Am confused about the definition of low carb diet

kdotmvp
kdotmvp Posts: 9 Member
Everyone is different, I get that so its hard to understand what a low carb diet would be for me. I currently eat ~150g of carbs in my ~1,400 diet. Any suggestion on what an ideal low carb diet for me?

Replies

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  • lisahebert186
    lisahebert186 Posts: 736 Member
    Everything I have read says to start out with 20g or less then work your way up. This is a confusing topic for me as well. Good luck on your journey.
  • kdotmvp
    kdotmvp Posts: 9 Member
    Everything I have read says to start out with 20g or less then work your way up. This is a confusing topic for me as well. Good luck on your journey.

    Thanks
  • flatcoatedR
    flatcoatedR Posts: 173 Member
    Hello, low carb is different for everyone. The Atkins diet says to start with 20 g. I did that for years, but now that Iam older, Iam working at being healthy and not just skinny anymore. I eat a 1200 cal diet, try to stay around 70-90 carbs, and my sugars around 25 g. I feel so much better physically if I watch my carbs and sugar. I've loss 60 lbs since Jan 4th of this year and still have just over 100 lbs left. Depending on how much you have to lose, you should lose on 1400 cal and 150 carbs, Good luck in your journey.
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,089 Member
    OP, I think to determine that, you would first have to decide what it is you're trying to accomplish by going low carb. If you don't know where you're going, it's pretty hard to figure out how to get there.
  • CharlieBeansmomTracey
    CharlieBeansmomTracey Posts: 7,682 Member
    edited June 2016
    low carb is carbs of 150g or less, keto is 50g of net carbs or less per day,. there is a bit of a difference. the first one you wont be in ketosis and the second one you will enter ketosis at some point(most people will need to eat less than 50g and others may not)
  • pvju
    pvju Posts: 115 Member
    low carb is carbs of 150g or less, kept is 50g of net carbs or less per day,. there is a bit of a difference. the first one you wont be in ketosis and the second one you will enter ketosis at some point.

    Is there anything negative about ketosis? Like is it hard on the organs or anything?
  • CharlieBeansmomTracey
    CharlieBeansmomTracey Posts: 7,682 Member
    pvju wrote: »
    low carb is carbs of 150g or less, kept is 50g of net carbs or less per day,. there is a bit of a difference. the first one you wont be in ketosis and the second one you will enter ketosis at some point.

    Is there anything negative about ketosis? Like is it hard on the organs or anything?

    from those that I know that are on it and have done it for years no, but its not a magical weight loss way of eating its still about CICO. a lot of people do a keto diet,it helps those who have insulin resistance issues,diabetes,PCOS and some with seizure disorders. its very hard to maintain for a lot of people and its very easy to be knocked out of ketosis,some will get whats called keto flu(you feel like you have the flu). there are a lot of keto groups on the site just do a search and you can get more help and info from them. ketosis is not the same as ketoacidosis
  • moe0303
    moe0303 Posts: 934 Member
    OP, I suggest you check out the main low carber daily forum group here in MFP. It's where most of us Ketofiles tend to hang out:

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/394-low-carber-daily-forum-the-lcd-group
  • CharlieBeansmomTracey
    CharlieBeansmomTracey Posts: 7,682 Member
    kdotmvp wrote: »
    Everyone is different, I get that so its hard to understand what a low carb diet would be for me. I currently eat ~150g of carbs in my ~1,400 diet. Any suggestion on what an ideal low carb diet for me?

    1400 is too low for a male,a sedentary male with NO exercise should not eat below 1500 calorie unless under the strict care of a doctor
  • kdotmvp
    kdotmvp Posts: 9 Member
    kdotmvp wrote: »
    Everyone is different, I get that so its hard to understand what a low carb diet would be for me. I currently eat ~150g of carbs in my ~1,400 diet. Any suggestion on what an ideal low carb diet for me?

