Let's Talk Carbs.

gdunn55

So I been messing with my diet and decided to cut out as many carbs as I can that's not from fruits, veggies, or lean meat. The only exception is potatoes, no taters for me. With all my protein drinks and a few other things I'm not cutting out I'm still under about 170 carbs.

I've done a very low carb diet before and had excellent results, but as soon as carbs were introduced again it didn't take long for the weight to come back on, but I'm hoping if I only rely on most of my carbs coming from lean meats and stuff naturally grown will help me more than hurt. I cut out bread, taters, try to watch the refined sugars, I think I'll be fine.

Has anyone else tried anything like this?

I will admit, I still have a cup of coffee in the morning, but I use one tsp of truvia to sweeten.

yesthistime

bump. I posted a similar question yesterday about low-carb success and got some great insight. Can't wait to read more firsthand accounts

gdunn55

The last time I done this, bout 6 days a week it was no carb. One day I allowed myself 100 carbs. I dropped weight quick. But as soon as I introduced carbs, I put it back on. I plan to do this in cycles of 12 weeks.

First 12 weeks low carb for 6 days, 1 day of whatever.
Week 13 I slowly reintroduce breads and potatoes.
Week 14 I eat healthy but with breads and potatoes.
Week 15 I slowly take it out.
Week 16 I'm back to how I was Week 1-12.

onek9lover

I am also doing low carb and its really working.. I eat a lot of eggs, baked chicken, cottage cheese and veggies. I know that you gain weight after reintroducing them, but I pretty much plan on never introducing them back they way they dominated my diet before. Its just like alochol and sweets, it needs to be in moderation.

CallieM15

I did the Atkins route 0-20g carbs daily. I lost 52 pounds that way from 212 to about 158. BUT I went back to eating pancakes and chocolate galore. I think lowering carbs is helpful, its just the maintining phase, and learning what amount of carbs is adequate for your body to not gain on is key. Good luck! Im lowering my carbs starting today again.

sun33082

I do this. My carbs come from fruit and veggies and the occassional Chocolite candy. Those are great because they are very low on sugar alcohols (1g per piece) and have a lot of fiber. I stay away from all refined sugar, white carbs and starchy vegetables. My carb intake is usually around 100g/day.

sun33082

We do have to be careful when going on maintenance. Carbs can be very addicting and can dominate our diet if we let them. It's hard to find a balance but it is possible.

susanofscottsdale

I have found that I only lose weight if I maintain a low carb & low calorie diet. The tipping point seems to be keeping my carbs and proteins level, so about 120g carbs/day. I have tested and proven this to myself several times, over extended periods of time.

To do this I eliminate all the obvious simple and carb-intensive foods (breads, flour products, rice), avoid starchy veggies (carrots, potatoes, beans), limit myself to one fruit per day and oatmeal to 3 times per week. I eat lean meat, many, and many green leafy veggies. When I stick with this I lose and feel wonderful.

Marycandoit

I started out with Atkins at under 20 carbs. I started Phase 2 but switched over to South Beach...so yes, I'm doing my own thing. Now I'm keeping it at under 50 carbs a day. I am so far not having any cravings so I think things are getting under control. I had a very bad sweet tooth before I started and I am so happy I have control again!

rbear713

I cut out bread and pasta. Tripled the speed of my weight loss. I'm almost ready to reintroduce them - I plan on limiting the amount I eat to try to keep the weight off (as in reintroduce bad carbs slowly). I will start this by keeping my exercise regimen as is, and then tweak that to try to find the magical maintenance zone.

I will toy with intake vs exercise until I find that sweet spot - although I doubt I'll ever be able to eat carbs like I once did, I'm betting i can fit in my wife's home made mac n cheese n a coupla slices of pizza in every week...

Can't wait to try it...almost there!!

SueInAz

I got stuck in a plateau this past summer when I was trying to lose weight the low fat low calorie way and went back to the low carb eating that I know works for me to shed pounds. I lost the rest of the weight I was trying to lose in another 6 weeks and have maintained it since then.

