Hello, my name is kathie and I am a carboholic
 

Hey out there in fitdayland! I, and quite a few others I have noticed, am a carboholic.

I can keep my calorie intake inline most of the time, but I am eating way too many carbs! I always eat complex carbs, good healthy choices...but too darned many of them.

I am wondering if there are any fitday users here who have mastered their carboholism and how they did it!!??

If you are a carboholic yourself, join this CA group (carboholics anonymous;):D) and lets see how we can beat this addiction!!

*raising my hand on this*
 

Kathie, if you're eating around 1200 or so calories per day, how bad can your 'addiction' be? Is it possible you're being a little hard on yourself?

May I suggest that you keep eating the way you are and add regular exercise? Come on, darlin! You know you want to! You'll feel better and you may find yourself reaching for the carbs less often.

I'll beg - if it would help. Pleeeeeeease?:D

Endorphins are your friends! :p (I know they're mine.)

I think I fall into that category as well. By lunch I am over 100g of carbs. I have tried cutting back on bread and potaoes, but it still goes up. I know eating bananas contributes to it, but I am trying to get proper food/vitamins. I would also like to know how to keep them around 100g a day!

It hepls to really want to do something.If youre not into it 110% then its going to be hard,kinda like quiting smoking or chewing it takes about 6 months to be completely over it.And yes exersize does help AlOT.

Well yes, exercise helps of course...but the issues isn't exercising so much as overeating the carbs...but darn they are in everything!! They show up in beans, and in fruit, and in milk and milk products, and they show up in certain vegetables...I am just stumped as to what to eat? Nothing but fish and egg whites? Yuck!

It is possible that the fitday count is a little inaccurate, as net carbs are carbs minus fibre, and I don't think that this program figures that out. Perhaps it isn't possible to keep the carbs at 40% using this program? Anyone have any thoughts on that?

Katie, I really believe you can eat healthy portions as LONG AS YOU EXERCISE. But when you want to loose weight, you have to cut the calories and increase your cardio. Once you get to where you want to be in weight, I belive you can eat anything if you incorporate a healthy dose of exercise.

With that said, I am a Recoverying Carboholic and I swear I'm taking it a day at a time. When I was in the throws of carbo addiction, I was taking it a meal at a time and even sometimes an hour at a time.

Good luck! Regina


http://tickers.TickerFactory.com/ezt...f0B/weight.png

the good/bad mindset
 

Kathie, carbs in and of themselves are not bad. As I said before, your body needs a minimum of 100g per day just to keep you out of ketosis (where your body breaks down lean tissues to burn to replace the glucose it wants to fuel brain function.)

If your carbs are coming from vegetables, fruits and dairy foods - those are the "good" sorts of carbs! That's okay! That's what you want in your diet! There's a lot of nutritional bang for your caloric buck in those foods.

From what you've shared in other posts, you're doing fine. Fixating on what you see as overeating carbs is a way of kicking yourself everyday when you should be proud that you're making such healthy choices. I hate to see you grinding down on yourself when you're doing so well.

I'm going to sound like a broken record - but really - exercise! It will give you something healthy to focus on and it feels good.

Plus - it burns those bad nasty carbs!!!

I don't know if you're a diet soda drinker, but I found some interesting information between that and carbs. I absolutely love carbs. That's all I would eat if I could. However, I learned that the aspartame in diet soda makes you crave carbs and sweets. I quit diet coke a couple of months ago, and found that it really does help with the carb cravind.

Kathie,

I think the fight against 'carbs' is a bit of a red herring. We all know not to eat sugar, highly processed grains, etc, but as you know 'carbs' exist in nearly all food. And they're not necessarily bad. But there's a difference between eating a slice of bread and eating an orange. Both have plenty of carbs, but you get much more nutrition from the fruit. So don't eat empty foods. Skip bread, rice, potatoes, and eat fruits and veggies instead.

Personally, I find eating 40%protein/30%carbohydrates/30%fat keeps me satiated. I eat lots of meat, but that's what works for me.

Carboholics unite!

I go through stretches where I crave carbs alot, then it subsides. I have not connected this to getting adequate protein yet. But I believe keeping up the protein percentage will result in feeling more satisfied and curb the carb cravings. I am still struggling with getting my daily protein intake up (but I am getting there!).

Good point a few people have made about the choices of carbs; I think that is very important to consider, and something I never thought about. Keeping an eye on that carb percentage is a good thing to track, but also giving yourself some room to see the number may be higher than your 'goal percentage', but consider the sources of the carbs. I am going to take that into account from now on.

