Lowering carbs

Seanb_us

Hey,

I've searched but haven't found it yet. I would like to lose 2lb per week, have 50lb loss as a goal and plan to increase to moderate exercise in a week.

I am thinking of lowering my carb intake, and my doc has approved all of this for a 1500 cal intake.

Do you think resetting myfitnesspal goals to 20% carbs, 25% fat, and 55% protein would be a good approach to setting values on what low-carb means?

Thoughts?

Sean

kommodevaran

It sounds like a horrible approach. You can eat like a person even if you want to lose weight. Set carbs to 5-60%, protein to 20-30% and fat 30-70%.

LiftHeavyThings27105

Just a general question: is your doctor qualified to be giving nutritional advice? I ask because in my experiences *most* medical doctors are the absolute last place I would go for any nutritional advice.

What are your stats? 1500 calories is pretty dang low....possibly.

Seanb_us

Thanks guys. I'll adjust carbs and fat up and protein down. 1500 is low. I'll see how that goes. Am happy with less than 2k.

Seanb_us

My doc is a DO. Seems to know his stuff. Anyway, I am certainly considering the practicality of this change in food and how I feel as I go along. As you say, I have to eat like a person.

NovusDies

1500 is the bare minimum for a guy and 2 lbs per week is very aggressive for someone with only 50lbs to lose. "Seems to know his stuff" is not a great reason to follow without questioning.

Seanb_us

Gotcha. 2lbs is aggressive. Based on past experience, that will be more like 1-1.5 for me. 1500 is bare minimum, and I'm aiming for it but will adjust based on how I feel and also not worry if I come in over 1500 but less than 2000.

NovusDies

That is kind of backwards. I would start with entering your information into MFP set it for 1 lb per week and get the recommended daily calories for your situation. I would try that for about 3 weeks and see if it needs adjusting up or down. Going for 1500, depending on your stats, could result in muscle loss.

If you need to eat 2000 calories to lose 1 lb a week then 1500 will be 2 lbs per week. Every 500 calories per day equals another pound per week.

It is better to ease into it then go 1500 and restrictive and be miserable possibly ending in binging.

Seanb_us

That makes sense and "backwards" is sometimes how I go about things, unfortunately. I will adjust calories to 1800. Let's see what happens over three weeks and I'll update here and revise my plan as suggested and needed.

PokeyBug

^ What NovusDies said. But I would also ask, Are you planning to exercise? Even just a little cardio can help make your diet not seem so restrictive. Depending on your size, walking 5K or more a day can increase your calorie intake to 1800 or even 2000, and that's not nearly so hard to do as 1500.

Also, as a former low-carber, I will say that it's been my experience that trying to restrict a category of macronutrients doesn't work for all of us. I did wonderfully for a few months, but I eventually broke down. I've found that watching my sugar intake is a lot easier than giving up bread and potatoes, lol. Because of a personal health problem, I can only do 25 g of sugar a day. A normal person -- especially a man -- doesn't need to set the bar that low, though. I have to track all sugars. Normal people only need to worry about added sugars, like the sugar you put into your coffee or the sugar baked into those cookies, etc. Try to cut those down to 25 g or less a day.

I know that the temptation to make weight loss into a sprint rather than a marathon is a strong one. You want the days of restriction to be over with as quickly as possible, so you can go back to just eating what you want. Get that out of your head. The primary goal of your dieting should be to learn to eat what you like in healthy amounts, so you will never have to "diet" again. I've dieted very aggressively in the past, lost the weight, and gone back to my old patterns, gotten heavier, dieted aggressively again, lost the weight, and then gone back to my old patterns again. This is my second time coming to MFP to lose weight, because I didn't learn my lesson the first time. But I'm taking things much more slowly this time, going for half a pound a week. I don't want to keep rinsing and repeating.

lemurcat12

As others have said, 1500 cal is low.

