 |
| The average person consumes over 300 grams of carbs per day. |
We couldn't find any reliable answers to this question, so our keto expert JP Wells set out to discover the real answer for himself.
How many carbs does the average person eat a day?
Three average western meals and a single soda add up to a whopping 305.1 grams of carbohydrates per day. The total daily caloric intake came to 3 036 calories. This closely resembles the average American diet.This is how JP came to this shocking conclusion:
Most people don't realize how many carbohydrates they eat every day
Those of you who know me know that most of my writings have been centered on the Keto Diet. I have built a brand that is dedicated to helping people achieve their weight loss goals by sharing my knowledge and experiences regarding fitness and nutrition.Obviously it takes up a great deal of my life. I love sitting down and talking to people about what I’m doing. I have found that the longer I do this, the more organic conversations seem to happen with people that have no idea about what the Keto Diet really is. I also have conversations with people that really have a need and a desire to live a healthier life... but just feel stuck.
These are the people that I feel absolutely blessed to talk to and share my passion with. Each conversation that I have is uniquely different. Over time, though, I tend to notice a few trends in these conversations.
Many people think that they eat fewer carbohydrates than they actually do
There are many common misconceptions or beliefs among most people when they first begin to learn about a low carb-based diet. One of the most common misconceptions that I see is how many carbohydrates people believe they are eating vs. how many they are actually eating once they sit down and really take stock of it all.The same goes for calories, too; but that’s a topic for another day.
My investigation into the truth behind average carbohydrate intake
I decided that it would be helpful to track an average, everyday person throughout the day and count the carbs in what they eat on a perfectly normal day.Before I get into this, I want to start by saying that this will obviously change drastically depending on where you live- and what sort of lifestyle you are used too.
One person’s 'average' is most likely another person’s 'bizarre'. That was the first thought that came to my mind when we discussed the idea of 'the average carbohydrate intake'. I'll assume that we mean 'most popular in the western world', although that does not make it 'average' by any means.
I found my perfect test subject
That being said, I decided to track one of my roommates on a typical day. He is an American male in his early 30’s. He is active, but does not follow a regular fitness or nutrition routine. He works a skilled trade's job on a construction site. He is not grossly overweight nor is he in extremely good shape (don't tell him that).All of these facts seemed fairly 'average' to me, who I felt made him a perfect candidate.
The only thing out of the ordinary from the majority of people is the fact that he works 12 hour days for 7 days a week and only receives 1 day off every other weekend - meaning that he does not have as much time to shop for groceries or cook like the average person does.
The one-man, one-day observational study about average carbohydrate intake
You will soon realize that what he ate on this particular day is very similar to what most of us eat on the majority of our days. His diet did not seem out of the ordinary - it certainly wasn't for him.Breakfast
The day starts bright and early. We're up at 5:30 and out of the door within 10 minutes to be at work at 6:00 am.We are currently living on an island in the Caribbean, so options for any food on the way to work are virtually non-existent at this time of the morning. When we get to work, someone makes a pot of coffee. He always has a cup of coffee, first thing, while we sit through the morning's safety meeting.
Depending on how you take your coffee, this can be a potentially huge source of carbs from sugar.
I always use the MyFitnessPal app from Under Armor to track nutritional totals, but there are a ton of options out there to choose from. Check out my article Top 5 Keto Apps of 2020 to discover a few other great options.
I asked my roommate how he took his coffee. He does not use any cream or sweetener. This makes his morning cup of coffee almost non-existent on the macro-nutrient (nutrients that can turn into fat) scales. In fact for our purposes his cup of coffee records absolutely 0 grams of carbs.
One cup of coffee - zero carbs and 0 calories so far
After the meeting someone in the office volunteers to go get the entire crew breakfast. They say they are running to Wendy’s and begin taking orders. My roommate decides that he is hungry and so he orders a sausage, egg and cheese breakfast sandwich.
