I started counting my calories and notices how many carbs I eat. I don't necessarily eat bad carbs, since I mostly have fruit and vegetabls or oats but still I eat SO much. I know the fix to this is eat more protein but I find that so hard. does anyone have any tips? Also some breakfasts ideas that would help with this that aren't eggs?
eating too many carbs: I started counting my... - Healthy Eating
eating too many carbs
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Chav_a143
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37 Replies
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Why are you trying to reduce your carbs? I follow a plant based diet so about 80% of my calories comes from carbs, lots of fruit, veggies and oats!
Your body needs carbs for energy so why replace them with protein?
If you are trying to lose weight then it's total calories that you need to reduce
Good morning, i'm very interested to here about your plant based diet. Is there a specific model you follow. I have achieved a processed free, refined sugar free with as much organic as i can diet, but i'm am finding giving up grain and dairy difficult. Any advice or articles would be very helpful, kind regards, Judith
Hi Judith,
I draw much of my inspiration from the group of doctors recommending a plant based diet: Gregor, Mcdougall Esselstyn, Fuhrman, Ornish (and there are others of course)
nutritionfacts.org (which is Gregor's site) is a really good starting point.
I avoid processed food and refined carbs (pure sugar, white bread, white rice, white pasta) and cook without using oils. I don't worry too much about eating organic (sometimes I buy organic and sometimes not).
I was vegetarian for about 20 years and thought i could never give up cheese but when I did it turned out too be easy. There are lots of dairy and cheese substitutes available now you might try instead.
I eat lots of whole grains such as brown rice, and don't see any reason to give them up, unless someone has a specific allergy. I think the scientific claims made by the anti-grain people are dubious, and i don't know of any of the 'plant doctors' that recommend avoiding unprocessed grains.
i just noticed that since i eat more carbs i'm still hungry all the time so it makes me eat more/consume more calories. I used to also eat bad carbs as well but I noticed today that I've gotten much better at not eating bad carbs so maybe i shouldn't worry about it too much!
I was watching a BBC programme where Dr Giles Yeo of Cambridge University said just because the food has a calorific value does not mean that all foods with the same value would result in the same amount of calories absorbed.
If you compare running a mile up a steep hill with running a mile downhill, you will not use up the same amount of energy. This is also true with food where processed foods does not require the body to work so hard to process it. Whereas, trying to eat foods that require a lot of digestion then the body has to use more of its own energy. Just food for thought!!!
It's absolutely true that the notional calorific values of food isn't always available. And not just individual foods but different combinations of them and gut flora etc all play a part.
But I don't think that changes the fact that total calories is a pretty good way of understanding what the effect of diet will be. I'm not aware of any reputable study that has demonstrated weight loss with a diet that doesn't involve calorie restriction for example.
It may be true that processed food doesn't require so much energy to digest - but it’s also true that processed food is much higher in calories to begin with.
Which means that processed food causes a double whammy. Just pointing out that without calorie counting that a move to a diet away from manufactured, processed and refined foods is a start towards a better diet and better health.
I agree completely
Ah..... Good thinking! I will remember that every time I go to make a ham salad and substitute the ham for ..... egg or salmon maybe?
RignoldKeto
The OP was asking about reducing carbs however, not processed foods, and their diet high in fruit, veg and oats does not sound high in processed foods to begin with.
Alex, it can be a bit confusing looking at the macro data from apps like My Fitness Pal as they do it differentiate between starchy carbs and non digestible fibre carbs, so a chocolate brownie, a bag of chips and a plate of broccoli all look the same on your results.
Keep the veg in there and cut back on the fruit- all that fructose is not your friend. You could have bacon and asparagus for breakfast with a nice hollandaise . A few oats are not going to harm you but just try to keep them in check. I find it very easy to have a protein biased meal- just start with a piece of fish or a chicken breast or steak and then surround it with green veg and keep any pasta, rice or potato as far away from your plate as possible and you’ll be fine.
Bacon and fish chicken and steak with no rice, pasta or potato. Sounds like my idea of torture.
I just don't get this no carbs thing and probably never would.
Just off to eat some wholemeal sourdough !
Dee
Hi, Chia pudding is a great breakfast and you can make it what ever flavour you like. It is about two tablespoons of chia seeds to a glass of almond milk. Flavour with vanilla and top with fruit of your choice. I love it. You might need to experiement to get the right consistency for you.
Sadly, fruits as nice as they are, as another poster commented on, it has the high fructose, especially certain fruits have much higher sugar contents. Not many people seem to realise this, but in other countries, this is often warned against. Germany, for example. Cutting down the processed food seems to be more focused on.
Fruits seem to be a double-edged sword. These apparently prevents GI cancer and have nutrients, anti-oxidants, and other beneficial qualities.
One can easily over-eat fruits and it ends up in your backside/gut. I openly admit I have issues of portion control thanks to the old mantra, "eat a plenty of veggies and fruits". I simply stop buying.
There's another website, not coming from/associated with any commercially vested sources:
benwl• in reply to
Fruit does have calories, so you can't just eat lots of fruit in addition to what you were already eating before and expect no side effects.
But if you take that into account fruit is fine.
