who is doing low carb

atpoem2003

Hi! I'm on a low-carb diet due to being Type II Diabetic. My last doctor's visit was not pretty and he told me if I wanted to get off insulin, that I'd better be watching my diet. I have to avoid sugar, baked goods, and other carbs that turn into sugar. Anyway, I need to lose 120 lbs. I will turn a very young 62 years of age on October 23rd, 2014. My goal is to have all this weight off before I turn 65. Of course, I want to get it off sooner, but that is just looking at the larger picture. Good Luck to you! Hope we can encourage one another...:)

_Terrapin_

From Iowa State. . . .human sciences. . . .

"The roles of carbohydrate in the body includes providing energy for working muscles, providing fuel for the central nervous system, enabling fat metabolism, and preventing protein from being used as energy. Carbohydrate is the preferred source of energy or fuel for muscle contraction and biologic work."

http://www.extension.iastate.edu/humansciences/content/carbohydrate

angelexperiment

Hi! I'm on a low-carb diet due to being Type II Diabetic. My last doctor's visit was not pretty and he told me if I wanted to get off insulin, that I'd better be watching my diet. I have to avoid sugar, baked goods, and other carbs that turn into sugar. Anyway, I need to lose 120 lbs. I will turn a very young 62 years of age on October 23rd, 2014. My goal is to have all this weight off before I turn 65. Of course, I want to get it off sooner, but that is just looking at the larger picture. Good Luck to you! Hope we can encourage one another...:)

aww good luck and happy birthday! I have seen some people look younger and younger as they lose. But you already look very young:)

_Thriving_

From Iowa State. . . .human sciences. . . .

"The roles of carbohydrate in the body includes providing energy for working muscles, providing fuel for the central nervous system, enabling fat metabolism, and preventing protein from being used as energy. Carbohydrate is the preferred source of energy or fuel for muscle contraction and biologic work."

http://www.extension.iastate.edu/humansciences/content/carbohydrate

Good luck with your weight loss OP. Pretty solid info in this link. You should take a look OP. Thanks for posting this _Terrapin_

shai74

From Iowa State. . . .human sciences. . . .

"The roles of carbohydrate in the body includes providing energy for working muscles, providing fuel for the central nervous system, enabling fat metabolism, and preventing protein from being used as energy. Carbohydrate is the preferred source of energy or fuel for muscle contraction and biologic work."

http://www.extension.iastate.edu/humansciences/content/carbohydrate

Right you are, carbs are the first choice for fuel if available. Carbs are quickly and easily broken down into simple sugars, making them readily available for energy.

A carb fueled athlete can run out of fuel and require additional glucose when their body fat could provide endless fuel. Even an elite athlete with 8 percent body fat has enough fat on their body to power them through an endurance event. The problem is, if you are a “sugar burner” you cannot access the stored body fat. Regardless of whether you are exercising or not. People who regularly consume carbohydrate rich foods have trained their bodies (and enzyme systems) to primarily run on glucose. Whereas people who have been on a low carbohydrate eating plan for some time switch over into fat burning and become “fat burners”. I'd rather be a fat burner than a sugar burner, I'm sure my pancreas would agree.

I could google and post links to support any theory I like too, but that'd be pointless. I can only offer what I know from personal experience.

_Terrapin_

From Iowa State. . . .human sciences. . . .

"The roles of carbohydrate in the body includes providing energy for working muscles, providing fuel for the central nervous system, enabling fat metabolism, and preventing protein from being used as energy. Carbohydrate is the preferred source of energy or fuel for muscle contraction and biologic work."

http://www.extension.iastate.edu/humansciences/content/carbohydrate

Right you are, carbs are the first choice for fuel if available. Carbs are quickly and easily broken down into simple sugars, making them readily available for energy.

A carb fueled athlete can run out of fuel and require additional glucose when their body fat could provide endless fuel. Even an elite athlete with 8 percent body fat has enough fat on their body to power them through an endurance event. The problem is, if you are a “sugar burner” you cannot access the stored body fat. Regardless of whether you are exercising or not. People who regularly consume carbohydrate rich foods have trained their bodies (and enzyme systems) to primarily run on glucose. Whereas people who have been on a low carbohydrate eating plan for some time switch over into fat burning and become “fat burners”. I'd rather be a fat burner than a sugar burner, I'm sure my pancreas would agree.

