Low carb diet, how low?

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sekaie
sekaie Posts: 23 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I've only got around 15lbs to lose, so I'm considering going low carb to try and shift it, because so far I've tried everything else and the last 15lbs just won't budge! I've looked around the forum to see what other people consider low carb, and on google, but nobody seems to really agree.

At the moment I'm having up to 200g of carbs a day, from whole grains, fruit and vegetables. I'm a 5'4 19yo female with around 24% body fat, hoping to push it down to 18 - 19%.

Does anybody have any experience with this?

Replies

  • erinsueburns
    erinsueburns Posts: 865 Member
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    You are probably set to the standard macro settings here. Go to goals, change goals and custom. I think that it is set to 60% carbs to start. How low for carbs is largely a matter of preference if you aren't following a specific plan. personally, I set my carbs at around 30%, but that is primarily due to medical restrictions. But 30% is low enough for my body to accept it as "low carb" so long as those carbs are mostly from veggies and fruits and not from grains.

    That being said, you would probably have more/better success focusing more on heavy lifting (relative to current abilities) rather than macro nutrient profile in order to change your body composition. Most people hit a certain point where calorie restriction results more in loss of muscle than it does of fat. Heavy lifting builds muscle and whola, body composition changes.
  • BarackMeLikeAHurricane
    BarackMeLikeAHurricane Posts: 3,400 Member
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    Low carb is typically limited to either 20g net carbs a day or 50g net carbs. Some people are stricter than others. I did it to lose weight and I limited myself to 50g a day.
  • erinsueburns
    erinsueburns Posts: 865 Member
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    Low carb is typically limited to either 20g net carbs a day or 50g net carbs. Some people are stricter than others. I did it to lose weight and I limited myself to 50g a day.

    See, I would count that as Very Low Carb or even ketogenic, of which Atkins starts out as- then carbs are phased back in. The more common definition I've heard is 20% or lower. But in it's most linguistic sense, low carb is anything lower than what you are currently doing now. So OP, for you low carb may be 150 grams or even 100 grams, since you are doing 200 grams now.

    *And since you are new, I am unsure if you know, net carbs is basically carbs minus fiber. I worry less about net carbs and more about actually getting ENOUGH fiber, I mean I can have super low net carbs and no where near enough fiber. So that is a personal preference for mindset.
  • pinkyleigh83
    pinkyleigh83 Posts: 148 Member
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    Very low carb is considered 30-50g/day. Not sure how that plays into your macro percentages. I had to play with mine a little to find what works for me. Between 20-25% works well for me, any lower & my workouts suffered.

    Good luck!
  • THExNEKOxCHAN
    THExNEKOxCHAN Posts: 134 Member
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    I try to keep it around 50g of carbs a day. Sometimes I'm under, sometimes I'm over, sometimes it's closer to 100g, but I try to keep it as low as possible. I'm shifting away from grains as well. I think they are part of why I'm so over weight now.
  • Gallowmere1984
    Gallowmere1984 Posts: 6,626 Member
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    Mine was generally below 30g per day. This wasn't because I believe carbs are the devil or anything. I did it because I was in a pretty hefty deficit for my starting size (1400-1500 cal per day at 245 lbs.) and wanted to keep my protein intake high, as I lift heavy pretty much all of the time.
  • bostonwolf
    bostonwolf Posts: 3,038 Member
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    I try to keep it at 100g of carbs or less. At 200g, my understanding is that you will never get yourself into a fat-burning zone.
  • BarackMeLikeAHurricane
    BarackMeLikeAHurricane Posts: 3,400 Member
    Options
    Low carb is typically limited to either 20g net carbs a day or 50g net carbs. Some people are stricter than others. I did it to lose weight and I limited myself to 50g a day.

    See, I would count that as Very Low Carb or even ketogenic, of which Atkins starts out as- then carbs are phased back in. The more common definition I've heard is 20% or lower. But in it's most linguistic sense, low carb is anything lower than what you are currently doing now. So OP, for you low carb may be 150 grams or even 100 grams, since you are doing 200 grams now.

    *And since you are new, I am unsure if you know, net carbs is basically carbs minus fiber. I worry less about net carbs and more about actually getting ENOUGH fiber, I mean I can have super low net carbs and no where near enough fiber. So that is a personal preference for mindset.
    I assume most people trying to do low carb meaning some sort of ketogenic diet. For most people, staying under 100g carbs will keep them in ketosis.

    Of course, some people just try to eat less carbs but not totally "low carb" like keto. Limits for this are usually 100-150g carbs.
  • cominupmilhouse
    cominupmilhouse Posts: 257 Member
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    Ive been keeping my carbs under 30g net per day, as per "Carb Nite Solution" and having smashing success!

    I feel great, full of energy, and astounded at the rate my clothes are getting looser!

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