How many carbs & sugars for weight loss without problems?
tina4kids
Posts: 24 Member
I have been doing low carb/sugar for 10 weeks now and have lost 28 pounds so far. I have been averaging less than 20 to 60 carbs (most days 20) and less than 10 sugars. One day last week I felt really bad. My heart started racing and I was shaky and weak and thought I was going to pass out. I don't know if my blood sugar was low, if I'm not having enough carbs, or what the problem was, but it was scary. I have had no fruit until this weekend, and I thought I needed some, so I had blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, and a couple strawberries.
I have not had a lot of time yet to read about low carb/sugar and I'm wondering how much you can have to lose weight and be healthy. I'm afraid if I start eating fruit again, the sugar will cause my weightloss to stop.
I have not had a lot of time yet to read about low carb/sugar and I'm wondering how much you can have to lose weight and be healthy. I'm afraid if I start eating fruit again, the sugar will cause my weightloss to stop.
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Below 100g or so, you start losing sodium. Just add sodium back to your diet, and you'll probably feel better. Most people get their sodium via broth, soups, etc. If you've lost enough sodium to give you palpitations, you've probably lost potassium as well and should eat some potassium-rich foods. Also consider supplementing with magnesium for good measure.0
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Passing out is your body telling you something is wrong.
Maybe you can have a physical before starting on your diet and exercise path as most programs suggest?
You seem to be dropping weight fast. That does cause stress.
I lost 10 pounds a month some months. Others only 5. But I was seeing a Dr every 6 months and had blood tests to monitor how it was all working
Best wishes on your program.0 -
Tina I got into LCHF by accident when learning how to greatly reduce my pain level without increasing my cancer risk by starting Enbrel injections.
The more I learned about LCHF I stayed on it because I chose to eat for life vs eating for death as I was when abusing carbs. Dieting can cause death if not done correctly.
Read about lossing a good amount of weight like you have done then maintain take weight for 90-180 days then go for another 30 pound loss. This lets the body rest and the organs readjust. It can take months for the brain/body to get really good at burning ketones assuming you are in ketosis.
A glucose/ketone meter helps me to know both. In hindsight I expect I had a fatty liver and it took months to recover and start my ketone creation in a meaningful way.
If you can maintain your great loss for just 90 days your risk of 100%+ regain in the future is greatly reduced. Do not make weight into a god that you have to please. A .5 pound loss a week is relative safe for many. A 3 pound loss a week for 10 weeks would put my health at risk for sure.
We are all on a road of learning but need to insure we do not do more harm than good in the learning process.
Google has helped me to stay in the middle of the road vs the ditch on either side of the road.
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I'm with wabmester. I don't think it's your carb/sugar that needs to be adjusted but likely your electrolites. You actually don't need any carbs at all to stay healthy. So that would be the problem, but like wabmester said, when you have low carbs you have different needs for electrolytes, so do check that out. Personally I hate soup and broth, so I just salt the crap out of evrerything. Took a while to get on to, but it does really help.
As for how many carbs/sugars you can eat and still loose weight, that is a personal thing you'll have to determine for yourself. Nobody else will know. My limit right now seems to be maybe 10 or so but all those come from eggs or cheese. Basically incidental. I have to stay zero carb to keep in control and keep the cravings away. Makes it simple but boring. The only way to know is to experiment.
For myself, I still have 50lbs to lose, so I'm just sticking with what works before I start experimenting. I'm also loosing about 2 lbs a week. so... I guess at this rate it's going to take me at least another 25 weeks huh? The good side is that it is reliable. So, that gives me the courage to stick it out. Then I will start experimenting once I hit maintenence.
Hope that helps.0 -
I agree it's likely your electrolytes. I have a bottle of "trace minerals" that I use from time to time. It has potassium, magnesium, sodium and chloride that I add to my water bottle. Very cheap on amazon and at bike and running stores.0
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ooooh I forgot about "trace minerals" I used to use those. They're great! I should get some more!0
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@gasp90x So glad your loss on ZC is continuing! My trial month ends in 6 days but I'll probably continue after that to see if it finally kicks in for me. I lost 3 lbs initially but gained them back and continue to go up and down on those three pounds. So no difference on ZC than on <20. Do you have any idea how many calories you eat per day? I have a goal of 1300 but often don't reach it. Open to advice!
