High carb + running = slow weightloss

Started about 2 weeks ago - lost about 4 lbs... sounds good right? Except I've lost 10lbs before in the same time-frame using low carb + 0 exercise.

My total net calories is 1500 - with majority carbs
My average Cardio burns on my workouts 4x a week = around 1000 calories burned

Conclusion: High carb freakin sucks - im gonna cut out carbs except an hour before run - why do I keep falling for these lies that you can lose weight fast while eating carbs - they're all freakin lies.
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Replies

  • herblackwings39
    herblackwings39 Posts: 3,930 Member
    It could be that you've got less than 10 lbs to go if you're ticker is accurate. Were you at the same point when you lost last time? If you're eating your daily calorie goal including your burned calories my guess would be it's the dreaded close to goal slow down.
  • CyberEd312
    CyberEd312 Posts: 3,536 Member
    I've ate no less than 240 grams of Carbs starting out 4 years ago and am currently eating around 400 grams a day and gotta say it hasn't hindered my weightloss and why do we need to put a time table on it.... Isn't this a lifestyle thing...... Best of Luck....
  • starvinkevin
    starvinkevin Posts: 331
    oh no I still have at least 30 lbs to go... I just tried to do it the "healthy" way by incorporating running this time compared to no exercise before but I didn't limit carbs cuz I know that I need them to run well. I regained about 8 lbs and restarted 2 weeks ago - so its not a slow down - high carbs just sucks for fast weight loss!
    It could be that you've got less than 10 lbs to go if you're ticker is accurate. Were you at the same point when you lost last time? If you're eating your daily calorie goal including your burned calories my guess would be it's the dreaded close to goal slow down.
  • starvinkevin
    starvinkevin Posts: 331
    I'm just coming from my experiences with low carb - where I lost 10 lbs within the first 2 weeks and 5 in the 3rd week without even exercising once... I know cardio is healthy but seriously if you want/need to cut weight in a decent fast time you gotta cut the carbs severely.
    I've ate no less than 240 grams of Carbs starting out 4 years ago and am currently eating around 400 grams a day and gotta say it hasn't hindered my weightloss and why do we need to put a time table on it.... Isn't this a lifestyle thing...... Best of Luck....
  • CyberEd312
    CyberEd312 Posts: 3,536 Member
    I'm just coming from my experiences with low carb - where I lost 10 lbs within the first 2 weeks and 5 in the 3rd week without even exercising once... I know cardio is healthy but seriously if you want/need to cut weight in a decent fast time you gotta cut the carbs severely.
    I've ate no less than 240 grams of Carbs starting out 4 years ago and am currently eating around 400 grams a day and gotta say it hasn't hindered my weightloss and why do we need to put a time table on it.... Isn't this a lifestyle thing...... Best of Luck....

    Again what is the point with this whole speed concept....... Why the big hurry.... My point is slow and steady still wins the race... I don't care that it has been 4 years to lose 300+ lbs. because this is the rest of my life and I certainly am in no hurry to speed that process up....
  • starvinkevin
    starvinkevin Posts: 331
    There are various reasons to have a short time-table - special events, proving someone that its possible, $$$$, beach! I still know that cardio is helpful for losing weight - Im gonna see if I can get away with just eating 30 g an our before my runs and not eating any the rest of the day.
    I'm just coming from my experiences with low carb - where I lost 10 lbs within the first 2 weeks and 5 in the 3rd week without even exercising once... I know cardio is healthy but seriously if you want/need to cut weight in a decent fast time you gotta cut the carbs severely.
    I've ate no less than 240 grams of Carbs starting out 4 years ago and am currently eating around 400 grams a day and gotta say it hasn't hindered my weightloss and why do we need to put a time table on it.... Isn't this a lifestyle thing...... Best of Luck....

    Again what is the point with this whole speed concept....... Why the big hurry.... My point is slow and steady still wins the race... I don't care that it has been 4 years to lose 300+ lbs. because this is the rest of my life and I certainly am in no hurry to speed that process up....
  • LexiAtel
    LexiAtel Posts: 228 Member
    In this day and age, SPEED is everything to people. Lots of people don't WANT to wait, they want everything now.

