Who has lost weight without restricting carbs?

HMonsterX

I never look at my carbs. Not yet anyway.

Calories and protein are the two things i pay attention to.

ctprofessional

I have done both and lost. Although restricting carbs can become very unhealthy easily.

funkycamper

I say you should try different types of eating plans to see what works best for you. I am one that must restrict my carbs in order to lose weight, feel healthy, have energy, and have a better emotional balance. If I eat too many carbs for me...and what works for me might not work for someone else...I can't lose any weight even if I'm restricting my calories, have aches and pains in my joints, feel sluggish and need to nap a lot, and have severe mood swings. I have never been a big eater in terms of eating large quantities of food or eating tons of calories yet I gained over 100 pounds while trying to lose weight eating low-fat/high-carb. I felt like a failure and was an emotional wreck wondering what the heck was wrong with me. And, yes, I was exercising. In fact, I taught aerobics (6 classes per week), worked out on the weights 5-6 days per week, and ran for an hour every morning except Sunday. And, yeah, gained weight. And it wasn't muscle, that's for sure. Once I restricted carbs, the weight started coming off even though at that point, with all the weight gain, I wasn't exercising. Now I exercise 5-6 days per week doing anything from running to cardio kickboxing to zumba to elliptical to swimming and more and am losing even faster.

I think there are a lot of people on here who are totally misinformed about low-carbing and how it works. Unfortunately, the media has promoted an idea that it means eating lots of meat, especially bacon, in unlimited quantities. Not so. For example, with Atkins you restrict to 20 grams per day for the first two weeks and then go into the continuing weight loss part of the plan. This means that every week you add 5 grams of carb/day until you get your carbs raised to the point where you still see a slow weight loss of 1-2# per week. For some people this means they might only be able to eat 50 grams of carbs per day. For others, it might be 150. Atkins also promotes getting most of your carbs from green leafy vegetables at first and then adding more vegetables plus things like brown rice, whole-grain breads, etc.

For me, I do best if I stay to around 60 grams/carb per day. Although I also do calorie and carb cycling so I will sometimes splurge and have pizza or lasagna or some other carb-loaded meal that I enjoy without harming my overall weight loss. I do, however, still pay for these splurges by getting achy joints and edema in my feet. Shoes that I wore before dinner can be so tight they hurt within an hour or so after the carb splurge. The only way I can avoid this is if I go exercise, even if it's just a fairly long walk, almost immediately after eating the higher carb meal. Since most social events means that there are higher-carb food choices around, I tend to have a high-carb day about once a week. My calories will also be higher that day. Again, I just plan around it, eat less for a day or two before and/or after the splurge, and it doesn't effect my weight loss. I can't do it more than about once a week though or I start getting lethargic, sleepy, grouchy, etc.

So, we're all different but there is really nothing of nutritional value in breads, pasta, etc. so it's not a health risk to limit those types of foods if you feel better and lose better without them being a major part of your diet.

Oh, I should add that my blood pressure, cholesterol levels, etc., are all in very healthy ranges eating this way. While they were never really bad, they were worse when I was eating at higher carb levels. So, yeah, we're all different and you should do what works best for you.