Can I lose weight without going low carb?

didislim

I do love a good carbohydrate and I have lost almost a third of my body weight with no problems.

Oh thats amazing! Great results on your tickler btw. Please how did you accomplish this? Just with MFP calorie counting and work out? Did you have any weight loss platueas? How fast did the weight come off?

didislim

YouTube: Fit On Raw, Rice and Raw, Happy Healthy Vegan, kat green, FullyRawKristina, Victoria D, The Vegan Zombie, Freelee the Banana Girl, 40BelowFruity, Rebekah Borucki, Megan Elizabeth, okraw

Books: the 80/10/10 diet by Dr Douglas Graham. I haven't read any books yet, but that one is recommended a ton

Note**: If you're female and you cut your carbs low for a longer period of time, you can do damage to your body! It will become extremely hard to lose weight next time and I've even heard of women not being able to get pregnant or having miscarriages. I'm no professional, so if that info seems wrong to you in any way, you should be researching it. Not just from doctors :P

Thanks so much. I am not sure if I can do the Raw Vegan lifestyle it seems so extreme, but I will research about it. I do like fish and poultry, and not so much sushi. I love vegetables but the only fruits I enjoy are apples and the occasional grapes. LOL But perhaps there a lot more to it, I will do some more research.
What caught my attention is what you said about low carb restriction for females. I am definitely finding it difficult to lose the weight or rather it comes off at a somewhat slower than usual rate for me now. Also since my husband and I are also trying to concieve...hmm I will speak to our doctor about it as well..
Thanks

ladybarometer

I tried LC in the past and once I lost all the water and bloat, I didn't lose another darn pound. Most of my weight loss has some from portion controlled meals and working out. Get a food scale, measuring cups, ect... count your calories and stick to the right deficit for your goals and that's it! Well, that's what works for me, and i certainly understand that some people have different dietary needs like lower carb, but it's really just trial and error to see what works out for ya.

I LOVE CARBS!! But everything in moderation - don't like... eat a loaf of bread all at once

powellJulie1

read Burn the fat feed the muscle , a lifestyle not a diet!

didislim

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But how do you log in those calories?
I haven;t goine out to eat yet on MFP. Is there a way to log in restaurant food?

A healthy weight loss is .5–2 lb. per week, so 1 lb. per week is great.

There are tons of restaurants in the database, and many restaurants post their nutritional info online. Look it up before you order, not after you eat—you'll see lots of posts here from people who were gobsmacked after ordering something that sounded healthy but wasn't.

Ok thanks great advice! So do I just type in the restaurant name in the food search? When logging in my calories? Or is there another place to find this?

didislim

Yes, calorie deficit. You need to lose 2.5 lbs/week which means a daily calorie deficit of 1250/day. If you are obese this is reasonable - especially in the first month because you will lose a few lbs of water weight. Find out your TDEE (google calculators) - this is your bmr plus what you burn in exercise/lifestyle weekly. Subtract 20-25% if you want to be aggressive. See how big of a deficit that number is. If you are quite obese, you can eat like 1000 calories a day and your body will still burn mostly fat (but if you are quite obese, good chances are your TDEE will be like 2500+). If you are just overweight or even in the healthy weight range you will feel like crap on 1000 calories a day and you will burn fat and lean body mass so.. really not recommended. You don't have a lot of info on our page other than your 31 so this is as personalized as I can make it. Totally depends on height and starting weight too. But in some... dropping carbs creates a deficit, you can do the same thing counting what you're eating on here and just eating less calories overall. Can you eat a giant bowl of pasta? Sure... but if it's 1500 calories and that's a good chunk of your daily calorie budget you're not gonna be a happy camper later when you're hungry because it won't keep you full for that long. So you will probably end up gravitating towards higher protein, lower carb (not super low, i mean lower than you may have normally eaten to gain weight if you're a carbaholic like I was), and moderate fat because it will keep you full all day

1000 calories a day…2.5 pounds per week loss? OP mentioned that she is working out, and she is going to have zero energy on this plan. Also, if she sets a modest weight loss goal of one pound per week it will still allow her to eat a reasonable amount of food, still have some foods she likes (ice cream, cookings, pizza, etc) which will prevent feelings of starvation and binging, and she will still see progress…

OP - please do not do this…there are easier, and more reasonable ways, to lose weight and keep it off for the long term.

