Low Carb VS Moderate Low Carb - Question :)
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nixism
Posts: 258 Member
I'd appreciate any thoughts on this please. I was following LCHF, keeping close or under 20g of carbs, but it isn't really suiting my lifestyle. I struggle to eat "fatty" foods. I was thinking of tweaking my plan to be more a moderate low carb diet, ie: 50g carb (low or keto is 20g of carb). My question is; can you lose weight on a moderate low carb diet?
For instance, I have my goals at 50g carb, 75 fat, 150g protein. Or should I amend these?
Many thanks,
For instance, I have my goals at 50g carb, 75 fat, 150g protein. Or should I amend these?
Many thanks,
1
Replies
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As long as you're eating fewer calories than you're expending, you'll lose weight. The carbs have more of an effect on your hunger and satiety.
The most important factor in any diet is that you can stick with it. You want to keep the weight off long term, right? So it has to be livable long term. Go ahead with the 50gm carbs per day, give it a few weeks, and reassess. If it's working for you, stick with it. If not, tweak it a bit. But make sure you're prepared for a bit of water weight gain for the first few days/ week as you increase the carbs. It'll come off again.5 -
Give it a try. Sounds completely reasonable to me.4
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Yes. Many people can lose weight on a moderate low carb diet. Some probably get sick of hearing this: I lost my excess 60 pounds on total carbs of 160---->120 as I adjusted calories down during weight loss. I had my macros set at 40%c/30/30 and paid some attention to them but wasn't super strict with it. It was a guide I set for myself to allow variety but not enough carbs to be eating pasta and cake very frequently. I switched to keto (~20 total carbs) in 2016 for a reason other than weight loss then switched to 50 total carbs recently in 2017. I've been maintaining for 3 years, at goal. Keto is excellent for many for a variety of reasons related to health and habit. It helped me with negative eating habits. 50 is working fine too. I have plenty of room for vegetables, dairy and a little fruit and am enjoying all. I'm fortunate to have a seemingly healthy body with no food sensitivities or metabolic issues. For me it is calories for weight maintenance and macros for satiation/no cravings and health.2
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Part of it is what the carbs are. Avoid sugar and processed carbage (cookies, crackers, granola bars, chips, pasta, bread, etc.) and you will be fine. Get your carbs from real foods like veggies and some fruits. Especially stay away from the carby stuff that is labeled "low fat" because they like to put about 12 variations is sugar with different names in them to make them palatable like dextrose, high fructose corn syrup, evaporated cane juice, maltodextrin, etc.4
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100% Yes. I lost 80lbs in 8 months and was well above 50g. I've kept it off for over years years (give and take 10 at times). I went to trying under 20g once and felt fine but I didn't lose weight. I can in a low carb range that has space for a lot of veggies.2
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Everyone seems to have their own personal net carb calorie level that they can hover around and stay in ketosis.
Phinney and Volek suggest 50g may be a reasonable starting point for folks who aren't carb intolerant (diabetes, metabolic syndrome, etc.)3 -
Yep! 1
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You have to find what works for you as everyone is different. I would just recommend keeping to healthier high carbs. A sweet potato and an apple would put you into moderate carb I think.1
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everyone is different but give it a try, I try to eat 40 net carbs a day and it's been working for me.1
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It's really finding what works for you, your lifestyle and your body. I've been riding in this rodeo for a little over 3 years now. Twice I went completely off a LCHF diet because I realized I was looking at it as just that...a diet. I was so restrictive, so scale obsessed, it just wasn't healthy and i would obsess about carbs and "fall of the wagon" hard. This time around I'm much less rigid about it. I don't care if I'm in ketosis, I don't test. I stick to 35g (no net for me, just straight grams) of carbs daily but I do have a slice of pizza with my kids occasionally. And for anybody paying attention I was honest about how personally and professionally crazy the month of April was for me. I had MANY days over 50g carbs and failed exercise plans. I didn't lose much but the important thing for me is I didn't flip off the whole thing and faceplant into a vat of homemade sourdough rolls either.
TL;DR: Does your way of eating work for you in the body you have in the life you live now? I know many people that focus on "slow carb" eating and lose weight. you can totally do it!2 -
I'm in maintenance and I usually eat between 40-50 carbs a day. I don't really use ketostix much but sometimes if eat a carb heavy item I'm curious and I'm usually in ketosis despite it.1
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If you do just a little exercise it will have the net effect of. It taking in those carbs. I take in some carbs during exercise and it does not effect me.
Fibrous carbs from veggies land in your system a bit differently than sugar. So all carbs are not metabolically equal.
But at the end of the day, burn more than you take in and you lose weight.
You can eat too much low carb food and gain weight!0 -
50 g carbs is very low carb so you should be fine to avoid cravings and such. I actually have mine up to about 80-100 and do just fine with no real cravings enough energy and don't dump sodium like crazy. when I went form 20/30 a day to about 80 I didn't gain anything in terms of water and have continued to lose steadily, as long as your caloric intake is resulting in a deficit each day you will lose weight. I would flip some of that protein to fat, actually a good bit of it. I've been following a high protein plan recently and its messed up my liver and kidney labs so now my dr is all concerned, its really hard for your body to process that much protein daily0
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Like the others said, go for it. Experiment. Even if you went to Ornish levels of carbs you could still lose weight. Some might find it more difficult if they find fat and protein satiating. This is most of my problem when I increase carbs. I just get hungrier.
I tried a more moderate low carb level for maintenance. I gained partially due to a health issue and because I ate too much. I experimented and found it doesn't work well for me right now. I'm back to very low carbs again. I will experiment again in the future because what works at any given time, and for any given situation, will change.
Good luck. 0 -
I'd appreciate any thoughts on this please. I was following LCHF, keeping close or under 20g of carbs, but it isn't really suiting my lifestyle. I struggle to eat "fatty" foods. I was thinking of tweaking my plan to be more a moderate low carb diet, ie: 50g carb (low or keto is 20g of carb). My question is; can you lose weight on a moderate low carb diet?
For instance, I have my goals at 50g carb, 75 fat, 150g protein. Or should I amend these?
Many thanks,
@nixism I go for the 50 gram level of carbs myself. I have maintained for 2 years but still have several pounds more to go. My first cup of coffee comes in at 600-800 calories thanks to the coconut oil and butter. Cutting back on that helps lower my weight.
Best of success. I am having fun with keto and have not cut out any new foods in the past couple years so it no longer seems limiting. Learning where the hidden carbs was the hardest part for me. I did relearn eating beef still can be painful afterwards.1 -
I'd appreciate any thoughts on this please. I was following LCHF, keeping close or under 20g of carbs, but it isn't really suiting my lifestyle. I struggle to eat "fatty" foods. I was thinking of tweaking my plan to be more a moderate low carb diet, ie: 50g carb (low or keto is 20g of carb). My question is; can you lose weight on a moderate low carb diet?
For instance, I have my goals at 50g carb, 75 fat, 150g protein. Or should I amend these?
Many thanks,
Um...keto is generally considered anything below 50g, not 20, and anything below about 100g is generally considered "low" carb, with the 50-100g range being a more typical "easy low carb" range.4
