Exactly how much is needed? Carbs, protein & fat? Grams & percentages page

[TAWFUNGUY]

Hello Primal Community!

Just recently (5 days ago), I was diagnosed with Type-2 Diabetes after going in to the VA (I am a Purple Heart Vet - Desert Storm) after blowing off the signs of oncoming diabetes for 10 years.

Well, needless to say I am not in the best of moods so to speak about this news. I guess for me, I just never really could imagine that it would happen to me. But, it has and I need to do something about it and can use some guidance and help.

I am 41 years old.....

I am 6' 2" tall.....

I am 278 lbs......

I unfortunately lead a very sedentary life as I work behind a desk almost 14+ hours a day!


The VA is not all that forth coming about it, getting appointments prove to be challenging and getting the proper education or equipment from them.... well, it leads me to search all options. With that being said, can anyone PLEASE give me some input on what my intake should be for Carbs, Protein & Fat in Grams or even percentages and explain how to determine that?

I am thinking I need to have my calorie intake around 1800-2000. But again, I am going at this semi-blind. I want to drop my weight down to about 195-200 lbs and want to get the diabetes under control now rather than later when it is too late.

So again, any and all help, guidance, what have you that can teach me the specifics of how much the MAX Carbs, Protein and Fat intake I need to do would be greatly appreciate it!

Thanks!

[Athena]

Let me tell you to start dont worry about calories. Focus on keeping your carbohydrates below 50g a day and most of your calories from fat and protien. This means lots of fatty cuts of meats, eggs, fish and veggies. If you do this and eat until you are full. You will lose weight. Add in 30-60 minutes of walking a day if you can work it into your schedule. If you do those things you WILL lose weight and control your blood sugar.

[TAWFUNGUY]

Hello Althena!

Thanks! So I should keep my Carb intake down to 50 grams a day..... check.

What is the average of grams intake for Protein & Fat per day? I ask more so for education sake.

Also, II need to eat a lot of fatty cuts of meat? That is healthy for me and my heart too?

[caboose]

Hey TAWFUNGUY!

Let me just say, thank you for your service! And good luck with the VA. My husband and I just recently went through dealing with them and it's got to be one of the most frustrating things we've experienced.

Good luck with the diabetes, I will let more knowledgeable peeps give the advice.

[TAWFUNGUY]

Thanks Caboose!

[TAWFUNGUY]

Ok, so after Althena suggested less than 50 grams of carbs per day, I started doing more research, percentage calculators, etc..... again, I am totally shooting in the dark with this.... however, this is what I came up with.... PLEASE let me know if this sounds right!

With my age, weight, and height (as shown in the first post) and shooting for an 1800 calorie a day goal.... (roughly)

Carbs should be 50 grams

Protein should be at around 270 grams

Fat should be at around 58 grams

Does this seem about right? If not, would love more input and suggestions!

[Primal Toad]

Let me tell you to start dont worry about calories. Focus on keeping your carbohydrates below 50g a day and most of your calories from fat and protien. This means lots of fatty cuts of meats, eggs, fish and veggies. If you do this and eat until you are full. You will lose weight. Add in 30-60 minutes of walking a day if you can work it into your schedule. If you do those things you WILL lose weight and control your blood sugar.

Athena said it perfectly!

Ok, so after Althena suggested less than 50 grams of carbs per day, I started doing more research, percentage calculators, etc..... again, I am totally shooting in the dark with this.... however, this is what I came up with.... PLEASE let me know if this sounds right!

With my age, weight, and height (as shown in the first post) and shooting for an 1800 calorie a day goal.... (roughly)

Carbs should be 50 grams

Protein should be at around 270 grams

Fat should be at around 58 grams

Does this seem about right? If not, would love more input and suggestions!

That is A LOT of protein! If you eat that much protein then you won't have enough room for fat if you are only going to eat 1800 calories in a day. I eat around 2000 a day and average around 100 grams of protein. My carbs are around 100, sometimes more so that does make a difference. But, 270 is still massively high.

