Counting Carbs -- Not!

[ouroborous 519]

So I met with the nutritionist today, and much of the talk was about carbs.

Specifically, she told me to not worry about carbs, because sleevers simply can't get in enough food for the carbs to be an issue (as long as you stick to complex carbs from vegetables or whole fruits, not sugar/flour/etc.)

In fact, she specifically suspected that my icky feelings (wobbly, nauseous) were due to mild hypoglycemia from not eating enough carbs, and not eating them regularly enough.

Just to be thorough, I asked "so 80-100 grams of carbs a day isn't a problem?" and her response was "oh no, not at all. As long as you're sticking to the calorie total, you're going to lose weight. Just make sure you're getting enough Protein, but otherwise don't worry so much about restricting carbs."

As usual, your doctor/nutritionist/mileage may vary, but from what I'm hearing from the "experts" (as opposed to internet folklore), I really don't think I'm going to worry about carbs at all.

One benefit of more carbs (when on whole foods) is that they tend to contain more Fiber -- helping with any bathroom issues you might be having (and which I definitely have been having).

So that's one less thing to worry about. Don't worry about the carbs... just the Protein, Water, and Vitamins. I mean, I've been averaging 100 g of carbs/day and I'm STILL losing about 1 lb/day.

[Tiffykins 673]

I agree some don't have to worry about carbs, but others like me, had to monitor my carb counts during the losing phase. I still have to watch what I eat or I'll see a little gain. Once I started adding them back into my menu, my loss definitely slowed down significantly. I didn't freak out over carbs from Beans, but for me a carb was carb, and I had to compensate for it.

Adding carbs was the only way that I was able to stop my loss. Plus, you're a boy, it seems that no matter what the guys do they lose way faster than us girls and experience less stalls. I also didn't have room for carbs if I was eating my Protein grams.

[ouroborous 519]

It's true, gender makes a difference. Also every doctor/nut. seems to give different advice.

I'm just glad that my nutritionist didn't care about carbs. One less thing to monitor, for me at least!

[stcyt 15]

I don't count carbs. I try to get all my Protein from food sources and eat fruits and veggies. I'll eat some lentil or split pea soup... really complex carb stuff like that.

Every now an then... just for fun, I will lay and bed and think "how many carbs did I really eat today" and when I add it up the amount is pretty small. Its just not physically possible to eat a lot of carbs and still get my protein. Now... if I was getting my protein from liquid shakes and drinks I could probably fit in a lot more carbs.... but thats one more reason to get protein from food (once your able)

[Jachut 487]

If it helps at all, I lost 100lb still eating bread, Pasta and rice.

Now, with any form of weight loss surgery, your stomach volume is drastically reduced and you DO have to make sure you eat a balance. What is the saying, man cannot live on bread alone? That's true. Once you have taken care of your Protein and vegetable needs, you wont be able to eat a large volume of anything else.

I need to include a serve of Cereal each day - either a good wholegrain Cereal or oatmeal/muesli OR I'll eat a sandwich (well as much of it as I can) on good multigrain bread - and the bread I have in the fridge atm has 10g Protein per 2 slices anway, as well as about 8 grams of fibre, and lots of important fats and compounds in the seeds etc. We do have good bread in our supermarkets here.

The only carbs you REALLy have to avoid is crap - white stuff - white rice, bread, flour products - pretend supermarket wholegrain and brown bread, get the good stoneground health food stuff - and sugar.

You do not need to live your life in fear of potatoes.

But I think any WLS patient ends up on a lower carb diet than the average citizen, and that's a good thing. However, I severely lack energy and my bowels are NOT happy if I dont eat some good carbs.

[MidwestGirl 8]

So I met with the nutritionist today, and much of the talk was about carbs.

Specifically, she told me to not worry about carbs, because sleevers simply can't get in enough food for the carbs to be an issue (as long as you stick to complex carbs from vegetables or whole fruits, not sugar/flour/etc.)

In fact, she specifically suspected that my icky feelings (wobbly, nauseous) were due to mild hypoglycemia from not eating enough carbs, and not eating them regularly enough.

Just to be thorough, I asked "so 80-100 grams of carbs a day isn't a problem?" and her response was "oh no, not at all. As long as you're sticking to the calorie total, you're going to lose weight. Just make sure you're getting enough Protein, but otherwise don't worry so much about restricting carbs."