Better approach is to set grams, not percentages. Think of goal weight in lbs (assuming it's in the healthy range) x .8 for protein, whatever you want for carbs (if you want to try low carbing aiming for under 100 g as a starting point can be a good goal), and then remainder fat.

NGentRD

Just find something that works for you. It'll take time. It'll go slower than you want. You'll get frustrated. Might not see results at some points. But as long as you don't give up you'll get there. Low carb is tough if its not ketogenic because then you whole system switches and you actually have a bit more energy but its even more restrictive and can be very challenging. As @PokeyBug was saying. Exercise is going to have big impact. you can do 1 pound a week and in a year you can be at your goal, while still eating like a human. There are tons of calculators to find out a good macro ratio for you to use. experiment and whatever works but more importantly is sustainable, do it! If a year seems too far, think what if you started a year ago today, where you'd be

LiftHeavyThings27105

+1 - marathon. Generally speaking. There are specific conditions where one can be a bit more aggressive. All depends on his stats.

I am 51, stand 6'0" and weigh 210lbs. According to BMI, I am almost obese. Ha! NOT EVEN CLOSE. But, my point here is.....I would take a less aggressive stance with someone like me (say I wanted to get down to 195lbs). I would do it slowly....making sure to avoid all of the pitfalls.

Keep in mind that the human body has essentially two purposes: SURVIVE and ADAPT.

So, if you start giving it only 1,500 calories and you really need - say - 2210 calories - and you do this for a long time then it is going to adapt down to 1,500 calories over that time. And, 1,500 calories - somehow - becomes its norm (can you spell 'homeostasis'? Not sure that I can - but I just tried). Doing something like this potentially (and very likely) paints you into a corner from which there is not a lot of room to maneuver.

And, we need to remember that what most of us say in here has the *generally speaking* implied connotation. Everyone is different and we all need to take personal responsibility and accountability. No one in this forum is putting a gun to anyone's head and forcing that person - in this case - to eat 1,500 calories a day. If he decides to do that then that is 100% his own decision. Not mine, not his, not hers...but the op's. He needs to own it and deal with it.

And, we are all different so what works for me might kill you (and vice versa). The human body is amazing. No one knows his "diet history".....so we can not really speak intelligently about "him". Only he can.

But, what we can do.....we can offer guidelines based on what we know (and by "we" I mean the fitness and nutrition community as a whole...not the folks in MFP, specifically) and what we (specifically, the folks in MFP) have experienced with ourselves and with others.

Then, he (whoever "he" might be) needs to decide what he is going to do. And how.

Just my take.

Seanb_us

Thanks everyone. I think my percentages will shift as I figure this out, but you've given me a bunch of info. to consider and use.

Seanb_us

As was pointed out, I need to eat like a human. I am eating simpler and fewer processed foods, but fruit and granola, etc., have lots of carbs and, even though I'm eating more salad (yuck), I'm over on carbs a fair bit. So, I plan to adjust my percentages along the lines of those suggested here over the coming week. Thanks for the experienced advice!

NotEnoughEffort

Copied ... just something interesting to read.. it’s a study of the studies, lol..... also validation for my personal choice as a diabetic to go lower carb....The Lancet... The medical Bible: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(17)32252-3/fulltext

fb47

Seanb_us wrote: »

My doc is a DO. Seems to know his stuff. Anyway, I am certainly considering the practicality of this change in food and how I feel as I go along. As you say, I have to eat like a person.

Based on what I read, he doesn't know *kitten* and that doesn't surprised me. Nutrition is a section where everyone has different opinions, yet not one seems to mention anything about being in a caloric deficit ironically enough. All I hear from so-called experts is the same clichés that are myth like "carbs are bad"....carbs shouldn't even be an issue when it comes to weight loss (unless you are diabetic or health issues where carbs can be dangerous for your health), knowing what your TDEE is and eating less calories than your TDEE is what's important (as long as you don't reduce your calories too low to the point of destroying your health of course). If you are lifting weights, then having high protein will be also a priority in order to maintain as much as possible your muscles. The other two macros (carbs and fats) aren't that of a big deal....just make sure your fats are not too low however, that can screw with your hormones.

kshama2001

Seanb_us wrote: »

As was pointed out, I need to eat like a human. I am eating simpler and fewer processed foods, but fruit and granola, etc., have lots of carbs and, even though I'm eating more salad (yuck), I'm over on carbs a fair bit. So, I plan to adjust my percentages along the lines of those suggested here over the coming week. Thanks for the experienced advice!

