<p>If you are eatling low calorie high carb, I would be concerned about whether you are getting enough protein and fat in your diet as something has to give to keep calories low. This starts getting into nutrition science that is way above my pay grade, but everything I’ve read suggests that protein and fat (especially olive oils, fish oils, etc.) are essential to keeping your metabolism up and keeping your metabolism up is essential to long term weight control.</p>
<p>If calories aren’t an issue for you, then you are in luck because you can crank up the protein portions, nuts, fruits, and cheeses. To lose fat, most of us have to “watch it” on those things in addition to carbs - well, at least I have to watch it.</p>
<p>Hey, I got that 50plus stomach thing going on here, too! Been fairly thin for years, and all of a sudden, my stomach is chubby. Then I started reading that it’s good for older people to carry a little extra weight, and I figured that meant me! ;)</p>
<p>I’ve found that cutting carbs is the only way I lose weight. Now that I’m over 50 I also pay attention to fat grams, especially saturated fat. And less than 2300 milligrams sodium/day.</p>
<p>Read the nutrition facts on labels, especially on the low calorie “treats”. You can subtract dietary fiber from total carbs for “net carbs”, that’s the number that counts. I try to stay around 80 net for a day.</p>
<p>Breakfast: scrambled Eggbeaters, a tad of reduced fat shredded cheese and a tablespoon of salsa.
Lunch: any salad with added protein (tuna, cheese, egg, chicken).
Snack: celery spread w/ a wedge of Lite Laughing Cow cheese (Costco sales a multi-pack at a great price).
Veggies: I love mock mashed potatoes – chop up a head of cauliflower and steam it until it’s soft. Then mash it with Lite Laughing Cow cheese, a handful of spritzes of I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter or some Butter Buds. I also eat a lot of steamed broccoli, asparagus and spinach. Trader Joe’s has an eggplant hummus with decent net carbs. They also have roasted eggplant and zucchini in the frozen veggie section that’s quite good.</p>
<p>Personally, I’ve found it better to “just not go there” on sweets. I do like a glass of white wine and that’s my treat.</p>
<p>No offense intended, but that just doesn’t sound fun and yummy to me! ^-^ I don’t want to have to lowfat cheese and fake butter and all that. No deprivations!!! I’ll just have to eat less of the real stuff! :eek:</p>
<p>I’m so please with some of these suggestions! I have wondered about what would be a reasonable amount of carbs per day - is 80ish normal for many of you? And you can subtract the grams of fiber from the carbs? I like it!</p>
<p>My carb “weakness” would def be in the morning or at night. In the morning, I LOVE to have a good hearty piece of toast or good quality english muffin w/ an egg. I made my first batch of steel cut oats from scratch this weekend (usually just used the Trader Joe’s frozen individual serving sizes) - it was WONDERFUL and kept me full all morning at work (I almost always crave a morning snack too!). So, I’d like to keep the oats and an occasional weekend good piece of bread and butter in the line up.</p>
<p>I too buy the Costco almonds - I keep a small container of them crushed w/some dried fruit to stick in my cereal/oats or in a small waffle or pancake - love the crunchiness!</p>
<p>I’ll keep at it!!! I know I just have to get and STAY in that frame of mind of success and get in a routine where I feel in control in a good way instead of stressed and reaching for a not so good snack.</p>
<p>My Daily Plate for today shows my breakdown as :
24% protein
38 % fat
38% carbs
I have plenty of calories left today after adding in my hour walk. Still seems like a lot of fat. Total calories today about 1100 and will still have a small snack tonight - maybe skim milk hot chocolate?</p>
<p>87% of calorie goal
139% of fat goal
246% of protein goal
37% of carb goal</p>
