Carbs, are they good or bad?

tennisdude2004

Carbs are good in moderation.

They are not essential but for an active lifestyle they are optimal.

You will probably not need many carbs for you walks and if you are resting 48 to 72 hours between lifting you probably won't need many to replenish your muscles glycogen stores as your body will do this naturally.

If you are going to be doing anaerobic exercise you will probably need to take in extra carbs to fuel that.

100 g of carbs a day should be enough to cover the micros you need (more on heavy exercise days).

There are low carb forums which will probably give you more knowledgable feedback on low carb diets.

A lot of people have had great success with training and weight loss on MFP, but not many on the general forums have done it on a low carb diet.

The human body doesn't replenish glycogen stores naturally. You need to eat carbs to replenish glycogen. That's why when athletes eat low carb, they have "carb up" or "refeed" days regularly.

Sorry but that's just incorrect. You may need to polish up on your glyconeogenisis!

TadaGanIarracht

My suggestion now would be to focus on exercise.

ETA: exercise AND toning.

rsclause

I think you're right. I am already heading that way anyway. I am eating fairly well and only cut some bread and alcohol carbs. Running about 25 miles a week and resistance three times a week. Six pack AP five days a week. I eat oatmeal in the morning but add enough fruit to make it an 800 calorie meal and fruit is carbs. What I cut I am replacing with protein. I think I will go with what I started this week for awhile and see if I like the results.

tigersword

Carbs are good in moderation.

They are not essential but for an active lifestyle they are optimal.

You will probably not need many carbs for you walks and if you are resting 48 to 72 hours between lifting you probably won't need many to replenish your muscles glycogen stores as your body will do this naturally.

If you are going to be doing anaerobic exercise you will probably need to take in extra carbs to fuel that.

100 g of carbs a day should be enough to cover the micros you need (more on heavy exercise days).

There are low carb forums which will probably give you more knowledgable feedback on low carb diets.

A lot of people have had great success with training and weight loss on MFP, but not many on the general forums have done it on a low carb diet.

The human body doesn't replenish glycogen stores naturally. You need to eat carbs to replenish glycogen. That's why when athletes eat low carb, they have "carb up" or "refeed" days regularly.

Sorry but that's just incorrect. You may need to polish up on your glyconeogenisis!

Glyconeogenesis isn't really a thing. It's used interchangeably with gluconeogenesis, it's a system used to create glucose for blood sugar regulation, not for creating muscle glycogen. Gluconeogenesis is a very inefficient process, and the glucose created by it is used to fuel the brain and maintain blood glucose levels, not to fill depleted muscle and liver glycogen stores. Again, that's what "refeed days" are for. If the body used gluconeogenesis to refill muscle glycogen, refeed days wouldn't exist. Also, athletes would never run out of glycogen and "hit the wall."

suremeansyes

Carbs=very good. YAY BEER.

tennisdude2004

Carbs are good in moderation.

They are not essential but for an active lifestyle they are optimal.

You will probably not need many carbs for you walks and if you are resting 48 to 72 hours between lifting you probably won't need many to replenish your muscles glycogen stores as your body will do this naturally.

If you are going to be doing anaerobic exercise you will probably need to take in extra carbs to fuel that.

100 g of carbs a day should be enough to cover the micros you need (more on heavy exercise days).

There are low carb forums which will probably give you more knowledgable feedback on low carb diets.

A lot of people have had great success with training and weight loss on MFP, but not many on the general forums have done it on a low carb diet.

The human body doesn't replenish glycogen stores naturally. You need to eat carbs to replenish glycogen. That's why when athletes eat low carb, they have "carb up" or "refeed" days regularly.

Sorry but that's just incorrect. You may need to polish up on your glyconeogenisis!

Glyconeogenesis isn't really a thing. It's used interchangeably with gluconeogenesis, it's a system used to create glucose for blood sugar regulation, not for creating muscle glycogen. Gluconeogenesis is a very inefficient process, and the glucose created by it is used to fuel the brain and maintain blood glucose levels, not to fill depleted muscle and liver glycogen stores. Again, that's what "refeed days" are for. If the body used gluconeogenesis to refill muscle glycogen, refeed days wouldn't exist. Also, athletes would never run out of glycogen and "hit the wall."

