Honest Truth about Carbs..

Never ever would we flame our Julie. I appreciate your honesty. I tend to be very very conservative in the carb department. Monday through Friday the only carbs i "think" i am getting is from the dark green lettuce i eat and other veggies. I don't do bread, pasta, taters, etc. On weekends I let my hair down a bit and if i am really craving something...say chinese i order a cabbage eggroll and a crab rangoon along with my egg drop soup. I can usualy eat 1/2 the eggroll and the insides of the crab rangoon. I have tried using fitday but i feel so restricted by having to enter everything i eat that i stopped doing it. My weight is not coming off fast by a lot of of other standards but it is coming off. I just know what an addictive personality i have and believe, for me, that if i test something like potato chips( my favorite) and it doesn't cause me to dump then i will be off to the races. Love you all and hope you are having a wonderful thursday! kelly

Hello Julie, To be completely honest I eat whatever I want. I really don't count my carbs. I have lost over 107 pounds so far. I admit I do seem to stay away from bread because it makes me kinda sick If I eat to much. I am faithful about my water and just try to not over eat and it seems to be working for me. I have even quit counting calories but I do know I stay around 800 to a 1000 a day and I feel great. So your not alone. We are all different and some of us need to watch everything. I know in my heart I will never go back to my bad eating habits. I also stay away from fast food. Take Care Trisha

Wow! 107 lbs? I am really impressed. Whatever you're doing, must be working well for you. Good for you! I'll bet you feel like a whole new person. Awesome! Julie

Julie, It looks like you're doing fine to me! I did mine for the last two weeks and here's my results... carb counts not much different than yours; Calories - Fat - Carbs - Protein 1180 - 45 - 79 - 113 1119 - 32 - 57 - 146 966 - 46 - 39 - 102 775 - 29 - 48 - 89 1409 - 56 - 57 - 166 1263 - 30 - 100 - 135 822 - 15 - 63 - 105 1243 - 39 - 58 - 159 1081 - 32 - 70 - 117 978 - 39 - 59 - 90 1485 - 51 - 88 - 158 1546 - 62 - 90 - 144 897 - 29 - 84 - 72 971 - 43 - 46 - 97 I do deliberately avoid carbs.... I eat no milk, bread, pasta, no fruit, no sugar of any kind, and still I have high carb counts. I'd say 90% of my entries on fitday have been entered as custom, and I take them directly from the package nutrition information. The only time I use the item from the FitDay database is when I eat at a restaurant and have to "guestimate". The high carbs don't bother me because I know what I'm getting is a by product of the good stuff I eat. Not much I can do about that. One thing I don't like about FitDay is that they don't count sugars, only alcohols. Thanks for doing this exercise, now that I look at the list like this, I can see I have too many hi-cal days and really need to watch those! Windy/Pat

I wish Fitday counted sugars too, Someone else recommended Calorieking.com and I looked at it, but it seemed even more confusing and I'm too comfortable with fitday to leave, I guess. I use alot of their database items and then customize when necessary. I am surprised that you can get so high on calorie counts or protein (166 grams? phsew!) Even on days when I feel like I've eaten alot, I still top out at around 1200-1250. Julie

I was astounded at that too. I determined that my problem is since I'm not having any problem maintaining the 60-90 gms recommended by my surgeon, I probably don't need to be doing so many of the protein supplements outside of my food intake. This would effectively knock off 125-250 calories a day and 30-60 gms of protein! Trouble is, I'm not so keen on just making that decision for myself as I'm determined to follow his orders and make this work for me!! Do you think he'd allow me to use my common sense??? Or whatever sense I'm using these days? Windy/Pat

I'm right there with you on this one. I drink my protein drinks, but I also eat 1/2 sandwich for lunch and a few fat free chips now and then. Corn does good with me. My surgeon encourages fruits and vegetables, he is not on the protein wagon - but I do believe protein is important for us. Right now I am eating a small salad with cheese and ham sliced up and 3 strawberries - so I understand. I would like to start putting my stuff on fitday - do you have to enter all the calories and stuff for each item? I just don't have time to keep up with it like that.

No, Tuck, you don't have to enter alot except for custom things that you particularly like or stuff like frozen diet entrees where you can make a custom entry and record the nutritional stuff off the package. Fitday can be frustrating at first because there are so many entries it takes time to find the one you want, once you find it, its easier to go back to it next time. Things like, "Cheese, American processed" or, "Pasta, fresh-refrigerated, cooked" ...it can get a little picky until you get used to it. I like it and find it easy to use since I'm on a computer all day at work and can enter water, etc. everytime I eat or drink something. I also have added my biotin, vitamins, calcium etc. to my custom list, so that I can help myself remember if I've taken it for the day because i'm awful about that. Thanks for responding...it's interesting (and encouraging) to me to see how others are handling food issues at this stage in the game. Julie

Hi Everyone!! I have to "weigh" in on this too. I have lost 110, 87 since surgery and I am able to eat anything except lots of sugar, clam chowder and yogurt. Anything else, I can. I know that a lot of people watch the carbs, but as my nutritionist told me, carbs are needed. I don't go out and eat a whole thing of French fries, but I can eat about 15. I don't want to feel like I am depriving my self because I know, for me, that I would go crazy if I do feel deprived. That is for me. I can eat bread, (wheat is better for me, as it doesn't clump like white), pasta, and even a few pieces of candy (starbursts.) But the thing for me is that the package of candy will last me a week or more. For ME personally, it has all been about portion controls, whether it is on carbs, fruits, veggies, meat or what ever. I do know that I have to watch the fat in foods as I don't have a gallbladder anymore. OK.. Just thought I would put my two cents in!! Have a wonderful weekend everyone!! Sarah 2/16/04 -110

Hi I am new to this board. I also am very confused about the whole carb issue. My Dr. told me to stay under 60 carbs a day. I think that it is very hard to do. I do my best and still have had slow weight loss. As of this morning I have lost 65 pounds. I think that I am doing well but my Dr says I should be losing faster. Well what he said was back at my 3 month check up I had lost 55 pounds and he said he "guesses" it's good enough. I was upset when he said that. So I tried harder to watch the carbs. But everthing seems to be high in carbs. Maybe I am being alittle to cautious. But I basically feel the only thing that I can eat also is meat. Sorry for rambling. Have a great Thursday! Candy -65