@tina4kids I use trace mineral capsules almost every day to keep things balanced. I can tell when I need them when I start feeling slightly light-headed and buzzy feeling. Drinking them clear it right up.0 -
Below 100g or so, you start losing sodium. Just add sodium back to your diet, and you'll probably feel better. Most people get their sodium via broth, soups, etc. If you've lost enough sodium to give you palpitations, you've probably lost potassium as well and should eat some potassium-rich foods. Also consider supplementing with magnesium for good measure.
This is great advice.
I was really suffering during the 1st week+ of me going keto and the guys here helped me a lot with the same advice you've been given. I now feel great, so it definitely works!
I also found that having one day where i upped my calories to maintenance, but kept my carbs below 25g & my fats high, and mindful of not eating too much protein, somehow gave my body the energy it needed to adjust to this WOE. I woke up the next morning, after taking my supplements, increasing my sodium and eating to satiety with only LCHF foods the day before, and i felt great for the 1st time since starting Keto.
Some people take to this WOE like a duck to water, quickly and painlessly, but some, like me, really struggle at the beginning with some pretty awful symptoms. But now ive finally come out the other side i can honestly say it really is worth sticking with. I havent lost any weight on the plan yet, but i have lost inches and gained satiety and more energy. I think once you become fat-adapted you will feel much better, but just to be sure maybe let a doctor check you out to put your mind at rest.
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wheatlessgirl66 wrote: »@gasp90x So glad your loss on ZC is continuing! My trial month ends in 6 days but I'll probably continue after that to see if it finally kicks in for me. I lost 3 lbs initially but gained them back and continue to go up and down on those three pounds. So no difference on ZC than on <20. Do you have any idea how many calories you eat per day? I have a goal of 1300 but often don't reach it. Open to advice!
@tina4kids I use trace mineral capsules almost every day to keep things balanced. I can tell when I need them when I start feeling slightly light-headed and buzzy feeling. Drinking them clear it right up.
Also, depending on your carb and caffeine needs: zip fizz is a fairly good replenisher. Some flavored have Splenda, however. Which is an issue for some.
Cheers0 -
Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »I agree it's likely your electrolytes. I have a bottle of "trace minerals" that I use from time to time. It has potassium, magnesium, sodium and chloride that I add to my water bottle. Very cheap on amazon and at bike and running stores.
Oh my a new thing to learn about!
Thank you for mentioning
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Thank you everyone for your support and recommendations! I am so glad I discovered this "community"... you all are wonderful and help.me stay motivated!0
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@wheatlessgirl66
I don't track my calories (a la FIT-goat) it would drive me nuts as I know tracking meat in particular is not really an acurate science. However just for kicks, from time to time, I do just to see.
I seem to average about 1400-ish. (5'4" currently 200.5lbs) and I've been consistently loosing 2lbs a week for the last 4 weeks. only marred by that TOM where my hunger went through the roof. I think I ate closer to 2400 calories a day for about 8 days. Ridiculous! However, lately, I would suspect I'm down around 1000 or 1100 calories as I'm just not hungry at all the last few days. I'm due for my TOM so, I'm not terribly worries as the hellish hunger will likely kick in and even it all out again
Actually I think I have bronchitis again from my asthma making me feel nautious which is why I'm not eating very much. (Doc appt in 2 days for that). I also feel weak and didn't run or swim the last 5 days
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@gsp90x Thanks. I make sure my calories are above 1000 but was concerned that not enough calories would stall weight loss. Most of the time it doesn't take much to fill me up. I fluctuate up/down but haven't truly lost more than 1 lb since March. I'm just trying to figure out how to start losing something. It's like a puzzle with an infuriating missing piece.
