While carbohydrates and fats are important to a healthy diet, many Americans go overboard when selecting food choices in these areas. "They taste good and promote overeating because of this," says Melinda Johnson, a registered dietitian and spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association. "I think that Americans overindulge in both fats and carbs, sugars specifically, leading to overindulgence in calories."
Definitions
Carbohydrates are found in foods with sugar, starch and fiber. Fats can be saturated, polyunsaturated, monounsaturated and trans fats. Foods from animals and some plants have saturated fat while fast foods, fried foods and many baked goods contain trans fats. Canola oil, walnuts and fish have polyunsaturated fats while nuts, seeds and olive oil are examples of food with monounsaturated fats. A calorie is a unit of energy. The Food and Drug Administration or FDA explains, "Calories provide a measure of how much energy you get from a serving of this food."
Percentages
Have 45 to 60 percent of your total calories coming from carbs for a healthy diet, according to Johnson and no more than 10 to 12 percent of total calories should be from simple sugars. "For a typical 2,000 calorie diet, this translates to 225 to 300 g of carbs a day and no more than 50 to 60 g of sugar," she says. "You should strive for 25 to 35 percent from fat -- trying to focus on the healthy unsaturated fats -- which would translate to about 55 to 77 g of fat a day for a 2,000 calorie diet."
Carbohydrates
Focus on two things when it comes to carbohydrates: Eat the right type and learn portion control. "Go for whole grains whenever possible over refined grains," says Johnson. "Get your simple sugar from fruit and dairy over candy and soda whenever possible."
Johnson also stresses learning limits. "It's not the pasta that'll make you fat, it's the amount and the toppings," she says.
Fats
Focus on eating fats that fall into the healthy, unsaturated category from natural food sources like fatty fish, nuts, seeds and vegetable oils, Johnston suggests. And just because it is healthy does not mean you can overindulge. "You can still overdo it even with healthy fat, ending up with extra pounds. A really good example is eating nuts for a snack. A little is wonderful; a lot is fattening," Johnson says.
Calories
The Mayo Clinic has a calorie counter to help estimate the number of calories you need daily to maintain your current weight. You input info in the calculator, including your age, height, weight and sex. Then you select an activity level and it produces a target number for you.
The United States Department of Agriculture offers similar information within its MyPyramid plan. It identifies the calorie levels for males and females by age and activity level and outlines them on a chart.
"It's also important to remember that food is about more than calories," Johnson says. "You want to try and choose the calories wisely and get good nutrition with those calories. Choose foods that are fresh, whole foods can give you proper nutrition: whole grains, vegetables, fruits, low-fat dairy, lean meats and other lean protein sources."
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