Breakfast Cereals and Granola Bars

JWebb

I've been doing a lot of reading lately and I'm trying to change my diet to very low carbs (bad carbs anyway - not carbs from veggies and fruits) and high protein for training of course.

I have not paid that much attention to carbs, but have lost quite a bit of weight in the last 6 months (training and cardio and eating better) but I'm still trying to get some fat off the middle and it's being a pain.

Most mornings I would simply have a bowl of cold cereal. We use 2% milk (yes, I know not that great, but that's what the wife wants in the house).

We have various cold cereals that we buy, depending on what is on sale that week. Right now, we've got Mini-Wheats (Strawberry) and Honey Bunches of Oats.

I thought having a small bowl of this each morning for breakfast would be alright. Now I'm not so sure. The Mini-Wheats have 45g or carbs per serving, while the Honey Bunches of Oats have 25g.

Am I being a little overboard thinking about cutting carbs like this out almost completely? Are these OK to have or is the bad carbs here really not great for the diet?

Egg whites every morning with a splash of milk get a little boring.

Same goes with granola bars. I think most people think they are quite healthy and we have bought them quite a bit. We generally buy big boxes of Nature Valley Crunchy Granola Bars and I'll have one post workout with an apple or with soup at lunch.

Well, in really examining the contents, a typical bar has 30+g of carbs. 13g of that from sugar and only 3g from fibre. These can't be very good at all for a high protein, low carb diet can they?

Thoughts? Help...

JWebb · Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2007 3:41 pm Post subject:

In an effort to try and figure out where my carbs should be at, I found the following link:

http://www1.wfubmc.edu/heart/Being+Heart+Healthy/Health+Calculators

Some interesting calculators there, but I'm not all that sure they are very accurate. Thoughts on these anyone? Especially the carb and protein calculators and the nutritional needs calculator.

The carbs calculator says I should be eating about 398g per day. This seems quite high.

The protein calculator says 108g per day. This seems close.

The nutritional needs calculator (based on high physical activity and a weight goal to maintain weight (I'm looking to lose fat, but not much more weight at this time)) states I should be eating:

3241 calories a day
486g of carbs
81g protein
108g fat

That all seems really high to me.

If I set the calculator to lose weight, I get the following:

2741 calories a day
411g of carbs
69g protein
91g fat

Are these calculators out to lunch? Anyone have better info/links?

Thanks.

R46624 · Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2007 5:21 pm Post subject:

69g of Protein a day?!! Seems low for weight training... jeez I'm all day hunting around like a "Protein Predator".. trying to get about 200g / day!

Keep on, keepin on man... I'll be interested...
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Cherrioman · Posted: Fri Mar 09, 2007 1:11 am Post subject:

i agree with R4 that the protein is too low. 69 grams is way less than I try to get each day. In my personal opinion, cutting some carbs is good but dont' cut them all out of your diet. we all need carbs and if you cut them out almost entirely, as soon as you go back to eating normally, you'll gain a lot of weight back.

JWebb · Posted: Fri Mar 09, 2007 3:05 am Post subject:

I knew I shouldn't have posted that second part. It's really not about what those silly calculators say guys.

I'm more interested in those who have read or had any experience with cold cereals or granola bars.

It would seem the carbs from them are not all that great. Thoughts? Experience?

BIG EDDY · Posted: Fri Mar 09, 2007 10:03 am Post subject:

How about some good old fashioned oatmeal J? You can microwave some in about 2-3 minutes and I "flavor up" mine by stirring in some whey protein powder....a little milk and sometimes just a few raisins. Plus the whole grain is good fiber content so that you don't get "BACKED UP" with all of the extra protein intake Wink

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BIG EDDY · Posted: Fri Mar 09, 2007 10:10 am Post subject:

Oh and if you have to have cold cereal, try Kashi, it's good and good for you...even has a little protein in it... it's blander than frosted mini wheats and honey bunches but it's better for you.
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JWebb · Posted: Fri Mar 09, 2007 1:51 pm Post subject:

Vincent Valentine · Posted: Fri Mar 09, 2007 2:25 pm Post subject:

Oatmeal seems like a good idea to me as well. Good suggestion Big Eddy!

JWebb · Posted: Fri Mar 09, 2007 2:32 pm Post subject:

Well, I just finished some of that oatmeal. To me, this is what wallpaper paste would most likely taste like... Sad

I'm going to have to find something to add some flavour. Don't have any whey protein right now (gotta pick some up soon though) and I don't care for raisins. Maybe some milk next time.

I also buy sugar substitute packets for my coffee, so I'll try some of that in there as well.