    1400 is too low for a male,a sedentary male with NO exercise should not eat below 1500 calorie unless under the strict care of a doctor

    Its a bit awkward since I eat usually around 1200 cal
  • kdotmvp
    kdotmvp Posts: 9 Member
    Thanks everyone for helping me solve that. I decided its be best going carb cycling. 3 days low carbs 4 days normal (150g).
  • JoshuaMcAllister
    JoshuaMcAllister Posts: 500 Member
    kdotmvp wrote: »
    Thanks everyone for helping me solve that. I decided its be best going carb cycling. 3 days low carbs 4 days normal (150g).

    I wouldn't call 150g grams of carbs normal by any stretch of the imagination.
  • kdotmvp
    kdotmvp Posts: 9 Member
    kdotmvp wrote: »
    Thanks everyone for helping me solve that. I decided its be best going carb cycling. 3 days low carbs 4 days normal (150g).

    I wouldn't call 150g grams of carbs normal by any stretch of the imagination.

    Then what would you call it. Excessive?
  • JoshuaMcAllister
    JoshuaMcAllister Posts: 500 Member
    kdotmvp wrote: »
    kdotmvp wrote: »
    Thanks everyone for helping me solve that. I decided its be best going carb cycling. 3 days low carbs 4 days normal (150g).

    I wouldn't call 150g grams of carbs normal by any stretch of the imagination.

    Then what would you call it. Excessive?

    Excessive? My daily goal is 387g today and that isn't excessive. Top end low carb diet is 150g, I don't think many would consider it "normal" but what it is low. Your macros just seem relatively low as you have your kcal set to 1200 the baseline for a female not 1500 advised for a male.
  • CharlieBeansmomTracey
    CharlieBeansmomTracey Posts: 7,682 Member
    kdotmvp wrote: »
    kdotmvp wrote: »
    Everyone is different, I get that so its hard to understand what a low carb diet would be for me. I currently eat ~150g of carbs in my ~1,400 diet. Any suggestion on what an ideal low carb diet for me?

    1400 is too low for a male,a sedentary male with NO exercise should not eat below 1500 calorie unless under the strict care of a doctor

    Its a bit awkward since I eat usually around 1200 cal

    how do you know you are only eating 1200? are you weighing everything on a food scale and not in cups? are you picking the right entries in MFP if not you could be eating more than that and if you are doing all that and only eating 1200 then you need to eat more. 1200 is too little. heck Im 5'6 1/2,41 year old female and lose weight on 1600+,its slower but I still lose. If I can eat that much you being male and most likely younger (not sure about height) can eat more especially if you are more active.
  • CharlieBeansmomTracey
    CharlieBeansmomTracey Posts: 7,682 Member
    kdotmvp wrote: »
    kdotmvp wrote: »
    Thanks everyone for helping me solve that. I decided its be best going carb cycling. 3 days low carbs 4 days normal (150g).

    I wouldn't call 150g grams of carbs normal by any stretch of the imagination.

    Then what would you call it. Excessive?

    Excessive? My daily goal is 387g today and that isn't excessive. Top end low carb diet is 150g, I don't think many would consider it "normal" but what it is low. Your macros just seem relatively low as you have your kcal set to 1200 the baseline for a female not 1500 advised for a male.

    for him 150 may be normal for you 387 may be your normal. everyone is different.yes its low but its a decent level. you can still eat a lot of food with 150g of carbs.especially if one is eating mostly nutrient dense foods(veggies,meats,etc)
  • ponycyndi
    ponycyndi Posts: 858 Member
    I eat low carb for my diabetes, but I aim for a percentage, not a number. I'm trying to get to 30% of my 1560 cals, which is in the neighborhood of 100 grams of carbs. Most of that is from fruit and some dairy.
  • tryett
    tryett Posts: 530 Member
    Like ponycyndi, I aim for a percentage due to pcos and insulin resistance. Mine is 25% of my total daily. That is total carbs, not net carbs.
  • CharlieBeansmomTracey
    CharlieBeansmomTracey Posts: 7,682 Member
    newmeadow wrote: »

    Doesn't this group define low carb as 150 grams of carbohydrate or less per day - as OP mentioned? As was mentioned by @CharlieBeansmomTracey, ketoers are way lower than that. The membership criteria might have changed since I was in it over a year ago, but the majority of the posts were from ketoers.

