How many carbs per day?
Happy2beeeme
Posts: 192 Member
I want to lose some weight, in fact I have a lot to lose. How many carbs per day would be a good number? I have over 125 lbs. to lose.
Thanks for you help and suggestions.
Debby
Thanks for you help and suggestions.
Debby
0
Replies
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I keep mine under 25g0
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@Happy2beeeme there is no magical number. Low carb is <150 grams per day and Keto Low Carb is <50 grams daily in the minds of many.
I eat just under 50 grams most days for pain manage and to keep down the carb cravings.
Best of success.1 -
http://keto-calculator.ankerl.com Use this calculator to help figure your macros. But anything under 150 gm a day is considered low carb.
The amount you need to lose is very doable with this woe! I've found it to be the easiest woe ever!1 -
Welcome Debby!! I asked the same question as I had SO much to lose too. I started too low ( for me) and stayed on a 20g per day limit for too long. Whilst this works for some folk, you're probably better starting a bit higher, as @Karlottap suggests.
I'm happiest at between 30-50g per day, but this is unique to YOU, so see how it goes. It certainly worked for me, I've lost 70lbs so far!
Good luck!6 -
I aim for around 25g a day and find that works perfectly for me - I've lost weight consistently each week and more importantly, feel better than I have in years. However, everyone is different so you might have to do some trial and error to get your magic number.
I'm planning on slowly increasing my carb intake as I get closer to my goal weight to find the level I need to maintain my weight but I'm a while away from that yet.3 -
Happy2beeeme wrote: »I want to lose some weight, in fact I have a lot to lose. How many carbs per day would be a good number? I have over 125 lbs. to lose.
Thanks for you help and suggestions.
Debby
I have about the same to lose. I'm shooting for 30 net carbs. I'm usually in the 20s, but I don't freak out if I go a little high. As long as I'm around 30, I stay in ketosis and lose a pound or two a week even without exercise.
The main thing for me is dividing hunger from boredom, I'm a huge foodie and I would eat all day if I could. Thus, the need to lose 150 pounds. XD4 -
I follow the OKL chart so my max is 26g, but, I tend to keep them under 20g. I have 70 lbs to lose and have lost 11 lbs since August 1.3
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Is everyone referring to NET carbs or carbs in general?1
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I shoot for 5% or fewer, gross carbs which shakes out to only 18 or 19 grams based on % of calorie intake. That's not many carbs so I occasionally consider fiber content (thus net) into the equation. This usually occurs when I chose to eat something like an avocado or collards.
I tend to take it a step further and also consider combined carb/protein ratio to fat but that may be individual to me since I eat keto for a reason other than weight loss. I am finishing my 6th month of keto, seeing progress but not cure and may or may not alter my method in the future.
You might want to dive right in and go very low carb ~50g gross or less You might want to ease into it with trying 150g or less then reducing as desired or needed.
You've not indicated whether you are wanting Keto or LC. Choose your starting point. Try it for a while and adjust as you learn and as needed.
Read as much as you have time to read in this forum (starting with The Launch Pad). I have found many pearls of wisdom buried in various threads.1 -
Happy2beeeme wrote: »I want to lose some weight, in fact I have a lot to lose. How many carbs per day would be a good number? I have over 125 lbs. to lose.
Thanks for you help and suggestions.
Debby
I think you will find that it is really individualized and there's not a lot of consistency between people
. For me, I eat 40-60g net carbs a day. I am not as strict about keeping below my target as I am about staying away from grains, processed carbs and refined sugars.
I have lost ~50 lbs so far with about 70 lbs to go.2 -
Happy2beeeme wrote: »I want to lose some weight, in fact I have a lot to lose. How many carbs per day would be a good number? I have over 125 lbs. to lose.
Thanks for you help and suggestions.
Debby
I think you will find that it is really individualized and there's not a lot of consistency between people. For me, I eat 40-60g net carbs a day. I am not as strict about keeping below my target as I am about staying away from grains, processed carbs and refined sugars.
I have lost ~50 lbs so far with about 70 lbs to go.
+1 !
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Happy2beeeme wrote: »I want to lose some weight, in fact I have a lot to lose. How many carbs per day would be a good number? I have over 125 lbs. to lose.
Thanks for you help and suggestions.
Debby
I think you will find that it is really individualized and there's not a lot of consistency between people. For me, I eat 40-60g net carbs a day. I am not as strict about keeping below my target as I am about staying away from grains, processed carbs and refined sugars.
I have lost ~50 lbs so far with about 70 lbs to go.
Same approach and results that I works for me.
One really does not have to do more than stop eating highly processed food. While some people label ground steak as "processed" food I do not. To me Coke, milk shakes, peanut butter with 15 ingredients on the label, etc is what I call processed food and stopped eating two years ago that is giving me life back. I leave off all grains to be on the safe side.
I am an old man so I have to keep it simple so no math being required works for me.
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My carbs are probably higher, but this is the approach I use as well. I very much limit refined carbs of all sorts.Happy2beeeme wrote: »I want to lose some weight, in fact I have a lot to lose. How many carbs per day would be a good number? I have over 125 lbs. to lose.
Thanks for you help and suggestions.
Debby
I think you will find that it is really individualized and there's not a lot of consistency between people. For me, I eat 40-60g net carbs a day. I am not as strict about keeping below my target as I am about staying away from grains, processed carbs and refined sugars.
I have lost ~50 lbs so far with about 70 lbs to go.
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I am on Atkins. Since May 2016 I lost 28.3 pounds. I have to lose 50 pounds and now 21.7 still to go.
