<p>^And as you get older, you need to replace your mattress more frequently.</p>
<p>Slivered almonds with the kale sounds great. Thanks for the suggestion.</p>
<p>You need to get past the idea that fat is harmful even though I know it is hard after having it drummed into your head your whole life. The fat is not harmful in the absence of carbs. The problem is a high-fat/high-carb diet is harmful because the body burns the carbs first so it’s not getting around to burning the fat. I usually eat about 60% of my calories as fat which, I know, sounds disgusting but my lipid numbers have improved dramatically on this way of eating. And the fat keeps you satiated so you don’t need to eat very often. When I was eating high-carb, I could eat all afternoon because the carbs cause you to get hungry all over again.</p>
<p>EPTR, I was looking at your numbers. You can subtract your fiber grams from your carb grams (sorry, I know you don’t like numbers) and you are eating 87 - 13 for a total of 74 net carbs which is not way high. I would not lose weight on that number of carbs but plenty of people would. I am wondering about your sugar grams though. Where are your 26 grams of sugar coming from? That is about a third of your carbs coming from sugar. (I am not in any way criticizing what you are eating. I just find it interesting to figure out how to tweak diets.) I usually have less than 10 grams of sugar per day and they usually come from fruits (berries, cherries, cantaloupe), vegetables (red pepper strips are my fave, onions too) and the flavoring on almonds. I just got back from a meeting though where I enjoyed a lovely piece of almond coffeecake, so plenty of sugar grams for today. It was homemade, delicious and worth the splurge.</p>
<p>Izzie, how do you keep your sugar consumption so low? This morning I had a fruit salad (1/2 peach, 2/3 kiwi, few strawberries, 1/4 cup red grapes) topped with 1/2 cup plain, nonfat yogurt and 4 walnut halves. There were 37 grams of sugar in that, 15 from the yogurt alone.</p>
<p>Are fiber grams usually subtracted from carb grams when calculating numbers for low carb diets? </p>
<p>One thing I’ve noticed since eliminating most empty carbs is that vegetables taste much better. I used to love big salads, but didn’t care much one way or the other about vegetables in general. Now I really enjoy them.</p>
<p>I’m going to go on record as saying that while I will watch what I eat, I fully ENJOY eating and most days am going to enjoy some type of indulgence. Most nights I will have a snack while relaxing. Typically something like a good cookie and a 1/2 glass of milk or one of my favorite snacks - a small scoop of ice cream with a tsp. of honey roasted crunchy peanut butter on the side. </p>
<p>The main goal for me is for more days to be good then bad. 
But not perfect.</p>
<p>I find it really interesting hearing about others’ numbers. Mine seem so different. I’m at 134-21 for carbs so a net of 113, much higher than everyone here, it seems (though still 55 less than MyPlate recommends). And lots of that is from sugar (64 grams), but it’s almost all fruit sugars.</p>
<p>For the day, I’m short 331 calories still, but I’m afraid to eat anything else that further puts my percentage out of balance, lol! I’m at 52% carbs, 28% protein and 20% fat.</p>
<p>Youdon’tsay, what did you eat that put you so high in protein and so low in fat? I’m looking for suggestions. My carbs and fiber are very close to yours, although I have 500 calories left. I eat more carbs than most people here. At the moment, this feels right to me, although I expect to go to a lower level at some point.</p>
<p>NYMomof2, not to sound like a total freak, but I would not eat that fruit salad. Peaches and grapes are high in sugar and I would also make a different yogurt choice. I would have some combo of strawberries, blueberries, blackberries and/or raspberries and then use the Fage 2% Greek Yogurt which has only 8 grams of carbs (all sugar) for 7 ounces so just 4 for almost half a cup. Nuts are fine and I would add some splenda to the yogurt because I don’t just love it. Low-fat dairy products are a product of removing the fat and usually replacing it with carbs so I stay away from them. However, I will say that I apparently had a lot of food intolerances so it has not been difficult for me to give up a lot of these foods because I feel about a thousand percent better on this way of eating. It wasn’t hard for me to give up peaches and grapes because they always slightly upset my stomach. I thought it was perfectly normal to feel gross and bloated after a meal and for an occasional meal to “go right through me” because my mother and grandmother were the same way. I haven’t had any of those episodes since starting this diet so I have a lot of motivation to stick with it.</p>
<p>Also, yes, veggies taste way better now that I’m not filling up on the bread basket and french fries! And yes, most low-carb diets (I do Atkins) let you subtract the undigestible fiber grams and sugar alcohol grams to come up with net carbs. Surprisingly, I’ve had no issues with sugar alcohols although they have a “laxative effect” on some people.</p>
<p>The number I’m most interested in - weight - has started down again, just under a pound since last Friday. I’ve lost my first 5 lbs!! There are some bulges starting to reappear - I think they had been rounded out. So first lose the rounding, then the bulges - that’s my theory.</p>
<p>I’m not tracking specifics but know I’m eating distinctly less carbs but probably not less fat. Some more protein, and less overall calories - my estimate is about a third less. Yesterday was a little tricky since we woke to a power failure and went out for breakfast and lunch. At breakfast I ate all my scrambled eggs and left part of my crepes; at lunch I had a salad instead of a hot dog and fries at Portillo’s. For any Chicagoan, you can appreciate my restraint!</p>
