CARBS???

LaurieJ68

I would like to go to a low (not a NO) carb diet and would like to know how many grams of carbs I should shoot for in a day? I weight about 230. I want to eat fruits and veggies and maybe a small amount of carbs at dinner so I don't feel deprived completely of carbs. I need some advice! Again, not trying to get rid of carbs altogether. Just want to cut back on bread, rice and pasta, those kinds of carbs. I know there are many healthy whole grain carbs that I will use at dinner to satisfy my carb craving but want to know how much of that I should shoot for. Thanks!

Nutmeg76

That's really going to depend on your personal needs. I try to eat around 125 grams of carb a day, but I don't sweat it if I go over...or under. If I go too low I feel like garbage, if I go much higher than 175 on a regular basis I don't feel real well either.

Aaron_K123

My understanding is that if you eat very very little carbs (like barely touch them) your body will adopt a ketogenic metabolism and you will derive your energy from fat. If, however, you just eat very little carbs your body will still rely on carbs as its primary energy source and you will just feel deprived. I don't actually like or recommend ketogenic diets and I think people over-demonize carbs for no good reason.

Personally I'd say maybe replace some carbs with protein for satiation but I wouldn't go drastically low with your carbs or you will likely feel very lethargic and low energy and it will be hard to maintain.

If you are exercising at all low carb will make that very difficult to continue.

terbusha

30%-40% carbs is a great place to start for reducing body fat %. I've done 50/30/20 and 40/40/20 macros (protein/carb/fat) and they both work great.

Allan

TR0berts

Seeing as how you are asking strangers on an internet forum - as opposed to your doctor/dietician - I'm going to assume that you aren't under a doctor's care/instructions to do this and don't have a medical need to go low-carb.

As such, it doesn't really matter. Pick a number. There's your answer.



If, however, you are under care to go low-carb, then ask your doctor/dietician.

parkscs

Play with your macros and find a number that works for you. There's no specific target for carbs like there is for, say, protein. If you're looking to do a ketogenic diet, there are stricter boundaries on your macros, but that's a bit beside the point since it doesn't sound like that's your plan. Set a target and see how that works out for a few weeks, then adjust as needed.

TheGreatBeyond

Cutting back on carbs ins't a bad idea but you have to make sure that you see the reduction in carbs as part of a broader alignment of how you approach food rather than just cut back on those evil, evil carbs and replace those calories with other unhealthy foods.

The first step is to have a good idea of the calories you need to meet your target. One of the best ways is to start with a TDEE calculator (a google search should get you a pretty decent sized list of them). Once you have that information, try to stick to this number for a week and see if you gain/lose/maintain your weight. If you're gaining weight, reduce the calories and try that for a week. If you are maintaining weight, then reduce the calories by 500 and use that as your bench mark. If you're losing weight then stick to that number and use it as your benchmark. Remember... there will never be a precise number and that number will change as your body and activity levels evolve. Also, trying to cut your calories TOO FAST will send your body into starvation mode which will actually slow down your weight loss efforts while making you weaker and slower.

Once you have your caloric estimate, start by estimating how much protein you should be consuming. A good rule of thumb is 1 g/lb. Assume that 1 gram of protein = 4 calories. Now, if you're 230 lb, you should have about 230 g of protein a day. If you're keeping track, that means that 920 of your calories should come from protein.

Next, you need to calculate your fat intake. Fats are actually really useful for weight reduction (though they are more dense from a caloric perspective). A good rule of thumb is to have 0.4 g per lb of body weight. That means that you should be having about 92g of fat a day. Assuming that each gram of fat - 9 calories, 828 of your daily calories will come from fats.

If you've calculated correctly, you still have a gap between how many calories you can eat and how many you'll fill with proteins and fats. THAT is your daily allowance for carbs. To calculate the grams of carbs you can eat, just divide the number of calories by 4 (the estimate for calories/g of carb).

Hope this helps.

eldamiano

Why no carbs?

No carbs means no fun

Peacockbutterfly

I do have a medical need to stay away from carbs. I have been still eating plenty of fruits and veggies every day. I also have the occasional grain but I'm gluten intolerant so it's easier to just stay away from bread and such when I'm out. I have been doing really well loosing consistently between 100-120g of carbs a day. I was a sugar/carb addict and a few months ago they were a huge part of my life but now I really don't even crave simple carbs. You really have to find the balance that's right for you and adjust. My macros were 40/30/30 for awhile and then 35/35/30 and recently changed to 30/35/35. I don't plan on lowering my carbs much more unless I have a long stall.

tennisdude2004

You could try www.marksdailyapple.com for advice on low carb diets.

