Carbs and weight loss - I still don't get it

Options
kathrinnbauer
kathrinnbauer Posts: 74 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I know I had a similar post a couple of months ago, but I still feel that my question is not really answered and I made a new experience.
I had noticed in the past that I feel bad with low-carb and I don't lose that much as people say the use on low-carb diets. But as I have only a few lbs left and I want to look nice on the beach during my holiday, I decided to go low-carb for a few weeks anyway. Just as an additional boost.
Then I ended up in a class of dietetics and te teacher mentioned that carbs are important in order to maintain muscles. Obviously protein is important, too, but apparently you also need carbs. She said that in order to lose fat you should not eat too often and chose the right carbs and you should not eat them at night as carbs slow weight loss down, but since they are important for muscles you should eat them in order to maintain you muscle and thus make it easier to maintain your weight.
So, I went back to carbs and something weird happened: within a week I lost nearly 3,5 lbs. I am pretty close to my goal weight and I already dropped 39,5 lbs before. At that point of the journey I did not expect such a sudden drop. And I actually expected to gain some weight as carbs are said to make you retain water.
I think that here on MFP (and elsewhere) there are too common points of view: either only calories matter and not the macros or the macros matter and you should ingest less carbs. So, why am I losing more on carbs? I noticed something like that before, but never that dramatic. I do eat only carbs with a lot of fiber to avoid spikes of blood sugar - pulses, vegetables and wholegrain.
Has anybody of you experienced this? Or could you explain why this might happening?

Replies

  • soidade
    soidade Posts: 116 Member
    Options
    Taking in fewer calories than you expend is scientifically proven to cause weight loss. The long-term efficacy of low-carb diets, even after all these years, has never been empirically established. I have friends who do low-carb and also watch their calories. I also have friends who do low-carb and eat tons and tons of high fat food. I think you can guess which group loses weight.
  • robdel302
    robdel302 Posts: 292 Member
    Options
    The whole low carb thing is supposed to work by keeping our insulin levels low. Whenever we eat, we trigger the release of insulin to help break down carbohydrates into energy for our muscles. This is the same energy we expend when we exercise. A low/no carb diet can actually cause workouts to lose intensity from the lack of energy. The inverse here is that eating too much carbs causes a huge release of insulin. When our bodies release a lot of insulin it stops burning fat due to the carbohydrate energy source.

    That's about as simple as I can explain it without getting really technical. But to put it simpler, we want to eat enough carbs to maintain energy levels and fullness but minimize insulin release. The best way to do that is slow digesting carbs or "low glycemic" carbs.
  • Cerakoala
    Cerakoala Posts: 2,547 Member
    Options
    Hello! I agree our body needs carbs :) When I first start i stopped all carbs because at the time I had diabetes and my weakness was also bread, pasta etc and it made me more likely to binge eat :) Once I got back on track and my diabetes was gone etc etc. I started adding carbs back in just opting for healthier versions :) I totally agree with your method and that carbs are and should be part of our daily food choices, our body needs them. However, for some people I think it is ok to go with low carb food choices for a while especially if you have severe, weight issues or diabetes etc :)
  • rbiss
    rbiss Posts: 422 Member
    Options
    I would carb cycle. Best of both worlds.
  • kathrinnbauer
    kathrinnbauer Posts: 74 Member
    Options
    I did log everything and I did not eat more calories on low-carb then now.
    And I did not feel that my work-out is that much intensive now. I know that carbs make it harder to lose weight because of the insulin and that is why I watch which carbs I eat now. I read that there are some type of protein that also cause our body to release insulin, esp. the ones found in milk. Maybe drinking many protein milkshakes causes higher insulin levels then carbs with a lot of fiber and some protein?

    Congratulations on fighting diabetes!
  • RyanG2106
    RyanG2106 Posts: 29
    Options
    The no carbs at night thing is nonsense, nutrient timing (unless your an elite level athlete) has no bearing on it......

Categories