So scared of carbs! HELP!

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135

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  • LilMissDB
    LilMissDB Posts: 133
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    As such, most women need to restrict their carbohydrate intake a bit more than men, who, by virtue of their greater muscle mass, can burn off carbohydrates faster than women. Increasing your muscle mass will also help you a great deal.

    They burn calories faster but it doesn't matter which macro it comes from.
  • lasmit4477
    lasmit4477 Posts: 308 Member
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    One thing that men on these forums don't always take into account is that women have slightly different bio-chemistry from men because of the influence of the much higher levels of estrogen that women have (yes, men have estrogen too but a tiny amount in comparison to women and estrogen raises blood sugar---for reasons of gestation). As such, most women need to restrict their carbohydrate intake a bit more than men, who, by virtue of their greater muscle mass, can burn off carbohydrates faster than women. Increasing your muscle mass will also help you a great deal.


    Huh?!
  • DrBroPHD
    DrBroPHD Posts: 245 Member
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    One thing that men on these forums don't always take into account is that women have slightly different bio-chemistry from men because of the influence of the much higher levels of estrogen that women have (yes, men have estrogen too but a tiny amount in comparison to women and estrogen raises blood sugar---for reasons of gestation). As such, most women need to restrict their carbohydrate intake a bit more than men, who, by virtue of their greater muscle mass, can burn off carbohydrates faster than women. Increasing your muscle mass will also help you a great deal.

    oOeBO81.gif
  • lasmit4477
    lasmit4477 Posts: 308 Member
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    Women don't NEED to restrict their carbohydrate intake more than men. Restricting carbohydrates, especailly for prolonged periods can have a negitive effect on/for women or anyone for that matter.

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14672862
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
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    Carbs are not the scary evil monster that your brain is making them out to be.

    Stick to carbs that have a decent amount of fiber. Vegetables and fruits are great, eat plenty fo them. IMO, a good rule of thumb for grain products is look for those that have at most a 10:1 ratio of total carbs to fiber and are low in sugar. Limit overly processed grains and added sugar.
  • freefa11
    freefa11 Posts: 3 Member
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    Ninerbuff,

    Excuse me for being ignorant but if I eat carbs and I have the glycogen stores then won't my weight continue to go up? The more carbs I have (even good carbs) then the more water I store, which means the more weight I gain?

    Sorry this is just confusing to me. Maybe why I'm so afraid of carbs!

    Just like a wrestler that saunas to sweat out water to reach a weight class for competition, after the competition he drinks water and his weight goes back up. I think you are doing the same thing with the carbs. If you keep your carbs at a more even keel then you wouldn't have as many fluctuations. Remember that the water you store with the carbs is not fat.
  • Lisa1971
    Lisa1971 Posts: 3,069 Member
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    Thanks so much everyone!!!!!!!!!! I love love love Tosca Reno so I'm definitely going to start the eat clean diet and keep on exercising.
  • WinnerVictorious
    WinnerVictorious Posts: 4,735 Member
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    Everytime I binge (which is always carbs!) I gain like crazy. I'd love to just be able to eat normal and only worry about calories but for some reason I am scared to death of carbs and weight gain! If I eat "good" carbs and limit calories I'm sure I'll start losing again but I can't wrap my head around this concept.

    Please tell me carbs are not the scary evil monster that my brain is making them out to be!:sad:

    carbs are not the scary evil monster that your brain is making them out to be!
  • Lisa1971
    Lisa1971 Posts: 3,069 Member
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    Everytime I binge (which is always carbs!) I gain like crazy. I'd love to just be able to eat normal and only worry about calories but for some reason I am scared to death of carbs and weight gain! If I eat "good" carbs and limit calories I'm sure I'll start losing again but I can't wrap my head around this concept.

    Please tell me carbs are not the scary evil monster that my brain is making them out to be!:sad:

    carbs are not the scary evil monster that your brain is making them out to be!

    I look like your avatar pic when I see carbs. LOL!
  • CorvusCorax77
    CorvusCorax77 Posts: 2,536 Member
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    One thing that men on these forums don't always take into account is that women have slightly different bio-chemistry from men because of the influence of the much higher levels of estrogen that women have (yes, men have estrogen too but a tiny amount in comparison to women and estrogen raises blood sugar---for reasons of gestation). As such, most women need to restrict their carbohydrate intake a bit more than men, who, by virtue of their greater muscle mass, can burn off carbohydrates faster than women. Increasing your muscle mass will also help you a great deal.

    oOeBO81.gif

    FTW!

    and...uh.... whoever wrote this nonsense above, please get your own Dr. Bro MD.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,709 Member
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    Carbs don't make you fat. Fat doesn't make you fat. Excess calories make you fat.

