Weaning away from weight loss

jozal
jozal Posts: 3 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I'm a 53 yr old male, 5'9” currently 205lbs. Even at my heaviest all my blood tests and medical results remained in the normal zones, so my health is great. I was a college athlete 30+ years ago and weighed 190lbs with 6% BF at that time.

Over the last 9 months I've lost 120lbs with net carbs under 20g/day (all veggies) and protein around 145g. My macros were around 5% carbs, 35% protein and 60% fat.

I have gradually increased my daily exercise habits daily to avoid injury and not kill my spirit to now walking at least 2 miles daily at a moderate pace along with alternating daily 40 mins of high intensity to vigorous circuit training with 40 mins of high intensity to vigorous cardio (rowing, elliptical, running).

I feel great, muscles are returning and I feel full and energized. My body transformation has been amazing and I've seen my resting HR drop from 78bpm to 57bpm and my fitbit estimated VO2 max is now in the 40-44 (very good) range for my age!

My Question:
I'm ready to start adding calories and carbs into my daily diet as I approach my end goal of weighing 195lbs (BMI charts are meaningless for my body type). 3 weeks ago I added 200g of strawberries or raspberries daily and feel great, weight loss has slowed slightly, around 1.5 to 2lbs/week, this brings my daily calories to around 1900 and net carbs around 33g/day.

What should I add next? What would you recommend as a long term net carb daily goal (I'm thinking under 80g net?). What about potatoes? They are probably the only food I have missed on this diet, but I also know I was a potato/starch addict, I'm considering adding some sweet potatoes to minimize glycemic reaction and see how how that goes?

I'm open to any suggestions on how to return to a more normal, although still carb restricted diet as I taper and eventually stop weight loss? At the same time, I'm full right now, so adding a whole bunch of food seems like a chore and I really don't miss carbs, but I do still have to add something like 750 to 1000 calories daily to stop weight loss!
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Answers

  • Womona
    Womona Posts: 1,813 Member
    I’m a huge fan of sweet potatoes, so that’s an easy one. Also don’t forget all the yummy squashes in season right now!
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,596 Member
    If you need a lot more calories, but don't want to add a lot more carbs, how about some more of nutrient-dense high-fat foods: Nuts, nut butters, full-fat dairy if you eat dairy (including cheeses), avocados, olive oil, etc.? Maybe some fatty cold-water fish, for the Omega-3s?

    More protein would be OK, too. 145g isn't a huge amount at your size, though it should be adequate. With muscle-challenging exercise in the picture, up to another 50g or so would be OK if you like protein foods, and maybe even have some additional benefits.

    I'm not one to advise you on what would be a reasonable carb goal for you, because I'm one of those "around 50% of calories from carbs" people, eating around 225g+ carbs most days now that I'm in maintenance, mostly carbs from veggies, fruits, and no-sugar-added dairy foods.

    Keep in mind that if you do add more calories, especially if you add more carbs, you'll see a scale jump from added water retention to digest the food, plus more waste on average in your digestive tract. Neither of those things is fat regain, so don't let it mess with your head if that scale jump happens.

    If all your blood tests have been normal even when overweight, and you feel great, I don't really understand why you're so concerned about the glycemic index of white potatoes, especially if consumed in context of a mixed-nutrient meal . . . but if that's what works for you, I'm not criticizing your decisions, either; rather just admitting my own puzzlement.

    Best wishes!

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