Low carbing - grams of protein/fat

Kimia

Hi all

Have been following the low carb threads extensively and have read a couple of books (IPD for one which i really enjoyed!) and I'm absolutely loving my low carb diet. I'm eating WAY more veg than i ever have before and I'm actually enjoying it which is brilliant. Also I never feel hungry!

I do have one last question though and it just doesn't seem to be in any of my books. I am female, late 20's and 144 pounds. I would like to get to about 135 pounds. I exercise 3/4 times a week (usually brisk walking) and do about 2 days in the gym with weights.

My question is this. I eat between 1300-1600 calories a day in order to get down to my goal weight, and this is made up of proteins, good fats, and very very little carbs (under 50g a day). I have given myself totals for each day but I'm not sure if I'm right. This is how I'm working it:

Calories: 1300-1600
Protein: 60-135g per day
Fats: 70 - 100g per day
Carbs: 0-50g per day

Does this look ok? Thanks in advance.

Kimia

Oh and there's a shiny new penny for whoever answers first!

brianthebard

Are you asking if your maths is correct? If so, yes. 1g protein and carbs equals 4 calories and 1g fat equals 9 calories afaik. So your top figures comes out at 1640 calories.

Kimia

A penny for you sir!

No sorry, I'm totally confused, maybe I wrote it down wrong.

What I mean is, each day, should I be eating between 60-135g of protein a day, as opposed to between 20-50g say.

And should I be eating between 70-100g of fat a day? And so on..

I track my food and it gives me the counts for everything, so I'm wondering if I'm eating the right amounts of everything?

brianthebard

Oh don't worry I'm hung over so everything is unnecessarily complicated for me today. I don't think you have any room to cut your protein atm, if anything I would personally try to raise it a bit but it probably suits your needs. Other than that everything seems fine the way it is. If its working for you now and if you feel good then everything is fine, so keep that principle in mind any time you make adjustments.

EileenG

As a very general rule on a low carb diet, your grams of protein and fat should be the same, or at least within shouting distance of each other, and your carbs should be a lot less.

So if you eat 100g of protein, then anywhere between 70-120g of fat would be fine (or vice versa). Very high protein and low fat doesn't work as well as moderate protein and higher fat.

It's fashionable to refer to low carb diets as "high protein" and to worry about the damage you are doing to your kidneys, but in fact, most people on low carb diets eat normal amounts of protein, they just don't accompany it with toast or chips.

The people who eat genuinely high carb diets tend to be in the fitness section, and religiously supplement with whey and casein. If high protein did damage your kidneys, they should be installing dialysis machines at every major gym in town.

Kimia

Thanks Brian! Eileen, do you think that my breakdown is ok then? I am aiming for under 60g of carbs a day (which makes me feel great, no bloatedness etc) and boosting the amount of protein and fat I'm eating.

Here's what I eat during the day - it's absolutely loads!

Breakfast:
Low carb yoghurt (about 7g)
Crispbreads (about 9g)
Butter
Egg

Lunch
Salad (spinach & rocket usually) with chicken, cheese, etc
Nuts
Lump of cheese
Square of very dark chocolate

Dinner
Chicken or fish
Lots of veg
Butter/cream/cheese as a sauce

Snacks
Strawberries (for dessert)
Mint tea
More nuts
Another lump of cheese

Does that look ok? I'm coming in around 1500 cals and under 60g a day, and I'm trying to lose about 10 pounds - will this work?

EileenG

The one thing I'd suggest is that you swap some of that cheese for meat. Cheese is fine on a low carb diet, but if you want to lose weight, you'll find you lose it faster eating meat or eggs or fish or chicken than cheese.

If it's only a small amount, it doesn't matter.

ApeXaviour

just saw this thread now... I'll just agree with and second everything Eileen said.

Your protein intake is fine. Rough estimate when on a calorie deficit is ~1g per lb of lean body mass (more if you're doing any kind of resistance training). If your ideal weight is 135lbs, and let's say that's at roughly 20% bodyfat, then you'd want to be aiming for approximately 108g of protein per day. Looks like you're doing fine.

And yeah in general your protein/fat ratio should be about 1/1 on low carb when not actively trying to lose weight, but you can afford to up it a bit when actively reducing calories (which I think Eileen was getting at when she suggested replacing cheese for meat).

Kimia

Thanks everyone. I have to say I'm really enjoying this new way of eating and it's funny how my body is adapting. For example I had a lovely protein heavy lunch and was feeling great but gave in to temptation and had a tea cake (about 11g of carbs and god knows how much sugar) and the first thing I noticed was how sweet it was! And now I feel slightly tired and lethargic so I'm probably on my way down the blood sugar slope which feels crap.

I also got a great tip from (I think it was) Dark Ginger? Baking green beans makes them go all crispy like chips! I'm excited about trying that. And I have to say, any diet that makes me eat this much veg has to be good. All that glorious fat is a delicious bonus.

I am finding that boiled eggs are a great standby snack and I'm eating so many nuts - which I love. And I've already lost about 4 pounds which is great!

Does anyone else have any tips that they would like to share?

ApeXaviour

Burgers with big iceberg lettuce leaves instead of bread. Really works!

Homemade burgers stuffed with a soft cheese (brie?).

Minced beef salad (fried at a low temperature with a bit of soy/worcestershire sauce) is delicious.

Cheese slices (real cheese mind you, think edam or leerdamer) rolled up with parma/serrano ham (or sliced chorizo/salami) are an amazing snack. Can fill up centre with whatever you want; examples: olives, sun dried tomatoes, oil soaked garlic cloves, parmesan, tabasco, mustard, spinach etc.

Steamed M&S tenderstem broccoli is currently my favourite vegetable. Steaming veg in general is so quick and easy, can even do it in a microwave in a (loosely closed, not sealed) tuppaware container for 2mins (adjust to taste) with ~2tbsp of water.

Almond flour (if you're from dublin you can get it in the asia market on drury st) can replace flour in most baked goods. I've made low carb scones before (can be very calorie dense though so careful!). A friend of mine made gorgeous low carb brownie/muffin things with that, cocoa powder and splenda.

Almonds in general are great, again can get them whole in asia market.

Low sugar (just read the back) tomato based pasta sauces can make tins of fish taste much better.

Frozen berries are for all intents and purposes low carb. Can get them in most tescos, supervalus, dunnes and M&Ss (in ascending order of price, depending on offers of course). Great in a whey shake if you're in a rush, or as a dessert.

Your local butcher is your friend.