Low carb 55g sufficient for weight loss?

Hi-lo,

New, or rather a not so new member to MFP :laugh: I've been here on and off for a good few years now. Decided again to go low carb high fat, protein ect ect. For all the members out there with far more knowledge than I could shake a stick at would you feel 55g daily is sufficient for weight loss and just for general health and well being. I'm 5'5 and 14 st (196lbs) 23 years young with an average exercise duration of 60 minutes 5 days a week (mainly walking, no gym) Obviously I'm wanting to drop a massive chunk pardon the pun. Goal weight is 9 ST (126lbs) However I'm not fixated on a certain immediate time I wish to achieve my goal (As long as I actually get there!!) Any help or advice would be fantastic, I'm very basic in terms of dieting protocol at the moment and my knowledge is in it's infancy! However I always looking to cram in more knowledge!! :drinker:

Replies

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  • tanyawong1610
    tanyawong1610 Posts: 7 Member
    I have obviously been given a goal calorie number per day by this site which is a great guideline. However I am lead to believe that on low carb diets such as Atkins calories aren't taken in to account ? However like I said I'm new to the diet game so I'm not sure if that's correct or not.
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  • abadvat
    abadvat Posts: 1,241 Member
    55 grs is quite low IMO but all depends how you react to it.
    Some people are more into carbs some people are more into fat and your body will react in 2 different ways to it.

    As long as your deficit and overall calories remains within reasonable amounts and you are not going to low you will be fine.
    Me personally, I am more of a carbs person - keep your fat but give me carbs and when on a cut I will still be decreasing BF%.

    Try at 55 gr, if you still "function properly" after 1 week to 10 days then good otherwise increase your carbs until you are back ontrack.
  • tanyawong1610
    tanyawong1610 Posts: 7 Member
    55 grs is quite low IMO but all depends how you react to it.
    Some people are more into carbs some people are more into fat and your body will react in 2 different ways to it.

    As long as your deficit and overall calories remains within reasonable amounts and you are not going to low you will be fine.
    Me personally, I am more of a carbs person - keep your fat but give me carbs and when on a cut I will still be decreasing BF%.

    Try at 55 gr, if you still "function properly" after 1 week to 10 days then good otherwise increase your carbs until you are back ontrack.

    Thanks! Really helpful will see how it goes :drinker:
  • longtimeterp
    longtimeterp Posts: 614 Member
    From my understanding...<150g is considered the upper limit of low carb, <100g is a good target to aim for, and <50 is heading into the territory of very low carb, and <30 is heading towards ketosis.

    I've also found carb cycling to work really well, where i will keep it under 100 for a few days, then allow myself up to 150, go back under 100 for a couple, have a weekly "who cares" and follow that with around 50g-60g day
  • LATeagno
    LATeagno Posts: 620 Member
    I eat 10-15g of carbs a day on a ketogenic diet. Some days I'm not hungry at all and eat next to nothing. Some days I'm more hungry and eat 2200 or 2300 calories. I eat 75% of my calories from fat. 55g is too high for me to lose, personally-- but if I'm maintaining, I'll probably consume 40-60g on average once at goal. Hope this helps. There are varying degrees of a low carb diet. 55g is a more moderate low carb diet. If you've never done LC before and you aren't severely insulin resistant, you will likely lose. But don't be afraid of fat. You don't need to go as high as I am, but you HAVE to have fuel-- and fat is a secondary fuel. :) Hope this helps.
  • SXMEnrico
    SXMEnrico Posts: 89 Member
    I think everyone is different. For me personally I have more of a resistance to insulin than the average person, so low cal/high carb does nothing for me. My body seems to hold on to fat even when I'm in caloric deficit for weeks at a time. But when I keep it to < 50g I can eat even above maintenance and still lose bf%. It's counter-intuitive, I know, but it's how my body works., I also crash severely if I eat high GI carbs unless it's right after a workout. I've been to friends houses and passed out on their couch after eating cake or something. It's ridiculous and I have to make conscious eating decisions to avoid this.
  • martinel2099
    martinel2099 Posts: 899 Member
    I have obviously been given a goal calorie number per day by this site which is a great guideline. However I am lead to believe that on low carb diets such as Atkins calories aren't taken in to account ? However like I said I'm new to the diet game so I'm not sure if that's correct or not.
    Calories are always taken into account. That is the most important thing. You can do atkins, low carb, whatever "diet" you choose but if you're not in a caloric deficit you won't lose weight. And you also don't have to do low carb to lose weight, if you choose to then that's your choice but it's not necessary.

    This post+++
  • J72FIT
    J72FIT Posts: 6,002 Member
    Calories are always taken into account. That is the most important thing. You can do atkins, low carb, whatever "diet" you choose but if you're not in a caloric deficit you won't lose weight.

    ^^^This, this and this...