<p>I am definitely less hungry throughout the day on less food - after reading everyone’s comments I’m assuming that’s due to less carbs (and much more water).</p>
<p>I love setting modest goals on my Wii Fit - today it said “That’s…incredible!!! You met your goal before the deadline!!!”. :D</p>
<p>Thanks, Izzie - that’s helpful. I hadn’t realized that fruits differed so much in sugar content, except for bananas, which I now avoid. And I had no idea that low-fat (mine was actually nonfat) yogurt contained added carbs. I did know that Greek yogurt was higher in protein, and I prefer it, but today I had a different kind. </p>
<p>In breaking news, the Washington Post reported that Michelle Obama had a burger and fries for lunch, and they even published the calorie count. I’d hate to have my food splurges reported to millions of people! By the way, does anyone know how she gets those arms? I know that she exercises for 2 hours a day, but I’m wondering exactly what arm exercises she does.</p>
<p>Lots of grilled chicken breast because we grilled yesterday (dh likes pork, and I don’t so I threw lots of chicken on there). Tonight for supper, it’s 4 ounces of chicken with a bunch of grilled veggies and a half-cup brown rice. For lunch I had 3 ounces of chicken over four cups of Romaine lettuce with 2 TBSP of a low-fat dressing and five pita chips crushed and sprinkled on top like croutons. Maybe I should have full-fat dressings? But I don’t want to spend calories that way!</p>
<p>Here’s my Strawberry-Banana Smoothie recipe:</p>
<p>2 small frozen bananas
1 cup frozen stawberries
1 cup plain low-fat yogurt
3/4 cup 1% milk</p>
<p>I split that recipe with my ds and/or dh. For half that, it’s 196.7 calories with about 30 net carbs, the vast majority of that being sugars. It is so good and satisfying.</p>
<p>Thanks Izzie. The numbers i posted were only from yesterday so I’m guessing that the sugar was from a Panera Bread Salad that had fruit and dressing in it.</p>
<p>I do eat a lot of fruit and I have to watch that:(</p>
<p>I just can’t see cutting back on fruit. It’s one of the joys of summer. Can someone list the “good” and “bad” ones in terms of sugar content?</p>
<p>EPTR, that was probably it. It probably had low-fat or fat-free dressing on it and they load that stuff up with sugar. I have become such a label reader at the store because it is amazing how many hidden carbs there are in stuff. I just put my reading glasses on as soon as I get there :)</p>
<p>I don’t worry about eating fruit. I don’t drink fruit. </p>
<p>On the weekend I have maple syrup on pancakes, once a week or so I have a tsp. of brown sugar on oatmeal. Some mornings I have a tsp. of jam on a whole wheat English muffin or bagel. I rarely have store bought salad dressing. It’s super easy to make enough for a whole week and I think most of the fat-free dressings are disgusting. I’d rather make a real olive oil and vinegar vinaigrette and put less on my salad.</p>
<p>I wonder if the Panera Bread in your bread salad also had sugar? I eat very little canned or prepared food so I don’t have to do that much label reading! I did check the Indian pre-made curry sauces and found out which ones provide the most taste with the fewest calories though! I</p>
<p>Congrats Marilyn! Losing weight is your goal and you are doing it!! Haha on the extra “bulges” - I wonder if maybe we just notice our bodies (and it’s pluses or negatives) more when we are watching what we are eating - so we over scrutinize! </p>
<p>Before the thread gets too technical and overwhelmed with this carb count/sugar count stuff (which I am interested in, but it does get a little technical) I would encourage people to continue posting tips, successes and needed-encouragement!</p>
<p>Don’t you think that a good majority of us - including newbies or not-so-serious trackers, will feel better/look better/notice some changes just by cutting down (I say at least 50% ) on the white carby-starchy foods? So, cutting out chips, doritos, french fries, white buns, white based bagels, white rice, potatoes, sweets and other junk foods???</p>
<p>Just 50%. That means you can still have some, but will be more disciplined.<br>
(I do agree to take a week and stay off more than 50% to rid of cravings).</p>
<p>Youdon’tsay, if you have fabulous locally-grown fruit in the summer, then I wouldn’t worry too much about it. I live in corn country so not a lot of fruit-growing, except for berries and I guess peaches south of here, but most of the stands have more veggies than fruit. What do you have that you don’t want to miss? According to my Atkins book, the ok fruits are berries, cherries, and cantaloupe. I’ve read that the highest in sugar are bananas, apples, pears and pineapple and maybe oranges and tangerines. Peaches, I think, fall in the middle. I don’t know for sure because everything I read is different so I rely on my Atkins book.</p>
<p>Oh, and way to go, Marilyn!</p>
<p>Yes Abasket! We will all look and feel better just by cutting down. We’re already seeing results, right!!!</p>
<p>Congrats, Marilyn!</p>
<p>Thank you all for the encouragement! I do remember when the bulges started and then just kind of filled in. I was much more aware of all the “floating fat” at the pool on Sunday and it does all seem a bit looser (I am still extremely buoyant) - I know only 5.5 lbs but still…</p>
<p>Fresh melon on cottage cheese - delicious lunch! And uh-oh - the local farm stand is supposed to have fresh corn starting today - I am going to limit to 2 ears and just savor each bite. We always use a piece of bread to spread the butter (a pat of butter on the bread, spread it on the hot corn, then eat the now warm buttered bread). I will dig out my old plastic corn-on-the-cob butter spreader to use instead - knew it would come in handy sometime.</p>
<p>Another great summer treat is caprese salad - we grow basil, so just slice some fresh tomato, add some slices of fresh mozzarella balls, chiffonade some basil, drip on some olive oil and balsamic vinegar, a little salt and pepper - mmm!</p>