It's so exciting that you're about to begin your weight with a 1--yay for you! I'm sure that's been a big goal for you, as it is for me. You can be proud of the work you've done to get there!! 0 -
Gale Hawkins, what do you mean by " In hindsight I expect I had a fatty liver and it took months to recover and start my ketone creation in a meaningful way."0
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Gale Hawkins, what do you mean by " In hindsight I expect I had a fatty liver and it took months to recover and start my ketone creation in a meaningful way."
First welcome to the forums.
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2633261/
It can be part of the metabolic system that can be found in obese people discussed in the above paper.
well.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/06/27/ask-well-fatty-liver-and-diet/?_r=0
@PPumpItUp I cut out all sugars and as you can read in the above article sugar abuse which I did is one highly suspected cause of Fatty Liver conditions.
drhyman.com/blog/2013/09/26/fatty-liver-90-million-americans/
By going off sugar and most all other carbs cold turkey (in my case) I accidently did what the article talked about that was good to do for a fatty liver. Since I had 40 year collection of visceral fat in hindsight I may have had a fatty liver conditioning driving that issue.
I did not go off carbs cold turkey to lose weight because I did not even know about Low Carb High Fat eating lifestyle but solely to try to prevent the cancer side effect of Enbrel injections. 30 days before my 7 Nov 2014 appoint to start Enbrel I was researching arthritis pain management and read how cutting out sugar and all grains could cut pain levels if they were causing body inflammation.
In 30 days eating < 50 grams of carbs but no sugar, grains, or processed foods my pain level had dropped from 7-8 to 2-3 on a 1-10 scale. On 7 Nov 2014 I thought the rheumatologists would be pleased I was able to cut my pain levels so I could pass on starting Enbrel injections. Boy was I wrong. The one from India could not believe he had come to the USA to study medicine and was sold on Enbrel and I had turned to coconut oil common in his home country to be able to escape the cancer side effect of Enbrel. Coconut oil is one of my main go to Fats to replace the calories that I lost when I lost most all of the carb calories. Unlike carbs eating fats do not increase cancer risk plus coconut oil is in part converted directly to ketone bodies without limiting carbohydrates to start burning ketones vs all glucose.
Being young like you are means you may be able to sidestep causing your body long term damage like I did. Even with my education (OD) it did not know eating carbs were not part of required food groups for humans until last year. Best of luck on finding your best route to good health for life.0 -
As a tie in question if the OP will permit, related to the last post
I read about Eskimos and others in the extreme north that live on a very high percentage of pure fat. Lots of calories and they also work it off
To me that sounds extreme but to one raised on it, that would be normal.
What I read indicated they did not have specific carb related health issues.
Of course this was in something advocating LC diets.
Just a related add on question.0 -
professionalHobbyist wrote: »As a tie in question if the OP will permit, related to the last post
I read about Eskimos and others in the extreme north that live on a very high percentage of pure fat. Lots of calories and they also work it off
To me that sounds extreme but to one raised on it, that would be normal.
What I read indicated they did not have specific carb related health issues.
Of course this was in something advocating LC diets.
Just a related add on question.
Not sure what the question is, but you might be interested on a Canadian movie called My Big Fat Diet. A First Nations tribe started eating their traditional diet again, and it's kind of neat to watch.0 -
GaleHawkins wrote: »Gale Hawkins, what do you mean by " In hindsight I expect I had a fatty liver and it took months to recover and start my ketone creation in a meaningful way."
First welcome to the forums.
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2633261/
It can be part of the metabolic system that can be found in obese people discussed in the above paper.
well.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/06/27/ask-well-fatty-liver-and-diet/?_r=0
@PPumpItUp I cut out all sugars and as you can read in the above article sugar abuse which I did is one highly suspected cause of Fatty Liver conditions.
drhyman.com/blog/2013/09/26/fatty-liver-90-million-americans/
By going off sugar and most all other carbs cold turkey (in my case) I accidently did what the article talked about that was good to do for a fatty liver. Since I had 40 year collection of visceral fat in hindsight I may have had a fatty liver conditioning driving that issue.
