How many carbs should I eat?

ravenrainchild
ravenrainchild Posts: 22 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
The MFP app sets my carbs to something like ~200g. That seems really high, especially when I was reading that anywhere from between 50g-100g should be about where you wanna be to lose weight.

Or is that false? Do carbs even matter, as long as I'm burning them?

Replies

  • Mitzigan94
    Mitzigan94 Posts: 393 Member
    I've learned from nowloss.com that carbs should be on 150 gram a day. 4 cals is equal to 1 crb. So if u burn cals from exercise, u also. Burn carbs. You can upp ur crbs to 200 gram if your burning many calories on exercise. What is your height by the way? Mine is 4'11 and my daily carb is 150 gram a day up to 160. But I try to workout for 20 min.a day or just do some mild stretching to burn off excess carbs
  • KarenJanine
    KarenJanine Posts: 3,497 Member
    There is nothing wrong with carbs. As long as you're hitting your minimum fat and protein goals then its ok to get the remainder of your calories from carbs.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    The MFP app sets my carbs to something like ~200g. That seems really high, especially when I was reading that anywhere from between 50g-100g should be about where you wanna be to lose weight.

    Or is that false? Do carbs even matter, as long as I'm burning them?

    You don't need to limit carbs to lose weight. Losing weight is just calorie deficit ...... you get this from food and/or exercise. Unless you have a medical condition then you don't have to limit carbs.

    Carbs do matter ..... they provide energy...... but there are problems with carbs ........the American diet seems to be rather heavy on carbs. Example: A picnic type meal ....Hamburger & potato salad ...... you have carbs with the bun and you have more (starchy) carbs with the potatoes ...... you would be better off with a serving of green veggies..... sure there are still a few carbs, but lots of fiber too.

    Processed foods (again carb heavy) tend to have less fiber, less protein, less nutrients than whole foods. Many times these processed foods have added fat (and sugar) as well.

    Focus on getting enough protein & healthy fats in your diet ..... the carbs will fall ..... where they fall. Instead of a low carb "diet" .... focus on making changes that will be your new lifestyle when you want to maintain your new weight.
  • downinaggieland98
    downinaggieland98 Posts: 224 Member
    Everyone has different opinions about carbs. Personally, I do think 200g is too high. I stay around 100g (I'm 5'7). I decided to try to incorporate more carbs back in and it just didn't work for me. Everyone is different.
  • fivethreeone
    fivethreeone Posts: 8,196 Member
    Carbs don't matter so long as you are getting enough fats and proteins and you are maintaining an overall calorie deficit.

    Look up a Lean Body Mass calculator online and figure out how much LBM you have.

    You should be eating at least one gram of protein per pound of lean body mass (not total body weight), and at least 0.35 grams of fat per pound of lean body mass. This will preserve your LBM as you lose the fat over it and make you look more "toned," as well has help regulate your hormones.

    Whatever is left over you can eat in carbs.
  • sorcha1977
    sorcha1977 Posts: 133 Member
    If you aren't diabetic or pre-diabetic (insulin resistant), then you can go with the normal recommendations others provided.
  • TR0berts
    TR0berts Posts: 7,739 Member
    There is nothing wrong with carbs. As long as you're hitting your minimum fat and protein goals then its ok to get the remainder of your calories from carbs.


    /thread.
  • marie_2454
    marie_2454 Posts: 881 Member
    Carbs don't matter so long as you are getting enough fats and proteins and you are maintaining an overall calorie deficit.

    Look up a Lean Body Mass calculator online and figure out how much LBM you have.

    You should be eating at least one gram of protein per pound of lean body mass (not total body weight), and at least 0.35 grams of fat per pound of lean body mass. This will preserve your LBM as you lose the fat over it and make you look more "toned," as well has help regulate your hormones.

    Whatever is left over you can eat in carbs.

    This! I reset my ticker, but I've lost 50ish pounds and I almost always eat at least 150g carbs per day.
  • nosebag1212
    nosebag1212 Posts: 621 Member
    the number of carbs you eat has no bearing on how much weight you lose, it's all about the caloric deficit, you could eat nothing but table sugar and if you were eating under your caloric maintenance you would still lose weight, google "harris bennedict equation", this will allow you to calculate your caloric maintenance, for weight loss you need to consume fewer calories than your maintenance, a good amount is 20% less than this, so if your tdee is 2500 cals you should eat 2000 cals a day, eat 1 gram protein per lb of bodyweight, 0.4 gram fat per lb of bodyweight, fill whatever remaining calories you have left with carbs

    it's as simple as that
  • mrmagee3
    mrmagee3 Posts: 518 Member
    Carbs don't matter so long as you are getting enough fats and proteins and you are maintaining an overall calorie deficit.

    Look up a Lean Body Mass calculator online and figure out how much LBM you have.

    You should be eating at least one gram of protein per pound of lean body mass (not total body weight), and at least 0.35 grams of fat per pound of lean body mass. This will preserve your LBM as you lose the fat over it and make you look more "toned," as well has help regulate your hormones.

    Whatever is left over you can eat in carbs.

    This! I reset my ticker, but I've lost 50ish pounds and I almost always eat at least 150g carbs per day.

    For what it's worth, 150g carbs per day is likely significantly lower than what the average person intakes. I'd guess by about half.
  • RHSheetz
    RHSheetz Posts: 268 Member
    If you aren't diabetic or pre-diabetic (insulin resistant), then you can go with the normal recommendations others provided.

    This

    I think MFP sets a generally acceptable ratio of Carb/Protein/Fats (Like maybe 40/30/30) and sets it based on your calorie goal. This can be adjusted if you require special diets and eating.
  • sorcha1977
    sorcha1977 Posts: 133 Member
    it's all about the caloric deficit, you could eat nothing but table sugar and if you were eating under your caloric maintenance you would still lose weight

    But your pancreas would hate you. ;) This is how people develop insulin resistance. It really is a good idea to eat a healthy amount of carbs, which is probably half of what the average person (not on MFP - just average person on the street) eats every day. I logged one of my average, pre-MFP days once just to see what I'd been eating, and oh. my. god. My carbs were around 400 - 500.
  • ajmathes
    ajmathes Posts: 4 Member
    I limit carb intake to 50g per day. (no bread, any wheat products for that matter, little fruit but lots of veggies) I am losing at 3lb per week - around 70lb still to go. I would say it isn't absolutely necessary to limit carbs, but in my case it sure does help as I don't get cravings between meals, which stops me eating more, and keeps the overall calorie intake lower. I've found that by being careful with carbs, my protein and fat intake quantities are close to recommended, albeit as a percentage they look off. I feel better than I have ever done in recent memory, sleep better and have more energy. Everyone is different, so just find something that works for you.

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