• in reply to
You have stopped buying fruit and veg?
Oh, I have other issues, AI diseases. Veggies are fine, but I decided to restrict fructose per functional dr's advice.
• in reply to
The fibre in some fruits can restrict the amount of fructose that your body absorbs. Also it takes more fruit than you think for the fructose to make a big impact. You are losing out on a lot of good things if you don't eat fruit.
I know, but I have been overeating it. Nice of you, Jimmy. But I am back on something else to balance it out 
• in reply to
Well that's ok then.. I hope it works in your favour 😀
• in reply to
Very kind of you, Jimmy. Much appreciated.
• in reply to
You are welcome. 😉
So much confusing info. I come from the perspective of unlimited fruit. If a day goes by without significant amounts of fruit then that is a bad day. So what is significant? Lets say one or two bananas, raspberries, blueberries, an apple, lemon and orange. The lemon/orange are eaten with greens/legumes anyway to increase absorbortion of iron.
Always eat the whole fruit. That fibre is there for a reason! It is there to slow down the sugar absorbtion process to a rate the body takes naturally in its stride If you are sensitive then avoid fruit juices, even home made. Research shows the rate of sugar absorbtion is least with whole fruit and that is what you should aim for.
Frozen fruit is a good alternative when fresh is not available.
GI is mostly a problem for people on animal protein diet. Whole food plant based version of vegan don't tend to have that problem unless there are other health issues. If there is a transition problem whilst coming off meat/dairy (which for most people should take a month, but for some might be three months, and rarely a year depending on healt complications) then that can be abated easily by eating fresh greens with the fruit. So a smoothie of kale, apple, blueberries etc.
So why is fruit so important to include? Fruit is a fabulous energy source. If you are working out then NOTHING beats fruit for providing energy fast without repercusions. Fruit is metabolised by the body in around 30 minutes. Fruit provides a great source of water which is critical for body health. Fruit are extremely high in antioxidants and provide a wide range of nutrients including protein.
There are people who live on lots of bananas. For instance google freelee the banana girl. If you look at what she eats and how she eats it it follows my guidelines above. That is thata fruitarian diet has with it a lot of greens.
• in reply toandyswarbs
You hit the nail on the head..great post!
Might be a good idea to add a caveat that not everyone can tolerate a lot of fruit without GI problems! Fructose malabsorption may affect 1 in 3.
A sensible caveat except I suspect some people drink say orange juice, suffer badly and then block all fruit. I suspect many fruit blockers could seriously benefit from fruit if they can work out how to safely get their gut used to it. At the same time that same orange juice may be drunk with say marmalade on toast. That toast is probably refined carbs, slathered with butter or marg.
When I removed peanuts from my diet I did several tests over a few weeks. This way I was able to look back and see peanuts as a common denominator.
RignoldKeto
OP: "I eat too many carbs and too much fruit. I would like to reduce this."
Everyone: "Eat more fruit."
In my 50 odd years of being T1, I have never counted calories. CARBS are the things to watch ! Good luck
• in reply toHOBIEONE
I agree.
Not all fruits are created equal:
dailymail.co.uk/health/arti...
andyswarbs• in reply to
In the article one point I agree with is that excessive eating drives up triglycerides. Looking at the article most people add fruit as a snack food thus adding calories to an already excessive diet aka obesity.
A fruitarian diet is different. All the bad foods are gone, weight is not a problem and fruit is built into the daily food plan and so digested with ease.
• in reply toandyswarbs
Useful to see the supporting evidence to match with what you advocate, Andy, so we know. It also helps to reduce any confusion on dietary advice rather than adding more confusion. Daily Mail article was presented with the experts comments. We need that in this day and age now.
andyswarbs• in reply to
How about "Prebiotic inulin‐type fructans: nutritional benefits beyond dietary fibre source" onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi...
Let me know if you want more.
• in reply toandyswarbs
A fruitarian diet is different. All the bad foods are gone, weight is not a problem and fruit is built into the daily food plan and so digested with ease.
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Sorry, Andy. I was referring to the above.
Thank you.
Alex, I realise that I had not addressed your main points. If you are following a whole-food approach then do not worry about counting calories unless you have some health issues, eg obesity, IBS etc etc. If you eat sufficient calories based on vegetables and fruit you are guaranteed to get more than sufficient protien. Ignore all those protein bars, shakes and super-food labeling of more protiens. The concept of the body needing more and more protein is a complete myth. Excess protein is simply peed out in your urine.
Focusing on good carbs should be your daily goal. Less processed foods, less supermarket bread, less white pasta. Get to consider these as junk food. Good carbs are legumes, whole grains, whole fruit, lots of greens, especially dark ones. The more your body is filled with whole foods the more it will naturally and remarkably heal itself. Two or three nights ago my legs were attacked by mozzies and large areas of my calves went red. The recovery of my legs is a lovely thing to watch. I don't say this lightly. Like most people I have had stings over many years, but now the recovery happens steadily and reliably.
For a quick breakfast try some Greek yoghurt, or Skyr, which is high in protein. Add a fruit if you want, plus chopped nuts like almonds, and seeds such as pumpkin, sunflower or flax. I make a granola to add as well.
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