Calories!

[goodbyeeee]

Hello, I'm popping over from my thread about breakfasts in AIBU.

I'm trying to reduce carbs and alcohol. Started today. Thought was going well until I made a huge salad for lunch with avocado, ham, cottage cheese and beetroot and racked up 508 calories. Eek! I've since learned that beetroot was notvthe best choice carb wise

I know the point is not to count calories but it's a very difficult mindset to get out of. I'm also only 1/2 stone off my goal weight so really trying to eat better more for general health and wellbeing. My BMI is 21.7. So I wondered if that meant I do need to keep an eye on calories as well as carbs?

Is it possible to get the combo of low carb and reasonable calorie intake without being starving? I suspect the answer is no and you need to just accept the high calories and do more exercise?

It tends to be really hard to go massively over on calories if you're low carbing properly. I've been low carbing for about 9 months, but will still include carbs for DP. What I've found, is that if I have a slightly larger portion of pasta sauce, without the pasta, I'm full. If I have a smaller portion of sauce, but with some pasta (I do, occasionally, go off piste) then I need to eat lots more to feel satiated. It's really very odd.

So I'd suggest forgetting about the calories for now and just concentrate on the carbs. My BMI is now 20.7 (down from 26.5) and I have no intention of starting to calorie count!