"Net Carbs"

Date: 1/17/2012

Workout: 30 minutes cardio and Personal Training Session at Rush at 6pm

Food:

Breakfast: Oatmeal w/ berries and clementine: 162 Calories, 34g Carbs (27 net carbs), 6g Protein, 7g Fiber, 2g Fat, 78mg Sodium, 15g Sugar

Morning Snack: ½ Banana and 2 Hard boiled eggs (whites one) and a tall skinny mocha: 197 Calories, 29 carbs (24 net carbs), 20g Protein, 5g Fiber, 1g Fat, 165mg Sodium, 22g Sugar

Lunch: Tandoori Chicken Salad on 2 pieces of Nature’s Own Whole Wheat Bread: 242 Calories, 23g Carbs (12 net carbs), 16g Protein, 11g Fiber, 3g Fat, 200mg Sodium, 10g Sugar

Tandoori Chicken Salad is a recipe I got from Ashlie from Fitness One. You mixed shredded chicken, diced mango, diced red onion, diced cucumbers, tandoori idian sauce, and low fat mayo. We will see how it tastes!

Afternoon Snack: 2 Tbsp. Peanut Butter and a sliced apple: 262 Calories, 25g Carbs (20 net carbs), 8g Protein, 5g Fiber, 16g Fat, 151mg Sodium, 17g Sugar

Dinner: Garlic Shrimp with Sautéed Veggies: 166 Calories, 0g Carbs (0 net carbs), 15g Protein, 0g Fiber, 6g Fat, 370mg Sodium, 0g Sugar

Total Nutrition Intake:

1,029 Calories

111 Carbs (83 net carbs)

65g Protein

28 Fiber

28g Fat

964mg Sodium

64g Sugar

I am feeling a lot better today. Last night, I picked up some medicine and took that and got a good night sleep in so I think that helped a lot. I still feel a little weak and light headed but overall a lot better. I decided to get some rest instead of working out this morning but I am going to the Rush after work. I plan on doing some cardio before meeting with the personal trainer for my free personal training session. I’m excited to try this because I have never had a personal trainer before so it will be cool to see what it is like. I know the trainer will probably try and sell me on buying more sessions but I won’t be able to do that now. Maybe in the future.

Net Carbs

If you noticed in my nutrition count today, I recorded net carbs. When I met with Ashlie on Friday, she explained to me what net carbs are and how to calculate them.

There are different carbohydrates and these affect your body differently. There are various types of sugars that are stored for energy and also fiber that is not stored. Fiber passes through the digestive tract without being absorbed by the body. Fiber also takes with it water and changes how chemicals and nutrients are broken down. The benefit of consuming fiber is that it produces healthful compounds and shortens transit time through the digestive tract. Sorry kind of gross to think about but true and needed for a healthy body.

Therefore, when you think about carbs, you want to think about fiber. “Net Carbs” are calculated by taking the total carbohydrate amount of what you are eating and subtracting how much fiber there is. For example, if there are 19g of total carbs in plain oatmeal and 3g of carbs, the net carb amount would be 16g net carbs. In other words, 16g of carbs are being absorbed by your body and the other 3g are not.

I did some research into articles about this topic. One thing I noticed is that some people, when calculating net carbs, include sugar alcohols and glycerin. I also noticed a trend in the advice given. Most authors on this topic advice people to not pay attention to net carbs and to simply make healthy eating choices and watch your portions. It is important to make sure your eating enough fiber because that helps in many ways also.