Low Carb? Need help!

jaycee76 · June 2011

I am starting a low carb/high protein diet tomorrow because I have not been eating well (health wise) lately even when I eat low calories!

What I want to know is is around 100 carbs a day enough initially to get me to lose of too many?

On average (although I am trying to not concentrate on calories) how many calories do you consume and still lose as long as you are in the carb target?

I think I am afraid to eat extra calories incase I gain weight.

Any advice or experience would be very much appreciated!

Thanks in advance

Jaycee xx

rachpiper720 · June 2011

Hi! Welcome to the low-carb lifestyle. I'm 5' 10' and 255 lbs, following the primal/paleo lifestyle and keep my carbs around 75 g/day. I think initially reducing your carbs to 100 g/day will help you lose weight, but eventually you might need to decrease that to 50-100g/day. I am allotted 2000 cal/day and when I am sticking to my lifestyle it's really hard to go over my calorie limit. Some days I'll eat WAY under my calorie limit, and other days I'll get close or a little over. When I was eating 200-300 carbs/day, then I was starving all the time and continually struggling to stay under my calorie goal.

My best advice is to stick to your guns for the first week! Don't cheat! It is much easier to get off of carbs when you don't cheat.
Then, don't be afraid of fat! Fat is your friend on a lower-carb diet. If you start feeling low in energy eat something with fat in it: meat, cheese, olives, or nuts. I got headaches the first week, but I found that I just needed something with fat in it.

Now that I am almost 4 months in, my weight has plateaued, but I am still losing fat and have increased my muscle mass. Don't get frustrated if your weight loss has slowed. That's when you need to start taking tape measurements or measuring body fat.

There are a couple of good support groups on here is you need more support or have questions. The people are really nice and totally willing to help answer any low carb questions!

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/273854-no-grain-no-pain-what-your-meals-look-like
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/267812-palelo-support-group

Good luck!

freerange · June 2011

Here is my $.02 worth, I do low carb Primal and love it. First off if you are not in a calorie deficit you will not lose weight. So saying you don’t have to worry about calories is not necessary right, BUT. On a low carb type diet you will not be as hungry and it’s harder to over eat, unless you really try. So my advice is to continue to log your food, and get those carbs real low for the first two weeks, under 50g. My next advice is to get a good book on low carb, Atkins, South Beach, and read it. Too often people hear about the success people have on low carb, and think it can’t be that hard, just eat meat and cheese, jump in, lose weight, and get tired of eating meat and cheese, quit, gain weight, and think it didn’t work.

freerange · June 2011

Oh, and just to throw this out there, low carb is better than anyother diet, period. LOL

bring on the haters.

chachilynn · June 2011

I have tried my run at everything, Weight Watchers, simply counting calories and South Beach. I honestly think the most success I've found is in the low carb diet. I just finished the first 2 weeks and am not going through the first week sugar crash/headaches/fatigue anymore.

My question is to you guys in regards to switching it up?

I eat egg beaters, turkey bacon and veggies for breakfast. Snack of some cheese. Lunch chicken or fish and veggies left over and dinner something of the same steak/chicken/salmon and veggies.. I've been eating a sugar free pudding at night, is that cheating?

Any ideas on snacks other than hardboiled eggs, nuts and cheese? I like peanut butter and celery too, but peanut butters calories can add up so fast.

thanks for the pointers

rachpiper720 · June 2011

I have tried my run at everything, Weight Watchers, simply counting calories and South Beach. I honestly think the most success I've found is in the low carb diet. I just finished the first 2 weeks and am not going through the first week sugar crash/headaches/fatigue anymore.

My question is to you guys in regards to switching it up?

I eat egg beaters, turkey bacon and veggies for breakfast. Snack of some cheese. Lunch chicken or fish and veggies left over and dinner something of the same steak/chicken/salmon and veggies.. I've been eating a sugar free pudding at night, is that cheating?

Any ideas on snacks other than hardboiled eggs, nuts and cheese? I like peanut butter and celery too, but peanut butters calories can add up so fast.

thanks for the pointers

My snacking foods sound a lot like yours. I don't snack very often anymore because I'm as hungry as when I was higher carb, but when I do, I also snack on chicken, little bit of dark chocolate, berries with heavy whipping cream, veggies with cream cheese, a small apple with almond butter, used to do lunch meats before I switched to primal (because of all the preservatives), cottage cheese, a protein shake, homemade custards or other treats made with stevia instead of sugar, or jerky.

chachilynn · June 2011

Thanks for some of the newer snack ideas

. What kind of protein shakes? I am doing research on whey protein shakes for post work out benefit. Do you have any suggestions?

timlord · June 2011

your body NEEDS at least 130 g of carbohydrates a day for absolute metabolic and brain function/go 2 days without ANY carbs and see if you can function

keep your carbs at about 150 a day with 80 percent being fruits and vegs/simple carbs that are used almost imediately after ingestion
20 percent grains and cereals and eat then before noon

lordsfitness@aol.com for more infor ps I am qualified for this advice

dls06 · June 2011

I think you have to ask yourself "Is this a diet you will stick with forever or are you just doing it for quick weight loss"?

girlinahat · June 2011

I'm on day 3 of cutting out grain-based carbs and am starting to work it out. I have set my carbs to a max 130g and am still logging calories. I will struggle to hit 100g carbs today and it has been interesting finding out how many carbs are in things like dried fruit and other foods.

The first couple of days with reduced carbs I found I was actually hungry a lot of the time. Having said that, looking back through my diary the carb level hasn't dropped that much from what I was doing before. What I am now trying to do is bring in more fats to keep me fuller, and eat more protein and fat for breakfast.

You will struggle to hit your calorie target anyway by cutting carbs, so for me that is one of the benefits - by restricting my diet I can maintain my calorie goal.

I intend re-introducing some grain-based foods later on - such as brown rice and oats, but for the moment I am retraining myself to eat tonnes of veggies as my main source of carbs.

LATeagno · June 2011

I think 100g of carbs is OK, as long as they come from the right sources. I use "induction" levels (25g per day of net carb) to break plateaus, but I usually stick to 50-90 grams of carbs per day. I wouldn't, however, use up your entire carb allowance on one meal-- say, a huge bowl of pasta (about 60 carbs), as it will provoke cravings. Part of the beauty in watching your carbs is that it really, seriously reduced your cravings and hunger because you're eating more protein and a bit more fat. It just keeps you more full because your blood sugar levels stabilize. Also, I'd urge you to watch calories, too. That said, it's easier to watch your cals when you watch your carbs because you tend not to eat as much. I have a very easy time sticking to 1500-1700 calories when I keep my carbs down. That said, you can fluctuate daily... say 50 g one day, 120 the next, 70 the next... as long as you have a baseline to adhere to. You have to find what works for you.

Low Carb? Need help!

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