I have heard that about aspartame too, being linked to increased carb cravings. From what I have discovered, there is nothing at all positive about consuming aspartame! I can't eat it because I developed some sort of allergic reaction a couple years ago. And perhaps that was a blessing in disguise.

Thank you for all your encourgement! I appreciate all the positive feedback. The truth is I have completely eliminated simple carbs (white bread, white pasta, white rice, potatoes, etc.) and now eat whole grain cereals, bread and pasta. I gave up a coca cola habit, have not had one since Dec 31. I think I am doing really well, in reality, but the carb count was freaking me out a little!

I am like Shell and have a hard time getting the protein high enough. Mind you my dietician said 60 mgs of protein a day is enough for me and my overall average for January is 57.5 mgs...so not bad!!

Thanks again everyone!!

Carbs????
 

I wanted to contribute something regarding carbs.

I lost 67 lbs. being a dedicated Atkins Dieter. I regained 11 lbs and was very lucky not have have gained more. I have not achieved my goal weight yet. I have done a lot of other stupid things to loose wait too:eek: I no longer follow Atkins.

Everything I have tried I have researched and fell for the hype.

I guess what I want to share with you is the new hype I have fallen for.

I read a book and watched a PBS special by Jillian Micheals - (biggest looser trainer) - I am not a fan of hers - but repect her book and insite regarding "Mastering your Metabolism".

If you are interested in how to make your body a fat burning machine, to have a greener environment in which to live, and how to eliminate or reduce toxins that mess up your hormones...metabolism... it is worth the read. Read it twice - it is scary to learn what poisons we are putting in our bodies in the name of health foods.

What does this have to do with Carbs...well here is the thing...remove all white starch from your meals. Use whole grain, organic when possible, eat your 5 servings of fruit a day, never buy or eat anything that comes in a can. Eliminate or reduce shopping the aisles, buy the majority of your food from the perimeter of your grocery store, buy organic when possible.

By being on Atkins so long and almost eliminating carbs I had literally shut down hormones from working. I eliminated most fruits, breads, grains. I was very sick. I have made many changes, some very small - like never buying eggs that come in a styrofoam container...to logging any and all food that pass my lips.

My committment is to a healthier, greener life...and the by product has been loss of inchens and lbs.

Good luck to all...

Thanks, I just ordered that book. I'm a carboholic too. I love my whole grain cereal in the morning and if I have a lean cuisine at lunch my carbs are too high. Yet nothing else seems to satisfy me. I then try to not have carbs at dinner time. Weight loss is slow but at least I am down 55lbs since Jan 1 2009.

I've also been advised not to eat carbs after 5pm but have not tried that yet. Anyone else ever heard of that?

I was poking around the internet this afternoon (all right, all right, I know I should've been working!) and came across this article on carbs:

The Truth About Carbohydrates

*I personally like the part about limiting French fries to "less than two servings per day"!

Basically, I think that with carbs, as with anything (e.g., the artificial sweetener debate), you can find support for both extreme positions and everywhere in between. The take away message for me is that I need to find out what works for me and my body, and that may not be what some scientist in a lab says is the right thing to eat. I think as long as I use common sense and the "everything in moderation" principle, I will be okay. I am not going to stress over carbs but I won't shove them in with reckless abandon, either.

I'm trying to think outside the box and see the big picture, as opposed to freaking that the numbers don't "work" every day,

I encourage everyone to find what works for them. Listen to your body and it will tell you what it needs :)

Well said, and I agree completely! Health is a very individual thing, we are all different. I'm looking at my FitDay food log at the end of each day and seeing where I could improve my choices, maybe lower a portion size here and there and looking at the overall nutrition to see what I could add. I know darn well when I have completely blown it - and I know when I have done well. It's all about balance.

Thisonesforme, Thanks for sharing, and for confirming for me what I am already aiming for. I have tried all kinds of different 'diets' in the past. This time my mindset is very very different, it's about being healthy, and I like it!! :) And thanks for the book recommendation, I will pick that one up and give it a read for sure.

I seriously don't know how you gals do it!! It's all I can do to count calories a day, but to watch percentages of protein and carbs!! Since I began my logging about a week ago, all I do is think and live in calorie land!! I'm excited on a day that I choose oatmeal (with sugar) instead of my beloved Cap'N Crunch!! I normally count my own calories and customize my foods rather than to pick from their lists. As long as I'm zig-zagging from 1100 to 1500, I'm happy. I haven't even exercised yet because I'm afraid if I do then I will just give up on the whole weight loss thing as a whole. I only have 14 lbs til goal weight. 5'7" 163 currently...149, here I come....For Real This Time. ;) Kudos to all you avid counters!!

