Are carbs bad for my diet?
ewebbw
Posts: 6 Member
I've lowered my calories to about 1600 a day and trying to stay under 120 carbs because I'm working on defining my abs. Should I really be so worried about carbs (my fav foods are fruit and they are high in carbs) or am I good as long as I stay around my calorie goal to work towards that six pack?
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I have been dieting for 3 years with not one result. I decided to give low carb a try and lost 15 lbs this month alone. I have tried to avoid going low carb for a very long time. I used to make fun of low carb people and now I am one of them. I have not seen a single result and I eat clean and work out a lot. Carbs literally were just not working for me.17
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You can have more carbs than that. If you're in a deficit, something has gotta give. I lower my carbs before anything else but don't go super low carb. I find that I look a bit leaner if I keep them moderate.6
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Carbs are problematic for some health issues or if you tend to binge on carbs - a lot of people. If this does not apply to you, you are probably fine with carbs7
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I've lowered my calories to about 1600 a day and trying to stay under 120 carbs because I'm working on defining my abs. Should I really be so worried about carbs (my fav foods are fruit and they are high in carbs) or am I good as long as I stay around my calorie goal to work towards that six pack?
carbs have nothing to do with getting, or not getting, a six pack.
If you want a six pack you need consistent calorie deficit + structured lifting regimen + macro/micro adherence + strict logging of calories...16 -
DharmainHeels wrote: »I have been dieting for 3 years with not one result. I decided to give low carb a try and lost 15 lbs this month alone. I have tried to avoid going low carb for a very long time. I used to make fun of low carb people and now I am one of them. I have not seen a single result and I eat clean and work out a lot. Carbs literally were just not working for me.
you either have an un-diagnosed food allergy/medical condition, or you were not in a consistent calorie deficit...
more than likely you replaced calorie dense carbs with less calorie dense foods...13 -
I'm vegetarian. There are carbs in most of my protein sources. Hasn't stopped me dropping over 70 lbs in just over 8 months. I don't go actively trying to hit a carb target (it's about the only macro I sometimes go over), I'm focused on protein and iron. Carbs and fat kind of end up where they end up.9
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I'd cut out simple carbs such as sugar, wheat, rice and potatoes.
You need lots and lots of green leafy vegetables and some fruits such as berries and kiwi etc. Your focus should be improving your health and weights loss comes within. Good luck.15 -
Yeah I'm in good shape already! 5'5 and 125 pounds. I lift and have started doing more cardio but wanted to challenge myself to see if I could get more muscle definition in my abs and arms. Thanks everyone!1
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nomorepuke wrote: »I'd cut out simple carbs such as sugar, wheat, rice and potatoes.
You need lots and lots of green leafy vegetables and some fruits such as berries and kiwi etc. Your focus should be improving your health and weights loss comes within. Good luck.
why?
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nomorepuke wrote: »I'd cut out simple carbs such as sugar, wheat, rice and potatoes.
You need lots and lots of green leafy vegetables and some fruits such as berries and kiwi etc. Your focus should be improving your health and weights loss comes within. Good luck.
What's wrong with wheat, potatoes and rice?7 -
DharmainHeels wrote: »I have been dieting for 3 years with not one result. I decided to give low carb a try and lost 15 lbs this month alone. I have tried to avoid going low carb for a very long time. I used to make fun of low carb people and now I am one of them. I have not seen a single result and I eat clean and work out a lot. Carbs literally were just not working for me.
you either have an un-diagnosed food allergy/medical condition, or you were not in a consistent calorie deficit...
more than likely you replaced calorie dense carbs with less calorie dense foods...
I'm not sure what it is. I researched every kind of eating and found this is working for me. Whatever the reason, going from not losing for years to now losing in a month is enough to tell me something is working the way I need it to!
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I should also say I was tested for everything before trying this diet because I couldn't get answers on my weight gain or inability to lose based on what I was eating.0
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Yeah I'm in good shape already! 5'5 and 125 pounds. I lift and have started doing more cardio but wanted to challenge myself to see if I could get more muscle definition in my abs and arms. Thanks everyone!
are you following a structured lifting program?
you are also going to want to keep protein around .8 to 1 gram per pound of body weight to retain muscle and lose fat...
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DharmainHeels wrote: »I should also say I was tested for everything before trying this diet because I couldn't get answers on my weight gain or inability to lose based on what I was eating.
were you previously using a food scale and tracking/logging all your food?2 -
DharmainHeels wrote: »I should also say I was tested for everything before trying this diet because I couldn't get answers on my weight gain or inability to lose based on what I was eating.
were you previously using a food scale and tracking/logging all your food?
Yup. I was obsessive. LOL.
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Yes I'm trying to lower any body fat I can and I do have structure lifting program and do protein shakes every day and try to have protein as the largest part of my meals. I also do at least 15-20 minutes of cardio before every lift
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DharmainHeels wrote: »DharmainHeels wrote: »I should also say I was tested for everything before trying this diet because I couldn't get answers on my weight gain or inability to lose based on what I was eating.
were you previously using a food scale and tracking/logging all your food?
Yup. I was obsessive. LOL.
like I said..you either had some kind of medical condition, or you were eating more than you thought...low carb is not magic, you are either consuming less, or not...