Thanks for the reponses to both of you. I wish I could do 1250 calories a day plus working out, but that just makes me super hungry. Right now my caloric intake is about 1600-1700 on the days I work out and I try...ke word being *try* to eat 1360 calories on the days I don't work out which is what MFP says I should eat. The TDEE says to lose weight for me should be 1760 ( I put in no exercise) although I am working out daily. I have a desk job.
I am eating all my calories, def the 1760 daily or slightly less. I think I will stick to the 1600-1700 for now. If I eat 1250 I will probably end up binging due to being super hungry.

Elsie_Brownraisin

I do love a good carbohydrate and I have lost almost a third of my body weight with no problems.

Oh thats amazing! Great results on your tickler btw. Please how did you accomplish this? Just with MFP calorie counting and work out? Did you have any weight loss platueas? How fast did the weight come off?

Thank you, I just went followed MFP and started to exercise more. I have, as others have, found out my TDEE as I couldn't manage on 1400 cals a day (I'm on 1900 at the moment)l; I felt tired and bad tempered. I don't eat some of the food I used to eat or I eat it in much smaller quantities and I've also gradually reduced my portion sizes because I used to eat enough for 2 or 3 people.

I have had plateaus, sometimes because I consciously chose to stop using MFP for a bit to see if I can maintain or last year when circumstances meant that weight loss was the last thing on my mind. I didn't lose any weight, but I didn't put it back on either.

It's taken nearly 2 years though and I still have a way to go, but I've done drastic diets in the past and they aren't sustainable and I always put the weight back on. I'm happy to go along at this pace.

Not much really, just gradual small changes and not seeing it as a 'diet' but a lifestyle change (gah, I hate that phrase). Once you have hit on what works for you calorie wise and start to become more active (if you're not already - I walked and cycled everywhere even at 104 kg) the weight should start to come off.

Springfield1970

Low carb is sooooo 2002!

Done it, been there, been a misery guts, and pretended to myself I had lots of energy.

Bring dem carbs on and follow calories in calories out.

Moderation is the new Low Carb.

amandakev88

Yes please do! Research good carbs eliminate bad carbs as much as possible.

I like em bad

same tho.

BecciJoWilding

But how do you log in those calories?
I haven;t goine out to eat yet on MFP. Is there a way to log in restaurant calories?

Most major restaurants are listed in the food data base. All you have to do is type the name of the restaurant first and a list of their menu items will come up. The calorie and nutrition is there for you.

Look up the restaurants nutritional fact of their websites and then find the ones on MFP that match the websites nutritional facts. A lot of people put in random numbers on MFP so that can be confusing when you search that restaurant on MFP.

_Resolve_

I'm sure this has been said already but yes, it is possible. I eat 40-50% of carbs daily.

1. Go here: http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/ Find your tdee -20% and eat that number of calories
2. Weigh everything
3. Set yourself up for success by preparing your entire day of food the night before for the following day, including snacks.
4. Be patient

Once you get your calories under control and get used to logging and weighing food then you should start to research macro's and learn what your body needs. After a while you will be so used to this new lifestyle change it will be easy for you to make your meals and snacks on the go and not have to prepare as much.

KateK8LoseW8

9 months, 80 lb, nearly flat belly unlocked while consuming 50%+ calories in carbohydrate and regularly over 75g sugar a day.

Do what works for you, calorie deficits are more important than anything else.

EatTrainWin

I lost 28 pounds while following a diet that was slightly over 50% carbs. Why did it work? Because it was sustainable and based on low-glycemic index carbs. Carbs are not evil - there's no reason to give them up.

Snow__White

mmm carbs,i eat them and still lose weight:drinker:

flatlndr

45 lbs down, on a mix of 45%-50% carbs, 30% fat, 20-25% protein
I also get in at least an hour of walking every day, and 30 mins of strength training workouts, 3x per week.