I normally limit carbs to under 100 grams per day but allow myself the occasional day to eat what I like. I've found that this helps me to keep things balanced while maintaining my goal weight.

PaleoPath4Lyfe

The last time I done this, bout 6 days a week it was no carb. One day I allowed myself 100 carbs. I dropped weight quick. But as soon as I introduced carbs, I put it back on. I plan to do this in cycles of 12 weeks.

First 12 weeks low carb for 6 days, 1 day of whatever.
Week 13 I slowly reintroduce breads and potatoes.
Week 14 I eat healthy but with breads and potatoes.
Week 15 I slowly take it out.
Week 16 I'm back to how I was Week 1-12.

I don't know what plan your following, but Week 13 of reintroducing breads and potatoes in the same week is the reason it seems your weight started coming back............it is water weight.

And with the low carb plans I have studied and successfully lost weight and maintained my weight it is taught that you only eat these foods on occasion, not as an everyday staple...............

In order for your eating plan to be successful, it should revolve around meat and veggies first and foremost and if a starch is also eaten, then no breads or vice versa. Some foods are not meant to be every day foods.

PaleoPath4Lyfe

I did the Atkins route 0-20g carbs daily. I lost 52 pounds that way from 212 to about 158. BUT I went back to eating pancakes and chocolate galore. I think lowering carbs is helpful, its just the maintining phase, and learning what amount of carbs is adequate for your body to not gain on is key. Good luck! Im lowering my carbs starting today again.

If you did Atkins correctly, then you would know what amount of carbs is adequate for losing, maintaining or gaining weight. If you don't know what they levels are, then you did not work the plan as outlined.

gdunn55

The last time I done this, bout 6 days a week it was no carb. One day I allowed myself 100 carbs. I dropped weight quick. But as soon as I introduced carbs, I put it back on. I plan to do this in cycles of 12 weeks.

First 12 weeks low carb for 6 days, 1 day of whatever.
Week 13 I slowly reintroduce breads and potatoes.
Week 14 I eat healthy but with breads and potatoes.
Week 15 I slowly take it out.
Week 16 I'm back to how I was Week 1-12.

I don't know what plan your following, but Week 13 of reintroducing breads and potatoes in the same week is the reason it seems your weight started coming back............it is water weight.

And with the low carb plans I have studied and successfully lost weight and maintained my weight it is taught that you only eat these foods on occasion, not as an everyday staple...............

In order for your eating plan to be successful, it should revolve around meat and veggies first and foremost and if a starch is also eaten, then no breads or vice versa. Some foods are not meant to be every day foods.

This is my plan to experiment with. Last time I didn't reintroduce anything. I moved for work and stayed in a hotel for a month and options for food were VERY limited. A man can only eat a Subway salad so many times.

Acg67

So I been messing with my diet and decided to cut out as many carbs as I can that's not from fruits, veggies, or lean meat. The only exception is potatoes, no taters for me. With all my protein drinks and a few other things I'm not cutting out I'm still under about 170 carbs.

I've done a very low carb diet before and had excellent results, but as soon as carbs were introduced again it didn't take long for the weight to come back on, but I'm hoping if I only rely on most of my carbs coming from lean meats and stuff naturally grown will help me more than hurt. I cut out bread, taters, try to watch the refined sugars, I think I'll be fine.

Has anyone else tried anything like this?

I will admit, I still have a cup of coffee in the morning, but I use one tsp of truvia to sweeten.

Maybe you shouldn't cut them out at all and instead eat them in moderation? Unless you have a metabolic disorder requiring you to keep carbs low, low diets have no metabolic advantage over a mixed diet

CallieM15

I did the Atkins route 0-20g carbs daily. I lost 52 pounds that way from 212 to about 158. BUT I went back to eating pancakes and chocolate galore. I think lowering carbs is helpful, its just the maintining phase, and learning what amount of carbs is adequate for your body to not gain on is key. Good luck! Im lowering my carbs starting today again.