We all know that fast food is not the healthiest choice for us. This is about the average person like you and me. Sometimes in everyday life, time and convenience trump health and nutrition. I felt that this was a really appropriate meal for the purposes of this article.
According to my app one 'Artisan Sausage Egg Sandwich' contains 500 calories with a whopping 31 grams of carbs! Pretty much all of these carbs are contained in the bun of the sandwich and can be easily avoided by simply removing the bun if you are trying to follow a low carbohydrate lifestyle. But for the sake of what we are looking at, we are not doing that today. This brings our current total for the day to 31 grams of carbs.
One sausage, egg and cheese breakfast sandwich - 31 grams of carbs and 500 calories so far
Lunch
The day went on like a typical day. Except for a couple cigarette breaks, my roommate did not stop working all morning till lunch time.He said that he had not had time to cook anything for lunches lately, so he would be ordering out to eat for lunch as well.
Everyone got together and decided that they would collectively order from a little local sandwich shop not far from the job site. He ended up deciding on a Cuban sandwich with a Dr. Pepper.
According to my app, this sandwich contains 696 calories and 35.1 grams of carbs. The soda contained an additional 250 calories with 66 grams of carbs.
This brought the total to 946 calories and 101.1 grams of carbs just for this one meal!
If you add in the 500 calories and 31 grams of carbs from breakfast, this brings our daily total to 1,446 calories and 132.1 grams of carbs.
Cuban sandwich and a Dr. Pepper - 132.1 grams of carbs and 1 446 calories so far
Dinner
We finished up with lunch and went back to work. Things continued as normal. We worked until 6:30 pm and finished another day of work. We were all tired and ready to unwind so we decided to go get dinner together at a local beach side restaurant just up the road from our apartment.
It was pasta special night so we sat down, ordered a round of drinks and began looking at the menu.
Pasta night at this particular restaurant is a valued favorite among our group. We all quickly decided on the Cajun Pasta with a side of garlic bread. Obviously with this being a small restaurant, it is hard to get an exact number for the macros so I went on my app and selected the most comparable thing.
According to the app, one bowl of creamy Cajun pasta has a staggering 1,310 calories with 115 grams of carbs. The garlic bread came to about 280 calories with 58 grams of carbs. This brings the daily total to 3,036 calories with 305.1 grams of carbs!
Cajun pasta and garlic bread - 305.1 grams of carbs and 3 036 calories for the day
Therefore an average day with 3 meals (breakfast sandwich, sandwich and soda, pasta and garlic bread) equates too many more carbohydrates and calories than the recommended 2000 calories per day.
Conclusion
So as you can see, carbohydrates and calories can sneak up on you real fast! This really speaks to the importance of meal prepping and portion control.
I’ve fallen victim to this as we all have for a long time. If you get complacent and just try to estimate things out in your head, you can easily think that you’re staying within your macros... but in reality you're blowing right past them.
You should never underestimate the importance of portion control along your fitness journey. That one act of consciously measuring out and preparing each individual meal for yourself is quite possibly the most important step to consistently achieve your goals.
No amount of exercise or effort can out work a bad diet. All of your effort and sacrifice can be completely undone by this one simple thing.
Success is nothing more than a series of small decisions made well over time. Learn to recognize those small moments in your life. Start to consciously make the right decisions that you know you need to make.
About JP Wells
J.P. Wells has spent the last 13 years of his life learning about -and pursuing - a healthy and active lifestyle. After sustaining a life-changing injury during his time serving in the United States Military, he dedicated his time to learning and researching ways to heal and re-build his body and get back to the active lifestyle that he grew up loving.
 |
| Meet JP Wells |
On his blog J.P. Wells Fitness, J.P. Wells shares the knowledge and passions that he has come to learn from the fitness industry and fitness culture. He understands that health and fitness is not just a one-time choice, but a lifestyle. Success in your goals is not made up of large single decisions, but rather a series of small choices made well throughout every day.
No comments:
Post a Comment