Curious - Target carbs per day?
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I started lowering my carb intake last month and had an initial goal to be at or below 100g net carbs. Since then I've settled in the 50g-75g range. I'm going to have to tweak things again soon though, since I'm continuing to lose weight and am now about ready to go under the low end of my maintenance range. I'm thinking of adjusting back up to 100g net carbs and seeing if that will stabilize my weight.
Just increasing carbs should not cause you to gain or stabilize unless it is additional calories above what you are eating now. It might cause a little water weight gain initially that will put you back to a more comfortable/higher spot in your maintenance range.
I enjoyed following your posts on the DASH Diet thread when you were doing that. I had the misfortune of a heart attack in October 2018 and both Duke University Hospital and UNC/REX recommend DASH and Mediterranean...as we might guess...at least for heart health.
Are you eating more meat than typical DASH or are you getting lots of vegetables from plant sources? I've (mostly) gone back to how I lost my excess weight with equal amounts (grams) of protein, fats and carbs. About 90 of each and get a reasonable amount of protein from both vegetables and animals.
I did DASH for about 3 months and then decided to quit. At the beginning of it/the beginning of the year I needed to take care of some weight creep and initially it seemed to be working well (I was following the NIH's DASH servings recommendations for a 1,400 calorie intake, which would put me at a deficit), but after a few weeks my weight loss stalled and then started creeping up again. I also started experiencing increased bloating/gassiness, most likely due from the increase in whole grains and beans.
At the beginning of April I was pretty frustrated with where I was at and started looking into lower carb, mostly on a whim. Decided to try it and started on April 16, by cutting my carbs down to 100g. Since then I've lowered my carbs a bit more. I'm still eating a lot of veggies, but I'm now eating a lot more meat and fat than my DASH days and have reduced grains to 1-3 servings a week, and have totally eliminated beans. I've also cut back on fruit and now just use frozen berries in my green smoothies, along with avocado, for the most part. That's a reduction from 2-4 servings a day of fruit (previously I was eating a banana almost every day, along with oranges etc).
I'm spot checking my calories and I'm anywhere from 1,200-1,600+. I've found that a lower carb/higher protein and fat combo has greatly reduced my appetite so I've had to start being intentional about eating, in order to get in enough calories. I had a couple days where I was below 1,000 calories and I don't want to make that a habit! Bloating/gas is completely resolved. I go to bed with a flat stomach now-it's a bit surreal! Another thing I realized is that I always had 'hunger' in the background before. I was constantly thinking about my next meal/snack/food. That's also completely gone now, the loss of appetite has caused the focus on food to fade. In the past I've been critical of low carb advocates who made these kinds of claims-I'm quite embarrassed about the whole thing now
My weigh-ins via Libra trending app:
January (started DASH, following their 1,400 calorie protocol) -6.3lbs
February (DASH)-1.1lbs
March (DASH) +2.9lbs
April: quit DASH at the beginning of the month, had a few days where I just ate whatever/no plan. April 16th I started lower carb, at a slightly higher weight than what I ended March at
End of April (lower carb, under 75g net carbs): -7.1lbs! (I know part of this is water weight, but at my lower stats it's made a significant difference)
May's trend so far (lower carb, under 75g net carbs)-.5lbs
My current BMI is 21.0 so I'm in a really good place right now, don't want to get too much lower though.
I'm really enjoying this way of eating, feels simpler than DASH, it's nice not having to follow the check lists anymore, lol!2 -
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Hi.
Very different target carbs, indeed. I'm about 75 g, not very strict. I don't go over 100, anyway, except in very rare situations (pizza, tipically, I love pizza
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I have to keep it at around 20 net (16 yesterday if memory serves), in order to keep appetite suppressant high. Everyone is different tho. I tried 50 for six months before I gave up, lol. Too high for me.1