    It sounds like you're binging because you feel deprived from going low carb. Have you tried a moderate carb plan? It doesn't have to be all or nothing.

    ^^^THIS^^^ I have been on a plan that is lower in carb, not "low carb" and it has proved very beneficial to me---my body fat has gone from 50% to 32% in two years, and I hope to be at 25% in a year or so--but I will be patient and it will take the amount of time that it takes. One of the things that I found out about myself was that sugar caused me to binge, so I eliminated it--same with wheat. BUT I eat everything else, including one or two pieces of 100% rye bread every day (two pieces on my heavy exercise days). I keep my carb intake to 100-200 grams per day (with the higher amounts on my more intense exercise days) to control my blood sugar spikes without doing damage to my muscles from too low an intake of carbohydrates.

    One thing that men on these forums don't always take into account is that women have slightly different bio-chemistry from men because of the influence of the much higher levels of estrogen that women have (yes, men have estrogen too but a tiny amount in comparison to women and estrogen raises blood sugar---for reasons of gestation). As such, most women need to restrict their carbohydrate intake a bit more than men, who, by virtue of their greater muscle mass, can burn off carbohydrates faster than women. Increasing your muscle mass will also help you a great deal.
    Biochemistry in hormones yes, but utilization of macronutrients is the same by both genders (unless of course there is hormonal disruption ie Thyroid). It basically comes down to calories.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
  • LoraF83
    LoraF83 Posts: 15,694 Member
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    One thing that men on these forums don't always take into account is that women have slightly different bio-chemistry from men because of the influence of the much higher levels of estrogen that women have (yes, men have estrogen too but a tiny amount in comparison to women and estrogen raises blood sugar---for reasons of gestation). As such, most women need to restrict their carbohydrate intake a bit more than men, who, by virtue of their greater muscle mass, can burn off carbohydrates faster than women. Increasing your muscle mass will also help you a great deal.

    :huh:
  • papillontx
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    thank you for this post! you are absolutely correct with all your information given!
  • SanteMulberry
    SanteMulberry Posts: 3,202 Member
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    As such, most women need to restrict their carbohydrate intake a bit more than men, who, by virtue of their greater muscle mass, can burn off carbohydrates faster than women. Increasing your muscle mass will also help you a great deal.

    They burn calories faster but it doesn't matter which macro it comes from.

    Yes, I think it does because of the blood sugar issue. Carbs--especially simple carbs cause a MUCH faster spike in blood sugar levels than either fat or protein. Since we are here to lose body fat, anything that pushes my body into burning it is better. Some of the body-builder forums (recommended here) talk about how counter-productive it is to eat too much more protein than the body can actually use to build muscle (they claim that it "teaches" the body to burn protein). So, that only leaves carbohydrates and fats. Since I don't want my blood sugar to go shooting up, it makes sense for me to eat slightly less carbs and slightly more fat---at least at this point. Maybe, down the road, when I am even more active than I am now, I will likely have to look at increasing my carb intake and decreasing my fat intake. :smile: So far, what I am doing is working for me.
  • SanteMulberry
    SanteMulberry Posts: 3,202 Member
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    Women don't NEED to restrict their carbohydrate intake more than men. Restricting carbohydrates, especailly for prolonged periods can have a negitive effect on/for women or anyone for that matter.

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14672862

    I'm not talking about very low carbohydrate diets and even less ketogenic diets.
  • ILiftHeavyAcrylics
    ILiftHeavyAcrylics Posts: 27,732 Member
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    Carbs don't make you fat. Fat doesn't make you fat. Excess calories make you fat.

    It sounds like you're binging because you feel deprived from going low carb. Have you tried a moderate carb plan? It doesn't have to be all or nothing.

    ^^^THIS^^^ I have been on a plan that is lower in carb, not "low carb" and it has proved very beneficial to me---my body fat has gone from 50% to 32% in two years, and I hope to be at 25% in a year or so--but I will be patient and it will take the amount of time that it takes. One of the things that I found out about myself was that sugar caused me to binge, so I eliminated it--same with wheat. BUT I eat everything else, including one or two pieces of 100% rye bread every day (two pieces on my heavy exercise days). I keep my carb intake to 100-200 grams per day (with the higher amounts on my more intense exercise days) to control my blood sugar spikes without doing damage to my muscles from too low an intake of carbohydrates.

