Confused about how many carbs are in your foods?

newbies
food
(Full Metal KETO AF) #1

I was doing lazy keto for 5 months and it was working well at the start. My recent weight loss has been slower so I decided to do some accurate tracking for a while. I’m using Cronometer and I like it pretty well, but I’m running into some issues with accurate carb counting. First off, there’s really no way to accurately count carbs, protein and fats I’m finding out because of discrepancies in various sources. What you get is some kind of average. Sugar content in various vegetables will vary with their growing conditions.

How can you possibly know what the fat:protein ratio of a rib eye steak is? How much of the weight was bone?

How many carbs are in a 6 cup Moka Pot batch? I have found stats for espresso that have carbs and others that say zero. My Fitness Pal says zero for Moka Pot coffee. Atkins says Starbucks 12oz espresso black has zero yet an americano the same size has 2 carbs. I drink a whole 12oz Moka Pot often so is it significant or not?

If you put 200 grams of bruised lemongrass stalks in a soup how many carbs have you added?

An avocado grown in Florida has 3X the potassium as an avocado grown in Mexico and there are many varieties of avocados that vary in fat content as well.

Tomatoes generally have one value disregarding varieties which can vary from bland to sweet as candy.

I like to cook all kinds of foods that are sometimes hard to judge just how many carbs are in some things. I guess we just have to make educated guesses sometimes if we lack accurate information.

I do like the fact that when you put in a food that you have assumed from careful label reading to be zero carb (bacon for instance), but if you’re eating 1/2 lb of it you’re getting several carbs. I am finding that it’s all a game of averages and that you might think you’re sticking tight with your macros but you might be wrong even using a tracking app.

Nutritional information
(Stickin' with mammoth) #2

Sneaky carbs used to confound me, too, but I’m a proponent of the When in Doubt, Leave It Out movement.

For me, restricting variety was the key. I went carnivore and actually lost my taste for most of the subtle flavors. I can still detect them, my body just doesn’t want them. Saves a lot of money, too.

Also, narrowing my menu down illuminated how much I used to use food as entertainment rather than fuel. Like Meerkatsandy quoted the Joe Rogan show, “You’re not a dog, stop treating yourself with food.”

(Full Metal KETO AF) #3

Okay that a little harsh, I don’t treat myself with food like a dog. I was however a cook all my life and I enjoy flavorful and varied foods and ethnic cooking like Thai, Mexican and many others. It doesn’t mean that I am anything other than a person with refined taste buds who is dedicated to the keto lifestyle and enjoy exotic flavors, spices and other aspects of good food. If you can be happy just eating a carnivore diet without spices or veggies and it works for you that’s great but it has little to do with the post other than excluding foods that are acceptable with normal low carb keto cooking. Keto has to be a sustainable lifestyle for me.

(Janelle) #4

This very thing would make life less enjoyable for me.

(Cindy) #5

@baconmecrazy, everyone’s keto (and life) journey is their own, but I hope that, one day, you might re-consider limiting the variety of foods you eat. Sure, we don’t “need” carbs for physical health, we don’t “need” many things for physical health. In theory, we don’t need relationships or friendships. We don’t need vacations. We don’t need music or art or…well, a whole lot of other things that provide variety and joy to our lives. Living is much simpler if you remove all those things…but it’s also a lot less “colorful.”

David, this is why I don’t track. It’s a false measurement. What really matters is the changes, the averages, over time. Obviously, that doesn’t mean eating 1000 g carbs one day and then none for the next month to create a low average, but I honestly don’t think it matters if carbs are at 30 one day and then 5 the next. Our bodies simply are NOT that precise and don’t care about the numbers. Unfortunately, we want to use those numbers (tracking, the scale, Dexa scans, etc), to say we’re doing something “right”…when our measurements should be more along the lines of “Do we feel better? Are we healthier? Are we happier? Do we see at least a trend, even if somewhat slow, in the right direction?”

Your post reminds me of the debates my husband and I used to have about our children. We unschooled. No grades, no standardized tests, no homework or curriculum, etc. In the beginning, hubby would say “But how do we know if they’re doing well? We don’t have any grades for them.” What?! So an A means what? That they’re smarter than those students with Bs? Or that they’ve learned the material well? What does that A mean compared to a student’s A in, say California? Does that A mean they’ll get a good job 10 yrs from now?

In reality, it means almost nothing. The school can have very lax (or stringent) standards that affects the A. The student can suffer from depression and anxiety and still get an A. Another student can be lazy, but naturally talented, and still get an A. Maybe the teacher curved the scores. Whatever. Instead, I’d say “Look at our son right now, As an 8 yr old, is he healthy, happy, and well-adjusted? Is he doing the things we think an 8 yr old should do? Is he responsible, polite, respectful, etc?” THOSE are the better measurements.

As I’ve said elsewhere…we’re all so much MORE than the numbers.

(Cancer Fighting Ketovore :)) #6

I just bought some boneless ribeye from Walmart!

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(Stickin' with mammoth) #7

I love the dog quote and when I mentioned it, I was talking about myself, hence the “I” and “For me” bits.

Uh, eating carnivore hasn’t reduced the relationships, friendships, vacations, music, art, or joy in my life. It has reduced my physical pain, emotional stress, skin, and waistline.