    OP, 150 grams of carb per can easily include 5 cups of fruit and vegetable per day along with a serving of rice and potato. You won't be getting that with keto. If 150 grams of carbohydrate is what you're doing now and it's working for you, maybe you should stick with it. If you want to go lower, aim for 100 grams of carbohydrate daily and see how it goes. If you still feel your appetite isn't in good control with the lower carb approach, then I'd take the next step to lowering carbs to 50 grams a day, which would make you keto.

    I dont know if you read my posts or didnt comprehend what I stated.I dont know about this group because I dont belong to it. I was just stating that low carb is 150g or less and keto is 50g net carbs or less. I do know the difference between low carb and keto. did I say anything that was conflicting? I dont think I did.also when I was posting what I first posted the post about the group wasnt there at the time of posting.
  • Amazon_Who
    Amazon_Who Posts: 1,092 Member
    Check out this calculator: macronutrientcalculator.com/
  • CharlieBeansmomTracey
    CharlieBeansmomTracey Posts: 7,682 Member
    newmeadow wrote: »
    newmeadow wrote: »

    Doesn't this group define low carb as 150 grams of carbohydrate or less per day - as OP mentioned? As was mentioned by @CharlieBeansmomTracey, ketoers are way lower than that. The membership criteria might have changed since I was in it over a year ago, but the majority of the posts were from ketoers.

    OP, 150 grams of carb per can easily include 5 cups of fruit and vegetable per day along with a serving of rice and potato. You won't be getting that with keto. If 150 grams of carbohydrate is what you're doing now and it's working for you, maybe you should stick with it. If you want to go lower, aim for 100 grams of carbohydrate daily and see how it goes. If you still feel your appetite isn't in good control with the lower carb approach, then I'd take the next step to lowering carbs to 50 grams a day, which would make you keto.

    I dont know if you read my posts or didnt comprehend what I stated.I dont know about this group because I dont belong to it. I was just stating that low carb is 150g or less and keto is 50g net carbs or less. I do know the difference between low carb and keto. did I say anything that was conflicting? I dont think I did.also when I was posting what I first posted the post about the group wasnt there at the time of posting.

    I was agreeing with your post - I know you know the difference and that's why I tagged you. My reply was mainly directed to the OP and KetoneKaren (who is a member of the low carber daily forum), sorry for the confusion.

    oh ok sorry I was confused thanks for clearing it up for me lol
  • JoshuaMcAllister
    JoshuaMcAllister Posts: 500 Member
    kdotmvp wrote: »
    kdotmvp wrote: »
    Thanks everyone for helping me solve that. I decided its be best going carb cycling. 3 days low carbs 4 days normal (150g).

    I wouldn't call 150g grams of carbs normal by any stretch of the imagination.

    Then what would you call it. Excessive?

    Excessive? My daily goal is 387g today and that isn't excessive. Top end low carb diet is 150g, I don't think many would consider it "normal" but what it is low. Your macros just seem relatively low as you have your kcal set to 1200 the baseline for a female not 1500 advised for a male.

    for him 150 may be normal for you 387 may be your normal. everyone is different.yes its low but its a decent level. you can still eat a lot of food with 150g of carbs.especially if one is eating mostly nutrient dense foods(veggies,meats,etc)

    My point is how can it be excessive when he is not meeting his bodies needs? Excessive by definition is more than what is required, he is not meeting the recommended goal for a male, hence this cannot be deemed excessive or normal for that matter.
  • walker1world
    walker1world Posts: 259 Member
    May I suggest you don't take any of this advice. There a lot of books by a lot of doctors that will give you the best guidance. Every know of the atkins diet, buy most people try to wing it and not read the book.

    The book has a lot of information to help you understand why you should do or not do things. That helps you when you are eating out and on the go.

    I am following a Ketogenic diet, based on the "Art and science of a low carbohydrate living". This book is by Dr. Stephen Piney and Dr Jeff Volek. Thry are both research scientist. That have done clinical studies about low carb diets.