If you did Atkins correctly, then you would know what amount of carbs is adequate for losing, maintaining or gaining weight. If you don't know what they levels are, then you did not work the plan as outlined.

Yea, I didnt do it correctly. I wasnt planning on going straight into eating carbs, but I caved and went on a vacation for a few weeks and it went downhill from there. This time around ill start reintroducing the carbs step by step and learn my correct maintining goal.

kris4chloe

I did atkins for over a year and was low carb and decided that the restriction was to much although it gave great results. If I slipped and had to many carbs I would be as much as 5 lbs up on the scale the next day and then it would take over a week and a half of strict low carbs to take it off again. I want to be able to eat carbs and develop a healthy relationship with food.

I do eliminate carbs from my dinner and stick to lean protein and veggies for dinner.

I try to limit my carb intake to oatmeal, brown rice, quinoa, whole wheat bread and whatever comes in the forms of fruits and vegetables. I am a serious veggie lover and that makes up a huge part of my diet and I could never live without my good old fashioned oats every morning.

CoryIda

Consume a well-balanced diet of wholesome, nutritious foods in sensible portions, drink water, and move your body.
That's how you get healthy and stay healthy for life no matter what the scale says.

Carbs are not "evil"

GB333

The Atkins website has all of the information you need about a low carb diet / lifestyle. You can also sign up for a free starter kit and they will send you a few samples of their bars, a meal planner, and a handy little pocket guide to counting carbs. I got mine in the mail last week, started Atkins, and am down more than 3 pounds already. But like I told my friend this weekend, Atkins is not a diet for someone who likes to cheat. A few little cheats here and there can knock you out of Ketosis and really set you back. She wanted to do the diet with me, but I know her well enough to know that she will cheat all the time and chances are she would gain weight instead of losing it!

auticus

My opinion:

Low carb is garbage.

You need carbs. Our problem isn't that we eat carbs. Its that we gorge ourselves on too many carbs. I do my best to keep my protein intake around the same as my carb intake. It has worked wonders.

Low carb gives me short term success and then it fails when I stop doing it. It is a fad diet. It is an attempt at a silver bullet or magic potion to make us lose weight really fast, but in the end when we go off of it we bloat up and then some.

amoeba15

Maybe you shouldn't cut them out at all and instead eat them in moderation? Unless you have a metabolic disorder requiring you to keep carbs low, low diets have no metabolic advantage over a mixed diet

The problem is people are so brainwashed by the Low Carb Cult that they'll defend it no matter what the evidence says, man.

crimsontech

When you cut out carbs, your body depletes its store of glycogen (which is how the liver stores carbs). In order to store glycogen, you also store 3 grams of water for every 1 gram of glycogen. That comes out to about 3-4 pounds of water weight depending on your size. So, when you reintroduce carbs into your diet, you WILL gain 3-4 pounds back. BUT, it's mostly water weight you gain back, but not fat. I am doing the low-carb thing right now, so my weight is dropping quickly right now, but I know that when carbs come back into my diet, I will gain 3-4 pounds back and I know not to worry about it when it happens.

Just to clarify, I am on a doctor-supervised diet from a weight loss clinic. I know low-carb isn't a lifestyle I want to keep, but I am losing a lot of fat mass (averaging 0.5-1 pound per day, according to my Withings scale), so I know that it's great for this phase of my weight loss since I am so overweight right now.

FabulousKP

Bump..

30yearssincebikini

Carbs are not "evil"

For me they are! I am doing Atkins and am losing much more rapidly than if I ate carbs along with other good food. Eating good food is fine for nutrition etc, but for me, it takes a ton of exercise and weeks of dieting to lose two or three pounds your way. My way, (20 g carbs daily) works much quicker, and I feel great.

amoeba15

Carbs are not "evil"

For me they are! I am doing Atkins and am losing much more rapidly than if I ate carbs along with other good food. Eating good food is fine for nutrition etc, but for me, it takes a ton of exercise and weeks of dieting to lose two or three pounds your way. My way, (20 g carbs daily) works much quicker, and I feel great.

