carbs

I've been eating 150-200 carbs on a regular basis, Hasn't hindered me a bit. You can't live on minimal carbs the rest of your life, moderation is they key. Cut it out completely and eventually you're gonna binge.

Carbs don't influence weight loss, calories do. Stay within your calorie goal each day and you'll see the weight come off. Make sure you're eating enough calories too - www.fitnessfrog.com is a good resource to calculate what you really need.

It's extremely difficult to stay under 20g of carbs a day, especially for an extended amount of time. Now, I didn't say it wasn't possible, just really difficult. Here is a good guide that helped me:

■0-50 grams per day: Ketosis and I.F. (Intermittent Fasting) zone. Excellent catalyst for rapid fat loss through I.F. Not recommended for prolonged periods (except in medically supervised programs for obese or Type 2 diabetics) due to unnecessary deprivation of plant foods.
■50-100 grams per day: Sweet Spot for Weight Loss. Steadily drop excess body fat by minimizing insulin production. Enables 1-2 pounds per week of fat loss with satisfying, minimally restrictive meals.
■100-150 grams per day: Primal Maintenance zone. Once you’ve arrived at your goal or ideal body composition, you can maintain it quite easily here while enjoying abundant vegetables, fruits and other Primal foods.
■150-300 grams a day: Insidious Weight Gain zone. Most health conscious eaters and unsuccessful dieters end up here, due to frequent intake of sugar and grain products (breads, pastas, cereals, rice, potatoes – even whole grains). Despite trying to “do the right thing” (minimize fat, cut calories), people can still gain an average of 1.5 pounds of fat every year for decades.
■300+ grams a day: Danger Zone of average American diet. All but the most extreme exercisers will tend to produce excessive insulin and store excessive fat over the years at this intake level. Increases risk for obesity, Metabolic Syndrome and type 2 diabetes.

I jump around from 80-120g so sounds perfect to me!

i was eating less then 20 net carbs per day for almost at year. Lost weight, I upped my carb intake to 50 ish, and am still losing.

Patience. Contrary to the fabulous lies and exaggeration you see on TV commercials, weight loss doesn't happen overnight.

45 minutes a day on the elliptical is good for general health, but unless you're really going at it, probably isn't burning more than 200-300 calories per session. With a pound of fat accounting for 3500 calories, your 3 weeks should have netted 1 pound of weight loss IF you haven't changed your calorie intake at all.

Keep at it, restrict calorie intake, and the results will come. You can check out some programs here www.bestfatlossprograms.com that works well for women

You can definitely be successful just eating carbs in moderation. I keep between 80-100 per day, but concentrate mostly on my calorie intake. Carbs are not the enemy.

It's extremely difficult to stay under 20g of carbs a day, especially for an extended amount of time. Now, I didn't say it wasn't possible, just really difficult. Here is a good guide that helped me:

■0-50 grams per day: Ketosis and I.F. (Intermittent Fasting) zone. Excellent catalyst for rapid fat loss through I.F. Not recommended for prolonged periods (except in medically supervised programs for obese or Type 2 diabetics) due to unnecessary deprivation of plant foods.
■50-100 grams per day: Sweet Spot for Weight Loss. Steadily drop excess body fat by minimizing insulin production. Enables 1-2 pounds per week of fat loss with satisfying, minimally restrictive meals.
■100-150 grams per day: Primal Maintenance zone. Once you’ve arrived at your goal or ideal body composition, you can maintain it quite easily here while enjoying abundant vegetables, fruits and other Primal foods.
■150-300 grams a day: Insidious Weight Gain zone. Most health conscious eaters and unsuccessful dieters end up here, due to frequent intake of sugar and grain products (breads, pastas, cereals, rice, potatoes – even whole grains). Despite trying to “do the right thing” (minimize fat, cut calories), people can still gain an average of 1.5 pounds of fat every year for decades.
■300+ grams a day: Danger Zone of average American diet. All but the most extreme exercisers will tend to produce excessive insulin and store excessive fat over the years at this intake level. Increases risk for obesity, Metabolic Syndrome and type 2 diabetes.

This.

Bookyeti knows what she's talking about.

As for me, personally, I find it much easier to stay at or below 2000 calories on a ketogenic diet under 20g of carbs per day. I have more energy throughout the day except for weightlifting and sprinting, and sleep better. The losing body fat is a bonus. YMMV.

I've been eating 150-200 carbs on a regular basis, Hasn't hindered me a bit. You can't live on minimal carbs the rest of your life, moderation is they key. Cut it out completely and eventually you're gonna binge.

Actually, you can live on minimal carbs for the rest of your life. It's quite easy, too (and no, you won't inevitably binge on carbs if you're eating a healthy, non-junkfood diet and don't fear fat). Carbs actually aren't an essential nutrient, the body can produce what it needs, and you can get a good amount of dietary carbs through vegetables (which have the added bonus of being largely bioavailable fiber and complex carbs, as well as having tons of micronutrients).