• Guest - w'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2026 Survey »

Calories, Carbs and Losing Weight

S

sugarless sue

Master
Messages
10,098
Location
United Kingdom
Dislikes
Rude people! Not being able to do the things I want to do.
Calories, Carbs and Losing Weight.

Usually we talk about Carbohydrate reduction as being the most important thing in a Diabetics diet to help stabilize Blood Sugar levels and also to help lose weight.

I’m sure I’m not the only one however who ‘plateaued out’ at some point so I also decided to look at Calories as well as reducing the carbs.

Carbohydrate has 4 calories per gm.

Protein has 4 calories per gm

Fat has 9 calories per gm.

Working by using our respective RMR (Resting Metabolic Rates) we calculated the amount of calories we require daily.( Google RMR Calculator )

In my case 1550 taking age, height, weight and activity level into consideration. As I no longer lead a very active life because of injury this reduces my RMR total and amount of calories required. Therefore by eating round about 1000 calories daily I am slowly and steadily reducing my weight while still maintaining a healthy diet for me.

Similarly Ken does the same using his RMR calculations and he too is steadily losing the excess weight. These calculations can be found on some of the more reputable weight loss web sites and give a sensible way of losing weight. We also have to take into consideration the control of our BG levels as well and find that this way works well for both of us.

We both follow a reduced Carb low fat diet, me because I cannot eat a lot of fat and Ken because of other health considerations. Those that say you cannot sustain a stable body weight on 1000 calories or slightly more forget one thing, we are trying to lose weight not maintain it !

Obviously, once the ideal weight is achieved then you recalculate, always with Bg control in mind, so that you can then maintain your ideal weight and keep Bg control.

This is just another way of looking at a reducing diet, we use it but do not ‘push’ or say it is the ‘only way’ just another string to the bow when thinking about trying to lose weight.
 
@sugarless sue

Carbohydrate has 4 calories per gm.

Protein has 4 calories per gm

Fat has 9 calories per gm.

Thank you for this Sue. I have an unusual weight issue. These figures could be of great help, With the assumption that one has to be mindful of sat fat. Im looking to find 250 calories. eg 15g carbs . 45g protein plus 2g fat would be about right by this chart - Or similar. Thanks
 
Back in the 1980s and 1990s, losing weight by restricting your fat intake was very much a thing. I managed to lose a couple of stone that way, as did my mother before me. But sadly, it was derailed by commercial firms jumping on the bandwagon and offering "fat free" cakes, etc, which had a far higher sugar, and often calorie, content than normal ones! Nevertheless, if you can cook most of your own food (which I rather think we should do as much as possible anyway), it is very possible to limit your fat intake, although a certain amount of "good" fat is necessary for optimum health.
 
I don't limit my saturated fat intake at all, and haven't done since 2019. The Journal of the American College of Cardiology published this in 2020:


  • Several foods relatively rich in SFAs, such as whole-fat dairy, dark chocolate, and unprocessed meat, are not associated with increased CVD or diabetes risk.
  • •
    There is no robust evidence that current population-wide arbitrary upper limits on saturated fat consumption in the United States will prevent CVD or reduce mortality.

I do limit carb/sugar to around 20g/day. No idea about quantities for anything else, including calories.
 
Mrs Redboots said:
Back in the 1980s and 1990s, losing weight by restricting your fat intake was very much a thing. I managed to lose a couple of stone that way, as did my mother before me. But sadly, it was derailed by commercial firms jumping on the bandwagon and offering "fat free" cakes, etc, which had a far higher sugar, and often calorie, content than normal ones! Nevertheless, if you can cook most of your own food (which I rather think we should do as much as possible anyway), it is very possible to limit your fat intake, although a certain amount of "good" fat is necessary for optimum health.
Click to expand...
Prior to then, the advice for weight loss, (I remember an older relative, being told) was to cut bread, sugar, potatoes, pastry, sweets and biscuits and cakes. I don’t think many in UK had heard of pasta, and rice was only used in puddings.
 
Pipp said:
Prior to then, the advice for weight loss, (I remember an older relative, being told) was to cut bread, sugar, potatoes, pastry, sweets and biscuits and cakes. I don’t think many in UK had heard of pasta, and rice was only used in puddings.
Click to expand...
Yes, one cut carbs! Weight loss advice has come full circle.... As for pasta, we ate tinned spaghetti, frequently on toast; also tinned ravioli. My family have always cooked dried pasta, which was at first available just as spaghetti, but a friend in 1973 had never come across it and thought she disliked pasta! And one of my brothers-in-law hadn't come aross rice used instead of potatoes - and my sister-in-law cooked macaroni as a sweet pudding, like rice pudding. Was actually quite nice!
 
KennyA said:
I don't limit my saturated fat intake at all, and haven't done since 2019. The Journal of the American College of Cardiology published this in 2020:


  • Several foods relatively rich in SFAs, such as whole-fat dairy, dark chocolate, and unprocessed meat, are not associated with increased CVD or diabetes risk.
  • •
    There is no robust evidence that current population-wide arbitrary upper limits on saturated fat consumption in the United States will prevent CVD or reduce mortality.

I do limit carb/sugar to around 20g/day. No idea about quantities for anything else, including calories.
Click to expand...
@KennyA Im not familiar with studies from the US. The British government seems keen on us not taking high amounts of saturated fat and pushes the use of statins. The main use i make of fat content is to check labels, if somee packet has a lower sat fat than another I buy it....... the other reason is that my mother had a masssive stroke in her 50s, from which she never recovered and died 6m later just as i was taking my A level exams for College,UK. It has come to my attention tht he symptoms shr had prior to this were akin to undiagnosed diabetes.... Hence I am wary. I want to gain weight but Im not using sat fats to do it. Protein, and Carbs, & Cals seem a better route for me once my change of inulin is settled in
 
If you read the paper I quoted you'll see that the American College of Cardiology, which used to be a keen promoter of the "low sat fat" line has completely changed its position. This is because the evidence does not support the belief that a low saturated fat diet is beneficial.

You're quite correct that official advice in the UK is still to limit sat fat consumption and to take statins. This is unlikely to change soon, that's the nature of the way the UK has constructed its system. It also recommends (for T2 diabetics) that we base our meals on carbohydrates. I haven't followed any of this advice for getting on seven years now and have had normal blood glucose since early 2020, lost around 90lbs, stopped all medication for other conditions, and am playing football twice a week. I'm 70 next year.
 
Back
Top