How many net carbs is your "low carb"?

I am trying to get a sense of what people think of when they say low carb. In terms of net carbs, how many is low? I am trying to decide that for myself. I have been anywhere between 30 and 80.

Replies

tifano

I've been keto for nearly 3 years and personally I wouldn't exceed 20 NET carbs. I personally wouldn't exceed 40 total carbs.

brenn24179

for me it has been 100 or less.

shelbydodgeguy

Anywhere between 15 - 25 is what I try to stay around. Occasionally I have an off day and ease up around 30 - 40 now that I'm at a normal weight.

canadjineh

Here's a good thread to give you a wider range of experiences: https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10755309/what-is-a-good-number-of-carbs/p1

yuko0407

Less than 50g/day most of the time for me.

2t9nty

I keep mine under 20 net.

petitchatnoir41

Up to 30 carbs a meal. I'm diabetic and I found too low of carbs a day *for me* makes my blood sugar go low. :'(

snha

If you don't mind me asking, since am a fellow diabetic

, is that because you take meds besides metformin? I was prescribed glipizide and felt awful because my BG was going low (had to eat sugar) and then going up (had to take glipizide). I quit the med and my sugar does not go too low at all. Might be a different personal experience!

petitchatnoir41 wrote: »

Up to 30 carbs a meal. I'm diabetic and I found too low of carbs a day *for me* makes my blood sugar go low. :'(

TheMerryMermaid

I try for 20 NET max daily.
However... just today, I ran into a slight calculating problem:
My physician recently suggested I take a fiber supplement which has 17g of fiber per dose (once daily) and has 0 cals & 0 carbs. So do I factor the additional 17g of fiber into my Net carbs or maybe not add it at all to my food diary, so as to get an accurate carb vs. fiber count coming from all foods/beverages consumed???

kiddycat73

TheMerryMermaid wrote: »

I try for 20 NET max daily.
However... just today, I ran into a slight calculating problem:
My physician recently suggested I take a fiber supplement which has 17g of fiber per dose (once daily) and has 0 cals & 0 carbs. So do I factor the additional 17g of fiber into my Net carbs or maybe not add it at all to my food diary, so as to get an accurate carb vs. fiber count coming from all foods/beverages consumed???

No, I don’t think it works that way with supplements. I wouldn’t add it.

TheMerryMermaid

@kiddycat73 Thank you! I didn't think it worked that way, but it threw me off.

snha

I agree with @kiddycat73 Interesting, I wouldn't count those in the net carbs though.

TheMerryMermaid wrote: »

I try for 20 NET max daily.
However... just today, I ran into a slight calculating problem:
My physician recently suggested I take a fiber supplement which has 17g of fiber per dose (once daily) and has 0 cals & 0 carbs. So do I factor the additional 17g of fiber into my Net carbs or maybe not add it at all to my food diary, so as to get an accurate carb vs. fiber count coming from all foods/beverages consumed???

rmac18

20 Net is my goal

nrs101364

20 net is my goal too - some days a bit over but I don't freak about it

voncovenhoven

I shoot for 20g/day. If it’s 25 I don’t freak. I’ve stopped loosing weight though. Something is wrong. My numbers are good, mostly 5/20/75. Idk what’s wrong. I’m ranging between 1200 and 1400 cal/day. Maybe I need to focus on lower calories too. I lost 20 in 4 weeks, weeks 5-10 nothing. Any advice?

snha

That is amazing because it's exactly what I've been going through. I lost 20 in 4 weeks too and got stuck since then. It's been the same number of weeks. I started on July 12, lost quickly and then plateaued. Hmm. I checked things out and supposedly it sometimes has to do with eating less than your body needs: if you eat more you will loose more. almost like the body is in defensive/starvation mode--much more careful about spending the little energy it has! I don't know. It's been truly frustrating. But, I have a somewhat healthy attitude this time: I am in it for years, not days or weeks. I don't need the immediate gratification of loosing very quickly. So, I am riding this plateau out and we'll see what it brings. If you have suggestions, please let me know. I am definitely all ears on this one

voncovenhoven wrote: »

I shoot for 20g/day. If it’s 25 I don’t freak. I’ve stopped loosing weight though. Something is wrong. My numbers are good, mostly 5/20/75. Idk what’s wrong. I’m ranging between 1200 and 1400 cal/day. Maybe I need to focus on lower calories too. I lost 20 in 4 weeks, weeks 5-10 nothing. Any advice?

tcunbeliever

Fiber is a carb, so if it's 17g of fiber it has to be 17g of carbs, for a net zero carbs...right?