I love granola, and grew up on home made granola, but don't find it satiating at all. I will have it occasionally as a dessert. For breakfast I have higher protein options like eggs or a smoothie that has @ 40% protein, plus chia seeds and dried coconut to add fat and fiber.

To reduce carbs and calories, I have smaller portions of rice and pasta, and eat less baked goods and more fruit. Berries are lower carb fruits.

fr33sia12

Seanb_us wrote: »

As was pointed out, I need to eat like a human. I am eating simpler and fewer processed foods, but fruit and granola, etc., have lots of carbs and, even though I'm eating more salad (yuck), I'm over on carbs a fair bit. So, I plan to adjust my percentages along the lines of those suggested here over the coming week. Thanks for the experienced advice!

Salad is only YUCK if you add foods to a salad you find YUCK. A salad isn't a set rigid meal with set ingredients, you can add whatever you like to a salad. Be adventurous.

happytree923

One more thing to consider, if you're planning on increasing exercise you may not be able to on low carb. I tried to reduce carbs because of the supposed appetite-suppressing benefits, I could not get through a workout without getting dizzy and fatigued. Not all people respond to low carb like this but I just felt so weak that my activity went way down and it didn't matter that I was eating fewer calories, I was also burning fewer from having no energy.

tbright1965

Seanb_us wrote: »

Hey,

I've searched but haven't found it yet. I would like to lose 2lb per week, have 50lb loss as a goal and plan to increase to moderate exercise in a week.

I am thinking of lowering my carb intake, and my doc has approved all of this for a 1500 cal intake.

Do you think resetting myfitnesspal goals to 20% carbs, 25% fat, and 55% protein would be a good approach to setting values on what low-carb means?

Thoughts?

Sean

You don't say where you are starting from. Fifty pounds may or may not be a lot depending on your starting point.

I'll share my anecdote and you can adjust to see if it fits.

Starting weight 14 Feb 265#. I'm 5'11" and technically obese. But I did have a 50" chest and 38-39" waist, so I still fit athletic cut 10" drop suits, FWIW. Suspected of being a type 2 diabetic with an A1C of 7.3 and a fasting BG reading of 180 mg/dL. I say this because it allowed me to lie to myself. Few people would guess my real weight, most being under by 30+ pounds. I could hide it well. Just couldn't hide it from the lab with bad A1C, BG and triglyceride numbers.

Dietitian put me on a 2250 calorie/day diet with not more than 225g carbohydrates/day, no more than 60g carbs/meal and another 45g/day in snacks.

I've been on a pretty steady 1% / week weight loss. Of course, I was already hitting the gym 4-6 days/week, so my weight was due to what was on the end of my fork.

On Wednesday, I weighed 229# and my A1C was down to 5.4, which is in the normal range. So down 36# in what 13-14 weeks and back in the normal range for A1C. I was 228 yesterday, so I'm on track to be down another two pounds, give or take by this coming Wednesday.

Once I hit just below 240#, I cut my targets by 5%. I figured 10% weight loss, I need to drop my intake by 5% to keep the weight loss going.

The goal is to hit 200#, which will have me technically, according to the BMI tables, still obese. But that was my weight when I left the Army in 1992 and I was pretty fit back then, running 2 miles in 13 min flat after having done 70 pushups and 80 situps in the 2 minutes allocated for each of those tests.

I still have my class A and dress blue uniforms. It will be interesting to see if I can get back into them this fall.

My 65 pound targeted weight loss is just under 25 percent of my original body weight