Labels, Labels, Labels: Count Carbs Not Calories

Daily Carb Goals:

• 15 grams or less per serving of food portion
• 30 to 60 grams per meal
• 100 to 180 grams daily                                                                                             

I find the easiest way to track food consumption is to read and count the grams of carbohydrates, rather than calories. I focus on my total carbohydrate gram intake and initially strove for a limit of 30 grams per meal (as a woman, age 60 and a low physical activity level), and a daily total of around 100 to 120 grams.  I encourage you to count carbohydrates and keep the range to 30 to 60 grams per meal, which is dependent on your gender, age, ethnicity and physical activity.      

Try to avoid any serving size that has more than 15 grams of carbohydrate.   This link provides excellent information on carb counting:  https://www.bd.com/resource.aspx?IDX=9850  

Follow this link for a thorough explanation of reading food labels:                            http://www.fda.gov/Food/IngredientsPackagingLabeling/LabelingNutrition/ucm2006873.htm 

     

Serving of Plain Yogurt

Understanding what you are eating by reading labels for the total grams of carbohydrate, fat and protein per serving and portion size is crucial to your success.  I strive to buy food with the grams of carbohydrates not being higher than the calorie combination of both fat and protein grams.  One gram of both protein and carbohydrate is four calories and one gram of fat is nine calories. 

Perhaps reading labels is a behavior change for you but is a necessary one, in order to select foods with minimal sugar, and the right balance of carbohydrates to fat and protein.

For some people one of the easiest ways to learn and begin to track food characteristics - carbs, fats, calories, and protein - in your diet is to use an online food diary. 

MyFitnessPal http://www.myfitnesspal.com  
is one such app. It has an extensive library of foods, so it’s quite simple to identify what you eat for each meal and any snacks, and allow the app to summarize your diet. 

There’s also an opportunity to record exercise and the app provides a calorie balance of eaten and expended.  An added benefit of MyFitnessPal is that one can "friend" other users and quickly build a small group of friends who can support each others efforts.

Tuna Vegetable Salad Blended With Plain Yogurt
Garnished with Melon

 You most likely have detected, that through this method, I likely increased my fat intake. Yes, I have increased my fat intake. I have found it is key in maintaining blood sugar control and thus hunger. I know most literature will inform dieters to cut fat and it may work for some people, as I do think there are genetic differences in people, but it didn't work for me. The next blog will discuss the importance of fat in regulating blood glucose levels.

In summary, when eating carbohydrates, concentrate on eating foods with a portion serving size of 15 or less grams of carbohydrate. I strive to buy food with the grams of carbohydrates not being higher than the gram calorie combination of both fat and protein, or along with carbohydrate I make sure I eat another food with protein and/or fat. Reading food labels as a lifestyle habit is instrumental to our success, in selecting desirable foods and eating the correct portion size to achieve and sustain weight loss.