His original question is specifically about the cereal.

Well...I DO get that..I've been VERY poor in the past.

There's ALWAYS a way to recover that $3.00 rather than eat crap.

What I got, was that there is more to the questions than just saving money and not wasting the cereal. Basicly, what to eat to not gain with the carbs.

It has always been about how much fat to eat when the carb amount was high (or, at least, higher than my new normal) -- such as when I have cereal. But then I had to defend why I didn't just throw the cereal out.

So I still need an answer to my original question--how much fat to eat. And I am getting two conflicting answers.

Thanks.
Glenn in Omaha

I started to respond earlier, but I was of the opinion that you want to debate rather than get a real answer. However, I'll bite.

I think it is a matter of degree. If you eat a little quickly digested carbs, I think it is a good idea to eat some fat to slow the blood sugar rise, and the subsequent insulin response. It won't necessarily keep you from gaining fat, but will alleviate a tendency towards reactive hypoglycemia and a vicious cycle, which can result in storing EVEN MORE fat.

If you eat a significant number of carbs in one sitting, and for me, 25 carbs would qualify, it may well elicit a dramatic insulin response, resulting in fat storage.

I honestly think it has more to do with your body than any "rules". How carb tolerant or intolerant are YOU? Why don't YOU experiment with different combinations and report back?

I DO want the real answer. I am not trolling for a fight.

My ongoing n=2 (my wife & I) experiment is to have a 1/2 cup of Fiber One with blueberries, 1/2 small banana, milk (me) or cream (her), and one slice of turkey bacon once a week. This is similar to what we would do when we ate low fat, except then, we did it 3 times a week. Oh, and I ate a double serving because I needed the fiber.

I don't notice any significant change in my weight since I added this to my diet after the induction phase. Like I said earlier, this is a high stress time for me (teaching), so I am happy to maintain my weight -- usually it goes up! So I would say that I am not too carb sensitive.

The teaching will end permanently in a few weeks, so I intend to improve my eating habits. But, we will be traveling a lot (and I still want to finish up the cereal!) So I expect there will be a few (several) higher carb meals in my future. A self-experiment is fine, but is there any science to guide me?

Thanks,
Glenn in Omaha

Feed your cereal to the birds. Isn't Fiber One the cereal that looks like sticks and twigs?

Grains are so useless.

Actually Fiber One Cereal is absolutely outragiousely high priced. I used to eat it back when I was doing low calorie. "Healthy foods" tend to be outragiousely prices, not Glenns fault there.

Personally, if I were to plan a higher carb meal, I would try to get protien in with it and nix any fat.

I very seldom get planned carb meals, for me they are me, falling face first into the ice cream and chocolate. I've done CDK though, and that is something they really push. On the carb up say, stay very limited on fats so theres not as much to store when the insulin is spiking.

I think you are assuming that the advice to eat fat (or protein) with your carbs is to keep from gaining weight. I think it is more to prevent insulin spikes, which can lead to cravings and overeating.

If you are going to eat more carbs, I think you would do well to eat fewer calories that day (you may no longer have the metabolic advantage said to occur while eating low carb). I think that metabolic advantage is estimated to be ~300 calories per day. If you are eating more carbs, I think you simply balance your meals the way you did before low carb - however that might have been.

Were you heavier then? Did you lose the weight eating low carb? Something to consider in your calculations.

If you are going to eat sugar, eat some protein too. Insulin shuts off the use of fat for fuel, and assists in the consumption of protein. If you have protein in your diet at the time the body won't tear down your existing muscle. Per gnolls.org on why snacking makes you weak

Thanks. That makes sense to me.

Glenn in Omaha

Here's the link to the article: http://www.gnolls.org/1794/why-snac...k-not-just-fat/

Thanks for the link Lee.

Glenn in Omaha