I want to try low to no carbs to burn fat - success stories?

emd2570

I was eating over 100 g of carbs daily - I want to try less than 50g a day to burn this last stubborn 20 lbs of old fat- any success stories ? Advice?

ColetteM6

Lots of people are successful with low carb! (Though I've never concentrated on restricting any macros myself). If cutting the carbs puts you in a calorie deficit then go, do, and be awesome!

JC77721

In order to lose weight, you must eat LESS CALORIES. It is NOT necessary to eat less carbs. For instance, let's say that you track your calories very well on this app and they turn out to be, let's say, 2,800 calories by the end of the day. You keep eating about the same amount every day and you notice that your weight increases a little, but you want to lose weight. In this case you should reduce the 2,800 calories to 2,700, weight yourself every fourth and seventh day, and see how much weight you have lost. If you lose a little weight or nothing, you can try reducing the calories again, to something like 2,600 and so on until you are losing weight as desired. Do not lower your calories too much and too suddenly though. They say men should not eat less than 2,000 calories a day, but I am not sure if the dame applies for women. The recommendation for losing weight is 1 to 2 pounds a week. I hope this helps!

SherriJo5830

I've been doing low carb for 2 months and am almost at a 20 lb loss. I've tried cutting back calories numerous times in the last few years and doing the low carb seems to be working for me better than anything else I've tried through the years. Everyone's body reacts differently so do what works best for you :-)

emd2570

I eat between 1000-1200 calories a day - been burning 500 -( 7 days a week I increased It to )at gym w aerobic plus weights -should I be eating less then that ?

cathipa

edalton2570 wrote: »

I eat between 1000-1200 calories a day - been burning 500 -( 7 days a week I increased It to )at gym w aerobic plus weights -should I be eating less then that ?

No you should be eating more. Select 1 pound loss per week, weigh your food and log correctly. And 100 carbs or less per day is considered low carb. Sounds like you are considering keto. As long as you are in a caloric deficit you will lose, but under 1200 calories per day is typically not recommended and won't get you to your weight loss goals any faster. consider adding in more resistance training.

Sued0nim

Carb reduction will certainly reduce your scale weigh as it strips the body of glycogen and associated water weight

Over time it will also reduce fat ..just as any other calorie defecit would

100g carb is already considered low carb TBH

I think if you're not continuing to lose weight eating at the level you think you are you have logging issues, so I would address those

MFP is full of errors, weigh all your food and double check every entry against packs and against other calorie databases ...

To burn 500 calories would be an intense hour of cardio for me ..so I would advise only eating back 75%

When did your weight loss stall?

emd2570

I usually eAt the same food tbh- egg/ egg whites for breakfast - chicken or fish for lunch and dinner - -I haven't noticed any mistakes but I will double check that - I lost 65 total - I gained about 17lbs back and in January this year started to get back on track - I lost 20 from Jan til now have an additional 20 to go - I increased cardio to 7 days a week - ellip treadmill and bike I try to burn 500 or more plus weights at gym - and some free weights - I've been at a standstill for about a month -

psuLemon

edalton2570 wrote: »

I usually eAt the same food tbh- egg/ egg whites for breakfast - chicken or fish for lunch and dinner - -I haven't noticed any mistakes but I will double check that - I lost 65 total - I gained about 17lbs back and in January this year started to get back on track - I lost 20 from Jan til now have an additional 20 to go - I increased cardio to 7 days a week - ellip treadmill and bike I try to burn 500 or more plus weights at gym - and some free weights - I've been at a standstill for about a month -

Can you open your food diary? Do you use a food scale? Are you logging daily?

Also, there is no need to cardio every day. If anything, that is going to be too much and you are not allowing your body to heal. Rest is where you make the gains. If anything, try a more balanced approach with 3 full body routines for weight lifting and 3 days of lifting.

kaylajane11

SherriJo5830 wrote: »

I've been doing low carb for 2 months and am almost at a 20 lb loss. I've tried cutting back calories numerous times in the last few years and doing the low carb seems to be working for me better than anything else I've tried through the years. Everyone's body reacts differently so do what works best for you :-)

No one's body is exempt from the laws of physics.

OP, it sounds like your stall is more of a logging issue than anything. Weigh your food and/or lower your estimate of what you're burning with your workouts.

LPflaum

Reducing carbs has worked really well for me. Its part and parcel of the whole CICO thing, there's just less calories in most vegetables than there are in bread, pasta, rice, etc. I'm not as religious with logging as other people are, so if I mis-judge the amount of zucchini noodles I eat, i'm probably off by 30-50 cal... do that with spaghetti and its closer to 100. I also find that I am full ALL THE TIME. I struggle to eat enough calories most days. I'm lactose intolerant, so I also eat virtually no dairy. I subsist on veggies and tons of protein.

Zoodles (zucchini noodles), cauliflower rice, and cauliflower mash have been lifesavers in terms of keeping most of my regular recipes in the cycle.

cindylynnb2016

I gave up sugar except fruit, and all white carbs, white rice, pasta, most breads except whole grain, potatoes and potato chips, and flour. I lost 80 pounds. I like the lentil pasta from Costco and the whole grain carbs I do have are only in morning or early lunch. Works for me but it's not for everyone.

Gallowmere1984

As many have mentioned here, what ends up causing so much of the loss with LCHF, is that many calorie dense foods are done away with. Pastas, potatoes, rice, breads, etc. This generally is more than sufficient to land most people in a decent caloric deficit, without calorie counting, just because of how carb heavy SAD is.