I am an avid counter AND try and make good choices. I have had a couple of little indulgences, but really not many at all. It has been whole wheat breads & english muffins & pastas & bran cereals, vegetables & fruits, chicken & tuna & eggs & the very occasional red meat, almonds....that is the majority of what I eat. In various combinations!! I am also working on having meatless meals a couple times a week. I don't feel I am trying to live on carrot and celery sticks!! LOL!!

I admit there times when one serving of a certain food, like pasta for instance, is just not enough!! I want MORE!!! Anyone else have that issue???

I have that issue, too, Kathie. Also with pasta (my husband's mother's Italian and we do the whole homemade simmer-all-day long sauce) and a few other things. As long as it's something that's not bad for me, I will plan ahead for a larger portion. Sometimes I cook it on one of my higher calorie days and log in a serving and a half (occasionally I have doubled it) so I have the calorie "budget" for it; other times I will make small compensations the day before and/or after.

I also tack some extra onto the exercise, too, to even it out if it really throws my calorie balance off. One day a couple weeks ago I literally ate 4 oz. (uncooked) pasta. It was a HUGE plate. But I knew I was going to do it so the rest of the day I ate my protein and fruits and dairy products, and I did it on a day I go to cardio tennis, which my heart monitor says burns 400 cals an hour.

Another thing I do if I feel like I could sit there and eat till I can't move is to get a piece of gum or a mint and get out of the kitchen. I usually come upstairs and start logging into FitDay while my husband cleans up and puts the food away...by the time I'm done it's out of sight and out of mind.

I have spent too many nights at the table being cranky because I couldn't have a second portion if I wanted one, and I would invariably eat something later I shouldn't have...so actually eating more if I want it prevents me sabotaging myself.

It's more helpful at those times to think of calories as averages over a week than a daily value and you vary your intake anyway, so you should be able to accommodate yourself if you want to splurge a bit :)

My problem is trying to guesstimate calories when I cook a meal. Such as spaghetti. How am I supposed to figure out how much meat was in my portion, how many noodles etc. It's just too much. Same with tacos or quesadillas etc. I end up eating Lean Cuisines but I don't feel as though that is sustainable forever. I would like to eat with my family but they are not going to go for chicken breasts and veggies every night. Is there a way to master this counting business and still eat with your family? Michelle

Michelle, your post made me laugh...I have been known to put spaghetti noodles one at a time onto a food scale to make sure I got exactly the number of ounces right on the nose! Then I would cook just that portion for me and know how much it was. Alternatively, I have cooked it for the family, weighed a certain amount cooked, and found the cals by Googling something like "how many calories in 4 oz of cooked rotini".

Many nights I will have my food scale and measuring cups sitting right at the table with me. I won't do that forever, of course, but while I'm being strict with myself, I do.

Here is an awesome site that will calculate the nutrition information for your recipes: Recipe Calculator

You enter all your ingredients, divide by the number of servings it makes, and then you know. I use this for pasta sauce and other homemade things.

Tell me more about eating with your family every night. Are you saying you can't eat the foods you cook for them?

Do you all have any suggestions for breaksfast foods (fast breadsfast) that do not involve alot of carbs? I seem to get blow my carbs out of the water from just the first meal; either cereal or yogurt. Each are around 40g carbs per serving...

thanks!

Try one egg, two egg whites and veggies and make an omlette. You can add some low fat cheese too. It is pretty yummy!!

Cassie, for the most part we are eating together, but I have to be really strict with breakfast and lunch to do so, since I am having a hard time counting calories in those types of meals. Our family meals are so redundant as it is, I should really make the time to search online for something new and healthy. I am soo bored. Meat, potatoe or rice side, garlic bread or crossaints, and veggies. Blah, blah, blah. Sloppy joes, tacos, quesedillas, hamburger helper, spaghetti. That about sums it up. I don't mind cooking, but it has to be like 5 normal ingredients or I'm out!! haha. Any ideas?

How We Define Healthy Living in the Kraft Kitchens

Check out this site, lots of easy recipes here,

Figuring out calories and such for a meal is actually pretty simple. It's not exact, but it is close. What you do is to check each ingredients nutritional information per serving. Add all the information together and you have your number.