I would DOUBLE your fat intake and eat less protein. Eat a lot of healthy meats and eggs but also enjoy coconut, avocado, olive oil, etc.

What foods do you plan on eating?

[milehigh]

Depending on who you ask, they'll give you different values for protein intake. I didn't see any mention of working out, so your body isn't going to need extra protein for muscle recovery. Also, this means you can do just fine without a lot of carbs, so you might want to keep them low (less than 50 sounds like a good starting point, as mentioned earlier). I suggest you use them to spice up meals.

As for the protein, I'm going to say 1g per kg bodyweight. Which means around 130g for you. I haven't worked out the past year, and my estimation is that I've been eating around those figures of protein and I've kept most of my lean mass (my job means walking for 9 hours straight). You can also up the protein intake to whatever you'd like. It's proven to be superior when it comes to satiety*, so this might be useful for losing weight.

Eat when you are hungry. That's your body telling you to refuel.

* http://www.springerlink.com/content/3785437562h73l74/

[TAWFUNGUY]

Wow! I REALLY appreciate everyone giving me feedback! There is so much information and disinformation out on the internet that it is hard to know truly what is the best and what is what.

As far as working out.... although I am ex-military and was once in very good shape, I really can't see myself as a gym nut. What I do like doing is going out for walks in the evening or early morning.... either by myself or with my wife or my son. Running has never been my forte' either. I will most likely start up walking again.... I usually walk about 2-3 miles when I do get the hankerin' for a walk. I also will plan, starting slowly, to do crunches and push-ups once again.

When I asked about the specifics with grams and such is because I have been looking for a base-line so to speak on where to start. My concern with raising the fat is I have seen numerous places online talk about not raising fat..... I want to make sure that I don't spin myself into a heart attack or gain more health complications if that makes sense.

So, would this sound better for the numbers?

Carbs 50 grams per day (at first... say for about 30 days or so) then bump it up to around 75 especially when I add activities.

Protein at around 130 grams

Fat at around 60-70 grams


How does that sound..... better?

I know the numbers will need to be adjusted as I lose weight and my blood sugar begins to level out and such..... again, just trying to pin point a some what base-line to start with.

Again, THANK YOU to everyone and your input and guidance.

[tfarny]

Hey, thanks for your service. I just want to emphasize that looking at grams of this and that can be kind-of useful at first, but there is no magic rule, and everybody responds somewhat differently - plus, what you and I like to eat may be really different too. Saturated fat is NOT unhealthy. This is now finally starting to become common knowledge, not just "paleo" knowledge. Eat as much as you want, actually eat as much as you can if you want to lose weight and control insulin / blood sugar.
Here's a guideline to get what you're after:
1) keep your carbs low at first, 50 or 70 grams, whatever. You are a large guy. That basically means in the real world: drink water or unsweetened tea / coffee. NO sugar. NO fruit. NO juice. NO potatoes, grains, or anything starchy. Your brain wants to use 100+ grams of carb energy daily, so anything less than that is probably fine, but sure keep it real low for now.
2) Eat fatty cuts of meat - steaks, fatty burgers. Butter. Cheese, whole milk & cream. oily fish - salmon, sardines etc. Stay away from super lean pork chops and chicken breasts. Eat the thighs, the ribs, etc.
3) Eat avocadoes, coconut milk & other products,a few nuts.
4) Only eat when you are hungry, eat slowly, and stop when you are full. Three times a day at first, no snacking, then try out twice and day and see how that feels. Don't starve yourself or worry too much about what you "usually" do, just listen to your gut.
If you do all of that, you'll consistently have 50% + of your calories from fat, 10% or less from carbs and the rest protein. You will almost certainly be under your maintenance calories and lose weight quickly.
Within that rough framework, eat WHATEVER floats your boat without weighing or counting anything.