heytred

So I'm deployed to Afghanistan (luckily I provide tactical COMMS so I do have some internet) and have to eat MREs (High Calorie, highly processed food) 3 times a day. This is good because I always eat an exact portion and always know the exact nutritional facts, but most, if not almost all of my carbohydrates come in the form of sugars. It's almost impossible for me to get many complex carbs, let alone the fibrous carbs my "diet" used to consist of.
My macros and caloric intake are in check and I know thats what is most important, but I want to know if getting a majority of my carbohydrates in the form of simple sugars is going to have a large detrimental effect on my results.

Thanks in advance. =]]

heytred

So, I actually found some good articles that taught me a lot about Glycemic Index (a term I've heard A LOT, but never really known much about) and the hormone glucagon. It's painfully obvious to me that although carbs are carbs, simple carbs are going make my body want to naturally store body fat.

So, next question is. Given my current disposition, what do I do?

almeeker

Launch a complaint to the U.S. Government? If you had enough people on the band wagon, it might garner some attention, there seems to be a "get healthy" wave spreading across the nation. You might also add healthy items to the list of things you'd like in your care packages from home. And if that's not a viable option, post a request here, I'm sure plenty of us here on the forum would be more than happy to send you out a box of healthy supplies. Fresh fruit is out, but whole grain crackers, brown rice, rice cakes, canned veggies, etc etc would ship just fine. I used to send my nephew cookies about twice/month when he was in Iraq.

heytred

I wish I could =]]. I have a family friend back home who would send me cans of chicken/tuna, boxes (more like cylinders) of Quaker Oats and she even sent Peanut Butter on Wheat Crackers, but now I'm on a different FOB with no mail service. All my mail gets sent to my Command on another FOB that's about a 4 hour convoy and then a 3 hour flight away, and they won't/can't arrange for mail to be sent to me. It's a big ol' sadface.

rpmcduff

The only suggestion I have is to try to time your simple carb intake when your body needs to replenish its glycogen stores. First thing after sleeping, and after physical exertion or exercise. If your duty has you moving and active instead of doing desk duty then the simple carbs may not mean the end of your weight loss goals.

If you are active then your body is contantly using glycogen as fuel for your muscles. The, fast digesting, simple carbs are great at replenishing the glycogen. Fat storage occurs when glycogen stores are already full and the body then stores those carbs as fat. So as long as you are active and you can time your meals after activity or sleep (when you have been fasting) you should be fine.

Simple carbs are a real problem for those of us with sedentary occupations because we are not depleting are glycogen supplies at a fast enough rate to have all the simple carbs go toward replenishing the glycogen and so most goes to fat stores.

So as long as you are able to stay active and time your intake the simple carbs may not have that big an effect.

heytred

I wish I were as active as some of the Patrol Sets out here. I'd probably never have to count a calorie again if I were.

For the most part my job isn't too sedentary so hopefully it's not an issue. I think I'm still making progress (although like I said, I don't really have the means to accurately measure) and hopefully will continue to do so taking into consideration my less than ideal environment. Thank you for the informative reply.

pbright120

heytred - yes it is best to limit the amount of simple carbs in the diet. What you eat is more important than counting calories (especially at your weight).

Can you skip the simple carbs in your meals and just eat the protein and fat (as long as the fat is not vegetable oil derived)? You would be much better off if you could.

Robb Wolf had a blog post from a wife of a marine with some great advice re nutrition for those in the military. Hopefully you can get this

For the Troops…

If not let me know and i will try to condense and put it here.

Thanks for your service!!

rpmcduff

heytred;
I had another thought, you said you don't have access to a scale but how about a piece of sting and a tape measure? Take measurments, biceps, chest, waist, thighs, calves or any thing that has meaning for you. Even if you don't know your exact weight you can track your progress with repeatable results.

Good luck!!

heytred

Thanks for the link, it was a great article.

I didn't really even realize it today but because of me trying to skimp out on taking in more simple carbs, I finished the day eating only 68g worth of carbs. I substitued what I would normally had been eating for Trail Mix (best form of healthy fats I could get my hands on) and still met my calorie and macro goals for the day. My energy levels were a little bit higher than usual too. I'm just a little skeptical of going sooo low on my carbs, but as long as I'm feeling fine I don't see why not.

@ rpmcduff: Actually I had ordered a tape measure and fat caliper off Amazon.com just to get an accurate reading off bf%. Honestly, as simple as it is I hadn't even thought about using it to track my progress. It's amazing how much you can over analyze everything and let the easy stuff pass you by. Thanks for the heads up, I will definitely use that if I can ever get anyone to convoy my mail out here. =]]

swarfel26

Eat fats with them. Fats help to lower the GI of carbs and will slow it down and help prevent an insulin spike. I'm sure the MRE has fats in it.