oatmeal and eggs, tuna salad on ww wheat, chicken with veggies, protein shake mixed with berries & a banana, chicken with brown rice and veggies. That's just an example they are millions of ways to mix lean protein with complex carbs. And you dont' have to drink a protein shake if you don't want to. I like them because they taste like they are bad for you and they are not. It's like a mid day treat

lunnster 10-16-2010 05:36 AM

Lunarstar - good for you, you are doing a lot of right things. Alcohol is bad if you are a beer drinker like me - real bad! You need to ensure you are lifting weights as part of your workout routine, you can run your butt off but you add 20 of weights and you will see great things happen. If you are fighting bellie fat that won't help - I suggest two things that helped me - a personal trainer and NO Carbs for 2 - 3 weeks. It is tough and not fun but you will literally watch the fat melt. I used atkins but whatever works for you - you can just check out phase one on their website. I used it as a kick start and maintained the 33lbs I lost. Wishing you continued success
s

tobersmommy 10-16-2010 06:10 AM

Lunnster... I was just reading your reply because I was hoping some of the same tips would apply for me, but I have a question. If you go 2-3 weeks with no carbs, what did you eat? I understand no bread/pasta/sweets because they are carby. But the thing is... carrots have carbs, apples have carbs, fruits and veggies seem to be packed with them. So what do we eat? I am so confused! The more I look into what is in food, more things are carby than not. Yikes!!!

tandoorichicken 10-16-2010 10:11 AM

When most people say 0 carbs they are generally referring to grains and sugar. The amount of carbs you get from vegetables and fruits, even super sweet fruits, is next to none even if you eat salads for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Your body makes more glucose in a day than you get from eating like that (720 calories worth or about 180g of sugar). It's hard to eat that much salad in a day. And you don't get the mood-boosting action of the carbs like you get from bread because they are locked away in the soluble and insoluble fiber. That's why lunnster says, justifiably, it's not very fun.

Hope this clears that up.

rpmcduff 10-18-2010 04:41 AM

I like the three rules Nik has in his signature. For me I restrict my 'simple' carbohydrates like white breads, pasta, sugar and processed foods. Instead I eat whole grain products fruit and vegetables. (I have substituted and cut back on the amounts.) I believe most of your calories should come from whole foods but if you can't keep your protein intake where you want then protein shakes are a healthy supplement. I try to keep my protein around 30% of my calories. I don't worry about my fat intake as I know it is all either from whole foods or the olive oil I cook with.

I have taken the approach that this is a long term lifestyle change for me and nothing (even french fries) are forbidden. But I also now understand the calorie baggage of foods and so I limit my consumption of these high calories foods. This way I haven't denied myself anything and I am happy with my choices that help me be a healthier person.

As I have posted before, if you think you can diet and exercise short term then return to your old ways without ballooning back to your current weight then you really haven't thought this through. You need a long term plan that you can live with to be at that lighter healthier weight.

lunarstar0131 11-03-2010 11:15 AM

So basically, I need to avoid carbs in order to lose weight? :confused:

cjohnson728 11-03-2010 11:32 AM


Originally Posted by lunarstar0131 (Post 24465)
So basically, I need to avoid carbs in order to lose weight? :confused:

Everybody is different. Do what works for you and don't do what doesn't work. This may take some trial and error. A lot of people advocate avoiding carbs to lose weight, but my opinion is that carbs are not the enemy. Just eat good ones, like fruits, veggies, and whole grains. I did not avoid carbs and I did lose weight. By the same token, I didn't eat 90% of calories from carbs, and I didn't eat a lot of sugar or white flour, either.

waynegretzky 11-03-2010 12:18 PM

I am another... i quit eating bread, pasta, rice, white flour products, any restaurant food, and any processed or premade foods. Meat portions for dinner are the size of my palm (4 oz) and lots and lots of vegetables and fruit. I have never been hungry or miss my old foodie ways.

KLOdom 11-03-2010 12:20 PM


Originally Posted by lunarstar0131 (Post 24465)
So basically, I need to avoid carbs in order to lose weight? :confused:

absolutely not, as long as you keep your calories a few hundred under your BMR you will lose weight no matter what you eat. Obviously it's best to consume your carbs from fruits, vegetables and whole grains but don't fall for the carbs make you fat bit.

waynegretzky 11-03-2010 01:40 PM


Originally Posted by KLOdom (Post 24473)
absolutely not, as long as you keep your calories a few hundred under your BMR you will lose weight no matter what you eat. Obviously it's best to consume your carbs from fruits, vegetables and whole grains but don't fall for the carbs make you fat bit.