I could google and post links to support any theory I like too, but that'd be pointless. I can only offer what I know from personal experience.

I'm curious, what sort of fitness do you do? Simply put, what do you need energy for? Do you do anything in particular? Run? Walk? HIIT? Lift? Swim?

CherryChan81

my second week of paleo... carb withdrawals... :explode:

Luv2eatSweets

I'm really not sure if you would consider my diet as low carb. But I do try to watch I'm staying in the 75-100g area.

_Terrapin_

my second week of paleo... carb withdrawals... :explode:

I'm sure there is a Paleo group around for support. You go through the same thing with Atkins, P90X, the difference is they re-introduce the carbs sooner.

zcb94

I do low carb most of the time because of being diabetic and to help with bloating and weight. I have been trying a lot of new things like cauliflower mash, roasted cauliflower, cauliflower rice, roasted Brussels sprouts, kale chips, pineapple chicken, broccoli beef, curry chicken/beef, jambalaya, zucchini lasagna, zucchini spaghetti. sub in soy or spelt flower for breading for pork chops, binders for salmon and crab patties and gravies. The hardest thing is eating out! We rarely eat out but if I eat something I shouldn't I feel horrible. Last night case in point we had Japanese. I really wanted sushi but I passed and had salad , soup, hibachi chicken zucchini and onions and then I ate 5 bites of rice and immediately felt sick! I love to cook and try new recipes and this time my family has been so much more supportive this go round which has made it much easier!

harmar21

Which low carb are you doing? and how low?
I started low carb 3 weeks ago (keto).. so I keep NET carbs (total carbs - fiber) < 30 grams (a lot of people try to keep < 20 but I found that was too limiting for me, and going to 30 didn't affect much)

I tried pure calorie counting in the past and I was always starving, so I would cheat and just eat a bit more, and before you know it I was back to my old self.
So when I wanted to make a change 3 weeks ago I literally googled "diet that doesnt keep me starving" and came across that it is sugars that keep you always hungry. So I did a bunch more research and originally decided to go atkins. I did atkins for a week, but didn't like it so did a bit more research, and decided to just go general keto diet (atkins is a keto diet)

When I started I was starving for the first 3 days. But on the 5th day when my body went into ketosis my appetite literally disappeared. I couldn't actually eat enough calories. After about a week or so my appetite did come back, but not to what it used to be.
I don't miss sugar, but miss breads.... especially pizza. But I am seeing results just after 3 weeks (down approx 15 lbs) so definitely sticking to it.

atpoem2003

CONGRATS! I hope that I will be down 76 pounds in 8 months!!! I am diabetic and will turn a young 62 years of age this month. My husband is a carb addict and he needs to lose around 20 lbs, but won't admit it! He doesn't mean to, but he pushes food at me. He has recently retired and he has taken on the role of chef. I wrote down what I can and cannot eat, but he still ask me if I want some ice cream or whatever he is eating. He forgets that goes under the category of temptation. It is my health at stake and I don't think he realizes that. I am not blaming him, we must learn to say "NO!", and to mean it. I am doing that and it feels good!

parkscs

From Iowa State. . . .human sciences. . . .

"The roles of carbohydrate in the body includes providing energy for working muscles, providing fuel for the central nervous system, enabling fat metabolism, and preventing protein from being used as energy. Carbohydrate is the preferred source of energy or fuel for muscle contraction and biologic work."

http://www.extension.iastate.edu/humansciences/content/carbohydrate

It's sort of pointless to post a quote without giving any explanation about why you think your quote is relevant to anything in this thread, particularly a quote that isn't self-evident. Is your contention that you cannot exercise on a low carb diet? That's nonsense. That your CNS shuts down on a low carb diet? I'd love to see the studies on that. Do you even have a point? Who knows, because you said nothing beyond posting a quote about what carbs are for at a high level.

Here too is a random quote from Iowa State:

The energy obtained from fat plays an important role for both high intensity and endurance sports. Fat serves as the primary fuel for low intensity and long duration activities such as marathons, triathlons, and cross country skiing. In high intensity activity, where carbohydrate is the primary fuel, fat is necessary to fully release the available energy in carbohydrate.