That's the point. You're SUPPOSED to lose slowly.

KAB0

Interesting how some people agree that they lose better with a low carb diet and some people disagree that low carb makes a difference - kinda as if all people aren't different...
I generally do better if I limit my carb intake as part of an overall low calorie diet. If I take in 1200 calories with the majority from carbs, my overall weight loss over time is not as great as if I take in 1200 calories with a lower percentage from Carbs. I believe that all people process different types of calories differently, so it really matters to what works for you - both from a weight loss point of view and from what you can manage in your day to day life.
I have two young boys that need quite few carbs in their dinner so I am limited on how many salads I can make (I prefer for the family to all eat the same dinner). So for myself I have to realize that in order to lose I need to put fewer of the noodles on MY plate and more of the veggies, and the boys get the opposite.
I agree that for some people a low calorie balance works best, but also think that for some people reducing the carb percentage will be a better weight loss strategy.
I also definitely agree it is about moderation in all things.

ElleEmmeKay

I used to weigh 180 at my heaviest... I have both lost and maintained with low carbs. The key for me is to remember that carbs (from grains, sugar and other non natural forms) are off limits for good. Now, I absolutely love me a big piece of birthday cake... But I know if I want to stay healthy, feel good about myself and fit in my pants, cake can only happen once a month. I think that more often then not, people think they will be able to maintain their weight by going back to eating in moderation daily and weekly the kind of carbs that they used to. For my, I have learned this to be false and it has been possibly the main Aston for any success I have had with my weight.

Lleldiranne

Whenever you do go for the starchy carbs (bread, potatoes, rice, pasta) go for the whole food. By this I mean whole wheat bread (with as much of the grain as possible), the skin along with the potato - and go for small potatoes, not the giant ones we've been programmed to eat!, whole grain brown rice (cooks with 2.5 to 1 water to rice, for a longer time than white), and whole grain pasta. When you include the whole grain, there are more natural nutrients, meaning you get more benefit from eating them, and more fiber. They satisfy you sooner and longer. And they just taste better (IMO)

crimsontech

You don't necessarily have to lose it slowly. It depends on how overweight you are. If you're like 20 pounds overweight, you're probably only going to lose it slowly because you can't create enough of a calorie deficit to lose any faster unless you work out 2 hours a day, 6 days a week. For those of us still in the 300+ range (hopefully not much longer for me, 13 pounds to go!), it's perfectly fine to lose weight a bit faster than that, so long as it's being done with adequate nutrition, and ESPECIALLY with your doctor's blessing and checkups.

Up until last week, I was eating 1200-1500 calories a day and doing about an hour of exercise 6 days a week (walking, hiking uphill, bicycle) and losing 3-5 pounds a week. I am losing even more now on this low-carb thing but since I also track my body fat daily, I know that it's a combination of fat and water, but it's still a LOT of fat being lost as well.

I think when people re-introduce carbs and gain all that water weight back, they freak out and think they've blown their diet and then just go crazy and get back to a calorie surplus. That's not going to be me. I know what to expect.

UpEarly

About 55% of my calories come from carbs - which usually means I typically eat 200-250g of carbs every day. (I eat 55/15/30) Carbs give me energy. Carbs make me happy. Carbs didn't really seem to slow my weight loss down at all - I lost about 55 pounds in ten months, eating about 2000 calories a day.

That's what worked for me! However, I do believe that different people respond in different ways to different diets. Experiment, and figure out what works best for you.

PrincessLou71186

I was advised by my PT to lower my carb intake, mostly because it's the first thing that gets burnt when going to the gym.

I am trying to keep my carbs to under 25%.

If anyone wants any friends with similar goals then send a request my way.

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