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Carbs are problematic for some health issues or if you tend to binge on carbs - a lot of people. If this does not apply to you, you are probably fine with carbs
This is the correct answer.
We can't tell you if you should cut down on carbs. But you can try it, do it for a month, stay under 50g net carbs for one month. At the end of the month, you will know if it's something you want to continue with, trust me.
And, if it doesn't work for you, keep trying different things. Finding what works for you in particular is a huge part of living a healthy life. Something will click for you eventually.0 -
nokanjaijo wrote: »Carbs are problematic for some health issues or if you tend to binge on carbs - a lot of people. If this does not apply to you, you are probably fine with carbs
This is the correct answer.
We can't tell you if you should cut down on carbs. But you can try it, do it for a month, stay under 50g net carbs for one month. At the end of the month, you will know if it's something you want to continue with, trust me.
And, if it doesn't work for you, keep trying different things. Finding what works for you in particular is a huge part of living a healthy life. Something will click for you eventually.
actually it is not...people binge on plenty of other things than just carbs....
and good luck maintaining energy for a structured lifting program and cardio on 50 net carbs a day...14 -
nomorepuke wrote: »I'd cut out simple carbs such as sugar, wheat, rice and potatoes.
You need lots and lots of green leafy vegetables and some fruits such as berries and kiwi etc. Your focus should be improving your health and weights loss comes within. Good luck.
wheat, rice, and potatoes are actually complex carbohydrates...and there is nothing inherently unhealthy about them. Potatoes in particular pack quite a bit of nutrition.
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DharmainHeels wrote: »DharmainHeels wrote: »I should also say I was tested for everything before trying this diet because I couldn't get answers on my weight gain or inability to lose based on what I was eating.
were you previously using a food scale and tracking/logging all your food?
Yup. I was obsessive. LOL.
like I said..you either had some kind of medical condition, or you were eating more than you thought...low carb is not magic, you are either consuming less, or not...
Doubt I had anything medical I had a full work up because I was convinced I had Hashimoto because I had all the symptoms. I feel this has just worked with me. Everybody's bodies respond differently to things. My body never did well with carbs but I refused to accept it. I am at a point where I wanted to explore every option before figuring I am in my 40s and the game is over. I envy people who can do different things and lose weight. Its not easy but it is worth it to me.
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Yeah I'm in good shape already! 5'5 and 125 pounds. I lift and have started doing more cardio but wanted to challenge myself to see if I could get more muscle definition in my abs and arms. Thanks everyone!
At your stats if you don't already have muscle definition it is because you need to build muscle, not because you need to focus on losing fat. You aren't going to build any muscle at 1600 calories. You're just going to spin your wheels.3 -
nomorepuke wrote: »I'd cut out simple carbs such as sugar, wheat, rice and potatoes.
You need lots and lots of green leafy vegetables and some fruits such as berries and kiwi etc. Your focus should be improving your health and weights loss comes within. Good luck.
The carbs in wheat, rice, and potatoes are complex carbs (starch).
Also, OP has said nothing to suggest a need to cut out anything, but mostly I wanted to correct the inaccurate use of "simple carbs."8 -
Yeah I'm in good shape already! 5'5 and 125 pounds. I lift and have started doing more cardio but wanted to challenge myself to see if I could get more muscle definition in my abs and arms. Thanks everyone!
Sounds like you have no particular need to keep them below 120, although for some people (including me) that can make it easier to keep a deficit. If the goal is muscle building, in part, carbs can be helpful. If you are already really lean cutting carbs can lead to water losses and so you make be able to see muscle definition more (as with fitness models) but that's for competition, not part of the muscle building/fat loss process.1 -
Whatever is going to be sustainable for you in the long run is what I'd recommend you do. If it's low carb, moderate carb, high carb or a mix.1
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nokanjaijo wrote: »Carbs are problematic for some health issues or if you tend to binge on carbs - a lot of people. If this does not apply to you, you are probably fine with carbs
This is the correct answer.
We can't tell you if you should cut down on carbs. But you can try it, do it for a month, stay under 50g net carbs for one month. At the end of the month, you will know if it's something you want to continue with, trust me.
And, if it doesn't work for you, keep trying different things. Finding what works for you in particular is a huge part of living a healthy life. Something will click for you eventually.
actually it is not...people binge on plenty of other things than just carbs....
and good luck maintaining energy for a structured lifting program and cardio on 50 net carbs a day...
Actually it is, it's so true it's basically a tautology. She basically just said that, if you have a problem binging on carbs, then carbs are problematic for you. That doesn't imply that people don't binge on other things.4 -
I find carbs keep me happy, full and give me energy for my lifting performance. I would say I average about 200g right now. I look pretty lean as long as I am not overdoing the fibre or food volume. It is not necessary to lower them to that amount to see ab definition (keep in mind, ab muscle definition will also depend on what kind of muscle base you have, so if your ab muscles are smaller you may not see them even if you get very lean).
Are you losing weight right now? I would just keep doing what you are doing to lower your bodyfat%... keep protein adequate, follow a progressive program and just have patience. Because you are already lean trying to get leaner, things get tough so being as accurate as possible (using a food scale and being very meticulous with logging) can help.7
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