(Cindy) #8

Just trying to say that anything can be taken too far. Not that you’ve done that…but, for some, eliminating the variety in their food isn’t the answer, either. Some find it easier to go carnivore so that they can resist all carb temptations…kind of like fasting because it can be easier than making food choices. Again, not saying this is what you’re doing, but I think it’s important for people to recognize that extremes are not always healthy.

(Stickin' with mammoth) #9

Yum!

(Janelle) #10

Mine seems to be. I’m in the tracking camp. Not to the itty bittiest carb. But prefer to keep myself honest and to educate myself if I do crave variety.

Life is full of reasons to track - the story about your kids is interesting, Cindy. I got into college and paid for it via a scholarship, based on my grades. Getting an A was a good impetus for committing the learning to memory. I’m 50 and am still “graded” work. My keeping my job and getting an annual bonus is dependent on these ratings. Please inform your kids that they are, indeed, a part of life.

(Stickin' with mammoth) #11

Wow, I sure am glad I’m in charge of what I decide to eat and not strangers. How much would that suck? After all, they aren’t in this body, they aren’t receiving the biofeedback I’ve spent a lifetime honing, they can’t know how great this feels and how easy and breezy my life has become. Without all this amazing wisdom, they might jump to conclusions and call my lifestyle extreme.

Speaking of biofeedback, mine’s advising me to seek out a better feeling conversation, so…

(Full Metal KETO AF) #12

Like eating in restaurants. :cowboy_hat_face:

(Cindy) #13

No need. You’re right…it’s a part of life. They both have jobs, both are in college, they own a house together, my youngest plans to go to graduate school, the oldest just paid off his car. Unschooling doesn’t mean they weren’t part of “life.” If anything, they were MORE aware of how the world worked outside of the classroom because they experienced it. We used to live next to a teacher (and I used to teach) and one day she said “But how do they learn anything?” I was a bit flabbergasted at the idea that she thought learning only happened in school. Really?

I, too, went to college on scholarships based on my grades. I also know that those grades said almost nothing about my level of happiness, contentment, etc. There’s also a big difference between being “graded” for your job performance and grades given in school…but that’s a whole 'nother rant. :wink:

(Full Metal KETO AF) #14

Thank you, my sentiments exactly!:cowboy_hat_face:

(Cindy) #15

You took my quote out of context…that last, bolded part was important. I wasn’t making any judgments about what you do or don’t do because I’m not living in YOUR skin. I’m sorry if the conversation wasn’t “feeling good” to you…just trying to give the OP an alternate point of view.

(Full Metal KETO AF) #16

And I do as well but I think the post that I saw it in was more about snacking and keto treats and “rewarding yourself with a non ketogenic food” because you’ve been so good all week.

#17

Hmm, but if you increase the accuracy of your carb counting, you also need to increase the accuracy of your target. Is it really 20g? No, that’s just an approximation which works for most people most of the time. There is no point in saying you counted all your carbs and know they were 18.123456g Total Carbs but you have no idea what your personal limit is. Is it 23, 33 or 93?

Remember we do not need to count carbs to be in nutritional ketosis, we need to avoid insulin overload. We need to measure insulin not carbs. So you could:-

  • get frequent lab tests for insulin levels,
  • get a continuous glucose monitor, like Abbott’s Libre, but like carb counting, this is an indirect measurement but at least you’ll know - “hey I cannot get away with such and such a food. Or popcorn, yeah it’s ok for me.
  • get a blood ketone analyser, not to chase any particular number, just zero or not-zero.

I only found out I was knocked out of keto via my blood analyser, stone cold zero! That drove me to search and search for hidden carbs and I wasn’t off by 0.1g, I was off by 10g - I didn’t realise they put that much milk in those cappuccino’s. They are 90% milk, 10% coffee.

(Full Metal KETO AF) #18

@Alex99 I know what you’re saying here about individual needs and metabolic reactions. I am not obsessed about macros or carb counting really. I am just moving a little more slowly in the direction that I am going, and I am doing a bit of analyzing my choice patterns and how I have been doing not tracking. I have actually been doing really well since I started if I can project backwards with the last 2 weeks as an example. I tend to overshoot fats mostly, sometimes I am as high as 150% of what my macros calculations say I should be eating. I’m not sure how people are eating keto and falling short on fat macros! My protein jumps from 66% one day to 150% every now and then. I don’t think protein is the issue at all, low or high from day to day. And I was really good with the carbs averaging 15 net carbs varying from 6grams to 24grams on a few occasions. I just became acutely aware of the averaging, discrepancies and generalizations that are inherent in carb counting efforts and that there’s always going to be guess work, even for the most diligent trackers.

(Lara Butler) #19

For folks who track and see value in numbers…why is no one mentioning their ketone numbers? The purpose of the keto diet is to get into ketosis, right? And doing that will be an individual experience. I’ve been keto for nearly 3 years and have been in ketosis nearly every time I’ve tested my blood for most of that time. In the past 6 months I used an Abbot Freestyle Libre “continuous” glucose monitor a few times to dial in some detail on how different food, drink, exercise, sleep and stresses effected my blood sugar (which varies slightly below and slightly above normal). Keeps me learning about my body and that keeps me motivated. I also track my macros for the same reason. Jus sayin…

#20

Well it’s a costly little hobby for one thing :slightly_smiling_face: Some people get a kick out of it, some people need to do it for health reasons but most can just safely assume that if they keep their carbs below 20grams a day they will be in nutritional ketosis.