    I mean, it would be nice if I can snap my fingers and be 115lbs, but I know I gotta give it time. I should have it in a year, so far, I am loving it... Just gonna hate this winter... Winter just sucks, man :(
  • 3dogsrunning
    3dogsrunning Posts: 27,167 Member
    You drop 10 lbs quick with low carb because you deplete your glycogen stores in your body. Glycogen requires water to be stored which adds weight. You will also put it on as quick once carbs are reintroduced. It's not fat loss it's playing with water stores.
    One of many reasons why scale weight isn't the most accurate reflection of progress.


    ETA - I don't understand why it's all or nothing. Aside from the whole water thing, if high carb doesn't work, why not try lower instead of cutting out completely (obviously not completely but you know what I mean).
  • herblackwings39
    herblackwings39 Posts: 3,930 Member
    Good luck.
  • starvinkevin
    starvinkevin Posts: 331
    I bet a guy $20 - nuff said.
    In this day and age, SPEED is everything to people. Lots of people don't WANT to wait, they want everything now.

    I mean, it would be nice if I can snap my fingers and be 115lbs, but I know I gotta give it time. I should have it in a year, so far, I am loving it... Just gonna hate this winter... Winter just sucks, man :(
  • starvinkevin
    starvinkevin Posts: 331
    Nah - I also lost 3% body when I lost those 15lbs - I measured with calipers. Even if a lot of it is water weight, it still looks better not to have the carb bloat. Im just gonna cut carbs down to 30 and only right before my run - cuz seriously the amount of weight loss is miniscule compared to how much effort I put into the running.
    You drop 10 lbs quick with low carb because you deplete your glycogen stores in your body. Glycogen requires water to be stored which adds weight. You will also put it on as quick once carbs are reintroduced. It's not fat loss it's playing with water stores.
    One of many reasons why scale weight isn't the most accurate reflection of progress.


    ETA - I don't understand why it's all or nothing. Aside from the whole water thing, if high carb doesn't work, why not try lower instead of cutting out completely (obviously not completely but you know what I mean).
  • 3dogsrunning
    3dogsrunning Posts: 27,167 Member
    Nah - I also lost 3% body when I lost those 15lbs - I measured with calipers. Even if a lot of it is water weight, it still looks better not to have the carb bloat. Im just gonna cut carbs down to 30 and only right before my run - cuz seriously the amount of weight loss is miniscule compared to how much effort I put into the running.
    You drop 10 lbs quick with low carb because you deplete your glycogen stores in your body. Glycogen requires water to be stored which adds weight. You will also put it on as quick once carbs are reintroduced. It's not fat loss it's playing with water stores.
    One of many reasons why scale weight isn't the most accurate reflection of progress.


    ETA - I don't understand why it's all or nothing. Aside from the whole water thing, if high carb doesn't work, why not try lower instead of cutting out completely (obviously not completely but you know what I mean).

    And calipers aren't very accurate.

    By all means go ahead. I thought this was a legit question, my mistake.
  • starvinkevin
    starvinkevin Posts: 331
    So you guys are trying to say that low carb doesn't work the best for fast fat-loss?
  • kts3639
    kts3639 Posts: 188 Member
    I'm just coming from my experiences with low carb - where I lost 10 lbs within the first 2 weeks and 5 in the 3rd week without even exercising once... I know cardio is healthy but seriously if you want/need to cut weight in a decent fast time you gotta cut the carbs severely.
    I've ate no less than 240 grams of Carbs starting out 4 years ago and am currently eating around 400 grams a day and gotta say it hasn't hindered my weightloss and why do we need to put a time table on it.... Isn't this a lifestyle thing...... Best of Luck....

    I don't agree at all that if you want/need to cut weight that you need to cut carbs severely. I have been doing this for about 4 months and have lost 35 lbs (majority of it being in the first 3 months). Not once did I cut down on my carbs, at all. I am probably a bit of a carb-aholic. I started out with lots of cardio, but for the past 6 weeks, I have been weight lifting (heavy) about 5-6 times/week and doing cardio about 2 times/week.

    Seems like you aren't giving whatever it is your doing long enough to know if it really works. Usually takes a month or so for our bodies to regulate in order to really know if a method is working or not. Either way, good luck!
  • starvinkevin
    starvinkevin Posts: 331
    How many carbs were you eating daily?
    I'm just coming from my experiences with low carb - where I lost 10 lbs within the first 2 weeks and 5 in the 3rd week without even exercising once... I know cardio is healthy but seriously if you want/need to cut weight in a decent fast time you gotta cut the carbs severely.
    I've ate no less than 240 grams of Carbs starting out 4 years ago and am currently eating around 400 grams a day and gotta say it hasn't hindered my weightloss and why do we need to put a time table on it.... Isn't this a lifestyle thing...... Best of Luck....

