mission_lady

I am new to carb counting and just trying to find my way by reading several sites on carb counting. I am entering my food each day on Fitday, however I am still not sure if I should be counting grams or looking at the persentage of carbs vs fat and calories. I am diabetic and need to lose about 70 lbs.

I have been eating low carb below 40grams each day for about 3 weeks now. I have had a dramatic drop in my blood sugar which is great but not losing any weight. I am drinking 8 glasses of water per day. Am I eating too many carbs?

Typical day:
Breakfast: 2 eggs, 2 pieces turkey bacon
snack: 1 0z. cheese
lunch: shrimp 4 oz or chicken with green salad 1.5 cups and 2 tbsp dressing
snack: 12 almonds or cheese or hummus and celery
Dinner: chicken stirfry with broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage
snack: 2 Breton low fat crackers with peanutbutter or cheese

Willow_NyteEyes

I've just answered a very simmilar question so please forgive my reluctance to type it all out again. Here's the link instead:

http://www.fitday.com/fitness/forums....html#post6716

And to specificly adress your sample daily diet.... eat more fat. You'll feel fuller and "fat free" stuff is loaded with sugars.

Best of luck,
~ Willow

mission_lady

Thank you Willow, I will look at the sites you recommend. I need to start losing and who would think eating more fat could help.

Willow_NyteEyes

Glad I could help. The other thing to remember is that without enough fat in your diet, not only are you over eating on carbs/sugars, you're missing the vitamins in your veggies. Vitamin E and A for example are fat soluble, not water soluble. (That means you need some fat in your stomach with the vegies to get the vitamins out) So put some butter on your vegies & enjoy!

cjohnson728

Eating more fat does help, but be sure that the bulk of it is the good kind of fat, such as from nuts, olive oil, fish and avocados, for example.

Fats in processed foods are generally not good for you. These are things like palm oil, coconut oil...trans fats, hydrogenated fats.

Here's some more info:

Fat Facts: Essential Fatty Acids, Saturated Fat, and Trans Fat

Also, make sure you eat enough. If you restrict too much, your body slows down your metabolism to compensate, making it harder to lose. I use this calorie calculator and it's pretty spot on for me, though everyone is different, particularly if you are at an extreme high or low weight:

Calorie Calculator - Daily Caloric Needs

Personally, I have a lot more success working with calories as opposed to carbs...calories is simple math. Burn more than you take in, and you lose weight. My carbs are usually 55-60% of my intake (not low carb by any stretch) and I have lost steadily from Jan. 5th and am at my goal weight. I just choose smarter carbs, like fruit and whole grains. But you have to find what works for you personally, and what you will stick with. That may be low carb, may be low calorie, or some combination.

Good luck!

mission_lady

Thanks for all the advice, it is helping and I am researching daily. I had to bring the carbs down to get the blood sugar at acceptable leverls. Now that I have accomplished that want to drop the pounds. It is a balancing act for sure.

I am determined. It is confusing with lots of condradicting info on the net.