I did not go off carbs cold turkey to lose weight because I did not even know about Low Carb High Fat eating lifestyle but solely to try to prevent the cancer side effect of Enbrel injections. 30 days before my 7 Nov 2014 appoint to start Enbrel I was researching arthritis pain management and read how cutting out sugar and all grains could cut pain levels if they were causing body inflammation.
In 30 days eating < 50 grams of carbs but no sugar, grains, or processed foods my pain level had dropped from 7-8 to 2-3 on a 1-10 scale. On 7 Nov 2014 I thought the rheumatologists would be pleased I was able to cut my pain levels so I could pass on starting Enbrel injections. Boy was I wrong. The one from India could not believe he had come to the USA to study medicine and was sold on Enbrel and I had turned to coconut oil common in his home country to be able to escape the cancer side effect of Enbrel. Coconut oil is one of my main go to Fats to replace the calories that I lost when I lost most all of the carb calories. Unlike carbs eating fats do not increase cancer risk plus coconut oil is in part converted directly to ketone bodies without limiting carbohydrates to start burning ketones vs all glucose.
Being young like you are means you may be able to sidestep causing your body long term damage like I did. Even with my education (OD) it did not know eating carbs were not part of required food groups for humans until last year. Best of luck on finding your best route to good health for life.
Thanks for the links. My mother-in-law was just diagnosed with NAFLD. I could have told her that that was what was causing her abnormal results regarding her liver and how to fix it. Then she wouldn't have spent thousands of dollars on multiple rounds of bloodwork, multiple dr visits, and a liver biopsy. Yes, I could have told her, but she wouldn't listen to the "suddenly" thin daughter-in-law. I'm hoping the dietician she'll be seeing next month has sense. I tried to tell her, all nice and non-pushy, that cutting her carb intake a bit will nip that in the bud, but she won't change her eating habits until the person she paid tells her. Even though she knows I'm smart. After all, her oldest son agreed to marry me, and he has very exacting, critical standards. Ok, dear. Waste your money. :rollingmyeyes:
@PPumpItUp Ketones are produced in the liver. If liver function is compromised, I would imagine that ketone synthesis might be affected. I've had a hard time finding easy information to elaborate. Perhaps the study Gale posted, once I get a chance to read the whole thing, may shed some light on it.
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professionalHobbyist wrote: »As a tie in question if the OP will permit, related to the last post
I read about Eskimos and others in the extreme north that live on a very high percentage of pure fat. Lots of calories and they also work it off
To me that sounds extreme but to one raised on it, that would be normal.
What I read indicated they did not have specific carb related health issues.
Of course this was in something advocating LC diets.
Just a related add on question.
Not sure what the question is, but you might be interested on a Canadian movie called My Big Fat Diet. A First Nations tribe started eating their traditional diet again, and it's kind of neat to watch.
I've seen it. It goes to show what difference diet composition can make in your overall health. I've seen LCHF bring people back from the brink of death. My mother included. It brought me back from the brink of developing diabetes in my 30s. I just wish I knew about this sooner. I wish so many other unhealthy people in my family would watch things like this so they wouldn't suffer so much. My sister, my husband's aunts and uncles...sigh.0 -
I was hoping there would be a follow-up on that tribe, but the doc who did the experiment hasn't updated his blog since 2013.
http://www.drjaywortman.com/0 -
Below 100g or so, you start losing sodium. Just add sodium back to your diet, and you'll probably feel better..
Do you know what I do to keep my sodium up? Eat bacon!!! I feel great, and am happy too! Yummy bacon! What other diet allows you to eat one of the greatest foods around? Bacon! Although, pineapple is the fruit of the gods, in my book, and my diet doesn't allow for that... Think happy thoughts... BACON!
Michael.0 -
Bacon is GOOD. Just about anything from McDonalds will give you a bunch of sodium, too.0
