CARBS (lower)

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llpaq
llpaq Posts: 263 Member
in Food and Nutrition
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 :smile:
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Replies

  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 9,946 Member
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    I'm consuming around 200-250 carbs a day and because it represents about 25% of my diet, that is considered a low carb diet, of course some people consume a lot less.
  • MaraDiaz
    MaraDiaz Posts: 4,604 Member
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    You could try shaving some off every day until you hit a point that seems right for you. I started just by giving up bread, then I went Atkins when I saw good results.

    But be warned, if you do Atkins Induction-style low carb working out can be very rough, especially the first couple of weeks, but I found it rough even a couple months in. Now I'm used to it, though. The way I do it is low enough carbs to stay in ketosis but not everyone wants to be in ketosis or needs to be. For some just giving up bread and pasta is probably enough.
  • ratts82
    ratts82 Posts: 14 Member
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    HI, I am trying to do low carbs too to shed about 10 pounds in total as I was a total carb junkie! I have been advised to cut out the usual rubbish - bread, biscuits, crisps, rice, pasta - anything with carbs and I did feel rough for while. I have heard the general rule is to evenutally be eating a gram of carb per kilo of body weight, ie if you weigh 70kg, then 70g of carbs a day. I find it really hard and workout when I can to burn it off. Having said that I do feel better, less bloated and lost 4 pounds in weight in my first week - am now on week 2 and so far so good. I have found the less carbs I eat, the less I want and I get fuller quicker Oh and cut out sugar as much as you can - if it's not used it stores as fat! Hope this helps! :-)
  • whenday
    whenday Posts: 64 Member
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    I have my macros set to 25% carbs 30% protein 45% fat. It figures out to be a bit over 100g of carbs. I feel better with a smaller amount of carbs.
  • chrisdavey
    chrisdavey Posts: 9,835 Member
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    I would recommend that you focus on getting enough P&F and then making the remainder of your calorie target from carbs.
  • caribougal
    caribougal Posts: 865 Member
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    General rule of thumb (obviously varies by person) is 50-100g/day for weight loss, 100-150g/day for maintenance. Many people go higher if they're into endurance sports or are at goal and maintaining easily. Doesn't matter how that shakes out in terms of your meals. Lots of people save their heavier carbs like sweet potatoes for post-workout to help recover.
  • chrisdavey
    chrisdavey Posts: 9,835 Member
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    General rule of thumb (obviously varies by person) is 50-100g/day for weight loss, 100-150g/day for maintenance. Many people go higher if they're into endurance sports or are at goal and maintaining easily. Doesn't matter how that shakes out in terms of your meals. Lots of people save their heavier carbs like sweet potatoes for post-workout to help recover.

    you cannot give a recommended level of carbs for weight loss when you don't know A) the person's weight B) their exercise and NEAT C) how much P&F they are consuming.
  • monty619
    monty619 Posts: 1,308 Member
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    I would recommend that you focus on getting enough P&F and then making the remainder of your calorie target from carbs.

    ^^yerp
  • KarenisPaleo
    KarenisPaleo Posts: 169 Member
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    General rule of thumb (obviously varies by person) is 50-100g/day for weight loss, 100-150g/day for maintenance. Many people go higher if they're into endurance sports or are at goal and maintaining easily. Doesn't matter how that shakes out in terms of your meals. Lots of people save their heavier carbs like sweet potatoes for post-workout to help recover.

    you cannot give a recommended level of carbs for weight loss when you don't know A) the person's weight B) their exercise and NEAT C) how much P&F they are consuming.

    Yes, you can.
    She's right. It works.
  • lilRicki
    lilRicki Posts: 4,555 Member
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    I would rather lift weights then run a marathon, so I low carb between 100 and 150g a day. Focus on protein and whole fats and that should take care of a lot of your macros. I've cut out fruit (never was a big fruit eater) but I've tripled my veggie intake because that's where I'm getting my carbs from. I keep reading that high carbs are for high cardio, and i don't do high cardio lol
  • caribougal
    caribougal Posts: 865 Member
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    General rule of thumb (obviously varies by person) is 50-100g/day for weight loss, 100-150g/day for maintenance. Many people go higher if they're into endurance sports or are at goal and maintaining easily. Doesn't matter how that shakes out in terms of your meals. Lots of people save their heavier carbs like sweet potatoes for post-workout to help recover.

    you cannot give a recommended level of carbs for weight loss when you don't know A) the person's weight B) their exercise and NEAT C) how much P&F they are consuming.

