how many carbs should i eat daily?

spaceylaceys

ive been eating around one half of the amount it says on my fitness diary (so around 100 a day)...but im worried that may be too much...i exercise at least 30 minutes to an hour a day moderately and consume about 1200 calories for my diet...help please!

futurefitgirl

If you are eating healthy carbs you should be fine! Those carbs can be coming from dairy and veggies and fruits and our bodies need those carbs and they aid in weight loss and give you energy. Just be conscience of where you carbs are coming. If you take too many away, you might replace them with fat without noticing. You don't want to overload on any one thing and the way this site balances out carbs, fat, and cals seems to be a good way to go. Good luck and I hope that helps! :flowerforyou:

SHBoss1673

So, are you sticking to your other macronutrients? If so, you're eating way less calories than MFP has for your goal. If you want to lower your carbs, that's fine, but if you're not going to follow the MFP guidelines, then the results will differ from what MFP says they will be.

It's not so much about how many carbs someone eats (although some people are more sensitive to carbohydrates than others), it's about the calorie balance you want to achieve, and the TYPE of carbs you are eating, with only a few lbs to lose, you can't expect large changes, expect 10 lbs to take up to 6 months of being dedicated to exercise and healthy eating, and keeping a VERY moderate calorie deficit. If you have a 400 or 500 calorie deficit, and don't eat your exercise calories, it's probably going to throw your body into a panic, and your weight loss may stall, and I can almost guarantee that you'll lose muscle mass in the process.

spaceylaceys

eeeeeekkkk...that doesnt sound good...i try to get my carbs from whole grains fruits and veggies for the most part...i am confused about how many calories i should eat though...it said for a 1.5lb a week weight loss i should intake 1200 cals which is about a 700 deficit...i wasnt aware of the fact that i needed to eat my burned calories, although that makes sense...i thought maybe it would just be faster weight loss results if i didnt...do you think that i should be eating more calories than 1200 then? i just started getting back into shape and am in need of the advice....thanks

SHBoss1673

eeeeeekkkk...that doesnt sound good...i try to get my carbs from whole grains fruits and veggies for the most part...i am confused about how many calories i should eat though...it said for a 1.5lb a week weight loss i should intake 1200 cals which is about a 700 deficit...i wasnt aware of the fact that i needed to eat my burned calories, although that makes sense...i thought maybe it would just be faster weight loss results if i didnt...do you think that i should be eating more calories than 1200 then? i just started getting back into shape and am in need of the advice....thanks

700 calorie deficit for someone looking to lose less than 10 lbs is far too much IMHO. I think you should be looking for less than 1/2 lb per week, there's no way your body will be able to sustain that kind of weight loss, you're just going to be burning through muscle (which is bad for SO many reasons). Exactly how big your deficit should be is a tough answer as everyone is a little different, but here's my advice. SLOWLY (by that I mean maybe 100 calories a week) add calories to your diet, until you get up to around a 350 calorie deficit (including exercise calories), then stop there for about 3 weeks, if you see no loss, add about 50 to 100 calories, then check again.

It takes a while for the body to adjust to a calorie change, 3 weeks should be enough time to confirm whether you're at the right spot. Remember though, you won't see pounds, you'll see fractions of pounds, that's the most healthy way to do it. Someone with 30 or 40 lbs to lose will see pounds come off every week (sometimes), but not someone like yourself with so little to lose.