Can you lose weight on a "moderate" low carb diet?

I have lost 80lbs on a moderate carb diet - carbs aren't what makes you lose or gain weight, calories are. The way of eating through which you achieve a calorie deficit should reflect what's best for your preferences, lifestyle and health requirements, but it's the calories which will make you lose.

You can lose weight as long as you're in a deficit. I eat high carb (Complex carbs, veggies, and fruit primarily - very rarely simple carbs to avoid the blood sugar spikes and crashes) and have successfully maintained my weight. It also helps my athletic performance. Do whatever gives you the most energy and satiety within an appropriate calorie deficit.

Yes. You can lose weight on a twinky and beer diet if your deficit is there.

Problem with low carb it will zap your energy level and slow down workouts. But there are as many theory and opinions as there are people on the planet. Find what level is successful for you. I have seen people who had lots to lose be very successful on cycling a keto diet. Keto will not work for me or my lifestyle but u shoot for 150 carbs a day and have plenty of energy.

nixism wrote: »

I'd appreciate any thoughts on this please. I was following LCHF, keeping close or under 20g of carbs, but it isn't really suiting my lifestyle. I struggle to eat "fatty" foods. I was thinking of tweaking my plan to be more a moderate low carb diet, ie: 50g carb (low or keto is 20g of carb). My question is; can you lose weight on a moderate low carb diet?
For instance, I have my goals at 50g carb, 75 fat, 150g protein. Or should I amend these?
Many thanks,

I think of 50 g as pretty low carb. I'm experimenting with low carb now and research seems to suggest that 50 total should result in ketosis, but that's a different issue.

Anyway, to answer your question, yes, you absolutely can lose on moderately low carb (or even average or high carb). I lost most of my weight eating between 100 and 150 g of carbs, varying mostly based on how much I was exercising, but sometimes just based on the day.

Re proposed macros, that works out to 1675, which may or may not be a good goal, depending on size and how much you work out (and whether it includes exercise calories). 150 g on its face seems unnecessarily high for protein (since I see you are female, and based on having been given the 1200 goal at one point), but won't hurt you. Might be tough to deal with.

When you say 1200 wasn't working, what specifically do you mean? 1200+exercise and no added calories is going to sap energy for many even without super low carbs and it's not something I normally would recommend. But you don't have a lot to lose and are exercising, so other things can mess up the scale apart from possible logging issues.

My carb goal is 130-150 depending on activity and I lose just fine

1coolmofo wrote: »

I should ha e qualified my statement. It will zap your energy until your body adjusts to using fat storage as energy source.

Oh absolutely. I felt like death on a few of my early keto runs!

I would just use the default macros, focus on protein and see where the others fall and if needs be play around with them a bit to find your own personal sweet spot. I personally largely just pay attention to protein and end up naturally hitting or getting close to my fat goal and probably moderate carb. But there are days I pretty much just eat carbs because bread and cake.

I'd just make sure your logging is tight as if you're not seeing results that's always the first place to look. It really is just a maths game for everyone.

nixism wrote: »

lemurcat12 wrote: »

nixism wrote: »

I'd appreciate any thoughts on this please. I was following LCHF, keeping close or under 20g of carbs, but it isn't really suiting my lifestyle. I struggle to eat "fatty" foods. I was thinking of tweaking my plan to be more a moderate low carb diet, ie: 50g carb (low or keto is 20g of carb). My question is; can you lose weight on a moderate low carb diet?
For instance, I have my goals at 50g carb, 75 fat, 150g protein. Or should I amend these?
Many thanks,

I think of 50 g as pretty low carb. I'm experimenting with low carb now and research seems to suggest that 50 total should result in ketosis, but that's a different issue.

Anyway, to answer your question, yes, you absolutely can lose on moderately low carb (or even average or high carb). I lost most of my weight eating between 100 and 150 g of carbs, varying mostly based on how much I was exercising, but sometimes just based on the day.

Re proposed macros, that works out to 1675, which may or may not be a good goal, depending on size and how much you work out (and whether it includes exercise calories). 150 g on its face seems unnecessarily high for protein (since I see you are female, and based on having been given the 1200 goal at one point), but won't hurt you. Might be tough to deal with.

When you say 1200 wasn't working, what specifically do you mean? 1200+exercise and no added calories is going to sap energy for many even without super low carbs and it's not something I normally would recommend. But you don't have a lot to lose and are exercising, so other things can mess up the scale apart from possible logging issues.