I shoot for about 10 - 20% carbs.

Good luck

richardheath

Set a reasonable calorie deficit. Set your protein at ~1 g/lb lean body mass, and fat at ~0.4 g/lb LBM. The rest can be carbs or more fat/protein.

Losing weight is about a calorie deficit. Cutting carbs (like bread and pasta, soda etc) is usually a fairly simple way to help achieve that deficit.

ASKyle

Cutting back on carbs ins't a bad idea but you have to make sure that you see the reduction in carbs as part of a broader alignment of how you approach food rather than just cut back on those evil, evil carbs and replace those calories with other unhealthy foods.

The first step is to have a good idea of the calories you need to meet your target. One of the best ways is to start with a TDEE calculator (a google search should get you a pretty decent sized list of them). Once you have that information, try to stick to this number for a week and see if you gain/lose/maintain your weight. If you're gaining weight, reduce the calories and try that for a week. If you are maintaining weight, then reduce the calories by 500 and use that as your bench mark. If you're losing weight then stick to that number and use it as your benchmark. Remember... there will never be a precise number and that number will change as your body and activity levels evolve. Also, trying to cut your calories TOO FAST will send your body into starvation mode which will actually slow down your weight loss efforts while making you weaker and slower.

Once you have your caloric estimate, start by estimating how much protein you should be consuming. A good rule of thumb is 1 g/lb. Assume that 1 gram of protein = 4 calories. Now, if you're 230 lb, you should have about 230 g of protein a day. If you're keeping track, that means that 920 of your calories should come from protein.

Next, you need to calculate your fat intake. Fats are actually really useful for weight reduction (though they are more dense from a caloric perspective). A good rule of thumb is to have 0.4 g per lb of body weight. That means that you should be having about 92g of fat a day. Assuming that each gram of fat - 9 calories, 828 of your daily calories will come from fats.

If you've calculated correctly, you still have a gap between how many calories you can eat and how many you'll fill with proteins and fats. THAT is your daily allowance for carbs. To calculate the grams of carbs you can eat, just divide the number of calories by 4 (the estimate for calories/g of carb).

Hope this helps.

+1

I do not eat rice/bread/pasta but still consume around 100-125g of carbs a day in my fruit and vegetable intake.

richardheath

Cutting back on carbs ins't a bad idea but you have to make sure that you see the reduction in carbs as part of a broader alignment of how you approach food rather than just cut back on those evil, evil carbs and replace those calories with other unhealthy foods.

The first step is to have a good idea of the calories you need to meet your target. One of the best ways is to start with a TDEE calculator (a google search should get you a pretty decent sized list of them). Once you have that information, try to stick to this number for a week and see if you gain/lose/maintain your weight. If you're gaining weight, reduce the calories and try that for a week. If you are maintaining weight, then reduce the calories by 500 and use that as your bench mark. If you're losing weight then stick to that number and use it as your benchmark. Remember... there will never be a precise number and that number will change as your body and activity levels evolve. Also, trying to cut your calories TOO FAST will send your body into starvation mode which will actually slow down your weight loss efforts while making you weaker and slower.

Once you have your caloric estimate, start by estimating how much protein you should be consuming. A good rule of thumb is 1 g/lb. Assume that 1 gram of protein = 4 calories. Now, if you're 230 lb, you should have about 230 g of protein a day. If you're keeping track, that means that 920 of your calories should come from protein.

Next, you need to calculate your fat intake. Fats are actually really useful for weight reduction (though they are more dense from a caloric perspective). A good rule of thumb is to have 0.4 g per lb of body weight. That means that you should be having about 92g of fat a day. Assuming that each gram of fat - 9 calories, 828 of your daily calories will come from fats.

If you've calculated correctly, you still have a gap between how many calories you can eat and how many you'll fill with proteins and fats. THAT is your daily allowance for carbs. To calculate the grams of carbs you can eat, just divide the number of calories by 4 (the estimate for calories/g of carb).

Hope this helps.

Psst - that's 1 g/lb lean body mass, or about 0.8 g/lb total body weight if you are not obese for protein (likewise for fat - lbm not total weight). 230 g protein is almost certainly more than enough protein! Using your numbers, she'd be getting 1748 cals just from protein + fat. Other than, yeah, I agree!

(eta: except about starvation mode. It's a myth. Your BMR will slow, but not that much).

iamglad2

I use this calculator to decide on my carbs. Great website also! http://www.ruled.me/keto-calculator/

starrsearching711

I found this article really helpful http://authoritynutrition.com/how-many-carbs-per-day-to-lose-weight/
If you don't have time to click on it, it said you should eat 100-150 carbs if you want to maintain your weight, 50-100 for moderate weight loss and 20-50 if you want to loose weight quick.

