Low Carbs Good or Bad?

hannahcall2

I'm trying to cut out most of my daily carbs to see what macros will suit me best. But doing so puts my protein goal at 133g and my fat goal around 84g. Is that healthy?

love4fitnesslove4food_wechange

133 x 4 = 532

84 x 9 = 756

Total calories = 1288 ...I'd say that unless you're absolutely sedentary that you could stand to increase your calories. Carbohydrates CAN and SHOULD be kept in your diet--yes, you would lose water weight due to the initial glycogen depletion and associated water loss BUT that's short lived. Besides, there is no real benefit to restricting your carbohydrates especially if they are actually enjoyable for you.

I say eat 1g of protein per pound of body weight. Then let the carbs and fat fall where they may (as long as you make a concerted effort to eat at least a few servings of healthy fat or fatty fish per day).

taso42

Shoot for adequate protein, adequate fats, and adequate calories. Carbs will fall where they need to.

See also: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819055-setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets

grantdumas7

Low carbs are probably not the way to go especially if you do workout. If you are a sedentary person, which I doubt you are, then 100 to 150 grams would be enough to to store liver glycogen and provide enough glucose to the brain. If you do any type of exercise then you need enough carbs to not keep restore your muscle glycogen but you glucose levels as well. It's your overall calorie intake that's important. This is just a recommendation: Find your leanbody weight. If you have an idea of you b/f then you can use an online calculator. Protein intake should be about 1 gram per pound of lean bw. Fats should be around .4 to .5 per lean bw and the rest carbs.

sunnyside1213

Bad for me.

mustgetmuscles1

133 x 4 = 532

84 x 9 = 756

Total calories = 1288 ...I'd say that unless you're absolutely sedentary that you could stand to increase your calories. Carbohydrates CAN and SHOULD be kept in your diet--yes, you would lose water weight due to the initial glycogen depletion and associated water loss BUT that's short lived. Besides, there is no real benefit to restricting your carbohydrates especially if they are actually enjoyable for you.

I say eat 1g of protein per pound of body weight. Then let the carbs and fat fall where they may (as long as you make a concerted effort to eat at least a few servings of healthy fat or fatty fish per day).

Shoot for adequate protein, adequate fats, and adequate calories. Carbs will fall where they need to.

See also: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819055-setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets

^ Both good posts.

djshari

It kind of depends. Some people have a low carb/high fat diet for health reasons and it works for them... but even then "low carb" can mean different things to different people. I know people that shoot for less than 50 or even 30 a day. I have my goals set at 125 carbs max in a day although I think I should really shoot for 100. It kinda depends on what kind of carbs, I would like to get the bulk of mine from veggies as opposed to from grains or sugar.

LoraF83

Shoot for adequate protein, adequate fats, and adequate calories. Carbs will fall where they need to.

See also: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819055-setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets

^This. As soon as I started aiming for a higher protein goal, my carbs reduced automatically.

That said, I find carbs to be very beneficial when I am exercising. They give me energy. I wouldn't reduce them any lower than 150g, because I start to feel sick and tired at that point.

hannahcall2

Thanks for the input. Lots of good information. Are fruits a decent source of carbs even though there's a lot of sugar in them?

chinatbag

Thanks for the input. Lots of good information. Are fruits a decent source of carbs even though there's a lot of sugar in them?

Ooops, accidentally clicked post before I put in a reply. I would stick to berries (blackberries, cranberries, blueberries).

Here's a pretty good list.

http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/whattoeat/a/whatfruit.htm

I think what counts is calorie counting + being aware of what you're eating. The main reason I went low carb / keto is because lots of foods with processed carbohydrates are usually very calorie dense. Think of a slice of bread, if you crunch it up into a ball, it's about the size of a ping pong ball or a golf ball, it's not very filling and it's high in calories.

ApexLeader

i do a keto diet sometimes to break through a perceived plateu (i got stuck at 172 for what seemed like too long and did keto for 8 days and at the end i was 166).

i work out extremely hard, though on keto i tend to work out less (but lose weight faster and i carry a lot less excess water, go figure). the hardest part for me is i start fiending for sugar, but if you can get past that (and eat enough fat) you are good to go.

from the scholarly articles i have read i have yet to see any real reason you can't do low carbs, especially if you only do them for a while.

in the 2 months i've been losing weight (where i've dropped 24 lbs), by far the most successful weeks of weightloss are when i'm doing low carb. when i bring carbs back up and do low fat (but basically the same number of calories and protein) my weight loss seems very slow.

however, with more carbs i can work out harder, so my overall cardiovascular health probably improved greater during regular carb intake, but for pure weightloss, my keto diet is much more effective.

SnicciFit

It kind of depends. Some people have a low carb/high fat diet for health reasons and it works for them... but even then "low carb" can mean different things to different people. I know people that shoot for less than 50 or even 30 a day. I have my goals set at 125 carbs max in a day although I think I should really shoot for 100. It kinda depends on what kind of carbs, I would like to get the bulk of mine from veggies as opposed to from grains or sugar.

^^ This.