Wow. Don't we feel enlightened? Random blurbs from Iowa State surely trump all the literature when it comes to weight loss, activity and LBM retention on low carb diets.

Sarcasm aside, should a professional athlete use a low carb diet gong into a competition? No, other than perhaps for making weight. But is that at all relevant to the average Joe or Jane looking to cut weight, up their activity level and retain lean body mass? Nope. There are plenty of strength athletes that cut using low carb diets and, of all athletes, it's the strength athletes whose anaerobic performance stands to suffer the most. Yet many have successful cuts following such diets.

Low carb is simply a tool. If it's helpful, people should potentially should use it. If it's not, they shouldn't. But leaving unrelated quotes around with no explanation about what you think said quote demonstrates, presumably in an attempt to dissuade people from using such a tool? Give me a break.

melissaneese85

I am doing paleo and my carbs come from carrots, beets, 1/4 cup of sweet potato a day. I have been doing it for over 2 years. I lost 20 lbs in the first 5 weeks with no exercise.

Now I am doing GAPS

Julieboolieaz

It's interesting to me how low carb gets put down so frequently here on MFP. It's not the way many here on MFP lose weight, but it does work for many people.

There are many people who lose weight better following a low carb meal plan. Low carb doesn't mean you eat butter with a side of bacon, it means you eat meats, veggies and dairy mostly. Eliminating processed junk and empty starches from one's diet is universally accepted as a move in the right direction...

I lost 120lbs about 10 years ago following low carb. I've lived basically lower carb for the past 11 years. I was pretty happy living without sugar or starch. Occasionally indulging gaining a few then relosing it again. My avatar is a before and current.

This past year I've made the transition to adding more carbs into my diet. I've decided to try to eat more carbs to fuel my workouts and am still trying to lose 10-20lbs of fat too. It's been about 3 months and I've been working out hard, lifting 3x a week and cardio 2-3times a week too. Running a caloric deficit but with higher carbs than I did for years-and I'm up about 5 lbs! But the weight training has done great things for me. I'm hoping my body will eventually decide to lose some more fat given enough time...but truthfully going back to LC is always in the back of my mind. I didn't dislike living LC, but I wanted the freedom to indulge here and there in carbs yumminess and not gain 5 lbs overnight.

Many here lose just fine by reducing their calories. It's not working for me, and maybe it's because I'm hypothyroid and hormonally off, but LC has been my best weight loss meal plan. Ymmv... Good luck!!

shai74

It's interesting to me how low carb gets put down so frequently here on MFP. It's not the way many here on MFP lose weight, but it does work for many people.

There are many people who lose weight better following a low carb meal plan. Low carb doesn't mean you eat butter with a side of bacon, it means you eat meats, veggies and dairy mostly. Eliminating processed junk and empty starches from one's diet is universally accepted as a move in the right direction...

I lost 120lbs about 10 years ago following low carb. I've lived basically lower carb for the past 11 years. I was pretty happy living without sugar or starch. Occasionally indulging gaining a few then relosing it again. My avatar is a before and current.

This past year I've made the transition to adding more carbs into my diet. I've decided to try to eat more carbs to fuel my workouts and am still trying to lose 10-20lbs of fat too. It's been about 3 months and I've been working out hard, lifting 3x a week and cardio 2-3times a week too. Running a caloric deficit but with higher carbs than I did for years-and I'm up about 5 lbs! But the weight training has done great things for me. I'm hoping my body will eventually decide to lose some more fat given enough time...but truthfully going back to LC is always in the back of my mind. I didn't dislike living LC, but I wanted the freedom to indulge here and there in carbs yumminess and not gain 5 lbs overnight.

Many here lose just fine by reducing their calories. It's not working for me, and maybe it's because I'm hypothyroid and hormonally off, but LC has been my best weight loss meal plan. Ymmv... Good luck!!