My wife and I are staying at about 1500 cal/day, and our meals are family meals. We have two boys. Our dinner is usually under 500 calories. We also create a menu for the week, and post it on the fridge. Not only do I now have a shopping list, but I can figure out my calories per meal that way. It also helps curb the spontaneous dinners. We were notorious for saying "what do you want for dinner"? 50% of the time it was fast food. Since we started this menu, we have only eaten fast food (pizza) once since the end of December. The added bonus is we spend less on food by not eating out!

Haarvik-So you just assume that you will be eating about one serving of each ingredient then? I guess if you are trying smaller portions that could be fairly accurate. Are you and your wife losing? I know what you mean about dinner...That was TOTALLY us. Fast food wayyy too many meals per week, and we ain't talking Subway! I'm noticing the difference in the checkbook too. Thanks for the tip.

Kathie-Thanks for the website. Going to check it out tonight after the kiddies go to bed, that is...If I don't grab Twilight and start reading it AGAIN! ;)

Hey, Scndtonun... I get what you are saying. Sounds like some new creativity from Kathie's site might be what you need. With the recipe calculator in the link I gave, you enter the ingredients (search by name and it puts in the nutritional value automatically), then put how many servings it makes; it calculates total. Like, for instance, I make a chicken pot pie and consider a serving 1/6 of it. Other people may say a serving is 1/4 or 1/8...it's completely up to you how to put it in. Then you can put it into your Custom Foods here and put in how much you eat. (I know that sounds really confusing, but go to the recipe calculator and try it).

I just try to make modifications and eat with the family. Like tonight, the guys had steak, potatoes, salad; I had steak, brown rice, salad, broccoli. It was only a couple extra things to microwave without changing the whole dinner or being disappointed with a frozen meal (that really would send me for the chocolate!). Or if they want tacos, for instance, I will make a big taco salad for myself. Same food, basically...different format. If there is something that's hard to modify, like pasta, I just plan ahead for it and compensate the day before or after as well...you don't have to just stick to restricting breakfast and lunch on that same day. Or throw in a bit more exercise.

You will probably surprise yourself at what you come up with. Recipes are everywhere. I like to try new ones and we classify them as "keepers," "let's not do this ever again," and "keepers with some tweaking." But you are right, it does take time and effort to find them. You will do it and soon it will be second nature.

Haarvik, great idea about preplanning! I am guilty of leaving dinner till the last minute sometimes also (or forgetting to take something out of the freezer). That can wreck my plan. I should jot down the dinners on the calendar on the fridge; then I can make sure I have the ingredients, that things are thawed, and also can balance my other meals out. Thanks!

I'm surprised no one has mentioned insulin sensitivity. I recommend you Google it and educate yourself all about it -- too long to go into here.

For most of my own weight battle I suffered the same problem, Kathie. I'd try every ruse under the sun to lose fat while avoiding giving up my high-carb triggers altogether. Then, keeping it short and simple, two things happened: I finally convinced myself that I had to get tough about it because keeping the triggers in my plan was torpedoing the plan, and I discovered, learned about and incorporated the principle of insulin sensitivity into my eating.

Short version: Learn to love the Glycemic Index. In brief, every food has a glycemic index number. This is a quick way to assess how fast a food reaches your bloodstream. The longer it takes, the better for fat loss. The rule of thumb: Don't eat anything with a glycemic number higher than 55, period.

Doing this will have the effect of "smoothing out" your insulin release. It's the insulin spikes that happen when you eat say white pasta that keep you craving more of the same. (I'm trying to keep this short, so I'm way oversimplifying.) When you restrict yourself to low glycemic-number foods, you cultivate a nice, low, slow insulin release that -- and here's the big good news -- eventually will cause you to lose the cravings for the high glycemic stuff, the very foods you're having a problem with. It will take awhile, but not a long while.

Google insulin sensitivity, Google Glycemic Index, and become an expert for yourself. Then, make up your mind that for two weeks you will never never ever eat any food above 55. Then watch the results. Unless you have some sort of metabolic condition, like diabetes or pre-diabetes or some such, in other words, if your digestive system is "normal", I [B]promise[B] you, your carbaholicism will either disappear altogether or be reduced sufficiently that you can handle it.

Honest. Would I lie to you? :)

carbs
 

Hello

Way to go, I find I eat healthy carbs at end of the day is too much, how much carbs did you have each day.

Hope to hear from you soon.

Thanks