    I don't agree at all that if you want/need to cut weight that you need to cut carbs severely. I have been doing this for about 4 months and have lost 35 lbs (majority of it being in the first 3 months). Not once did I cut down on my carbs, at all. I am probably a bit of a carb-aholic. I started out with lots of cardio, but for the past 6 weeks, I have been weight lifting (heavy) about 5-6 times/week and doing cardio about 2 times/week.

    Seems like you aren't giving whatever it is your doing long enough to know if it really works. Usually takes a month or so for our bodies to regulate in order to really know if a method is working or not. Either way, good luck!
  • DopeItUp
    DopeItUp Posts: 18,771 Member
    Started about 2 weeks ago - lost about 4 lbs... sounds good right? Except I've lost 10lbs before in the same time-frame using low carb + 0 exercise.

    My total net calories is 1500 - with majority carbs
    My average Cardio burns on my workouts 4x a week = around 1000 calories burned

    Conclusion: High carb freakin sucks - im gonna cut out carbs except an hour before run - why do I keep falling for these lies that you can lose weight fast while eating carbs - they're all freakin lies.

    You lose tons of weight fast with low carb because it's mostly water weight. It's not magic.
  • kts3639
    kts3639 Posts: 188 Member
    How many carbs were you eating daily?
    I'm just coming from my experiences with low carb - where I lost 10 lbs within the first 2 weeks and 5 in the 3rd week without even exercising once... I know cardio is healthy but seriously if you want/need to cut weight in a decent fast time you gotta cut the carbs severely.
    I've ate no less than 240 grams of Carbs starting out 4 years ago and am currently eating around 400 grams a day and gotta say it hasn't hindered my weightloss and why do we need to put a time table on it.... Isn't this a lifestyle thing...... Best of Luck....

    I don't agree at all that if you want/need to cut weight that you need to cut carbs severely. I have been doing this for about 4 months and have lost 35 lbs (majority of it being in the first 3 months). Not once did I cut down on my carbs, at all. I am probably a bit of a carb-aholic. I started out with lots of cardio, but for the past 6 weeks, I have been weight lifting (heavy) about 5-6 times/week and doing cardio about 2 times/week.

    Seems like you aren't giving whatever it is your doing long enough to know if it really works. Usually takes a month or so for our bodies to regulate in order to really know if a method is working or not. Either way, good luck!

    No less than 250 grams 99% of the time. And on the one or two days that I didn't hit 250, I was still over 215 grams (according to the report I looked at for the last 90 days). It seems as though since I've upped my protein (between 110g and 140g) my carbs have stayed steady between 240-260-ish.
  • srk369
    srk369 Posts: 256 Member
    I agree with the earlier poster about the initial loss being your glycogen stores. I'm a runner and I like to keep my carbs at about 45-50% of my calories. For me low carb is just not sustainable and leaves me feeling drained. And when I've done it in the past, as soon as I added carbs back in, the weight went back up. This article was posted on the boards once and I really liked how glycogen/carbs/water retention was explained.

    http://www.justinowings.com/understanding-bodyweight-and-glycogen-de/
  • starvinkevin
    starvinkevin Posts: 331
    Fine one more week - im averaging 250-350 right now of my first week and am making good running progress (up to 3.3 miles, half uphill) - if I dont lose at least 5 lbs this week carbs are bye bye
  • kts3639
    kts3639 Posts: 188 Member
    Fine one more week - im averaging 250-350 right now of my first week and am making good running progress (up to 3.3 miles, half uphill) - if I dont lose at least 5 lbs this week carbs are bye bye

    AT LEAST 5 lbs. in one week?! You are setting yourself up for failure. It seems like you want to say be able to say, "Ah ha! I'm right! Carbs are the devil!" Well, I'm out at this point, good luck on your carb-less journey.
  • LeanButNotMean44
    LeanButNotMean44 Posts: 852 Member
    You're burining 1000 calories running 3.3 miles? :huh:

