For Low Carb Dieters, how many carbs should I be consuming?

CMWhite84

First off, not to sound mean, but if you don't believe in low carb eating, then please don't respond. I have read the studies and what not, I am choosing to try this because I know it has worked for me in the past, and it is more important for me to get this weight off of me for my health's sake since I am considered "obese" if you consider my 35.5 inch waistline. This is not meant to be a debate over carbs please.
That being said, I am 4'10" and 130 pounds, MFP gives me 1200 calories a day, and about 224 grams of carbs. I am planning on replacing at least one meal a day with a protein shake with 1% milk since I can't find one that tastes good with water, so is that going to be too many carbs with the milk? I just want to know how many carbs I should be giving myself in order to switch my body into fat burning mode rather than carb burning or muscle tissue. Thanks!

CMWhite84

Correction, MFP has me set at 224 grams of carbs.

BradyLee05

I've been on Atkins for a while now since I have PCOS. I consume 20 grams of net carbs a day. (Net carbs is Carbs minus dietary fiber). They have good Atkins shakes that you can buy that have 15 grams of protein and only 2 grams of net carbs.

CMWhite84

Awesome, thank you! That would be easier for me to take to work too, sounds like a good idea. How has the diet been treating you? Have you been able to lose fairly quickly?

PaleoPath4Lyfe

Are you doing a structured plan such as Atkins or South Beach? Or, are you doing a less structured plan, such as Paleo or Primal?

I ask this because with South Beach and Atkins you are going to start out at 20 grams of carbs and then add foods in according to phase.............

Paleo and Primal you just kind of eat fat, protein and vegetables, minimize the fruit intake while losing weight.

Atkins you learn the level of carbs at which YOU will lose weight, maintain weight or begin to gain weight. It is as tedious as counting calories to me.

I did Atkins back in 2003, lost 100 pounds and kept it off until 2008 when I was in a near fatal car accident, so low carbing does work.

CMWhite84

Well, I am thinking that South Beach seems like the most sustainable plan, however if one works better than that I am willing to be more structured. Do you recommend Atkins over South Beach? I suppose at the moment, just starting out I am not structured, just trying to cut out carbs. But the goal is to be more structured and put more thought into what I am doing to be more effective.

bizco

There are 4 phases of the Atkins diet.

1. Induction: 20 grams of Net Carbs a day for a minimum of two weeks.

2. Ongoing Weight Loss: Week by week, you add back nutrient-rich carbs (more veggies, cheese, berries, nuts, seeds, etc.). You do this by adding just 5 grams of Net Carbs per day in weekly increments until weight loss ceases. So you go from 20 to 25 grams per day one week, then to 30 grams daily the next week, and so forth. Once you stop losing weight, drop back 5 grams and you've discovered the amount of carbs you can eat while still losing weight. For most people, that amount is between 40 and 60 grams daily. Continue until you are within 5 to 10 pounds of your goal weight.

3. Pre-Maintenance: Slow your weight loss to an almost imperceptible rate so that your good eating habits become ingrained. Each week, you'll now add another 10 grams of daily Net Carbs to your program - so long as you continue to lose. If your weight loss stops, cut back 5 or 10 grams until you resume gradual weight loss. This is your revised level for carb consumption, at which you will continue until you reach your target weight.

4. Lifetime Maintenance: You've achieved your goal weight and can start enjoying an even wider range of nutrient-rich foods. Most people find that they can maintain their weight by consuming somewhere between 45 and 100 grams of Net Carbs a day. Someone who is fit and exercises an hour or more daily may be able to go even higher.

Net Carbs = total carbohydrate content minus the fiber content (along with glycerine and sugar alcohols found in some reduced carb foods).

I suggest you buy a low carb book such as Atkins diet or South Beach diet.

Edit: You can customize your macro %'s (and thereby your daily grams) by going to My Home>>Goals>>Change Goals>>Custom. Save your changes.

CMWhite84

That is good information, thanks for sharing! I do plan on buying a book, I just need to go out and do it:) And also thanks for the hint on editing macros goals, very helpful.

grinch031

Personally I think the less carbs you eat the better. I'm not a fan of the Atkins approach because, like calorie counting, it requires counting! My approach is to severely limit carbs except to eat healthy carbs (usually fruit) for a post-workout recovery and occasionally throw more of them in small doses just because I like them. I know that almost everything I eat has at least a small amount of carbs (nuts for example are extremely healthy, but its very easy for the carbs to add up on these). So I expect to get a lot of hidden carbs and account for that informally. This approach seems to work pretty well for me.

betnich

Thanks for your tip on modifying the carb/protein/fat ratio on myfitnesspal.com...

RodaRose

Remember that you are going to replace the carbs with something. Add some oils and fats.

GreatDepression

I find that 100g carb a day is a very good goal. It's much lower than the average diet today but still allows you to eat plenty of vegetables and fruit. It's higher than what is generally seen as "low-carb" but I think it's more easily sustained long term or even a life time.

I generally didn't feel deprived when I had around 100-150g of carbs a day. When I went lower than that for extended periods of time, I had cravings for carby things.

TamaBrett

I used the Dukan diet successfully and I recommend it. It's similar to Atkins but promotes low fat as well as low carb. Rather than counting carbs there is a list of allowed foods for each stage, this makes it fairly easy to follow.

Now I don't follow any specific diet, I have a routine of meals that I eat, based on what I like and easily available and is kind of cross between Dukan and Paleo - I avoid all processed food, no bread, pastries, pasta, no added sugar, and I avoid high fat food (eg no cheese or butter) and added fat (oil etc).

Cardio4Cupcakes

I carb cycle and go between 20-80g, depending on the day.