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-   -   How do you track your carbs? (http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthread.php?t=482325)

DaisyDawn Tue, Apr-16-19 07:06

How do you track your carbs?
 
Newbie question here :) I'm brand new to exploring a lower carb way of eating and I'm wondering how others track their carb intake? Are you following a specific plan that does the tracking for you, or are you using a calorie/macros tracking site?

I've been a calorie counter/tracker for years now and I'm pretty burned out with it right now. I was looking through the visual food guides over at diet doctor and wonder if I can just pick lower carb foods from their lists and not worry about tracking starting out?

Obviously, I have no idea what I'm doing :p

Bob-a-rama Tue, Apr-16-19 07:35

I eat fewer than 20 carbs a day, so it's easy. I just remember what I've eaten and do the math.

SilverEm Tue, Apr-16-19 08:53

Hi, DaisyDawn. My ballpark method is to count 1 gram of carb per each ounce of cooked green vegs.

I count egg yolks at .5 per yolk, and heavy cream at .8 per ounce.

I eat yoghurt. Made with whole milk, 8 grams of carbs per cup (8 ounces).

A cup of yoghurt + a cup of cooked vegs = 16 g. carbs (CHO)

3 eggs is 1.5g,

plus my supplements =

ca. 30g/CHO/day (d).

As Bob, says, once you find a menu you can live with, it is easy to track without having to count, weight, measure and write everything.

If the food plan isn't working out well, then one can adjust it.

:)

tess9132 Tue, Apr-16-19 09:46

Quote:
I eat fewer than 20 carbs a day, so it's easy. I just remember what I've eaten and do the math.
Same here.

JEY100 Tue, Apr-16-19 13:07

Quote:
I was looking through the visual food guides over at diet doctor and wonder if I can just pick lower carb foods from their lists and not worry about tracking starting out?
I think that would work, Dont eat anything on his Avoid list and you should be fine for a Moderate LC plan. It's the refined processed grains and sugars that send the total high.

DaisyDawn Tue, Apr-16-19 13:32

Quote:
Originally Posted by JEY100
I think that would work, Dont eat anything on his Avoid list and you should be fine for a Moderate LC plan. It's the refined processed grains and sugars that send the total high.


I've got all the picture guides bookmarked now :)

I am tracking over on cronometer today-partly out of habit (used to tracking my calories), and then I want to get an idea of what 100ish grams of carbs actually looks like. So far I've been very pleasantly surprised at how low carb so many of the veggies I eat are! But, I did switch out my dressing today on my salad, from a French style to ranch. What a carb difference! I also skipped my morning whole grains toast, as well as the serving of beans and serving of a whole grain at lunch time. Not really missing them, though as of now I plan on still incorporating them into my meal plans-though in much smaller doses.

Afternoon here and I'm at around 20 grams of net carbs, out of my 100 grams goal. Will have some higher carbs coming yet, with fruit in my green smoothie and then higher carb veggies/sauce with my salmon, for supper. Curious to see where I end up at, for my first day!

Benay Fri, Jan-10-20 05:12

I use a computer program called Diet Power (free download) that I use to journal my daily intake. It has been an eye opener for me.

Although I have been following the guidelines, I have found that I underestimate the carb counts.

Journaling keeps me honest.

s93uv3h Fri, Jan-10-20 07:04

In the 2009 DANDR (Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution) paperback there's a pull out with common carb values that I keep in my daily food log. I also jot down carb values for the normal stuff I eat and keep this list in the log. Many times I can plan the meal before I start and count the carbs as I decide what I'm going to cobble together.

I also refer to these two sites often:

Carbohydrate chart

Atkins carb counter

Grav Fri, Jan-10-20 11:51

I've never directly tracked my carbs per day at all. Instead I just limit myself to foods containing no more than 5g of carbs per 100g (this is easy in NZ since our food labels here have a column of nutrient values per 100g on them). This also allows me to still eat to satiety each day while maintaining some form of restriction, rather than fussing over a daily carb limit.

The only records I keep are my shopping lists, since they help me to remember what all of my food options are, especially back in the earlier days while I was still transitioning. That, and my written journal here. Nothing else. :)

bevangel Fri, Jan-10-20 15:01

If your daily carb limit is 100g, you should have no trouble staying under that number just by choosing your foods and recipes from the DietDoctor.com suggestions.

