Those that are on low carb diets...

Personally, I'm more interested in protein, but carbs are important too, so I load on steamed broccoli, peppers, spinach, lettuce, tomatoes... these are my favorites. Also fruit.

Beans, rice and pasta I don't eat very often, but just the weekend, and the same for bread. I make my own bread and use whole grains flours and don't eat much of it either -that's why I make small buns instead of a big loaf.

http://www.hussmanfitness.org/html/TPAdaptation.html

The law of unintended consequences

Your body is an amazing feedback system aimed at balance and survival. Humans are at the top of the food chain because they are able to adapt to their environment. Every action produces a reaction. Every change in its environment triggers a survival response. It's important to keep that in mind when you plan your fitness program. If you treat your body as an enemy to be conquered, you'll produce unintended results.

For example, if you severely cut off the supply of food to your body, it will defend itself by slowing down its metabolism to survive starvation. The body will shed muscle mass the same way that you would throw cargo from a plane that was low on fuel, and it will reduce its thyroid activity to conserve energy. The body will also actually defend its fat stores. In anorexia, muscle loss can be so profound that fat as a percentage of body weight actually rises. Extreme carbohydrate restriction also causes muscle loss, dehydration, and slower metabolism, which is why even successful Atkins dieters can have a significant rebound in weight after they stop the diet (don't worry – the advice on this site will prevent that from happening).

As another example, if you put your body under stress through overexertion and lack of sleep, it will respond by slowing down, reducing muscle growth, and increasing your appetite for junk food, <bad> carbohydrates and fat. If you feed your body excessive amounts of sugar and quickly digested carbohydrates, and it will shut off its ability to burn fat until those sugars are taken out of the bloodstream.

This website will show you how to work with your body to quickly produce the changes you want. In order to do that, you need to take actions that push your body to adapt – to build strength, burn fat, and increase fitness. You need a training program, not an exercise routine. You need a nutrition plan, not a diet. You need a challenge, not a few good habits you usually try to follow except when you don't.
Setting the right goal

John Dewey once said that a problem well-stated is half-solved. If you want to reach your goal, you have to define it correctly. See, a lot of people say “I want to lose weight.” Well, if losing weight is your goal, go on a no-carb diet. You'll lose a lot of weight – some of it will be fat, a lot of it will be water, and a dangerous amount will be muscle tissue. You'll lose weight quickly, but you'll slow your metabolism and gain fat more quickly once you go off the diet. Trust me on this. I've been there, done that.

The problem is that you've set the wrong goal. If you want to look better, have more energy and enjoy better health, the goal is not simply to “lose weight.” The goal is to improve your fitness level and body composition. That means losing fat, improving your aerobic capacity, training your strength and defending your muscle tissue. You can't do that with a no-carb diet. You will do it using the approach you'll learn on this website. Trust me on this one too. I know what it's like to feel fat, tired and helplessly out of shape. The whole point of this site is to help others avoid that, by sharing lessons that I had to learn the hard way.
Ready to change?

Right this minute, your body is the way it is because it has adapted to the lifestyle you've thrown at it, in an attempt to survive. Ever seen the directory at the mall with the little red arrow that says “you are here”? Well, fitness is the same way. You are here. You can't start anywhere else. So be kind to yourself. Don't beat yourself up. Don't worry about how much there is to do. Change your self-talk from “My body is my enemy” to “My body is my partner.” Accept where you are right now as the starting point, and start moving.

Changing your body requires more than just “going on a diet” for a few weeks. If you want to change your body, you have to make some changes to your lifestyle (which requires some discipline, but isn't as hard as it sounds). If you create the right environment, your body will adapt to it by becoming leaner, stronger, and more energetic. You can do this.

I love how he explains things. Drop them some and try and get most of your carbs through fruits and fibrous veggies. I like my morning oatmeal and have brown rice sometimes (lately I have been bad with bread and flours though - I try and stay away from it most of the time) but I don't go crazy on whole grains. I have mine set at 40%. That gives me 160g of carbs and I do fight to stay at or below that number. Just about everything except meat and fish and poultry has carbs.

I try and stay below 150gm, I also add sugar into that total. I stay away from the white stuff as much as possible. During the day I will eat 1 to 2 cups of veg's as snacks, and snack on almonds as well. Also,a side benefit of giving up the simple carbs, is that it is really hard to eat all of your calories.
Hope this helps,
V.

There is a great article that I just came across that was so helpful to me. It addressed this exact issue.

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/the-primal-carbohydrate-continuum/

I had cut out ALL bread and cereal when I first started but found that once I added daily work outs I was losing energy. I added the range suggested in the article of 50 - 100 carbs. I keep it to the lower range of that scale. Not all carbs are equal and your body needs good carbs to burn fat effectively. (the good carbs from fruit, meats ad veggies) Once I focused on the "good carbs" it actually helped me drop pounds, lose over all inches, and got me out of a plateau. It also seems to be helping with cravings.

I hope you find the article as useful I did! I haven't had time to read all the other articles there but your post reminded me to go back and check out the rest of the site. There is an intro of studies being done, but if you scroll down you will see the Carb range zones and how each zone works for your body.

Just keep in mind that your height, weight and age all affect your metabolism and how your body burns carbs and calories so a heavier person will burn carbs faster. A younger person tends to see results faster, etc.

Active people who work out need carbs for energy.

I eat a LOT, and maintain a great weight (137-139 lbs.) for my 5' 6" frame.

Check my diary. Most people are surprised.

My suggestion is to eat everything in moderation. Restrictive "no carb" diets are effective in the short run, but in order to make lasting changes, you need to learn portion control, and you need to learn how to eat nutritionally, carbs included. Carbs are necessary to fuel your exercise, and if you cut out the fuel, you have no energy to exercise, and without exercise, changes are short term. You can however avoid processed carbs, (white bread), and focus more on whole grains. Good luck, SSG.

I beg to differ with the "no energy". When I am restricting carbs I have more energy than I know what to do with and my husband can not keep up with me................

Carbs are not "necessary".............We can get everything we need from eating fat and protein and completely nix the carbs. The whole thinking that we "need" carbs is so engrained thinking, but it is not true.

It doesn't matter if the grains are processed or "whole" grains.............they are still highly inflammatory.