    One thing that men on these forums don't always take into account is that women have slightly different bio-chemistry from men because of the influence of the much higher levels of estrogen that women have (yes, men have estrogen too but a tiny amount in comparison to women and estrogen raises blood sugar---for reasons of gestation). As such, most women need to restrict their carbohydrate intake a bit more than men, who, by virtue of their greater muscle mass, can burn off carbohydrates faster than women. Increasing your muscle mass will also help you a great deal.

    That's not really what I was getting at. :flowerforyou:

    Personally I go with 40% carbs, but that's just because I set my protein and fat macros first and then my carbs setting is whatever is left.

    I just get tired of people thinking that there are only two options available regarding macros.
  • SanteMulberry
    SanteMulberry Posts: 3,202 Member
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    Carbs don't make you fat. Fat doesn't make you fat. Excess calories make you fat.

    It sounds like you're binging because you feel deprived from going low carb. Have you tried a moderate carb plan? It doesn't have to be all or nothing.

    ^^^THIS^^^ I have been on a plan that is lower in carb, not "low carb" and it has proved very beneficial to me---my body fat has gone from 50% to 32% in two years, and I hope to be at 25% in a year or so--but I will be patient and it will take the amount of time that it takes. One of the things that I found out about myself was that sugar caused me to binge, so I eliminated it--same with wheat. BUT I eat everything else, including one or two pieces of 100% rye bread every day (two pieces on my heavy exercise days). I keep my carb intake to 100-200 grams per day (with the higher amounts on my more intense exercise days) to control my blood sugar spikes without doing damage to my muscles from too low an intake of carbohydrates.

    One thing that men on these forums don't always take into account is that women have slightly different bio-chemistry from men because of the influence of the much higher levels of estrogen that women have (yes, men have estrogen too but a tiny amount in comparison to women and estrogen raises blood sugar---for reasons of gestation). As such, most women need to restrict their carbohydrate intake a bit more than men, who, by virtue of their greater muscle mass, can burn off carbohydrates faster than women. Increasing your muscle mass will also help you a great deal.
    Biochemistry in hormones yes, but utilization of macronutrients is the same by both genders (unless of course there is hormonal disruption ie Thyroid). It basically comes down to calories.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

    But don't forget the effect that estrogen has on the utilization of thyroid hormone.
  • MaraDiaz
    MaraDiaz Posts: 4,604 Member
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    Here, I'll steal the cliched formula:

    Not eating carbs is hard.

    Eating carbs and then dealing with cravings and excess hunger is hard.

    Pick your hard.


    As for finding carbs that don't make you crave, simple, just reintroduce them one at a time and see how you react.
  • shanander
    shanander Posts: 50 Member
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    If carbs are not present your body just uses fats and proteins. So as long as you intake appropriate amounts of fat and protein, you are not losing muscle mass.

    On a low/lower carb diet, you are consuming more protein which is keeping you fuller longer and therefore are consuming fewer calories. As long as your calories are not too low, putting you into starvation mode, you will burn fat, not muscle.
  • SanteMulberry
    SanteMulberry Posts: 3,202 Member
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    One thing that men on these forums don't always take into account is that women have slightly different bio-chemistry from men because of the influence of the much higher levels of estrogen that women have (yes, men have estrogen too but a tiny amount in comparison to women and estrogen raises blood sugar---for reasons of gestation). As such, most women need to restrict their carbohydrate intake a bit more than men, who, by virtue of their greater muscle mass, can burn off carbohydrates faster than women. Increasing your muscle mass will also help you a great deal.

    oOeBO81.gif

    FTW!

    and...uh.... whoever wrote this nonsense above, please get your own Dr. Bro MD.

    No reason to attempt to be insulting---everything I wrote is absolutely true. Estrogen DOES raise blood sugar and it also slows the utilization of thyroid hormone. Adequate blood sugar levels are essential for the brain development of a fetus. Ever heard of gestational diabetes? There is evidence that those women who have gestational diabetes give birth to infants that have higher levels of intelligence when measured in long-term studies. Look it up if you don't believe me.