Carbs and Genetics?

Hey I just saw your post about crickets and decided to check out your posts that did not get many responses. Here is a link to one article on this subject. I also remember something coming up on MFP about it a few months back and it was also a good link:

http://www.fitforcombatsystem.com/low-fat-or-low-carb-diet-it-is-in-the-genes/

So, 5lbs. is very little loss? No, no it isn't. The thing is, you're expecting a big loss when you're pretty darn close to your goal. Even from your pic, you don't look like you need to lose much. My point being that as you get closer to goal, the harder it is to lose. So no, it's not about carbs or Dukan or what your parents did. It's about watching cals, doing your exercise thing, and giving it time! At the end, half a pound a week is right where it should be.

If your mom 'always' has to go on a low carb diet to lose weight, that implies that she's lost weight multiple times? Perhaps low carb really isn't actually the thing that works for her. If it worked, she wouldn't have to do it over and over again. I hope that doesn't sound snarky, because I mean it with the best intentions. The thing that works for everyone is lifestyle change that you can stick to permanently - not 'diets'.

Personally, moderation is the one thing that has been surefire for me - just a modest calorie cut and portion control. I didn't count carbs, I didn't have a list of restricted foods, I didn't avoid sugar or gluten or meat or dairy. I lost 66 pounds pretty easily and have kept it off for two years now.

Yes, there are some medical conditions that require a person to watch carbs, but unless you have one of those conditions there probably isn't a genetic reason you need to go low carb to lose weight.

I'm going to say your mom probably doesn't have any reason to cut carbs other than the fact that she cannot maintain a deficit unless she forces herself to by cutting an entire class of food. (Going carbless is next-to-impossible and is very unhealthy.)

Deficit = weight loss. That's all there is to it. There is no hocus-pocus involved.

The thing that works for everyone is lifestyle change that you can stick to permanently - not 'diets'.

Personally, moderation is the one thing that has been surefire for me - just a modest calorie cut and portion control. I didn't count carbs, I didn't have a list of restricted foods, I didn't avoid sugar or gluten or meat or dairy. I lost 66 pounds pretty easily and have kept it off for two years now.

Yes, there are some medical conditions that require a person to watch carbs, but unless you have one of those conditions there probably isn't a genetic reason you need to go low carb to lose weight.

I lost those 5 lbs on WW on a 26 PP allowance, usually eating an additional 5 PPs a day. From what I have read, one PP is roughly 35-50 calories

Therefore;
Low range: 910 cals + 175
High Range: 1300 + 250

As soon as I started going to the gym I physically could not continue to eat according to the WW PP system doing 40ish minutes of cardio and 35 minutes of strength/HIIT so I read the forums here and went according to TDEE/BMR and my weight went back up to 138.5 again?

What's your water intake (your diary doesn't show any water)? If you're not drinking a TON of water (at least 8 cups when you're not exercising + another 40 ounces for every hour of exercise), I would start there. I slowwwww way down my weight loss when I'm not drinking enough water.

[edited to complete a sentence I had left incomplete - as my brain moves faster than my fingers]

When people find a diet that has a theme like "low carb" that works for them it is not because they HAD to eat low carbs in order to lose weight its because by eating low carbs they found they were finally capable of eating at a deficit for whatever reason. That reason could be that at low carb they were eating other foods they found more satiating so they ate less for example. That doesn't mean that it would be impossible for that person to lose weight eating carbs it just means that they found dieting easy enough to accomplish when they ate low carbs.

The only person who can answer the question about whether this is true of you as well is you. There is no way for a stranger on the internet to have any notion at all as to whether or not you find it difficult to diet if your diet includes lots of carbs. This is possibly why there were few responses.

I would say no. Weight loss is a pretty simple equation (but not so simply executed for most of us). Less calories in, more calories out. Eat less, exercise more. You don't have to cut out an entire food group to lose weight. Does it make it easier? For some it does. For me it doesn't. If I can't have my carbs then there is no reason to keep going (okay, that was a bit dramatic, but you get my point).

I second what a bunch of others have said. Your weight loss is right on target. Remember, the weight didn't come on in a few weeks and it won't come off in a few weeks either.