Thoughts on low to moderate carb intake vs ignore carb intake

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JAT74
JAT74 Posts: 1,078 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I have been struggling this week and have gained scale weight after initially losing 5.5lbs in 2.5 weeks. Over the last week I've eaten out a few times ( though stayed within my calories) and I also had a little wine.

The main difference this last week though has been that my carbs have increased from 70-100g to 100-150g due to eating out mainly. In other peoples experience (who have struggled to lose weight in the past), do carb levels make a big difference or is it simply calories eaten, the time of day foods are eaten or other factors such as whether foods are processed which matter?

Replies

  • Camo_xxx
    Camo_xxx Posts: 1,082 Member
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    Carbs make a difference if you are exercising viciously but for just fat loss it is simply calories in - calories out. Be in a deficit and you will lose fat.
  • sodakat
    sodakat Posts: 1,126 Member
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    If you ate out several times, yet stayed within your calorie goal, then you probably are retaining water. Restaurant food usually is high sodium.
  • lgmorgansb
    lgmorgansb Posts: 27 Member
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    For every gram of carb you eat your body retains 4 grams of water. You'll go up due to water weight but the total calories are what count. Stay at or under your caloric and carb goals and it will balance itself out and you'll begin losing again. Hope this helps.
  • JLIvory
    JLIvory Posts: 1 Member
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    I agree with the above. I will just add my two cents. I was in a long plateau and even gaining weight until I started tracking my carbs. I try to stay around 100 carbs or less and have found myself toning up and looking better. I haven't weighed myself in a long time since I am focusing on how I look & losing body fat not just the # on the scale. I don't use MFP religiously just to make sure I am generally hitting my marks.

    This article gives a bit of insight:
    http://authoritynutrition.com/how-many-carbs-per-day-to-lose-weight/
  • Camo_xxx
    Camo_xxx Posts: 1,082 Member
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    lgmorgansb wrote: »
    For every gram of carb you eat your body retains 4 grams of water. You'll go up due to water weight but the total calories are what count. Stay at or under your caloric and carb goals and it will balance itself out and you'll begin losing again. Hope this helps.


    It's been awhile since I studied this but I recall it is for every gram of glycogen you store. Most people store 2500 cals worth of glycogen. 2000 directly in the muscles and 500 in the liver. Your body converts carbs to glycogen for storage.

    Sodium on the other hand causes additional water retention.
  • AndrewWood97
    AndrewWood97 Posts: 22 Member
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    You're more than likely are retaining water which is causing you to gain water weight (not fat)...
  • mynameisnotemily
    mynameisnotemily Posts: 42 Member
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    Looking at your diary, it seems you may not have used the actual nutrition info for the restaurants that you ate at--for instance, in your sushi lunch meal a few days ago, you consumed several different 'brands' of sushi.

    Caloric value can vary HUGELY from restaurant to restaurant, due to portion size, specific ingredients & proportion of ingredients. It's quite possible that you've been underestimating the calories of your restaurant meals. (Also, most restaurants tend to serve slightly larger servings than they're meant to--it's not a bad idea to log a serving size of 1.1 when you eat out.)


    I haven't noticed carb having a direct impact on my weight loss. Rather, when I use up too many calories on carbs and neglect my protein, I tend to snack more, so I eat more overall. (I give myself a 100 calorie range that I aim for, but if I go a little over or under on some days, I allow it, as long as it averages out in the app's weekly average view.) I'd say meet your protein & fat macros, and give what's left to carbs.
  • JAT74
    JAT74 Posts: 1,078 Member
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    Hi Vishiyra, I know exactly what you're saying about the actual nutrition. It's because I am in Spain and they don't tend to have a lot of chain restaurants here. Having said that, portion sizes are normally fairly average-small and in the Japanese restaurant I was in the other day the pieces of sushi were quite small and I only had the number of pieces I recorded as we all shared the food we ordered.

    Having said that it's very very difficult to be accurate when eating out as you've said, but there is no alternative as most weeks I eat out 2-3 days a week mostly because I work from home and need to get out of the house some days for a break. It's also the main social activity I do with friends now as we don't really go out drinking any more and where I live there isn't a lot else to do!

    I will therefore have to find a way to lose the weight I need taking these factors in to account so maybe the answer is that when faced with multiple calorie numbers for foods I log based on eating out I should always go for the higher number and that way I am overestimating my calories that day and it will force me to stick to eating less.

    So far I haven't found that eating more carbs makes me snack more, just that the following day I seem to notice the scale numbers go up.

  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    sodakat wrote: »
    If you ate out several times, yet stayed within your calorie goal, then you probably are retaining water. Restaurant food usually is high sodium.

    this
  • Paul_Collyer
    Paul_Collyer Posts: 160 Member
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    I am marathon training so have to eat some carbs but am finding a ratio of 35% carbs ok. And yes I always notice a spike in weight the day after I eat more carb heavy, which is clearly water retention.

    I do find that reducing carbs to this level as well as keeping sugar under control has improved my weight loss and reduced my general hunger. But we are all different.
  • JAT74
    JAT74 Posts: 1,078 Member
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    My carbs are also set to 35%, though the problem is that some days I have gone over that percentage. My protein is set to the same level too.
  • ChookyVW
    ChookyVW Posts: 4 Member
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    Hi, I'm not overweight, but carry a lot of fat around my tummy. When I eat a lower amount of carbs, I definitely feel better around the middle, even if my weight and calorie intake don't change. That's only if I'm eating loads of vegetables too though, so my nutrient intake is probably very high - that could be why I feel so good when I'm on lower carb as well. I didn't know you store water with carbs, that's interesting. Good luck!
  • JAT74
    JAT74 Posts: 1,078 Member
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    Thanks Chooky, I must admit that yesterday I felt very very bloated and my carbs were up to 151. When I keep them lower I do seem to feel better, but on the other hand I find that drinking a lot of water makes me bloated too. I think that I need to increase my fibre and eat more veggies though that will in turn increase my carb levels so it's a difficult balance. I hadn't been to the loo for about 2 or 3 days until this morning so maybe that hasn't helped with the scale reading and bloating.

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