There is a big difference between 1500 calories from donuts and 1500 calories from complex carbs in vegetables and fruit. I was watching calories for a year previous with next to nothing for results but as soon as i got rid of the junk, i started losing big time! Maybe everyone is not that way but for me it sure was.

Lizzycritter 11-03-2010 05:01 PM

Saying carbs are bad is a huge oversimplification. I'd suggest you look into the glycemic index, which is a way of measuring a food's impact on blood sugar. The lower this number, the less a food will raise your blood sugar. Having big spikes in blood sugar is usually follwed by big dips that set off cravings for more of what caused the spike in the first place. Getting your blood sugar stable is key for many people to lose weight

There's a huge difference between "carbs" and "simple carbohydrates". Basically anything processed or "white" is a simple carb (white rice, potatoes, white bread, pasta). This stuff is so easily converted to pure sugar, the process starts happening in your mouth. Chew a piece of white bread, then hold it in your mouth for a minute or so-you can taste it getting sweeter just from the saliva breaking it down! Whole-grain breads and pastas take longer to break down, because your body has to deal with the fiber to get to the sugar.

Same thing with fruits vs. fruit juices. Yeah juice is going to have the vitamins still, but all the fiber is taken away, so fruit juice is going to jack up your blood sugar just as fast as mountain dew.

Raw or whole foods, because they're in an unprocessed state, tend to be much higher in fiber and lower on the glycemic index. Low GI foods tend to take longer to digest, so they tend to satisfy hunger better. A whole apple will fill you up longer than applesauce, and whole grain bread will stick with you longer than white bread.

lunarstar0131 11-04-2010 10:09 AM


Originally Posted by waynegretzky (Post 24472)
I am another... i quit eating bread, pasta, rice, white flour products, any restaurant food, and any processed or premade foods. Meat portions for dinner are the size of my palm (4 oz) and lots and lots of vegetables and fruit. I have never been hungry or miss my old foodie ways.

Thanks! I have quit eating those foods as well. i only drink water. no alcohol at all, no cnady or anything of that nature. I only have brown rice and once in a blue moon I have organic whole wheat pasta. I eat a lot of fruits and veggies.

This is what I have been doing recently...

Early morning:
Grapefruit
Apple
Banana

( I might also have 1/4 cup of egg whites )

Lunch:
Brown rice and either turkey, chicken breast, veggies, or salmon. Sometimes I only have veggies and a piece of meat.

Dinner: I usually have salad or some fruit

I usually have sprouts, black beans or fresh turkey as a snack...

I do try to eat at least 5-6 times a day and I drink about 10 glasses of water a day...

I also stay under my BMR calories...

Am I doing something wrong here?

lunarstar0131 11-04-2010 10:12 AM


Originally Posted by Lizzycritter (Post 24486)
Saying carbs are bad is a huge oversimplification. I'd suggest you look into the glycemic index, which is a way of measuring a food's impact on blood sugar. The lower this number, the less a food will raise your blood sugar. Having big spikes in blood sugar is usually follwed by big dips that set off cravings for more of what caused the spike in the first place. Getting your blood sugar stable is key for many people to lose weight

There's a huge difference between "carbs" and "simple carbohydrates". Basically anything processed or "white" is a simple carb (white rice, potatoes, white bread, pasta). This stuff is so easily converted to pure sugar, the process starts happening in your mouth. Chew a piece of white bread, then hold it in your mouth for a minute or so-you can taste it getting sweeter just from the saliva breaking it down! Whole-grain breads and pastas take longer to break down, because your body has to deal with the fiber to get to the sugar.

Same thing with fruits vs. fruit juices. Yeah juice is going to have the vitamins still, but all the fiber is taken away, so fruit juice is going to jack up your blood sugar just as fast as mountain dew.

Raw or whole foods, because they're in an unprocessed state, tend to be much higher in fiber and lower on the glycemic index. Low GI foods tend to take longer to digest, so they tend to satisfy hunger better. A whole apple will fill you up longer than applesauce, and whole grain bread will stick with you longer than white bread.

I don't eat any simple carbs. I don't even have bread anymore. May i ask what you have done that seems to have worked for you? You are roughly at the weight I want to reach...