This was my dietitian's take on carbs as well. I'm losing a bit slower than others at this point (also partially because I haven't been working out lately), but I'm okay with that. I know that personally if I limit my healthy carbs (fruits, veggies, whole grains) completely, I am more likely to eat not so good things.

[JillianMarie 0]

I also don't worry about carbs, i worry more about the total calories. If i cut out carbs my metabolism literally shuts down and i have no energy, low blood sugar and stop losing weight. If i eat carbs but they come from whole wheat bread, dairy, or fruit, instead of sugary foods, i'll lose weight and keep my energy up at the same time. I've never succeeded on a low carb diet. Only reduced calorie, low fat diets where i keep my Protein intake up. But, we are all different. :biggrin0:

[kalew 0]

Well I just did a bad thing, not sure what will happen, probably nothing, but I just ate a cupcake, no frosting. I was baking them all afternoon for my grandson, son and his wife who are coming tomorrow from CA. Now why did I do that? They just smelled so good and I just had to know if they were good, and next thing I know the whole cupcake was gone. Yes they were chocolate too. oh well.....I'll let you know what happens.

[avilda 2]

The psych who talked to us at my seminar said that it doesn't matter what you did. What matters is what you did after you did what you did. In other words... what's done is done. Eat right for the rest of the day and tomorrow... and the next day. You ate the cup cake... let it go and move on. Good Luck

[deletedsally 8]

A lot of people who struggle with obesity are insulin resistant. Basically, that means that when we eat carbohydrates our bodies produce too much insulin because our cells are unresponsive to a lesser amount. Unfortunately, insulin promotes fat storage.

What I'm getting at is this: I don't sleep well or feel emotionally healthy on a typical "low carb" diet--but too many carbs, particularly those that are high on the gylcemic index, will result in rapid fluctuations in blood sugar and trigger higher levels of insulin production. This interferes with weight loss.

I know from the trial and error of many diets that (for me) there is a "carb window" that works pretty well. Under 60 and I feel lousy...over 100 and I don't lose much. I lose more if my carbs are from fresh fruits and vegetables with very few carbs coming from sugar/juice/grain/cereal/flour/processed foods.

Since my surgery, more of my carbs have been refined because of the requirements to not eat raw fruits and vegies or anything fibrous. I'm hoping that when I can eat more complex carbs it helps my weight loss a little.

[mp8btpc 33]

Raisin bran will keep ya regular with lots of good Fiber.< /p>

[mp8btpc 33]

Also shredded wheat

[Ellisa 6]

I think sometimes people think counting carbs or limiting carbs means NO carbs. For me it means 60 - 100 carbs and 40 - 60 Protein. Being a former "bandit" and only sleeved this month, I can't speak for experience with the sleeve but with the band, I didn't "count" anything. As long as my band could be properly adjusted if I ate more protein and dairy than healthy carbs I could easily stay where I needed to be without counting calories, carbs or protein after some "practice." I didn't (and don't plan to) completely eliminate ANY food. Instead of a slice of cheese cake, I could have a bite. The carbs in one bite really aren't significant. LOL But being realistic about how many "bites" in a day and how LARGE the bites are, can become significant. If MOST of the time say 5 or more days of the week or MOST meals per week were reasonable I could easily continue losing weight. My issues began with the hiatal hernia which prevented my band from being filled at all.

[Donna4545 13]

My program said for max weight loss try for 30 carbs a day. That sounds really low in comparison to what you guys are saying.

[Ellisa 6]

My carbs program (after the first few weeks when Fluid is more important than food) is under 60 grams. I assume that's total carbs not net carbs (net meaning after subracting fiber). So depending on the types of carbs being eaten 30 net carbs wouldn't be all that low. Most of my carbs... when I was eating properly came from low carb veggies, berries, cantalope, sweet potatoes, whole grains, etc. with a small pouch (with my band), it's not hard to stay under. I avoided things like white flour products, added sugar products, white potatoes, Pasta, rice. They didn't "go down" well for me anyway. That's not to say I absolutely never tasted those things, but when my band was properly restricted I could eat my healthy food and take a taste of something I thought I just had to have and it satisfied. Hoping it will be the same with the sleeve.