Creeping Carbs...

I've been tracking my intake everyday on myfitnesspal.com (love it!), and my carb intake is definitly higher than the normal 50 that people suggest to stay under during the weight loss window.
 
My question is this: a LOT of my carbs, around 50-60 a day, are strictly from cheeses and dairy products. How did the vets (and anyone else with ideas) eat or modify their diets so that they could optimize their weight loss window while dealing with this?

For example, for breakfast every morning, I have a 2 egg omelette with cheese and meat. When calculated out, the cheese add 7-10 carbs, depending on how much I use.... but that's also where a majority of my protein comes from. Lunch can often be a cup of cottage cheese... but that's another 10 grams of carbs.

Then there's the sneaky carbs from things like deli meat, seasonings, etc. I eat a LOT of dairy (but actually, no milk or cream), I find that it's the best way for me to get my protein in some days, plus, I just love it.

Any ideas, suggestions, or anything that could help me lower my carb count or feel better about having so many of my carbs be from dairy?

Relax and quit worrying about those kinds of carbs.

I did not count carbs that strictly and I did fine. What I did was I ate basic protein foods, including a lot of cheese and Greek yogurt, to make sure I had 30 grams of protein in my belly in a sitting before I ate anything at all otherwise carby. Second course was veggies. IF I had any space left over, I ate a couple bites of carby stuff.

The only thing I ever really counted, and do it this way to this day, was protein grams.

Nowadays, further out, I can not infrequently consume more than 30 grams of protein in one meal, so I do. I have chosen to be less stringent about carbs, indulging in some desserts and goodies and potatoes along the way, though a tiny fraction of my total intake comes from such foods. I've had a slight bounceback of around 20 pounds, which is less than 10% of my excess weight.

I consider this to be a perfectly acceptable tradeoff for the quality of life I enjoy.

Cheese should have 0-1 carbs unless you are not eating real cheese. I tended to just eat half as many carbs as protein and left it at that. So if you eat 100g pro, you've eaten less than 50g.

Depends on the cheese. A lot of cheeses only have 1 or less carbs per ounce.

 Soft cheeses have more carbs than hard cheeses, so cream cheese, cottage cheese, Brie, ect (and anything that is "processed cheese product") will have more carbs than say a block of cheddar.  Also, the higher the fat content of your cheese (meaning, buy the full fat stuff, not reduced fat) the less carbs, as they replace the fat in low fat products with sugar so they still taste good.  So, harder cheeses, and full fat dairy should bring your carb consumption down a bit.  In general, cheese should have 0-1 carb per oz.  

As for me, when I was losing, in the beginning (the first 4 months or so), the only carbs I got were that from dairy, peanut butter, other nuts, and maybe a stray whole grain cracker or two.  I slowly added in other things (low carb tortillas, low carb bread, ect) after that point, but kept my carbs at or below 75-100g per day (which is where MY body was happy, losing and felt good).  Once I neared goal at 9 months out, I just kinda stopped counting carbs and just focused on protein, protein, protein.  That's what I still do at 18 months postop, and I've been maintaining below goal for about 9 months now.    

Thanks a bunch guys... I was kinda starting to freak out that I was getting off track, especially since my weight loss is slowing a little bit since I'm all healed from surgery and can actually eat without feeling uncomfortable. But looking back, I've still lost almost 20 pounds in a month (I think, I don't track it too closely), so I just need to stop worrying and enjoy the ride.

After considering the input, I'm guessing that a good portion of my carbs are coming from the anti-caking agents in pre-shredded cheese. Guess it's time to stop buying that and start shredding my own... oh, how sad! A reason to get a good food processor!

I am eating full-fat everything, I've always believed that if it wasn't full fat, it wasn't worth it... which may have helped me need surgery in the first place. So no added sneaky carbs there.

Again, thanks.... you guys and this board are awesome!

April - I'm almost 9 years post-op and I still read the label of everything I buy. I only look at two things -- protein and carbs. Like you have found out, there are hidden carbs everywhere.