Losing weight WITHOUT doing low carb

postrockandcats

Carbs are fuel for awesomeness. True story. :glasses:

THIS!

47Jacqueline

I eat carbs, my diary is public. I don't believe in cutting out foods. I think the best way to lose weight is portion control and used to do weight watchers who don't believe in "cheating" as a principal. I choose to eat what I like and it comes out more or less balanced as the time goes on.

cramernh

I feel bad for my patients who come to MFP on their Specialist's recommendations... they often feel attacked... and I cant even help them out because of HIPAA...

The only ones that I have seen attacked are the ones who try to push it on everyone. Most of the time without anything to back it up. You will see in almost every thread like these that someone says "unless you have a medical reason, you dont need to stay away from carbs" or something to that effect.

Thats the problem - the LC'ers who dont push it... its the other non-LC'ers who willingly choose to be nasty... not all, but there are quite a few.... and its sad

super_b_star

I feel bad for my patients who come to MFP on their Specialist's recommendations... they often feel attacked... and I cant even help them out because of HIPAA...

The only ones that I have seen attacked are the ones who try to push it on everyone. Most of the time without anything to back it up. You will see in almost every thread like these that someone says "unless you have a medical reason, you dont need to stay away from carbs" or something to that effect.

Thats the problem - the LC'ers who dont push it... its the other non-LC'ers who willingly choose to be nasty... not all, but there are quite a few.... and its sad

Well...I hope you didn't think I was trying to be nasty...I was just wondering if it was a possible healthy lifestyle...

I've also experience pushers from both sides, and both are not very helpful to talk to

Spanaval

I'm in the 'Everything in moderation' camp. The only macro I watch at all closely is protein. The rest fall where they do. I do eat lean protein, fruits and veggies, but also eat white rice, potatoes, pasta, ice cream, and other 'evil' foods. I'm 5 or 6 pounds away from being done (don't know because my goal has less to do with a number on a scale than a certain look/feel), and the way I eat has not gotten in the way of anything.

graelwyn

I get 45-50% carbs and have had no problems. I tried lowering them and just felt like crap and ended up bingeing more.
I get mine mostly from fruits, veggies, potatoes and yes ice cream, chocolate or whatever treat I choose to have each day.

cbevan1229

I definitely eat carbs. I do try to make sure they are generally healthy carbs as opposed to high carb snack/junk foods, although I do typically have some sort of dessert each evening. Usually at the end of my day I have gone over on the MFP recommendations for protein, and come in somewhat under in carbs, but I don't worry about it.

I'm just counting calories and exercising, and not worrying too much about the macros - I have a generally good idea about what is healthy, and try to make my food choices using that as a guide. My diary is open if you would like to take a look.

bacamacho

I don't max my carbs too often, but I do get a bit from sweet potatoes, fruits and veggies, and the occasional baked goody or chocolate chip pancakes. For big training days or races, I'll often have white rice or pasta the night before and right after. I think I've only lost 2 pounds since beginning of July, but according to my measurements I've slimmed down about 1/2 an inch all around so far.

chevy88grl

My diet is 40% carbs, 40% protein, 20% fat. My carbs aren't all "good" either. I typically eat between 300 - 350 g of carbs a day (sometimes more, sometimes (rarely) less). This includes my nightly pint of ice cream and 4 - 8 slices of toast (with peanut butter!) and a 4 cup bowl of cereal. I have white potato with dinner and pasta with lunch. Carbs are you friend.

Diary's open

I eat a ton of carbs too. My body loves them. When I've tried low carb I was tired, sluggish, miserable AND I gained weight. I usually have between 200-300g of carbs a day.

Lost nearly 60lbs and have kept it off since Sept 2010.

bacamacho

My diet is 40% carbs, 40% protein, 20% fat. My carbs aren't all "good" either. I typically eat between 300 - 350 g of carbs a day (sometimes more, sometimes (rarely) less). This includes my nightly pint of ice cream and 4 - 8 slices of toast (with peanut butter!) and a 4 cup bowl of cereal. I have white potato with dinner and pasta with lunch. Carbs are you friend.

