130g of carbs - how much fat & protein?

[Suirsam]

Hi All,
I have been pre-diabetes for some time, my last HBA1C returned 48. I have started the low carb diet but wonder what the split should be for fat and protein on my daily intake. Can anyone help?

 

[Deleted member 475901]

I eat until I am no longer hungry.
If you need to lose weight while low carbing and the weight loss slows down then cut back a bit on the fats - otherwise I just make sure I'm eating some green veg, proteins and some fat without counting it carefully.

 

[filly]

Hi All,
I have been pre-diabetes for some time, my last HBA1C returned 48. I have started the low carb diet but wonder what the split should be for fat and protein on my daily intake. Can anyone help?

Well, I track on Cronometer. That way you can see how much you are eating. It will also give you targets. My carbs are under 20g on a good day and under 30g on a not such good day.

 

[KennyA]

Hi All,
I have been pre-diabetes for some time, my last HBA1C returned 48. I have started the low carb diet but wonder what the split should be for fat and protein on my daily intake. Can anyone help?

I don't have any idea. Intent for me is 20g carb/day, and apart from that I eat what and when I want to. It's usually one meal a day only because I don't want anything more.

 

[catinahat]

I'm another one that can't be bothered with all the faff of measuring and counting things.
I just avoid all of the main carbs like fruit, bread ,spuds, pasta and rice, then eat as much of everything else as I need to keep hunger at bay.

 

[HSSS]

You do need to take in a decent amount of protein to prevent weight loss scavenging from lean muscle. Minimum official recommendation is 0.75g per kg of body weight but many believe that is too low. The more active you are the more you need.

That said if you are confident you are meeting this then all I would worry about is keeping the carbs low enough and feeling full enough not to snack.

 

[Suirsam]

I eat until I am no longer hungry.
If you need to lose weight while low carbing and the weight loss slows down then cut back a bit on the fats - otherwise I just make sure I'm eating some green veg, proteins and some fat without counting it carefully.

Thank you for your advice.

 

[Suirsam]

Well, I track on Cronometer. That way you can see how much you are eating. It will also give you targets. My carbs are under 20g on a good day and under 30g on a not such good day.

Thank you, that is low!

 

[Suirsam]

I don't have any idea. Intent for me is 20g carb/day, and apart from that I eat what and when I want to. It's usually one meal a day only because I don't want anything more.

Did you go straight to 20g or slowly wean yourself off?

 

[Suirsam]

I'm another one that can't be bothered with all the faff of measuring and counting things.
I just avoid all of the main carbs like fruit, bread ,spuds, pasta and rice, then eat as much of everything else as I need to keep hunger at bay.

Thank you for your advice

 

[Suirsam]

You do need to take in a decent amount of protein to prevent weight loss scavenging from lean muscle. Minimum official recommendation is 0.75g per kg of body weight but many believe that is too low. The more active you are the more you need.

That said if you are confident you are meeting this then all I would worry about is keeping the carbs low enough and feeling full enough not to snack.

Thank you for sharing the links

 

[KennyA]

Did you go straight to 20g or slowly wean yourself off?

20g from the start. No half measures. But do what suits you. The process matters less than getting where you're going.

 

[plantae]

I keep a food diary but don’t weigh everything. I’ll weigh when I think I need to re-calibrate my eyesight (I judge the weight of my common foods by eyeballing them or call a teaspoon 5g, stuff like that) or am having a new food so I know what x grams looks like. I have no evidence of this but I think I must eat less in the periods when I don’t weigh because when I weigh to recalibrate I’m constantly adding a little bit more of everything to satisfy the scales. Edit: I should add that because I’m on insulin I need to know my carb intake but even the dietician is happy with eyeballing food to estimate carbs and, therefore, insulin. If you need to be more precise I don’t know if weighing everything is necessary or not or if estimates are ok… based on historical messages I think others here estimate as well. The food labels and nutrition databases are essentially estimates (averages anyway) and it’s unlikely you have a set of calibrated scales so… you get the gist

I agree with the others: set a carb goal and let the fats and proteins fall where they may. Years ago I tried setting a ratio for each macronutrient and unless you eat very strictly from a meal plan or something (and if you choose to do that, ok) it’s essentially impossible and takes away from the spontanaety aspect of eating (e.g. oh I’d like some nuts right now) which for me at least I’d miss, because I like opening the cupboard and scanning my mostly out-of-date food and thinking yeah I’d like some of that

 

[Suirsam]

I keep a food diary but don’t weigh everything. I’ll weigh when I think I need to re-calibrate my eyesight (I judge the weight of my common foods by eyeballing them or call a teaspoon 5g, stuff like that) or am having a new food so I know what x grams looks like. I have no evidence of this but I think I must eat less in the periods when I don’t weigh because when I weigh to recalibrate I’m constantly adding a little bit more of everything to satisfy the scales. Edit: I should add that because I’m on insulin I need to know my carb intake but even the dietician is happy with eyeballing food to estimate carbs and, therefore, insulin. If you need to be more precise I don’t know if weighing everything is necessary or not or if estimates are ok… based on historical messages I think others here estimate as well. The food labels and nutrition databases are essentially estimates (averages anyway) and it’s unlikely you have a set of calibrated scales so… you get the gist

I agree with the others: set a carb goal and let the fats and proteins fall where they may. Years ago I tried setting a ratio for each macronutrient and unless you eat very strictly from a meal plan or something (and if you choose to do that, ok) it’s essentially impossible and takes away from the spontanaety aspect of eating (e.g. oh I’d like some nuts right now) which for me at least I’d miss, because I like opening the cupboard and scanning my mostly out-of-date food and thinking yeah I’d like some of that

Thank you Plantae, I think eyeball training is what I am currently doing and your reply has given me reassurance and confidence that I won’t be tied to scales.