Additionally, I found a list of low carb foods here http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/whattoeat/a/whatveg.htm

Best of luck!

lioness803

I try to stay under 200g of carbs-I had gestational diabetes and I keep to a close approximation of the diet I was on for that. I don't know if 200g is really considered low or not, but I would go crazy if I did any less, and I HAVE to plan my days in advance to even keep to this.

If you don't have a medical reason to go low carb, its not really necessary. I only do it because I'm at higher risk of developing Type 2.

earlnabby

30%-40% carbs is a great place to start for reducing body fat %. I've done 50/30/20 and 40/40/20 macros (protein/carb/fat) and they both work great.

Allan

I agree. Start slowly and keep adjusting your macros as you adjust to eating fewer carbs. I am currently 30, 40,30 and want to get to 35, 35, 30. Start by changing protein snacks for carb snacks. When you have a meal, increase the meat and veg and forget the starch, you'll feel just as full.

parkscs

Cutting back on carbs ins't a bad idea but you have to make sure that you see the reduction in carbs as part of a broader alignment of how you approach food rather than just cut back on those evil, evil carbs and replace those calories with other unhealthy foods.

The first step is to have a good idea of the calories you need to meet your target. One of the best ways is to start with a TDEE calculator (a google search should get you a pretty decent sized list of them). Once you have that information, try to stick to this number for a week and see if you gain/lose/maintain your weight. If you're gaining weight, reduce the calories and try that for a week. If you are maintaining weight, then reduce the calories by 500 and use that as your bench mark. If you're losing weight then stick to that number and use it as your benchmark. Remember... there will never be a precise number and that number will change as your body and activity levels evolve. Also, trying to cut your calories TOO FAST will send your body into starvation mode which will actually slow down your weight loss efforts while making you weaker and slower.

Once you have your caloric estimate, start by estimating how much protein you should be consuming. A good rule of thumb is 1 g/lb. Assume that 1 gram of protein = 4 calories. Now, if you're 230 lb, you should have about 230 g of protein a day. If you're keeping track, that means that 920 of your calories should come from protein.

Next, you need to calculate your fat intake. Fats are actually really useful for weight reduction (though they are more dense from a caloric perspective). A good rule of thumb is to have 0.4 g per lb of body weight. That means that you should be having about 92g of fat a day. Assuming that each gram of fat - 9 calories, 828 of your daily calories will come from fats.

If you've calculated correctly, you still have a gap between how many calories you can eat and how many you'll fill with proteins and fats. THAT is your daily allowance for carbs. To calculate the grams of carbs you can eat, just divide the number of calories by 4 (the estimate for calories/g of carb).

Hope this helps.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say there's no way in hell she needs 230g of protein per day. Even 1g/lb of LEAN mass is on the high side for what you "need" and given that the OP hasn't said anything about a heavy lifting routine, her needs are likely more like 0.7g/lb of LEAN mass or less. Going over your target a bit won't hurt assuming calories stay in check, but 230g as a target? That's laughably wrong.

OnU2nite

Not all carbs are created equal. Your body may respond to some better than others. So.... "How much" of "what kind" of carb placed "when" throughout the day should be your question. The internet will not answer this for you. Calculate your numbers and give it a whirl. IMO low carb = crappy workouts. But if you must.....

Getting light headed? Eat more carbs.
Gaining weight? Cut back on carbs.

Somewhere in the middle is your answer.

TheIrish1981

I consume about 200 grams of carbs per day and that was advised by my nutritionist. In her words " Carbs are a great source of fuel for the body ".

She did however stress the importance of using the majority of my 200 grams on Fruits, Veggies, and yes...even Pasta.

Before I was eating about 500 grams of carbs per day.....mostly coming from Pepsi and Sweet Treats. I'm down 10 pounds in less than a month. So the carbs aren't hurting my results.

I actually did a low carb diet and lost 40 pounds, however when I tried to raise my carbs back to a normal level ( yes, healthy carbs ) the weight poured back on. I guess i'm just not a fan of no/low carb lifestyle changes. It may work for you, but I must have the carbs _

lindsey1979

I opt for keeping my carbs under 100g/day, but I do so for insulin resistance. I also get those carbs primarily from vegetables, occasional fruit and nuts. I stay away from grains generally as I find that I feel a whole lot better without them.

But, this is really going to come down to a personal decision. Some folks can tolerate high carbs and grains rather well. Others of us can't (and often didn't know it until we but them out). So, I'd suggest you cut them out for a while and see how you feel, then add them back in if you don't notice a difference. Play with your carb number until you find a balance that works for you.