Hi Lemur, I think you hit the nail on the head. I wasn't eating extra on 1200 when I was exercising.
And, 1675 seems like loads of cals to me! So I don't really know where to start with setting my goals Sadly.
I am only 5ft 2 at a push, 35yrs, female, with a sedentary job. I do lead an active lifestyle outside of work, on our farm, but I think most of the farm work, etc, I am already "conditioned" too... so it's not "true" exercise if that makes sense..? It's a tough one.

Just wondering, what do you have your activity level set to in MFP? Reason I am asking is that if the bolded is part of your daily lifestyle, then you may want to have your activity level set to lightly active at the very least, since it isn't purposeful exercise.

nixism wrote: »

lemurcat12 wrote: »

nixism wrote: »

I'd appreciate any thoughts on this please. I was following LCHF, keeping close or under 20g of carbs, but it isn't really suiting my lifestyle. I struggle to eat "fatty" foods. I was thinking of tweaking my plan to be more a moderate low carb diet, ie: 50g carb (low or keto is 20g of carb). My question is; can you lose weight on a moderate low carb diet?
For instance, I have my goals at 50g carb, 75 fat, 150g protein. Or should I amend these?
Many thanks,

I think of 50 g as pretty low carb. I'm experimenting with low carb now and research seems to suggest that 50 total should result in ketosis, but that's a different issue.

Anyway, to answer your question, yes, you absolutely can lose on moderately low carb (or even average or high carb). I lost most of my weight eating between 100 and 150 g of carbs, varying mostly based on how much I was exercising, but sometimes just based on the day.

Re proposed macros, that works out to 1675, which may or may not be a good goal, depending on size and how much you work out (and whether it includes exercise calories). 150 g on its face seems unnecessarily high for protein (since I see you are female, and based on having been given the 1200 goal at one point), but won't hurt you. Might be tough to deal with.

When you say 1200 wasn't working, what specifically do you mean? 1200+exercise and no added calories is going to sap energy for many even without super low carbs and it's not something I normally would recommend. But you don't have a lot to lose and are exercising, so other things can mess up the scale apart from possible logging issues.

Hi Lemur, I think you hit the nail on the head. I wasn't eating extra on 1200 when I was exercising.
And, 1675 seems like loads of cals to me! So I don't really know where to start with setting my goals Sadly.
I am only 5ft 2 at a push, 35yrs, female, with a sedentary job. I do lead an active lifestyle outside of work, on our farm, but I think most of the farm work, etc, I am already "conditioned" too... so it's not "true" exercise if that makes sense..? It's a tough one.

I think I'd use MFP to set calories and say active, but then not eat back calories unless you do extra exercise. Try it and see what number it gives you. (I am 5'3 and was 44 when I lost my weight in 2014, and mostly lost on around 1600-1650 (which I set to include the exercise so was not eating back) -- I'm not as active as you daily, but I was running a lot, so it probably evens out. That you are accustomed to the farm work doesn't mean it doesn't count!)

Absolutely! (And yes, of course it's deficit and not macros that really matters for weight loss. But if you're looking for the benefits that LCHF has for some people--assuming this isn't strict keto for medical reasons--you should be fine.)

Plenty of sites will say anything under 50 carbs/day is ketogenic (for a lot of people). I lost 20 lbs in about 3 months (and I only had 20 to lose) on keto and I was eating 20-30gm net carbs/day (total carbs were often 30-50). I had a lot of benefits of keto/LCHF at that level (weight loss, satiety/adherence, etc.). I think you could bump your protein down a little and increase fats back up just a bit, too, but whatever works for you.

nixism wrote: »

So, I've logged my food for today, coming in at only 1211cals. I'm supposed to be eating 1459. Does it matter that I'm coming in lower?

If you're not hungry, I wouldn't eat more just to hit a target.

I'm no pro or anything by any means. I did the 1200 calorie diet after I had my third child. Lost weight quick, plateaued then put it back on when I got pregnant with my fourth. For me it was just not an attainable, long-term thing and was too hard to realistically stick to. This time around I am doing a 1600 calorie diet, with 35% carbs (around 140), 35% protein, and 30% fat. It was slow going and then our entire household got sick which lasted a month total (including the hubs who ended up in the hospital for about 4 days), so I put my diet on the back burner and plateaued. I started back up a week ago tomorrow and upped my water intake to make sure I was hitting my 64oz, stopped eating after 7:30-8pm, and precooked all of my meals for the entire week on Monday. I had all my recipes set so I could log quick and I have been very strict with it. I use a kitchen scale and measure EVERYTHING that goes in my body. I didn't eat out (until today...ugh...). As of yesterday, I've lost 3.8lbs since starting back up Monday. I'll reweigh in the morning to get my exact weekly total. Not sure if any of this will help you, but that's my experience so far this go around.