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<p>BTW, my recommendation would be to NOT factor calories burned from exercise into your calorie targets. I’ve tracked on LiveStrong with 0 exercise calories and my weight loss works out very close to right for my target calories and actual calories. I’ve actually used a couple of different formulas for estimating calorie needs, based on an overall level of activity (1 being a couch potato, 5 being a professional athlete with two-a-day workouts). Those estimates are close to LiveStrong’s estimates WITHOUT factoring calories burned with specific exercises.</p>
<p>Here’s the thing: exercise is a very important part of weight loss, but no amount of exercise will make you lose weight if you aren’t eating a calorie deficit. The possible calorie burn through exercise (realistically) is just not that large. I look at the calorie deficit as the weight loss and the exercise as getting more fit, building lean muscle, and raising my metabolism.</p>
<hr>
<p>BTW, I think an English muffin with butter is great at breakfast along with a couple of eggs or even as a 200 calorie snack. I wouldn’t even bother with the “lite” versions. I think incorporating a lot of “low-fat” products into your diet is not necessary and may be counter-productive. Eating fat does not make you fat. Eating fat makes food very satisfying, which makes a low-calorie diet easier to sustain. I’m not saying eat fried food all the time or make a steady diet of pork sausage for breakfast, but this notion that eating fat is “bad” makes it harder for people to lose weight. I’ll have a breakfast of two eggs over easy, three strips of bacon, and buttered rye toast from time to time. What I won’t do is have waffles with Vermont maple syrup.</p>
<p>anxiousmom, we’re actually on the same page. Find where you’re willing to compromise (fats, carbs, calories) and work with that. I’m okay with the low fat cheese and fake butter. When I was younger the fake butter didn’t cut it. DH eats nonfat cheese that crosses the line for me. </p>
<p>abasket, I’d try to add protein and see if there’s any fat that doesn’t need to be there. </p>
<p>I’ve also found there’s a “sweet spot” because if you cut things too much, you’re body hits starvation mode and kills your metabolism.</p>
<p>The limit for many women is right around 1200 calories a day. The formulas suggest a “basal metabolic rate” – the number of calories you would burn if you did nothing but lie in bed 24/7. Added to that is a multiplication factor to account for your average daily activity.</p>
<p>If you try to diet at or below your basal metabolic rate, you’ll start losing muscle mass and your body will eventually go into “anti-starvation” mode and shut down your metabolism, making it impossible to lose fat. Whatever that basal metabolic rate is (it’s primarly based on lean muscle mass) is really the bottom line for any sustained diet. If that only results in a calorie deficit that gives a half-pound a week weight loss, then so be it. People who diet below that just end up being “skinny fat”. The scale gives a low number, but they aren’t in good shape and don’t look very fit.</p>
<p>Men have it a little easier because we are larger. For example, I need 2700 calories to maintain my weight. My basal metabolic rate is about 1700 calories a day. So, by averaging 1800 calories a day, I was able to create a calorie deficit of about 900 calories a day which results in weight loss of 1.8 pounds per week (3500 calories = 1 pound of fat). That’s exactly what I averaged for the first six months. This is why wives often resent the hell out of their husbands being able to lose weight quickly while still eating a large amount of food. It’s not fair, but it is what it is and it doesn’t help that *The Biggest Loser *sets totally unrealistic fat loss goals.</p>
<p>I have lowered my carb intake…mostly cutting out white processed products like rice, bagels, etc. In addition I really upped my fiber intake which helps keep me full. Both are important IMO. I have a high fiber cereal in the morning (13 grams!) with walnuts and blueberries or strawberries. Usually a salad with some protein for lunch. A protein and veggies over a small amount of brown rice or beans for dinner. Almonds for snacks. Peanut butter on apples or small whole grain bread if I’m starving. Small pieces of dark choc to keep my sweet tooth happy. I’m down almost 20 lbs from where I was last year. And it’s staying off…yay. Still my stomach is a bit more “bulgy” than I’d like so I’d love to lose more. If I could just do that routine that IDAD has recommended, I might actually get there! It’s on my MP3 waiting for me…but enough about fitness. Good luck abasket!</p>