2t9nty

voncovenhoven wrote: »

I shoot for 20g/day. If it’s 25 I don’t freak. I’ve stopped loosing weight though. Something is wrong. My numbers are good, mostly 5/20/75. Idk what’s wrong. I’m ranging between 1200 and 1400 cal/day. Maybe I need to focus on lower calories too. I lost 20 in 4 weeks, weeks 5-10 nothing. Any advice?

FWIW, I lost 135 lbs, and I have been in maintenance since July of last year. I had some long plateaus in there and then things would pick up again. Maintenance for me is 1600 cal a day, and all the charts and calculators suggest it should be 2100. I am feeling great, and so I am running with what works. Maybe 1300 is your maintenance?

kpk54

Around 100.

rmac18

voncovenhoven wrote: »

I shoot for 20g/day. If it’s 25 I don’t freak. I’ve stopped loosing weight though. Something is wrong. My numbers are good, mostly 5/20/75. Idk what’s wrong. I’m ranging between 1200 and 1400 cal/day. Maybe I need to focus on lower calories too. I lost 20 in 4 weeks, weeks 5-10 nothing. Any advice?

Add a few hundred calories per day for a few weeks and see what happens. I’ve experienced this as well and my weight loss zone is 1,600 - 1,800 calories per day on average. Less and I don’t lose and I’ll tend to feel tired. I was at 1,500 calories per day but I lose more weight and feel better at 1,600 - 1,800 calories per day. Actually if I have one day a week that I go to 2,000 calories it doesn’t hurt me. It all depends on how active you are and your metabolism.

ptrcmcc6

For now, I'm trying to keep them under 100g. There have been days when I have gone over and days when I fell short of 100g but I'm trying to keep a healthy mindset and not fret about it to the point where I say, 'this isn't working' and I give up. My goal is to, eventually, get down to under 50g per day but I plan on doing it in steps. I'll do this for about a month and then re-evaluate and try to cut back on the foods I eat which are a little higher in carbs.

WholeFoods4Lyfe

I do Keto and I don't really track Net carbs, but try to keep my Total under 50g.

TheDevastator

I’m usually 5-10 carbs a day usually from dairy and seafood.

weatherking2019

I try to keep it under 65g and having a hard time.
I'm no longer doing keto and just trying to stick to low carbs. But having that allowance, makes it harder!!! Trying to learn from you guys!!

Sylphadora

Under 20

candylilacs

Between 25-35 carbs a day.

maureenkhilde

I count as total carbs, not net. And keep at or right below 50. Sometimes I will bank a few and on one weekend day go up to 60 but not often.
Not doing KETO, but totally admit I have used a number of KETO meals and yummy sweets to help me along the way,

qweck3

I go a different way and don't have a static number and have learned over time to just give the body whatever it needs. Might be at 20 net for a few days to the point that keto breath kicks in and could also have periods where I'm at 150 net on heavy workout days to refuel the muscles. Same goes for fat/protein and overall calorie consumption. I generally like to look at it as a week worth of macros/calories vs a day. Life is easier that way for me on a health journey.

snha

I love the way you're looking at it and it make sense. Do you have an average though, even if in a week or more? Or, do you go by percentage of daily calories--if you workout more, then you take more carbs, which makes sense too.

qweck3 wrote: »

I go a different way and don't have a static number and have learned over time to just give the body whatever it needs. Might be at 20 net for a few days to the point that keto breath kicks in and could also have periods where I'm at 150 net on heavy workout days to refuel the muscles. Same goes for fat/protein and overall calorie consumption. I generally like to look at it as a week worth of macros/calories vs a day. Life is easier that way for me on a health journey.

qweck3

@snha and anyone interested.

Carbs are a tricky thing for me being a controlled Type 2 diabetic and my intake levels of it is directly tied into timing around my workouts so the muscles consume the glucose and I don't get my body flooded with toxic levels. (Glycogen stores in the muscles).

The type of workout and length really dictates it. Weight lifting = heavy carbs for me up to 250grams. Light yoga = 100 grams or less. Walking/Running = 100 grams or less. Power yoga = heavy carbs up to 175 grams. Days on the couch I would likely be around 20-120 grams but a lot of my food intake those days is so heavy fiber driven being a lacto-ovo-vegetarian that I have no real desire for junk carbs those days due to my WOE.

I wish I could say there was an exact amount but after a while the body sends its own signals of what it needs. In the beginning I just did keto for 3 months and once I became fat adapted life got a lot simpler with reading my body needs. I do a few keto days here and there still but am still fat adapted even without it according to RMR testing.

Carbs get a really bad wrap but they really are just near instant energy for the body or muscle stores if used correctly. It's the excessive consumption of carbs that are trouble because it converts to fat and leads to other body problems a lot quicker than the other macros. Lots of water needed in the body to handle excessive carbs as well thus the silly water weight drops people get when the think they lost 10 pounds of fat in 7 days then freak out when it all comes back when they eat a lot of carbs again.