Carb Question

[sixx788]

How many grams of carbs do you guys allow yourself in a day? After putting all my food in fitday.com (thanks to Ms. Fit) I am realising I am getting most of my calories from carbs and I am not eating enough. Tomorrow I will try and do better. I am just wondering what I should be looking for carb wise. I am looking to lose 50 lbs. My calorie intake today was 871, my fat was 18, my carbs were 129 and my protein was a measly 48! I know I need to up my calories, up my protein.....and maybe even up the fat a bit. But I have no idea what range to shoot for for carbs. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
Kelly

[Emma-Leigh]

Originally posted by sixx788
How many grams of carbs do you guys allow yourself in a day? After putting all my food in fitday.com (thanks to Ms. Fit) I am realising I am getting most of my calories from carbs and I am not eating enough. Tomorrow I will try and do better. I am just wondering what I should be looking for carb wise. I am looking to lose 50 lbs. My calorie intake today was 871, my fat was 18, my carbs were 129 and my protein was a measly 48! I know I need to up my calories, up my protein.....and maybe even up the fat a bit. But I have no idea what range to shoot for for carbs. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
Kelly

Well - it depends on what my diet is doing for the day :D For example, my usual is a 40:40:20 split (carbs, protein, fat) and about 2000 calories - so I get about 200g carbs. These I get from sources like whole grains (oats, rye, barley), legumes (soy, chick-peas, beans), vegetables, sweet potato, low GI fruit, home-made bread/slices etc and low GI dense grainy breads.

But how much you would allow yourself would depend on what your calorie intake should be, and how you intend on deviding those calories. I can tell you that 871 cals is no where near enough though!! And 48g protein - eep!!

If you tell us your weight, height, activity level and (if you can) your body fat, then we might be able to give you some rough estimates of what type of calorie/carb/protein/fat intake you should be aiming for. :)

[sixx788]

Ok, my height is 5'3, my weight is 165. My job is somewhat active. I work in a factory and I am on my feet all day moving fast. I am just starting to lift weights again. My split was going to look like this:

Monday - Legs
Tuesday - Chest/Biceps
Wednesday - Shoulders
Thursday - Legs
Friday - Back/Triceps
Saturday - Shoulders
Sunday - Rest

[Hibiscus09]

I'm 5'3.5" and 120lbs. I just started a cutting diet and am taking in 1,734 calories a day. My split is 50P/35C/15F (or around there), but I have been at this a while. I think you would be well served to do a 40P/40C/20F split.

If you're in a physically active job, you may want to rethink your training split. I think a 4 day split that only hits each bodypart once a week will work better for you. Depending on how physically active your job is, you may want to consider starting your cardio at 20 minutes a session, 3X a week & building up from there, if needed.

At 800 and some calories per day, you have caused your metabolism to come to a halt. Your body will hold onto fat because it thinks it's starving. You need to eat enough to get your metabolism going again.

[Ms. Lucy]

Hey!

You're definetly not getting enough calories! I gained my weight that way. I am 5' 3 and used to be around 115-120 and got stupid trying to loose 5 more lbs before getting married. I ate too little for so long that I actually lost muscle and went up to 140. (also quit exercising).

To get back into shape I'm following the body for life program. It has a 40-40-20 split for protein/carb/fat and will help you get back into exercising while you loose weight. It's also not a fad diet. It takes work by i nmy opinion, is a great way to get motivated and follow a plan.

Just remember--if you don't eat enough (especially if you're excersing) you're body will try to hold on to fat because it thinks your starving!

Good luck!