Good carb/bad carb/no carb/low carb ??!!

To me, bad carbs are the white ones.  I allow myself carbs from dairy, mostly cheese, sometimes greek yogurt.  I eat apples, berries, pears, oranges,  no bananas but not even one a day. My veggies are mostly green beans, brocalli, leafy veggies, summer squash, onions, peppers, etc.  I do beans and lentils but not every day and only 1x a day.  I try to stick to 1 carby thing a day so maybe a piece of fruit or chili with beans, or a piece of whole grain toast in a day, but not 2 of those things.  I would love to say I never have any bad carbs but I do.  I had a low fat sausage buscuit this morning for breakfast.  But I will try to stay away from carbs the rest of the day except for veggies.

My why is that when I was about 5 months out, I really slowed down losing.  I was tracking then and although I wasn't tracking carbs, it came up on my tracker.  I changed to 30 or less net carbs (I just subtract the fiber to get the net) but stayed at the same calories and started losing again. 

Hi Price, thanks for the information.  I am sure I will have bad carbs once in a while.  I know I dont dump, so sugar is always calling my name.  I resist 9 days out of 10.  PMS week is the worst for my control.  I have  been losing fairly steadily, 10 lbs last month witch I think isn't bad for month 4.  In my mind split peas seem to be similar to lentils in nutrition.  I will look into that for curiosity.  I am also going to check into the glycemic index as Liz uses it.

 vie been on so many diets that the whole carb thing confuses me too. I just count carbs and we haven't eaten white food in hers (bred, sugar, pasta, rice). We use MFP to track what were eating and it helps keep us on track. 

I have done low carb diets in the past.  I actually did one for almost 2 years back in my early 30s.  I dont want to feel like I am on a diet for the rest of my life.  I am going to try to educate myself on the glycemic index as Liz suggested she uses above, sound like something I can use as a basis of eating without having to track everything I eat. 

Thanks for your reply

Candy

Well my doctor has me in "maintenance" eating plan at this point which allows 9-15 oz of protein a day spread out over 3 meals, 1/2 c veggies, 1/2 c fruit, 1/2 cup of complex carbs, 1 serving a dairy. I eat/drink protein.

I don't eat any fruit, rarely eat veggies (I don't like them), I am lactose intolerant so no milk for me (he doesn't count cheese eggs as dairy), and I've limited myself to 1/2 cup carb max 3 days a week. Sometimes I have a slice of whole wheat toast, sometimes I have a 1/4 cup of potato (I can't get in much more than that if I eat my protein requirement first). I've never tracked my carbs but plan to eat in moderation as I'm doing now. Once I'm further out and trying to maintain at goal I may need to adjust that but I didn't have the surgery to never have carbs again. I also didn't try to fool myself that I'd eat things I've never liked.

I have gone off plan a few times in the last month and had pizza (usually because it's easy), I know it's not healthy and plan on limiting it to once a month from here forward.

I also found out last night my RH that I had prior to surgery is still there and I had carb coma so I know I MUST stay on task with them.

Wow congratulations on being in maintenance already!  I could live with your maintenance plan.  I love fruit and veggies so it would be a good plan for me.  Moderation is easier now that I have my tool to keep portions small.  I dont know what my surgeon uses for maintenance eating as i still have a way to go. I wont be surprised if am in maintenance by summer.   I totally agree with not wanting to never eat carbs again.  If I could have done low carb forever I would not have needed the surgery.  I am going to look into glycemic index eating as Liz uses it with success and it sounds like something that I can adjust to.

Once a month as a planned off plan eating day sounds more than reasonable to me, and knowing that is worked into my life would help me stay on track the rest of the time.

Thanks for taking the time to reply to me

Candy

Bolton line for me is that I avoid simple carbs and limit complex carbs because they make me hungry! That's pretty much it

I watched carbs while losing weight.  I kept them under 50.  Now I don't count them and I have been lucky because they don't seem to affect me as far as weight goes but, that said, I totally avoid all sugar and gluten.  No wheat in any form, whole wheat or not.  I cannot control myself when I start.  I dump so sugar is out but it would have been anyway since I am such a sugar ***** I found out about my dumping by accident when I had something with sugar instead of sugar free.

Now I eat things like oatmeal, bananas and gluten free breads that are high in carbs but I eat a limited amount.  I will have gluten free pasta rarely just because I am limited in what I can eat and after I finish my protein there isn't much room for anything else.  I also eat potatoes, no rice because I don't care for it and lots of dairy.  I just don't eat a lot and it hasn't affected my weight so far.  If I do find myself gaining weight then I will reevaluate and start keeping track.  But most of the time my carbs come from natural sources and are not refined.  The last time I kept track I was at about 200 grams a day.  The main thing for me is to make sure I get in my protein and that anything I eat has nutritional value.  That is why I have a lot of milk and yogurt.  I also have sugar free candy but not in a while because I can't chew right now.

I always advice people to keep the carbs low while losing.  The losing phase is not the time to eat bread and pasta.  It just has no value and it will slow down the weight loss.  Once you hit your desired weight then, if you want, you can try out carbs and see how you do with them, as long as you are willing and able to give them up if they cause you problems.  I know I am not so I just stay away from them, except things that aren't refined.

Thanks Ladytazz.  Some comments about the banana I had in a shake made me wonder.  Rice hurts my pouch, potatoes and pasta don't taste like anything to me now.  Bland and yucky (I tried a bite, and the pasta I actually went and spit out)  I do like sweet potatoe (few tablespoons)  with pumpkin pie spice in it.  Moderation is soooo much easier with my tool.

Candy

So all the responses made me wonder what officially does my doctor want so I dug up the RNY/Gastric Sleeve notebook that he and the hospital gives to patients. For the Stage 5 (last stage) after surgery, the recommendations are for three ranges of caloric needs (after the dietitian helps you determine which one you are likely going to settle in at (I was also told that some WLS pts can settle in at under 1,000 calories per day and that is not included in these ranges):

1,000 calories:  3 starch, 7 extra lean meats, 2 vegs, 2 fruits, 1 low-fat milk, 2 fat

1,2000 calories:  4 starch, 8 extra lean meats, 2 vegs, 2 fruits, 2 low-fat milk,  3 fat

1,5000 calories:  5 starch, 9 extra lean meats, 3 vegs, 3 fruits, 2 low-fat milk,  4 fat

The servings are based on the exchange program that many diabetics use, example, a meat serving is 1 oz is a meat serving and 1/2 cooked vegs is a serving).

I'm eating at 1,200 comfortably with occasional days less. My NUT and I have me increase vegs servings and decrease fruit servings for my personal needs (to counter constipation). I do not have any problem with vegs. I eat only my homemade bread with is loaded with oatmeal (some the NUT said doesn't expand in the stomach and is often well tolerated, higher in good fiber) but I've taken a few bites of other breads and it doesn't seem to set well. My only fruit is a few slices in my water pitcher for flavoring or 1/2 apple nuked in the microwave with parmesan on it (yummy).