<p>"Greek yogurt with chopped up cucumber, onion and tomato with salt, pepper, garlic, +/- basil. "</p>
<p>Yummm!!! Dill works well, too. :)</p>
<p>The goal is not to eliminate carbs, as many already said, but to keep the junk carbs (simple sugars and “white starchies”) way down. These are my favorite low sugar snacks: hard-boiled eggs; lower-fat cheese and cut up apple; carrots and more carrots without dressing; cut up English cucumbers with yogurt dip; a couple of slices of salami with whole-grain crackers; edamame; blueberries, strawberries; a cup of unsweetened Greek yogurt with a drizzle of honey on it…</p>
<p>Eggs are good for you. They are a complete protein, the yolks are filling, and dietary cholesterol is not going to be a major factor in affecting your blood cholesterol.</p>
<p>Ok, so I buy the idea of eliminating the junk carbs - that makes sense. So can I occasionally have a piece of warm fresh bread!!? That’s a weakness…</p>
<p>How about salad dressings? For my salads I tend to use Garlic Expressions which is an oil-vinegar based dressing. I also like to use a small amount of ranch for dipping raw veggies in. Opinions???</p>
<p>I recently read two fantastic books, one by Bethenny Frankel (the title is something about releasing your inner skinny girl - she has two books and only one is just about weight loss). Yes, she is the Bravo television housewife from NYC, and now has her own show as well. This book was well named - it is a best seller. However, it is also the best book I have ever read for inspiring and guiding a person to reduce their size. To me, it really is NOT some fluffy book about how to be a skinny woman. It is pretty common sense, but if you have ever watched this lady she has a unique way of communicating things and she hits just the right note when it comes to food. I dropped twenty pounds quickly, and I didn’t diet at all. It’s a whole common sense philosophy, a way to be a normal weight without obsessing and being weird about food.</p>
<p>If you do not get the book, let me recommend one thing from it for you: Spike Seasoning. It is so delicious, I cannot say enough about it. Bought mine at Whole Foods - found it next to the spices.</p>
<p>The second book is Dr. Neil Barnard’s Program For Reversing Diabetes. I didn’t have diabetes yet, but so many people in my family (even my always thin mother) eventually did that I thought I better check it out. He presents quite a compelling argument for avoiding animal products as much as possible. He advises against the low carb trend. I tried it - I basically did the Bethenny thing and the Barnard thing at once. I do NOT want diabetes! I will admit, I was having some symptoms and was not getting checked. I probably wasn’t there, but was on my way. A short time on Barnard’s diet, and the symptoms disappeared.</p>
<p>I eat my oatmeal each morning. I put in walnuts (just crumble them in as it cooks) and Splenda brown sugar and top it with skim milk.</p>
<p>I limit my carbs at lunch by watching bread and sugar. Both Pepperidge Farms and Arnold make “Deli Thins” which are only 100 cal./roll. These make great sandwiches and even burger buns.
I avoid chips, pretzels etc. and eat yogurt (no sugar) and a banana.</p>
<p>At dinner I avoid carb heavy rice, potatoes and pasta.<br>
Portion control is key. Cutting out white sugar, flour, pasta, rice and potatoes is a great first step and there are easy substitutes available.</p>
<p>I recently lost a bunch of weight and cut out snacking in my effort to control calories. No snacking at work or between meals but I do find at 5 pm I need something.
I make my snack after work and put it on a little plate - something light and nutritious to hold me to dinner. No more Trisciuts from the box!!!</p>
<p>abasket - make the warm bread whole wheat and eat a slice (not half the loaf!!)