I've never understood the low carb hate either. Time and time again you hear how it's the only thing that's worked after trying to "restrict calories but eat what you want" for years. Myself included. 20 years of calorie counting = 50 extra kgs. Clearly works ... not. At least not for people who I think are naturally insulin resistant and have a problem with carbs. A few people have the will power and self control to limit their calories while eating alot of carbs. Forever. But I'll wager they are the exception, not the rule. For the most part people gain it all back again, it's not sustainable. That's why the sucess stories are such a damn miracle.

Like it or hate it, low carb works. It allows people to gain control over their appetite, lose weight, become healthier, better bloodwork, lower glucose levels, less inflamation, reduced medications.

Why such a vehement hate and disdain for people who choose to cut processed food, grain and sugar out of their diets for the good of their health and to get their appetite under control in the long term. I would argue that is how we're SUPPOSED to eat. Just because all that packaged rubbish is available, just because we humans are clever at making chemicals we can eat, doesn't mean we should put that stuff in our bodies. Ever, really. But I don't hate all of you who justify your right to do so. Just don't try and tell me it's "fine" as long as you stay under your calorie limit. It's really not.

I say "Respect" to people who have managed not just to cut calories to lose weight, but have made a real and lasting change to the way they eat and the relationship they have with food. Low carb has literally saved my life, not to mention improved it's quality immensely.

crunchienugget

Do you have any advice for peole starting low carb? I did it about 6 years ago and I dropped about 100lbs. I added carbs back in (including take aways et al!) and put on some of the weight but now I want to get back on the wagon. Its a daunting task. I know for the first few weeks last ime I was sleepy etc and sometimes I wasnt eating all that well but this time Im hoping to up my protein levels.

Just need some encouragement in where to start-help would be very appreciated

berz82

I'm trying 30%, 40%, 30% seems to be a good starter without dropping them too low to begin with.

yarwell

Do you have any advice for peole starting low carb?

Fat and salt are going to be your friends. Fat to provide the calories in your food in the absence of carbs and with protein at moderate levels. Salt to keep your blood pressure up and counter the natural diuretic effect of reducing carbs - the kidneys retain less sodium.

KetoGirl83

I've never understood the low carb hate either. Time and time again you hear how it's the only thing that's worked after trying to "restrict calories but eat what you want" for years. Myself included. 20 years of calorie counting = 50 extra kgs. Clearly works ... not. At least not for people who I think are naturally insulin resistant and have a problem with carbs. A few people have the will power and self control to limit their calories while eating alot of carbs. Forever. But I'll wager they are the exception, not the rule. For the most part people gain it all back again, it's not sustainable. That's why the sucess stories are such a damn miracle.

Like it or hate it, low carb works. It allows people to gain control over their appetite, lose weight, become healthier, better bloodwork, lower glucose levels, less inflamation, reduced medications.

Why such a vehement hate and disdain for people who choose to cut processed food, grain and sugar out of their diets for the good of their health and to get their appetite under control in the long term. I would argue that is how we're SUPPOSED to eat. Just because all that packaged rubbish is available, just because we humans are clever at making chemicals we can eat, doesn't mean we should put that stuff in our bodies. Ever, really. But I don't hate all of you who justify your right to do so. Just don't try and tell me it's "fine" as long as you stay under your calorie limit. It's really not.

I say "Respect" to people who have managed not just to cut calories to lose weight, but have made a real and lasting change to the way they eat and the relationship they have with food. Low carb has literally saved my life, not to mention improved it's quality immensely.

^^ Well said. :drinker:

I have only a very limited experience with low carbs, having started this after being diagnosed diabetic recently. I've struggled with my weight all my life. And now I had blood sugar levels to worry about too.

Guess what? I've started losing weight, my blood sugar is stable and I finally feel free to say no to the foods that brought me to this situation. I'm in no way an expert, lchf is the opposite of what I've believed all my life. But it works as nothing else has ever worked.

I'm trying to learn more. I'm now reading Why We Get Fat: And What to Do about It by Gary Taubes
http://tinyurl.com/lmlcexx
and I do recommend the book to anyone that has tried and failed to lose fat on "willpower", losing some only to get it all, and some more, back. Gary Taubes does an amazing job of distilling a century of scientific knowledge about human nutrition and physiology and making sense of all the contradictory info going around. It's fascinating reading (even if not as easy reading as most of the oversimplified ideas we've been fed all our lives) and most illuminating.