    Low Carbohydrate diets are based in the concept of insulin resistance. They only work if that is at the root cause to your weight gain. How insulin resistant you are also helps determine what kind of low carb diet will work best for you. If you process carbs with little insulin resistance then Paleo would be more your thing. If your like me and a little bit carbs is your enemy then ketogenic is the answer.

    If you can eat a standard breakfast and three hours later your blood sugar is normal then you probably won't benefit from a low carb diet.

    But like I said don't take any of our words for it. Pick out a book, wetter it is atkins, protien power, keto clarity, the new atkins for a new you, the Rosedale diet, Genocide or any of the other low carb books by doctors that have treated patients.

    Good luck.
  • walker1world
    walker1world Posts: 259 Member
    ponycyndi wrote: »
    I eat low carb for my diabetes, but I aim for a percentage, not a number. I'm trying to get to 30% of my 1560 cals, which is in the neighborhood of 100 grams of carbs. Most of that is from fruit and some dairy.

    Are yoy type 2? Do you still need to take insulin eating 100 grams a day?
  • CharlieBeansmomTracey
    CharlieBeansmomTracey Posts: 7,682 Member
    kdotmvp wrote: »
    kdotmvp wrote: »
    Thanks everyone for helping me solve that. I decided its be best going carb cycling. 3 days low carbs 4 days normal (150g).

    I wouldn't call 150g grams of carbs normal by any stretch of the imagination.

    Then what would you call it. Excessive?

    Excessive? My daily goal is 387g today and that isn't excessive. Top end low carb diet is 150g, I don't think many would consider it "normal" but what it is low. Your macros just seem relatively low as you have your kcal set to 1200 the baseline for a female not 1500 advised for a male.

    for him 150 may be normal for you 387 may be your normal. everyone is different.yes its low but its a decent level. you can still eat a lot of food with 150g of carbs.especially if one is eating mostly nutrient dense foods(veggies,meats,etc)

    My point is how can it be excessive when he is not meeting his bodies needs? Excessive by definition is more than what is required, he is not meeting the recommended goal for a male, hence this cannot be deemed excessive or normal for that matter.

    first of all I NEVER stated it was excessive,show me where I said that? I also if you had read all my replies that his calorie goal was TOO low for a male,or did you just skip over that part? as for carbs everyone is different. I dont see where 150 is too much or too little. what I did say was that 150g was considered low carb,and less than 50g net carbs is considered keto. I never said one was excessive or normal,I did however say that 150g of CARBS for him may be HIS normal,not everyone is going to eat the same amount of carbs. he can eat 150g of carbs and fill in the rest with fats and proteins, But again I stated that anything less than 1500 calories for a male who is sedentary with no exercise is the least amount of calories that should be taken in. It would have been nice had you read all my comments before you said I stated something that is clearly not there and I had never said to begin with.
  • JoshuaMcAllister
    JoshuaMcAllister Posts: 500 Member
    kdotmvp wrote: »
    kdotmvp wrote: »
    Thanks everyone for helping me solve that. I decided its be best going carb cycling. 3 days low carbs 4 days normal (150g).

    I wouldn't call 150g grams of carbs normal by any stretch of the imagination.

    Then what would you call it. Excessive?

    Excessive? My daily goal is 387g today and that isn't excessive. Top end low carb diet is 150g, I don't think many would consider it "normal" but what it is low. Your macros just seem relatively low as you have your kcal set to 1200 the baseline for a female not 1500 advised for a male.

    for him 150 may be normal for you 387 may be your normal. everyone is different.yes its low but its a decent level. you can still eat a lot of food with 150g of carbs.especially if one is eating mostly nutrient dense foods(veggies,meats,etc)

    My point is how can it be excessive when he is not meeting his bodies needs? Excessive by definition is more than what is required, he is not meeting the recommended goal for a male, hence this cannot be deemed excessive or normal for that matter.