salad dressing - read labels. Some have lots of added sugar and too much sodium. You can always make your own
If you want to dip carrots, celery and cukes - try Hummus. It has carbs but protein too since it’s made with chick peas.</p>
<p>I do dip hummus, guacamole etc., but like variety in my dips! </p>
<p>I sometimes think part of the problem (though not really a problem) is that if you are not hugely overweight, then it’s just more difficult to make a difference. For me, I’d be happy to lose 5 lbs, estatic if I lost 10 - but that’s all that I really need to lose. While I do like seeing a lower number, I would be MOST happy to see less inches - that is really the goal.</p>
<p>Deciding on a portion, after reading the calories, and then putting that portion on a plate and walking away from the box, cupboard, or fridge, is absolutely essential for me. What I can never again do is “take the bag of chips” with me. I call it put “putting on the feed bag” and that’s how I put on a lot of weight. At least for a guy, it’s no problem at all to chow down on a 1000 calorie “snack” over the course of, say, a football game. 1000 calories here, 1000 calories there, and pretty soon you are talking about real belly fat!</p>
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<p>It’s a good problem to have – only being five or ten pounds overweight. I will say that us “fatties” have it a little easier in that we can start losing weight at a much faster rate, which is good from a motivational standpoint. As you get within ten pounds of your target, it becomes much harder to lose weight. When I started, losing five pounds was a very small percentage of the fat I had to lose. Now, losing five pounds is a substantial percentage of my spare fat. I’m eating the same or less now and definitely exercising much harder than when I started (although exercise is relative to your fitness and it is very demanding for an ol’ fat guy to do even easy workouts), but I now average maybe 1 pound a week of weight loss compared to 1.8 to 2.0 pounds a week in the early going. That’s just the reality.</p>
<p>To be perfectly honest, I think Rachel Cosgrove (the creator of the Spartacus workout) has it right in her book [The</a> Female Body Breakthrough: The Revolutionary Strength-Training Plan for Losing Fat and Getting the Body You Want](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Female-Body-Breakthrough-Revolutionary-Strength-Training/dp/1605296937]The”>http://www.amazon.com/Female-Body-Breakthrough-Revolutionary-Strength-Training/dp/1605296937). She argues that the scale is not the best measure when the goal is to lose inches, fit in your pants, and look/feel good in your clothes and look/feel fit. She recommends what she calls “thermometer” jeans. Those jeans that you would ideally LIKE to fit in. I can vouch for the fact that I’ve suddenly fit in my latest “thermometer jeans” without having seen the scale move. Thinking about it simply in terms of the scale is a bit misleading because you can make the scale move by dieting away all your muscle and not look (or be) healthy and fit. The target is really fat, not weight.</p>
<p>I actually think many of these could be for breakfast, lunch, dinner or snack:</p>
<p>Egg white/veggie omelet w/Thomas’ light multigrain muffin
Egg white/Morningstar veggie patty on multigrain muffin
Scrambled Eggbeaters, a tad of reduced fat shredded cheese and a tablespoon of salsa</p>
<p>Mock mashed potatoes (cauliflower, lite Laughing Cow, spray butter substitute)
1 ounce of almonds with a piece of low fat string cheese
Sliced apple spread with: Laughing cow lite cheese
Gucamole w/veggie dippers
Hard boiled eggs
Salsa w/veggie dippers
Berries on top of cottage cheese
Sugar-free chocolate pudding with fruit to dip in
Half a banana or apple with 1 Tb peanut butter.
1 cup of papaya with lime juice
A huge salad maybe with a little feta for flavor
Half a multi grain English Muffin or lite whole wheat bread slice with a tsp of jam or a Tb of peanut butter
1 low fat yogurt your favorite flavor
1/2 cup Greek yogurt with some fruit and a tsp or so of granola
Granola Bar
A hardboiled egg
Hummus on cracker or whole wheat pita.
Giant green olives - 6 for about 50 calories (mouth is currently watering!)
Light popcorn
Nonfat latte
Leftover chicken dipped in hummus
Dark chocolate squares
Emerald Cocoa Roast Almonds
Greek yogurt with chopped up cucumber, onion and tomato with salt, pepper, garlic, +/- basil
Couple of slices of salami with whole-grain crackers
Edamame</p>
<p>I do love a piece of good bread or english muffin and an egg for breakfast, but it doesn’t keep me satisfied thru the morning. So far, the steel cut oats are the only thing that seems to “stick” with me.</p>
<p>So, anything else to add to this list? Any arguements or corrections with items listed (in your opinion) for someone looking to lower carbs, somewhat lower calories??? </p>
<p>Thought the list might be helpful to others as well. :)</p>
<p>Read the labels on the granola and granola bars. Much of it is high calorie, high sugar/carbs. One of those foods that can be surprising because granola has been marketed as being “healthy” and “good for you”. Some of the granola bars are just candy bars with a different name. That’s OK, just as long as you count the calories.</p>