My carbs are all from whole grains (brown rice, quinoa, whole wheat, rolled oats), beans, fruits and vegetables.
No white flour, no white rice, no quick oats, and most definitely, no added sugar of any kind.

I've done the low carb path, and it was not sustainable for me. Nearly an intake of nearly 45-50% carbs gives me an energy level and fullness level that keeps me going without ever feeling hungry. (I accept that this mix won't work for everyone)

EDIT: This is the first "diet" that I feel is permanently sustainable for me. I put "diet" in quotes because I don't find it restrictive. I prefer to say "nutrition plan" than "diet", with regards to the foods I am selecting.

ladymiseryali

I'm sure you can. Low carb does take permanent dedication, and many can't do that. I personally LOVE eating this way and once I reach my goal, I'm going to up my carbs a little bit, but I plan to eat low carb for life, with cheat days on holidays and birthdays. You obviously don't like eating that way, so you need to figure out what kind of macro combo is right for you.

SezxyStef

This cannot be answered by a bunch of people spitting broscience on a message board. Most likely you can lose weight without going low carb... BUT we don't know your sugar levels, or your insulin levels. We don't really have a history of your diet or weight management. Here is a great article that will give you a foundation for how your body responds to food. http://www.gnolls.org/3637/what-is-metabolic-flexibility-and-why-is-it-important-j-stantons-ahs-2013-presentation-including-slides/

wow...kettle meet pot...

and yes I read most of the article...


ETA: to the OP yes you can...just eat at a reasonable deficet and you will lose weight...easy peasy.

eric_sg61

People die on low carb diets. Not the people who are actually on the diet, but the people AROUND them lol. I tried low carb for a split second before my boyfriend started complaining that I was not being very nice. My head was cloudy, couldn't think straight, I also wanted to eat everything in sight.

Since Jan 1st I've tried something super new to me: raw vegan :P I eat massive amounts of fruit or veggies in one sitting. I never restrict on calories because most of the time I get too full before I reach a high amount. In a typical sedentary day of mine I will eat 1600-2000 calories. Yesterday was on the lower end of that, just weighed myself and I lost 2lbs...since yesterday. A lot of it is water, but I drink over 1 gallon each day plus there is water from fruits/veggies. Eating this way is super high carb! So you definitely don't need to go low carb to lose weight. I am super overweight (need to lose a little over 100lbs) so this is partially why my weight is coming off so quickly. If you're way small, it's going to take longer to lose weight. But you'll feel amaaaaaazing!

If you do decide to do this, I would definitely recommend researching before you jump in :P Here's a few places to learn about your food, where it comes from, and the 80/10/10 lifestyle:
Netflix: Farmageddon, Hungry For Change, Food Matters, Vegucated, Food Inc.

YouTube: Fit On Raw, Rice and Raw, Happy Healthy Vegan, kat green, FullyRawKristina, Victoria D, The Vegan Zombie, Freelee the Banana Girl, 40BelowFruity, Rebekah Borucki, Megan Elizabeth, okraw

Books: the 80/10/10 diet by Dr Douglas Graham. I haven't read any books yet, but that one is recommended a ton

Note**: If you're female and you cut your carbs low for a longer period of time, you can do damage to your body! It will become extremely hard to lose weight next time and I've even heard of women not being able to get pregnant or having miscarriages. I'm no professional, so if that info seems wrong to you in any way, you should be researching it. Not just from doctors :P

Getting your "research" from netflix documentaries and youtube channels leads to derp

lauriebeakley1

You have to find what works for YOU and do that. Trust me, just because it works for others doesn't mean it will work for you. Weight Watchers works great for other people, my doctor pulled me off of it because it was causing me to gain weight. Some people have great results with Medi-Fast but it sent me to the emergency room. I have had success here & only here. I eat whatever I want as long as I stay within my calorie range.

outofworkpediatrician

you can loose weight on high carb diet, if you make a calorie deficit by limiting your calorie intake and exercising (even if you are eating "bad carbs")