Diary's open

I eat a ton of carbs too. My body loves them. When I've tried low carb I was tired, sluggish, miserable AND I gained weight. I usually have between 200-300g of carbs a day.

Lost nearly 60lbs and have kept it off since Sept 2010.

You look marvelous! Awesome job!

Pebble321

There's lots of carb lovers here...... it's just that the low-carb lobby are often very vocal and completely convinced that because they've found something that works for them, that everyone needs to do the same thing.

And, as you'll know, it's the current trend that you'll see in magazines and articles. I've lived through low-fat and low-carb - I'm just waiting for the day (or decade?) when we are all advised to eat low-protein!

As many people have said before me - some people do better on low carbs (often due to medical issues) but for many people that isn't the case and you can be very healthy and happy eating lots of carbs.

cunninjd

I try to stay at my calorie goal and exercise. I don't think its good to completely give up carbs (good or bad) but when you are on limited calories (1,200 for me) you have to make good carb choices to make the most of your food or you will end up eating empty calories and still be hungry. No matter what your diet consists of, you have to burn more than you take in and try to maximize healthy, nutritious food. Although I cannot always do it, I try to avoid most processed and canned foods and eat at home for 80% of my meals. Good luck to you!

jenilla1

:drinker: My favorite food is pasta and I eat it every day and I have no problems with weight! If you're not insulin resistant, you shouldn't have to worry about carbs. I just try to make sure that I'm eating primarily whole grain, higher fiber types, and limit refined sugars and highly processed garbage. I personally think that any diet that restricts entire food groups is unsustainable, but that's just me.

Hendrix7

Coming back to this thread after my initial post.

One thing I would say is I would never personally recommend getting more than 50% of cals from carbs, not because of carb phobia but purely because this doesn't allow room for sufficient proteins and fats IMO.

cramernh

Well...I hope you didn't think I was trying to be nasty...I was just wondering if it was a possible healthy lifestyle...

I've also experience pushers from both sides, and both are not very helpful to talk to

No.. I didnt think that at all.. thats why I made sure my initial post included "in general, not attacking this thread".. .so definitely no worries..

Yes, it is a very healthy lifestyle - diabetics are the number one patient-class of low-carb treatment (aka Diabetic Nutrition) Its been around for an extremely long time but has many names due to slight variational changes..... Kidney patients, IR, Metabolism issues, Stein-Leventhal issues, and so many more. People with long term, life-long, and even short term, it is truly healthy to do.

magerum

Coming back to this thread after my initial post.

One thing I would say is I would never personally recommend getting more than 50% of cals from carbs, not because of carb phobia but purely because this doesn't allow room for sufficient proteins and fats IMO.

Sounds like a solid piece of advice there. IMO

LilLolo22

I do follow your portion sizes but I eat

Food Groups/Portion Sizes
Grains • ONLY 1-2 servings per day b/c with the fruit I choose I always hit the 25-30 g of fiber easily

Veggies • 3-5 servings per day

Fruit • 2-4 servings per day

Dairy • 3 servings per day and low or no fat only (I typically do almond milk, greek yogurt and a little bit of cheese)

Protein • 6oz per day (in meat only. I still get protein in the greek yogurt and I wouldn't count protein powder here either)

Fats I usually get from Olive oil or nuts

I've only been eating like this for a month or so. So far, so good. I don't usually feel hungry and it's pretty easy to pick out my meals without stressing about my macros. =D

kimad

I'm not low carb whatsoever... becuase I know I can't stick to that, but I have changed some of the carbs I eat -- I have wraps rarely bread. I rarely eat pasta anymore (more for the cals I don't wanna waste)
But I eat granola bars, oatmeal, cereal, rice cakes, etc.

staceyseeger

I lost 60+lbs without low-carbing & have managed to maintain for over a year now. I love me some carbs!

thesmellofapples

definitely. i've never gotten into any weight loss fad such as low carb/no cheese/all veggie. i eat what i want. i try to be balanced. i have snacks and have dessert every day. i eat candy sometimes and pizza on occasion. i eat carbs all the time and don't really pay attention to it. as long as my calories are in check and i don't go too far over anything i'm happy and i've lost over 50 pounds.