    first of all I NEVER stated it was excessive,show me where I said that? I also if you had read all my replies that his calorie goal was TOO low for a male,or did you just skip over that part? as for carbs everyone is different. I dont see where 150 is too much or too little. what I did say was that 150g was considered low carb,and less than 50g net carbs is considered keto. I never said one was excessive or normal,I did however say that 150g of CARBS for him may be HIS normal,not everyone is going to eat the same amount of carbs. he can eat 150g of carbs and fill in the rest with fats and proteins, But again I stated that anything less than 1500 calories for a male who is sedentary with no exercise is the least amount of calories that should be taken in. It would have been nice had you read all my comments before you said I stated something that is clearly not there and I had never said to begin with.

    I think you will find it was you who jumped on my post rather than the other way around, all my correspondence was directed to the OP until you directly quoted me and I replied. At no time did I say you commented saying excessive. I feel its maybe you who should read the thread back. It was OP who was quoted in saying "excessive" and no I did not "skip that part" of your post, in fact none of my messages had anything to do with what you had to say. I mentioned his calorie intake to reiterate MY point. So I'll say again my point had nothing to do with what you commented, and I did NOT put words in your mouth like you seem to think.
  • fitnessjustin01
    fitnessjustin01 Posts: 239 Member
    I'd set a calorie goal and then focus on your macros from there.
  • CharlieBeansmomTracey
    CharlieBeansmomTracey Posts: 7,682 Member
    kdotmvp wrote: »
    kdotmvp wrote: »
    Thanks everyone for helping me solve that. I decided its be best going carb cycling. 3 days low carbs 4 days normal (150g).

    I wouldn't call 150g grams of carbs normal by any stretch of the imagination.

    Then what would you call it. Excessive?

    Excessive? My daily goal is 387g today and that isn't excessive. Top end low carb diet is 150g, I don't think many would consider it "normal" but what it is low. Your macros just seem relatively low as you have your kcal set to 1200 the baseline for a female not 1500 advised for a male.

    for him 150 may be normal for you 387 may be your normal. everyone is different.yes its low but its a decent level. you can still eat a lot of food with 150g of carbs.especially if one is eating mostly nutrient dense foods(veggies,meats,etc)

    My point is how can it be excessive when he is not meeting his bodies needs? Excessive by definition is more than what is required, he is not meeting the recommended goal for a male, hence this cannot be deemed excessive or normal for that matter.

    first of all I NEVER stated it was excessive,show me where I said that? I also if you had read all my replies that his calorie goal was TOO low for a male,or did you just skip over that part? as for carbs everyone is different. I dont see where 150 is too much or too little. what I did say was that 150g was considered low carb,and less than 50g net carbs is considered keto. I never said one was excessive or normal,I did however say that 150g of CARBS for him may be HIS normal,not everyone is going to eat the same amount of carbs. he can eat 150g of carbs and fill in the rest with fats and proteins, But again I stated that anything less than 1500 calories for a male who is sedentary with no exercise is the least amount of calories that should be taken in. It would have been nice had you read all my comments before you said I stated something that is clearly not there and I had never said to begin with.

    I think you will find it was you who jumped on my post rather than the other way around, all my correspondence was directed to the OP until you directly quoted me and I replied. At no time did I say you commented saying excessive. I feel its maybe you who should read the thread back. It was OP who was quoted in saying "excessive" and no I did not "skip that part" of your post, in fact none of my messages had anything to do with what you had to say. I mentioned his calorie intake to reiterate MY point. So I'll say again my point had nothing to do with what you commented, and I did NOT put words in your mouth like you seem to think.

    you were telling him that 150 was not what most consider normal. I just replied to your post saying that for him that 150g of carbs could be HIS normal. I also stated way before you did that he wasnt eating enough calories. as for hopping on your post,it was your comment not your post.This is also a public forum. I can quote and reply to any comment I like,so can everyone else. what your message had to say was that his carbs were on the low end,he asked for help,first he said he was eating 1400 then he said 1200 which both are too low for him,what I was saying was his carb level at 150 is fine unless he wants to do keto which is lower.