Whats a good goal

Whats a good goal for meal time carb intake. I am trying to reduce carbs, but have no idea what to set my ranges/goals for breakfast, lunch, dinner and so forth. I am a big carb eater right now, but like the idea of being <130 grams for a whole day. My problem is staying full between meals and so forth.

I try to stick around 45 grams. That’s like a sandwich with a salad (no croutons). I think it’s about 3 servings. As for between meals I snack on free stuff or real low carbs. A lot more vegs. and salad. Hope this helps.

Not sure if you can answer a question like that without some reference to BG targets, doses, and activity level. There are days full of all kinds of activity when I’m well over 200g, days when I’m closer to 150g, and every so often I’ll find myself under 120g when I’m in complete couch potato mode. Are you having unacceptable spikes and crashes? Looking to trim down a bit?

The low carb folks can correct me if I’m wrong but my understanding is that typical low carb diets like Bernstein’s restrict carbs to the point that your metabolism has no choice but to switch over to a fat burning and ketogenic metabolism. That requires very specific carb intake targets.

Im mainly looking to trim down to help improve insulin absorption, effectiveness, and overall physical appearances. My BG targets are pretty spot on as it stands now. I usually like to keep it right around the 100 mark in the day, and about 120-130 at night. I have began noticing that I can drop my BG quite a bit by exercise alone, and thats encouraging. I exercise about 30-45 minutes a day on my home exercise bike. Other than that, im not looking to starve to death, and thats my main issue. I can eat healthy and do well on a diet, but like 1hr later and im STARVING! Any help there (keeping full and keeping carbs/calories low) would be GREATLY appreciated. Let me know if you need any other info.

James

Thank you also for the help Keith, I didnt mean to forget to say thank you! I will definately try that for sure. Sounds pretty filling too if done correctly. Thanks again sir!

Oo, double whammy there for me James. I have to do everything I can to maintain my weight AND my appetite is abysmal. I do find that I have to snack, often, to maintain my BG but a packet of Market Pantry fruit snacks every so often covers my between meal snacks. Nuts and beef jerky type snacks barely register on my BGs unless I eat A LOT of it and I just don’t have the appetite to do that.

Based on your BGs, my philosophy is that if ain’t broke, don’t fix it. But, hey, Keith’s suggestion seems solid and the only way you’ll know for sure is to just start decreasing the amount of carbs you eat per meal and see how it affects your BG and control.

I guess my personal suggestions, for your goals, would be to vary your exercise a bit. Weight or strength training will do wonders for your physical appearance and the increased muscle mass will definitely help your insulin absorption. That alone will also affect the ratios of the types of food you’ll eat. You may find that decreasing your carb intake is not as necessary as increasing your protein and fat intake, which will also help keep you full longer.

Adding weight and strength training to your routine doesn’t really add much time to your usual workout. It could be as simple as 10 minutes of push-ups and pull-ups after your bike. There are a ton of inexpensive home exercise products that work fine. If your’e like a lot of people who start on weights, as your body changes, so does your motivation and the next thing you know, you’re at World Gym benching 300 lbs and squatting 500 lbs.

Hope that helps!

The more carbs you eat, the more you’ll want. It becomes a vicious cycle. I know because I was carb junkie.Within 2-3 weeks my carb cravings went away. Honestly, they hold no appeal for me now.

Carbs are quickly metabolized so they leave us hungry. With sufficient protein & fat, you won’t be hungry eating less carbs.

Low carb is an excellent route to losing weight & lowering insulin doses, which also aids in weight loss. Far better BG control this way also. I have much more energy & feel great since eating differently. I’ve been following Dr. Bernstein’s recommendations for over two years. It’s not a starvation diet.

Why don’t you try snacking? I always like snacking, I am sure you will find it quite pleasing.

How about some low/no carb snacks? Know of any?

How about cheese, nuts, cottage cheese, beef jerky?

Sound good?

Give it a try!