Yes but we are not all athletes. Agreed anyone with a training regime that depletes there muscle glycogen daily will need to re-feed days (pretty sure I mention using additional carbs when doing heavy exercise).

Using the example of an athlete is a bit so a strawman argument anyway, but that being said if you did want to know how low carb diets fit with elite athletes I would suggest reading up on Tim Noakes (he's a bit of an expert in that field).

The body can produce (without the aid of dietary carbs) 150g - 200g of glycogen and not all of that is needed to fuel the brain and other organs - on a low carb / keto diet.

Oh and thanks to making a point of my spelling mistake on gluconeogensis, I thought such things were against the forum rules?

amanda_catherine

I heard from a friend... that her friend ate to many carbs and she exploded!

:bigsmile:

kommodevaran

The general consensus will probably be calories in calories out is all that matters, eat whatever you want as long as it fits in your calorie budget, but I disagree. From my experience it's easiest for me to get very lean when I eat lower carb.

Maybe it all comes down to the fact that I'm eating less, but lower carb makes it so easy to stick to a diet because I'm not starving, or battling with cravings. That is a major plus in my opinion.

Yes. Do not confuse overall principles, preferred methods and helpful tips.

Yagisama

I heard from a friend... that her friend ate to many carbs and she exploded!

:bigsmile:

That's preposterous. No one can explode from eating too many carbs! That's just not correct. Everyone knows what really happens if you eat too many cards is that you asplode.

_Terrapin_

bump; BF %, diary closed, 178 pounds, 6feet 2, exercise regimen, and progress of said goal.

yarwell

Glyconeogenesis isn't really a thing.

...

Athletes would never run out of glycogen and "hit the wall."

Athletes could run out of glycogen in intense exercise as they would use it faster than it could be made.

I think he meant glycogenesis which most definitely is a thing :-



Glycogen is refilled in the absence of dietary carbs, but not to the same level as with high blood sugars and insulin following carb ingestion.

rgilsenan1

If you are active, which it seems you are, then your body will turn almost none of the carbs you eat into fat. However what you are talking about is called re-compositioning which is very hard to do.

these videos explain how to do it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFowOExixPE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qQstu7QkXM

rsclause

bump; BF %, diary closed, 178 pounds, 6feet 2, exercise regimen, and progress of said goal.

Sorry, my friends could see my diary already but I guess I should have made it public prior to posting a question like this. I have changed it to public now for those that want to look. The Aria scale has me at 17% BF and I did hit my weight goal after lowering it twice. Really happy with the weight but since I am out of goals I thought it would be fun to work on the way my abs look and tone a bit. I guess I just really don't want this ride to end. I am supposed to be maintaining but thats no fun, I want to work on something.

_Terrapin_

bump; BF %, diary closed, 178 pounds, 6feet 2, exercise regimen, and progress of said goal.

Sorry, my friends could see my diary already but I guess I should have made it public prior to posting a question like this. I have changed it to public now for those that want to look. The Aria scale has me at 17% BF and I did hit my weight goal after lowering it twice. Really happy with the weight but since I am out of goals I thought it would be fun to work on the way my abs look and tone a bit. I guess I just really don't want this ride to end. I am supposed to be maintaining but thats no fun, I want to work on something.

First congrats on the weight loss; as for your goal of a six pack, as other folks have referenced, you'll want to do more resistance(weight lifting ) work. You are closer in age to where the 'six pack' may take a little longer then say someone in the early 30's. So, less cardio, more strength training, and gaining a few pounds (bulk) in the process will allow you to reveal the muscles sooner(a cut). As for your BF, originally somebody was recommending reducing it, I'd recommend the opposite or at the very least maintaining it while you lift more and cardio less. I wouldn't have BF be your focus during the process of transitioning your workouts.

You have a great challenge goal before you to show those abs. You also have to make some changes and continue to be accurate with CICO and success will follow. One of the challenges will be when you cut cardio(which is a great way to burn calories) lifting provides less calorie burn but ultimately will get you to goal faster. Best of luck.