However, the margin for error is easy to screw yourself too. For example, overeating of nuts is one of the biggest tripping hazards that I've seen make keto dieters even more fat. But, if you are going truly zero carb, you won't have to worry about that as much, as nuts will be out. I personally find it genuinely difficult to eat enough high fat brisket, bacon, corned beef, etc. to go beyond my current deficit. It's part of the reason that I will have to start reincorporating some carbs when I go into a bulking phase for lifting, later this summer, after a couple of month stint with true ZC.

So basically, as long as you are maintaining a proper caloric deficit, and accurately keeping track of it, you will lose weight. Just don't expect the rapid early loss (water purge due to glycogen burnoff) to keep up beyond the first week. This often leads to people getting discouraged, assuming their deficit isn't working after a few days, blah blah, etc.

Also, apply to join this group if you haven't already: https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/394-low-carber-daily-forum-the-lcd-group

grinning_chick

I lost weight on Atkins NDR 2002 by the book in 2003 because I ate less calories/day on it than I was before I started. End of story.

I've plugged in various full days worth of food I was eating in Induction, OWL, and maintenance the first time I did Atkins (and so untainted by the internet/its forums) since I still have my food logs and they ranged from 1,300-1,600 calories a day during the height of OWL. Anyone else remember OWL? That step no one seems to ever reach in Atkins anymore, instead staying at Induction level (or lower, ffs) grams of carbohydrates per day forever instead? But I digress. When in maintenance, they matched my retrospectively calculated TDEE for the time.

I am also living proof you can spend years yo-yoing, even gaining, on a "low carb woe" if you adopt the attitude that calories don't/shouldn't count. Of course the plural of anecdote is not data, but if you ever find yourself in the same boat...

emd2570

psulemon wrote:

Can you open your food diary? Do you use a food scale? Are you logging daily?

Also, there is no need to cardio every day. If anything, that is going to be too much and you are not allowing your body to heal. Rest is where you make the gains. If anything, try a more balanced approach with 3 full body routines for weight lifting and 3 days of lifting.

I will open my diary- I log everyday and weigh my food - I am dairy free - don't eat a lot of gluten - I substitute the shititaki pasta zero for macaroni for dinner - to me I think my diet is fine - I cld be wrong -

cmarangi

I've done it both ways, I know it's CICO but...I tend to be less bloated and have an easier time when I stay low carb in addition to the CICO. I think to reduce it to a math equation is to simplify the complex system that our body is. I'm not itching to get into a debate, my advice is try the low carb and if it works for you, which it does for LOTS of people, then eat that way. If you can go with a strict CICO plan, god speed, I wish I could for I love me some carbs, but alas, my body does better this way.

cathipa

I see you use cups and spoons. I would recommend getting a food scale and weighing in grams or ounces. More precise since cups and spoons are notorious for being incorrect and leading eating more calories. Also just because a package says a serving weighs a certain amount doesn't mean the actual serving does. I've been duped before.

WinoGelato

edalton2570 wrote: »

psuLemon wrote:

Can you open your food diary? Do you use a food scale? Are you logging daily?

Also, there is no need to cardio every day. If anything, that is going to be too much and you are not allowing your body to heal. Rest is where you make the gains. If anything, try a more balanced approach with 3 full body routines for weight lifting and 3 days of lifting.

I will open my diary- I log everyday and weigh my food - I am dairy free - don't eat a lot of gluten - I substitute the shititaki pasta zero for macaroni for dinner - to me I think my diet is fine - I cld be wrong -

Your diary indicates you are not weighing all your food. For example, what is banana, 0.5 (eg 7"). What does that even mean? Half a banana that measured 7 inches? For 45 cals?

psuLemon

edalton2570 wrote: »

psulemon wrote:

Can you open your food diary? Do you use a food scale? Are you logging daily?

Also, there is no need to cardio every day. If anything, that is going to be too much and you are not allowing your body to heal. Rest is where you make the gains. If anything, try a more balanced approach with 3 full body routines for weight lifting and 3 days of lifting.

I will open my diary- I log everyday and weigh my food - I am dairy free - don't eat a lot of gluten - I substitute the shititaki pasta zero for macaroni for dinner - to me I think my diet is fine - I cld be wrong -

Are you using a food scale?

psuLemon

Gallowmere1984 wrote: »

As many have mentioned here, what ends up causing so much of the loss with LCHF, is that many calorie dense foods are done away with. Pastas, potatoes, rice, breads, etc. This generally is more than sufficient to land most people in a decent caloric deficit, without calorie counting, just because of how carb heavy SAD is.

However, the margin for error is easy to screw yourself too. For example, overeating of nuts is one of the biggest tripping hazards that I've seen make keto dieters even more fat. But, if you are going truly zero carb, you won't have to worry about that as much, as nuts will be out. I personally find it genuinely difficult to eat enough high fat brisket, bacon, corned beef, etc. to go beyond my current deficit. It's part of the reason that I will have to start reincorporating some carbs when I go into a bulking phase for lifting, later this summer, after a couple of month stint with true ZC.

So basically, as long as you are maintaining a proper caloric deficit, and accurately keeping track of it, you will lose weight. Just don't expect the rapid early loss (water purge due to glycogen burnoff) to keep up beyond the first week. This often leads to people getting discouraged, assuming their deficit isn't working after a few days, blah blah, etc.

Also, apply to join this group if you haven't already: https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/394-low-carber-daily-forum-the-lcd-group

OP, if you do want to go low carb, the link in this thread is a good start. But just be aware that you not burn off fat any quicker, unless that means you have greater dietary compliance.


Also, if you go keto (sub 50g) you should be aware that you need to increase sodium (3000-5000mg a day) and may have to supplement with potassium/magnesium if you don't get enough electrolytes in your diet.

emd2570

I will be investing in a better food scale !'