CARBS (lower)

lolabluola

TO me it means cutting out (for the most part) flour and sugar. I mean obvously i have days where i indulge, but for the most part - I try to stay away from flour and sugar.

Lower carbs to me means cutting out junk food - and the things I over indulge on.

I tend to over eat on the breads - pastas - bagels - candy - chocolate - pizza - chinese food - BEER - WINE - POTAOES - FRIES, that's how I gained weight. Counting calories alone didn't work for me because I could easily get in all of that stuff (and not accuratley count btw) and still be under my calories and feel like crap.

When I cut out the carbs it came easier because for the most part I can't say ohhhh I'll just have this pizza for lunch and skip dinner and then I won't be over in my calories - nope - that one piece would throw me way over in carbs. bla bla bla same with pizza cake beer breads pasta candy etc.

It's just another way of tracking.
OK and summing up - basically it's cutting out the starch in my meals and replacing with some fat and extra veggies I guess.
Anyway yup I love it, but that's just 'cuase it's the easiest thing for me to follow - some people it's probably easier to just count the calories and stuff. Plus for me cutting out the 'carbs' melts my fat right off (because i'm actually sticking to it lol)

Firefox7275

I'm in the beginning phases of my new healthier lifestyle and my focus at the moment is losing weight- like 10 more pounds- and then I don't care what the scale says- I just want to tone up.
For right now can you all share with me what "lower" carbs are to you? - I've basically took breads out of my diet and noodles, pretty much rice. I just want a goal of how many carbs per meal or per day I should have. I haven't seen a dietician or nutrionist yet but I'm hearing everything from 20-70 carbs daily. I'm working out (cardio) every day for at least 35 minutes.
Any suggestions/advice will be appreciated.

thank you

Lower carb and low carb are not one and the same, I would class 20 to 70g as low carb, even into ketosis. I don't count religiously but have largely eliminated the starchy carbs (grains, beans, lentils, potatoes, corn/ maize) and high sugar fruits. After that I concentrate on having a wide variety of different vegetables and lower sugar fruits, and aim to replace the 'lost' fibre and minerals with plenty of nuts and seeds. I am 'supposed' to be aiming for roughly equal calories from fat protein and carbs but not really successful so far!

Be aware that the more food groups or foods you eliminate the more regimented the remainder of your diet needs to be to compensate, you may end up having to eat foods you don't much like or foods/ quantities you just don't fancy. For example paleolithic man may well not have eaten dairy or significant amounts of grains but he was likely eating way more oily fish, organ meats, bones of small creatures and seeds than the average westerner.

chrisdavey

You probably won't read this link or you'll discount it because you don't like low carb. But it explains the rationale behind the "rule of thumb" values I gave. Bottom line... For most people who live regularly on a low carb high fat diet who are not endurance athletes like triathletes or marathoners, almost no one "needs" more than 150g daily to support general daily activity and even your run of the mill daily 60 min cardio or HIIT.
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/a-metabolic-paradigm-shift-fat-carbs-human-body-metabolism/#axzz2I9Td2W4a

I'm guessing the OP is an average female wanting to drop a few pounds, and she asked about how to do that via low carb. She's not running for 2 hours a day every day. So those carb values i gave will enable her to eat a lot of nutrient-dense foods for whatever her calorie goal is, and most likely she'll lose some weight.

Have read it before, have also done RFL & UD2 before so I'm not anti low carb but there is a time and a place.

Dropping to >100g a day in most cases isn't necessary. And as I said, you can't give recommendations on the carb amount for fat loss when you don't know how much P&F she is consuming and hence total calories.

caribougal

So are the percentages below of the total caloric intake you give yourself per day?

Yes. macro percentages of total caloric intake.