Carbs vs. Net Carbs

JinksE21

While I know a lot of Paleo peeps don't really track carbs and just trust the body, I am trying to lose weight (40-50 lbs) and would like to make sure I am not hurting my progress by having too many carbs in order to lose it.

I set my carb limit on MFP at 60mg and was wondering how many people go by that number or by the net carbs (carbs-fiber). And if you have monitored your carbs, how effective is/has it been for you?

homesweeths

I just do carbs and don't worry about the "net" part. My carbs are set at 20% (of my calories? Whatever MFP is calculating) which works out, for me eating about 1500 calories, to about 73 grams per day. I've lost 8 lbs in the past month, at a slow and steady rate, without much exercise. I hope to be able to incorporate more exercise as I lose weight and hopefully gain function in my knees.

I have to monitor my carbs because I have found that with eating primal/paleo style, I'm never hungry since I dropped grains, dairy, coffee and black/green tea. Sometimes at the end of the day, after putting in my dinner stats, I realize that I'm well below 20% in carbs so I'll have a cup of baked sweet potato for "dessert". I have never had the "problem" of not eating enough before this. Amazing.

craudi

I have my carbs set pretty low at 5%, so it ends up being about 20 carbs per day. I don't pay close attention to net carbs, but I do figure that if I go over my carb limit because I had a quarter head of cauliflower and a salad, then I'm okay!! I don't really think the 4 carbs in my lettuce are going to make or break me!

I will say that I've noticed different sources of carbs affect me differently. Potatoes don't give me nearly the cravings that corn (corn chips) or other grains give me. Thankfully I haven't been in too many situations lately where there was a lot of sugar involved, but whenever I have a heavy carb meal, I'm OUT. Cannot function anymore. I never get sluggish or sleepy when I have too many vegetable (non potato) carbs.

It's up to you I think. Some days I feel like doing net carbs might be cheating....but thankfully the fiber you're getting would be from non-grain sources anyway. Do what works best for you and what makes you feel your best!

Juliste

I have my carbs set at 30 grams (net 20) to a maximum of net 30 depending on how intense my workouts are. I eat a large variety of green veggies (no fruit) with one serving of starchy vegetable (usually spaghetti squash, buttercup squash or rutabaga). Any very sweet starch (especially yams and butternut squash) will definitely increase my cravings.

shar140

I just do total...less math, and it doesn't seem to make a difference to me. I eat a little more than most that have posted here, but try to stay under 100 if I can.