    That's why I said "general rule of thumb" and "varies by person". And I also said that carbs might be higher for those doing endurance sports. What I put was a simplified version of Mark Sisson's Primal Blueprint Carbohydrate Curve.
    http://www.marksdailyapple.com/press/the-primal-blueprint-diagrams/#axzz2I5OtvWoa
  • llpaq
    llpaq Posts: 263 Member
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    Thank you all this helps..... I'm a little slower when it comes to this stuff ...so please forgive me but on MFP it has my GOAL as 233 (g) that is just too much for me I think- can we adjust this in anyway- does anyone know ?
    And though I'm trying not to eat any breads/noodles/the junk- I am at 51% carbs today and I've had a smoothie (mango,strawberry, whey protein), a small bowl of chili with 2 crackers and an apple..... I'm not too hungry today (because I'm a bit under the weather) but that seems like a lot of carbs for what I've had! I feel like I'm obssessing but at the same time I don't want to be defeating the purpose and keeping fat on me when I'm trying to get it off.
    I think I'm going to have a breakfast and lunch with minimal "whole" carbs (I don't know what you call them but the carbs like whole wheat toast, raw oatmeal, whole wheat pasta, fruits (cause I love them) and then dinner no carbs, or just a tinnnny small bit of carbs because I love brown rice! :wink:
    Opinions (or facts) pleaseee :ohwell:
  • llpaq
    llpaq Posts: 263 Member
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    I would rather lift weights then run a marathon, so I low carb between 100 and 150g a day. Focus on protein and whole fats and that should take care of a lot of your macros. I've cut out fruit (never was a big fruit eater) but I've tripled my veggie intake because that's where I'm getting my carbs from. I keep reading that high carbs are for high cardio, and i don't do high cardio lol

    Eventually this will be me! :wink: Just now I have to get at least another few pounds off so I'm doing a lot of cardio.......and I'm a total fruit person....which sucks when it comes to carbs. I love fruits and potatoes :cry:
  • llpaq
    llpaq Posts: 263 Member
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    General rule of thumb (obviously varies by person) is 50-100g/day for weight loss, 100-150g/day for maintenance. Many people go higher if they're into endurance sports or are at goal and maintaining easily. Doesn't matter how that shakes out in terms of your meals. Lots of people save their heavier carbs like sweet potatoes for post-workout to help recover.

    you cannot give a recommended level of carbs for weight loss when you don't know A) the person's weight B) their exercise and NEAT C) how much P&F they are consuming.

    That's why I said "general rule of thumb" and "varies by person". And I also said that carbs might be higher for those doing endurance sports. What I put was a simplified version of Mark Sisson's Primal Blueprint Carbohydrate Curve.
    http://www.marksdailyapple.com/press/the-primal-blueprint-diagrams/#axzz2I5OtvWoa


    I'm going to take a look at this Mark Sissons thing! THANK YOU! :smile: ........
  • lilRicki
    lilRicki Posts: 4,555 Member
    Options
    Thank you all this helps..... I'm a little slower when it comes to this stuff ...so please forgive me but on MFP it has my GOAL as 233 (g) that is just too much for me I think- can we adjust this in anyway- does anyone know ?
    And though I'm trying not to eat any breads/noodles/the junk- I am at 51% carbs today and I've had a smoothie (mango,strawberry, whey protein), a small bowl of chili with 2 crackers and an apple..... I'm not too hungry today (because I'm a bit under the weather) but that seems like a lot of carbs for what I've had! I feel like I'm obssessing but at the same time I don't want to be defeating the purpose and keeping fat on me when I'm trying to get it off.
    I think I'm going to have a breakfast and lunch with minimal "whole" carbs (I don't know what you call them but the carbs like whole wheat toast, raw oatmeal, whole wheat pasta, fruits (cause I love them) and then dinner no carbs, or just a tinnnny small bit of carbs because I love brown rice! :wink:
    Opinions (or facts) pleaseee :ohwell:


    remember there's a difference between good carbs and bad...and subtract your fiber from your carbs. Fruit is high in carbs, but it's "good" carbs. White rice, white potatoes, white noodles, those are "bad" carbs. Cut those out. Whole wheat and natural grain EVERYTHING. Anything with sugar is going to kill your carb count. If you want to binge on fruit and have more then half a cup of whole wheat pasta, have at 'er...focus on bad white carbs.
  • avakathryn
    avakathryn Posts: 22
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    I find that my macros sit around 40/40/20 (carbs/protein/fat)
    I'm not "trying" to be low-carb, but it's kind of happening on its own. I have one major carb for the day and that's a bowl of steel cut oatmeal in the morning. I have protein/veggie heavy snacks and lunch, and then for dinner I'll have a sweet potato, some squash, or mashed cauliflower as my "carb" along with a veggie and a lean protein source. I'm finding that making substitutions and having "fake" carbs (ie: spaghetti squash "noodles" instead of pasta, mashed cauliflower instead of potatoes, etc..) really does the trick for me. I feel like I'm getting carbs but my macros are showing that they are still being kept relatively low.
  • caribougal
    caribougal Posts: 865 Member
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    Thank you all this helps..... I'm a little slower when it comes to this stuff ...so please forgive me but on MFP it has my GOAL as 233 (g) that is just too much for me I think- can we adjust this in anyway- does anyone know ?

    Yes, you can manually set your targets in MFP. Go to Goals / Change Goals / Custom

    What I did was figure out my TDEE. You can learn how to do this here:
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

    Then subtract 10-20%, and that gives you your cal goal.

    Then, you can set your custom macros. I have mine set at 60% fat, 25% protein, 15% carbs. For me, that comes out to be 93g of fat, 88g protein, 53g carbs. I eat Primal, so my carbs come mostly from veggies, fruit, and my daily dark chocolate. I track at the end of the day and see how things shake out.
    And though I'm trying not to eat any breads/noodles/the junk- I am at 51% carbs today and I've had a smoothie (mango,strawberry, whey protein), a small bowl of chili with 2 crackers and an apple..... I'm not too hungry today (because I'm a bit under the weather) but that seems like a lot of carbs for what I've had! I feel like I'm obssessing but at the same time I don't want to be defeating the purpose and keeping fat on me when I'm trying to get it off.
    Carbs add up quick with smoothies and fruit. I generally eat one serving of fruit a day. Berries are best, but I'm an apple fanatic. I try not to drink my calories in smoothies, but that's a personal preference. Maybe try smoothies made more of veggies than fruit. And if your chilli had beans.... heavy carb load there.
    I think I'm going to have a breakfast and lunch with minimal "whole" carbs (I don't know what you call them but the carbs like whole wheat toast, raw oatmeal, whole wheat pasta, fruits (cause I love them) and then dinner no carbs, or just a tinnnny small bit of carbs because I love brown rice! :wink:
    Opinions (or facts) pleaseee :ohwell:

    Ultimately carbs are carbs, even if you're eating the "whole" kind. Best way to lower them is to replace as much of them as you can with protein and veggies. Swap out the pasta for julienned zucchini - it tastes even better than the cardboard whole wheat pasta. Make cauliflower rice instead of brown rice.

    Good luck!
  • chrisdavey
    chrisdavey Posts: 9,835 Member
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    General rule of thumb (obviously varies by person) is 50-100g/day for weight loss, 100-150g/day for maintenance. Many people go higher if they're into endurance sports or are at goal and maintaining easily. Doesn't matter how that shakes out in terms of your meals. Lots of people save their heavier carbs like sweet potatoes for post-workout to help recover.

    you cannot give a recommended level of carbs for weight loss when you don't know A) the person's weight B) their exercise and NEAT C) how much P&F they are consuming.

    Yes, you can.
    She's right. It works.

    Thank you for your wisdom.

    Did you ever think that reducing your carbs reduced your total daily intake below your TDEE hence losing weight?

    Do you know that you can put on weight while "low" carbing?
  • bcklee
    bcklee Posts: 50 Member
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    bump for later
  • llpaq
    llpaq Posts: 263 Member
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    I would recommend that you focus on getting enough P&F and then making the remainder of your calorie target from carbs.

    Hi! How do you on know I'm getting enough P&F's? Is there a scale/ website, or a way to figure that out? (I warned you that I'm slow on this stuff :frown: )...... Or would it be best if I just get to a nutritionist and not keep this going on and on?
    The whole reason I bring this up is because I LOVE carbs (well potatoes/ brown rice/fruits) not HUGE on meats (I know, I know, I need it) and LOVE Fruits...... I swear I could survive the rest of my life on fish, rice and mangos! :love: (maybe not all together but you know what I'm saying) and if I didn't like them so much this wouldn't be a HUGE problem I would just maxx out on meats and veggies all the time. I just like to be "in the know" and it seems like the "know' is different wherever I turn.

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