Kathy13118 11-06-2010 05:21 AM

You have absolutely everything you need in the fitday food diary to help you lose weight. If you log all the foods with the exact correct quantities you eat for the day and do that every single day of the week, you will have an idea of how many calories you take in.

If you see the calories are all over the place, run the fitday report that will tell you the fat, carbs, protein and calories AVERAGE for the week.

Do that for a few weeks and don't do anything else. Are you losing weight? Sometimes (often) the very act of carefully recording all you eat makes you think twice about what you eat and you lose weight. Without planning a whole lot, without overthinking a plan. But the important thing is that even if you give in to some guilty 'extra' food or 'forbidden' food, you log it in your food list with the exact quantity.

At the end of a few weeks, where are you? Have you stayed the same or are you losing weight? Or even gaining weight? From the number that you see and where you are, aim to subtract some calories and come up with a goal number. As you log your food, do more planning and aim for that goal. When you have met that goal (on average if not every day) for a few weeks, have you lost weight? At the pace you want? If not, then tweak that number again and do the same logging for another couple of weeks.

At some point, you will see the number you need to aim at to lose the weight you need to lose at the pace you want. Then maintain that number, aim for that number. Watch the number every day on fitday as you log. This is the most powerful tool you can use. It's calories in (forget emphasizing calories out, it's a less-exact science on fitday) that you want to watch - and tweak and reduce. Nothing new there. There is NEVER anything new there, not when you mention carbs, protein, fats, anything. Fat has lots more calories than carbs or protein (more than twice as much). 1 gm of fat is going to be twice as fattening as 1 gm of carbs or protein. So the only thing that matters about protein is that it will satisfy longer - this has been observed in studies. But if carbs work that way for you, then there is nothing in the world to tell you differently; in fact, millions of vegetarians load up on carbs every day and stay slim. They don't load up on protein-dense steaks. They are not the fattest people on the planet. Just make a protein/carb mix that works for you.

lunarstar0131 11-06-2010 01:36 PM

Well it seems I am doing something right because I have lost another 8 pounds :)

Lizzycritter 11-06-2010 05:02 PM


Originally Posted by lunarstar0131 (Post 24569)
I don't eat any simple carbs. I don't even have bread anymore. May i ask what you have done that seems to have worked for you? You are roughly at the weight I want to reach...

The only things I've done is log what I eat, keeping protein up as high as possible and carbs not over 50%, not worrying about fat since I eat lean meat and fried foods are very rare. I'm not anti-carb, it's just the easiest place for me to cut calories and not feel like I'm "missing out" on foods I like. I either weigh or measure everything. I know how much all my cups, bowls and mugs hold to make the measuring easier. Most of my calories are healthy ones, but not all. I do allow myself 150-250 "junk" calories, a good portion of that is my daily coffee. The rest is a small dessert (2 oreos, Fudgesicle, mini ice cream sandwich, stuff like that). I exercise when I can, ideally this would be 1 hour 3x a week, I was doing well at that and need to get back on that horse. Medical issues have been setting me back lately, I haven't gained any weight back, but haven't lost either and I feel bigger around the middle without the gym time. It's OK though, at this point I feel comfortable in my clothes. 135 would be bikini time, and if I end up staying where I'm at, I think that would be all right too. It's certainly better than where I was, and I feel like myself again for the first time in yers.

vonkaeferchen 11-09-2010 05:52 AM

I would suggest adding a physical activity that you really like - that will bring you your feeling of having fun - whilie you reduce your carbs. For me it is dancing. I was dancing yesterday, about 2 hours. I did not think about being hungry, and I was sooo happy that I did not need any chocolate :)
For you it might be not dancing, but something else. Try to have fun!

kahkee 11-11-2010 08:32 AM

Several (5-6) smaller meals instead of just 3 helps to keep metabolism up. Protien with every meal, helps to keep the "spikes of insulin" down. Lots of water, and not too heavy on the weights ( more reps, less weight).

lunarstar0131 11-15-2010 11:36 AM


Originally Posted by vonkaeferchen (Post 24994)
I would suggest adding a physical activity that you really like - that will bring you your feeling of having fun - whilie you reduce your carbs. For me it is dancing. I was dancing yesterday, about 2 hours. I did not think about being hungry, and I was sooo happy that I did not need any chocolate :)
For you it might be not dancing, but something else. Try to have fun!

Thanks! I have been going to the gym 4 times a week and I am really enjoying it. The weight loss I have had so far is keeping me motivated!


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