In fact, even eating 3 meals per day plus a snack and maybe even one dessert daily, I think you'd be hard-pressed to go over 100 carbs per day IF you were to stick with eating only foods made by following recipes on DietDoctor.com.

Just as an aside tho, I think almost everyone here at lowcarber.org finds that we do much better by keeping our daily carb intake to 50g or less. And many of those who are hard-core and have stuck with LC for the longest length of time aim for 20g/day or less.

By "much better," I mean

1) We achieve greater satiety (don't get the HONGRIES) and are less tempted to "cheat."
2) If overweight, we lose the weight more quickly and more reliably.
3) If diabetic or pre-diabetic, our blood sugars stabilize more quickly and at lower (better) values.
4) If dealing with gastrointestinal disorders pre-LC, our gut issues resolve themselves much more quickly; and
5) We just generally find that we feel better and are healthier at lower daily carb numbers than if we allow ourselves to go a bit higher.

I know that all sounds counter-intuitive. How can a diet be EASIER to stick with if it's "stricter?" :lol: Nevertheless, I'm pretty sure that, if you ask, almost everyone who posts here with any regularity would agree with me!

However, that said, if you're coming from a calorie-counting, low-fat, carb-centric way of eating and are just beginning to experiment with low-carb, it's perfectly understandable that you might want to ease your way in slowly. And, 100g of carbs per day is a WHOLE LOT better than the typical 300+ carb grams that most Americans consume!

Even the only thing you do is STOP eating sugary and starchy snacks, pasta, bread, cereals and the starchiest of vegetables (potatoes and dried beans), and never even attempt to count carbs at all, you'll probably manage to stay under 100g and you'll start experiencing some of the benefits of lower carb.

We're happy to have you join us here! Best of luck!

Ms Arielle Fri, Jan-10-20 23:39

I rather like the simplicity of a list of allowed foods. two fists of salad greens, and a fist of allowed vegies. easy on the brain. no counting.

I was tired of tracking every carb.

Meats and fats ad lib.

This is dr Westman's version of Atkins.

WereBear Sat, Jan-11-20 04:37

Whenever I make a big food change (which I have done several times over the years) I get strict with weighing and counting. This gives me a sense of what works, so I can take off the training wheels and just ride :)

Like last year at this time, I went very strict on both carbs and the kinds of foods I was eating. I tracked with an app called Carb Manager. This is free, and can be upgraded for access to recipes and tips.

I used the free setting for three months and that taught me my new rules.

One of the things I loved about it was the feature where I could scan something in the grocery store and it would show me the macros, and put all the info in my app for later. It also had an extensive food list I could just search for.

With that and a good food scale, I knew what was going on for ingredients and portion size. If I had a flare of my autoimmune, I could look back and see exactly what I had eaten.

Don't guess. KNOW.

Benay Sat, Jan-11-20 04:59

Wearbear - I agree with you completely

"Don't guess - Know"

Part of my self discovery journey is daily weighing so that I can see when I am retaining fluid and gaining a couple of pounds. I go back to what I ate the day before to see what I ate that might have caused the fluid retention. If I only weigh weekly, I never know whether it is a blip or a real weight gain.

The old adage "my eyes are bigger than my stomach" comes in to play when I am "eyeballing" amounts. Weighing and measuring gives me a true account of what I am putting into my mouth.

My computer program allows me to see my weight loss journey in a graph. When I do not weigh and measure - I gain.

Perhaps in another 2 months, I might be able to relax a little, but if history repeats itself, I will regain what I have lost.

BeachDonna Sat, Jan-11-20 21:31

Easiest for me:
(1) Don't eat sugar, grains, potatoes or beans.
If I'm not sure if something is too carby, I'll check the label and aim for a serving that is less than about 6 grams net carbs (example, a small bit of very dark chocolate).
(2) Eat only when I'm actually hungry and stop when satiated.
(3) Use butter, heavy cream, coconut oil, cream cheese, etc. liberally (very satiating).
(4) Lots of water.

Keeping it easy for a lifelong way of eating.

DaisyDawn Mon, Jan-13-20 05:34

I started this post way back in April and haven't been on the site in a few months. The thread response notification emails reminded me of my account here though, so I'm checking back in :lol:

At this point I've been lower carb for around 10 months, and of those I've been predominantly animal based for 7ish months. I've had a hard time re-focusing after the holidays though and need to get more serious about my dietary choices again, so I think I'll get re-plugged into this site and start being more mindful/tracking my carb intake for a bit.


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