I have 15-20 g carbs per day. It depents how many calories you like to eat it is very simple: 5% carbs (leafy greens and low carb high water veggies) 20% protein (eggs, all meat, fowls, fish and shellfish, hart cheese like Cheddar, Emmenthaler, all hart cheeses including parmesan, soft cheese like Camembert, brie, blue cheese and cream cheese all high in fat but they have 1g carb per 1 oz) and 75% fat (butter, mayonnaise all cold pressed oils) with my calorie intake from 1200 - 1400 calories per day.
Don't overdue it with the protein, to much protein change into glucose and this will stored as fat.2 -
Personally I stay under 20 net carbs a day. I've lost over 40 lbs and have about 40 to go. While we are all different, there are some things I've learned about myself: I can't eat lots of cheese and lose weight. Just won't happen. I can eat cheese as part of a meal but if I'm snacking on cheese I just have to suck it up that I won't lose. I don't worry about protein, because I'm not a diabetic and I don't have kidney issues already withstanding. So most of my fat comes in the forms of butter and meat fats. (Coconut oil for breakfast). I can drink a diet soda here and there but try to keep them to a minimum. I can eat fake sugar without issues, but some can't. I don't mind eating an Atkins bar or shake to help keep me satisfied. Some will tell you they are poison. My carbs come from veggies and the few that are in some foods I eat like hot links or bologna. I don't eat breads, pastas, rices, potatoes at all any longer and I don't eat sugar for the sake of eating sugar. If a gram of sugar is in something I eat, so be it, but I'm very careful to choose things not laden with sugar to maintain my net 20 carbs. I don't care about sugar alcohols as they don't bother me in any way, so I count them in net carbs where many will tell you not to do that because they can spike glucose levels or cause issues in the bathroom. Everyone is very different and we have to pull what works for us and avoid the rest. I also adjust my macros as I lose weight but I've not allowed myself to increase carbs. If anything, I eat fewer as I've lost weight. (I think I could fall off the wagon) Much luck!1
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Happy2beeeme wrote: »I want to lose some weight, in fact I have a lot to lose. How many carbs per day would be a good number? I have over 125 lbs. to lose.
Thanks for you help and suggestions.
Debby
Hi Debby: I began with about 110 pounds to lose. First I went back to calorie counting on which I feel horrible but my fasting blood sugar was above the diabetic cutoff. Then I switched over to Atkins and was posting on their website. I read about Dr. Jason Fung and read his book "The Obesity Code". From there, I began looking at what really works for me which is low carb. But LCHF (low carb, high fat) was new to me. But I decided to try that since it was still low carb. Now I eat 80% fat, 15% protein and 5% net carbs on which I feel the best. I was down 32 pounds on Sept. 1 and have 77 to go.
I agree with those here who say it is individual. Anything under 50 carbs a day is considered ketogenic (the point at which the body switches over from being glucose burning to fat burning and makes ketone bodies for fuel (that's an oversimplified version).
For many people, gradually lowering carbs works well. I'm an all or nothing kind of person and eating carbs (especially if they are a starchy carb) just leads me to having cravings which I would ultimately give in to. This is a great site for learning from others experiences and getting new ideas, etc.
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Welcome. I also have a lot to lose. I'm down over 90lbs now and would ideally like to lose another 10. I'm sure my doc would say another 35.
I had no idea what I was doing when I started back in October. It has been both the easiest time I've had losing and also sometimes a bit frustrating and difficult. I contribute any success I've had to LCHF and to intermittent fasting. It isn't just about cutting carbs but is a combination of that and increasing fat AND eating at a caloric deficit. I did a couple of things that really worked for me. Maybe could for you too. First I eat a huge breakfast. Three eggs, three strips of bacon and a tbsp of peanut butter. I fry the eggs in approx one tbsp of bacon fat. Sometimes I sub ham for the bacon and use butter to fry the eggs. I also scramble my eggs with approx 1 tbsp of heavy whipping cream. So overall I'm having about 600-650 calories at breakfast. Next I changed the frequency of my meals. I learned (thru this group) that you don't have to eat three times a day or even at all. You can fast for periods of time and this was realization was a game changer. This simplest thing I did was to stop eating a mid-day meal on a regular basis. Lunch was always a hard time for me. I would often make terrible choices (ie McDonald's) and so cutting it out helped a lot. It is very freeing to leave home for the day and not have to worry about eating until I get home. Other changes too but those were the main ones.5 -
I've been eating around 30 total, but 10 net carbs per day for a few months. I've found that success for me lies in eating nearly the same things every day. Keeps my body expecting the same amount of food at each meal, so no hunger. My largest carb intake every day is 2 'Carb Sense' tortillas at dinner. 6 grams net, 20 grams of fiber. All other carbs are the little hidden carbs in cheese and sausage.
I've lost 44 lbs total so far, another 30 to go.
To give an example of my diet every day:
Breakfast = 3 eggs and a smoked chicken sausage link.
Lunch - salad with a ton of baby spinach, cheese, salsa, ground pork with seasoning. Alternate that with spinach, tuna, mayo and Parmesan cheese so I don't get bored.
Dinner = 2 eggs, sausage link, 2 carb sense tortillas, cheese and salsa.
Brings me in at around 1400 cals per day.4 -
I usually get 50 to 125 grams of carbs per day. I like to do a bit of exercise and that keeps my usable carbs in my bloodstream (glucose) lower.
The less active I am the fewer carbs I need. Carbs are fuel for intense activity. Kind of like high octane fuel. If I'm not going to be doing some intense exercise, I let my carbs come from fibrous veggies.1 -
Sorry I forgot to answer your fundamental question. For the first six months I tried to keep my net carbs at or below 20 g.0
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I've done some experimenting. For weight loss I tend to do well sticking to 20-30gm net carbs per day, with some days up to 40-50gm net carbs occasionally.0
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