    ETA: Did you mean total per week or per run?
  • snowbike
    snowbike Posts: 153 Member
    Unless you are carrying alot of fat you will be losing muscle as well as fat. In perfect circumstance, the human body can only burn 32 cals from each pound of fat in 24 hours. This means you will need to be carrying MORE than 80lbs of fat to lose 5lbs in a week. This is why larger people initially can lose more weight quickly.
    How much do you weigh and what is your Fat%
  • themedalist
    themedalist Posts: 3,217 Member
    Fine one more week - im averaging 250-350 right now of my first week and am making good running progress (up to 3.3 miles, half uphill) - if I dont lose at least 5 lbs this week carbs are bye bye

    AT LEAST 5 lbs. in one week?! You are setting yourself up for failure. It seems like you want to say be able to say, "Ah ha! I'm right! Carbs are the devil!" Well, I'm out at this point, good luck on your carb-less journey.

    This! You've gotten excellent advice from KTS and Ed. Personally, to me someone who's lost lost over 300 pounds is worth listening to.

    I lost almost 50 pounds and have maintained my goal weight for a year now by eating about 250 grams of carbs per day.

    I sincerely wish you well.
  • misssiri
    misssiri Posts: 335 Member
    Started about 2 weeks ago - lost about 4 lbs... sounds good right? Except I've lost 10lbs before in the same time-frame using low carb + 0 exercise.

    My total net calories is 1500 - with majority carbs
    My average Cardio burns on my workouts 4x a week = around 1000 calories burned

    Conclusion: High carb freakin sucks - im gonna cut out carbs except an hour before run - why do I keep falling for these lies that you can lose weight fast while eating carbs - they're all freakin lies.

    I'm not sure why you posted this. You have already decided that you want to win a bet. I'll continue to eat all the carbs I want because they are delicious and I'm not stupid enough to bet on weight loss. This is no race and I like enjoying my food. Have fun gaining back your water weight when you have a binge. I'm going to eat high carb so I can lift heavier weights and run longer miles. I'm pretty sure one packet of GU has over 20g of carbs. That would almost be my entire daily carbs allotment because I needed some fuel on a long run. Yeah, no thanks.
  • starvinkevin
    starvinkevin Posts: 331
    I've lost 10 lbs in one week of low carb and some waking.
    Fine one more week - im averaging 250-350 right now of my first week and am making good running progress (up to 3.3 miles, half uphill) - if I dont lose at least 5 lbs this week carbs are bye bye

    AT LEAST 5 lbs. in one week?! You are setting yourself up for failure. It seems like you want to say be able to say, "Ah ha! I'm right! Carbs are the devil!" Well, I'm out at this point, good luck on your carb-less journey.
  • starvinkevin
    starvinkevin Posts: 331
    Per run - I run half of my runs on 30-45 degree sloped up hills and monitor with a HRM
    You're burining 1000 calories running 3.3 miles? :huh:

    ETA: Did you mean total per week or per run?
  • escloflowneCHANGED
    escloflowneCHANGED Posts: 3,038 Member
    I think it has more to do with inaccurate logging, nothing to do with the carbs...
  • ruthruro1
    ruthruro1 Posts: 5
    Maybe its muscle the reason of this slow weight lose..but it is good, dont worry about it
  • generallyme2
    generallyme2 Posts: 403 Member
    I'm sorry, I don't want to be negative, but the chances of you burning 1000 cals in 3.3 miles is slim to none and actually kind of laughable even with hills. I run (halfs and marathons) and live in a hilly area and I know I don't burn that much. In addition, even HRM can be off.

    People tend to think of carbs as bad when really it's just energy. Also, not to be a downer, but in the overall scheme of things, 3.3 miles is NOT that far and does not require high carb diets or 'carb loading'. Just eat carbs in moderation and get over the $20 bet because all it says it that the $20 is worth more to you than long term weight loss which very few can sustain after coming back from a low carb diet.
  • busywaterbending
    busywaterbending Posts: 844 Member
    Started about 2 weeks ago - lost about 4 lbs... sounds good right? Except I've lost 10lbs before in the same time-frame using low carb + 0 exercise.

    My total net calories is 1500 - with majority carbs
    My average Cardio burns on my workouts 4x a week = around 1000 calories burned

    Conclusion: High carb freakin sucks - im gonna cut out carbs except an hour before run - why do I keep falling for these lies that you can lose weight fast while eating carbs - they're all freakin lies.

    amen.

    this cpt approves of this testimony