Advice on going low carb?
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AreneeS22
Posts: 42 Member
So I've been using MFP off and on for several years. I've struggled with my weight since the birth of my first daughter in 2005, prior to that I weighed 135 lbs. I just had another baby in may and I'm at my heaviest (post baby) at 232 lbs! I know I have a long way to go. I'm pretty sure the best way for me to lose the weight is going low carb..my question is being that I'm 232 lbs and 5 ft 3, what should I be restricting my carbs too? Also should I be counting total carbs or net carbs? Thanks!
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Replies
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You can restrict carbs as much as you want and any way you please - to lose weight you need to restrict total calories.15
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It really depends on what works for you. There's a huge range of low carb from mildly/moderately low (some would call 40-30-30 low--I'd call it moderate--or under 150 g low or lowish) to maybe under 100 g to, of course, keto, which IMO is anything under 50 g net for most people, but some do super-duper low under 20 or even close to none.
What I'd advise (as someone who likes a lowish carb diet and has tried keto and might again) is counting and understanding where you are now and then experimenting with lowering carbs from that.
As for net vs gross, if you aren't in the US or Canada, it's probably the same.
If you are in the US or Canada (I'm in Chicago personally), net is what matters for keto, really. What I do is use gross (because it's easier) if I have a low carb/not keto kind of goal (really I just eat fewer carbs and see where I land, but right now I'm kind of aiming for under 100 g total). When doing keto I do focus on net (but also keep net at around 35 or so, because I personally think vegetables are extremely important and tend to find it hard to go lower and have the vegetables I want).
Hope that helps.
Oh, I should add that people are different -- for me I feel more satisfied doing lower carb but don't need to go very low. I didn't notice a particular benefit for me to keto, although I may try it again. Others find the benefits kick in at a lower level, and others find they hate any degree of low carb and feel better eating a healthy but higher carb diet. So experiment and see. Also, lots will matter besides just carb number.3 -
There's a group here if you are interested in low carbing - http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/394-low-carber-daily-forum-the-lcd-group
I tried low carb in the past, lost weight and then re-gained it back. Whatever method you choose, make sure it has something in common with your maintenance strategy.7 -
Why low carb? Why not eliminate just bad carbs,or aka junky food. Fruits have carbs but have too many benefits to leave out of your diet. Just pay attention to total calories. Counting carbs and sugar and all that sciency stuff doesn't really work for me. I just try to eat mostly healthy. Truthfully I go over my carbs alot, and sugar, from alllll the fruit I eat, I dont eat too much fat, not on purpose though, I guess I eat the same things. All the time ,but of different flavors or whatever, and I have lost 15lbs in less than two months. But if you want to go low carb, I guess a keto type diet will work.13
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I just had a baby in June , I'm 5'9 and started my weight loss jurney in mid August at about 300 lbs. I'm currently at 278. I did it with the keto diet and exercise. Keto is very low carb.1
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you lose fat by restricting calories - not carbs. why not just eat the calories MFP tells you and continue to enjoy yummy carbs?!4
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Like any named diet out there, it will only work if it fulfills CICO in a favorable ratio. Other than that, there is no inherent need to do low carb to lose weight and you won't lose any more weight following it. Perhaps more important to think about is a common problem among most of the fad diets is that they lead to burnout fairly rapidly.
Try to think about this endeavor as one that will lead to a lasting and lifelong change to your lifestyle. If you think eating low carb for the rest of your life is doable, then maybe it's for you. If not, perhaps the medical community take on calorie restriction for weight loss is a better option: http://www.webmd.com/diet/low-calorie-diet
Or better yet, speak to your primary care doctor directly.6 -
I lost and gained on Low Carb many times. The issue isn't if you will lose but will you maintain the loss. At least for me it was. In the beginning it's great because you get a bit dehydrated so you see a huge water loss which makes you stick with it. Eventually I got tired of meat and fat so quit eating most of the time (thus eating low calorie without realizing it). I did find that my cravings seemed to be under control the first few weeks but over time I couldn't hack it. I got so I would kill for a potato. I've done Atkins, Bernstein, HCG etc. Most of those are very low carb and two of them were also VLCD. The trouble is that when you quit the low carb diet you gain about 5-7 pounds the first week (water replaced due to eating carbs again I think).
Since giving up on the quick fix I have gone from a high of 251 pounds (pre MFP) to 145 pounds. This was done doing low calorie with walking for exercise. I can maintain this and I'm 2 years in and feel I can stick to this way of eating for life. Please be sure you can maintain the type of eating plan you embrace for weight loss.10 -
I'm still restricting calories too, not just focusing on the carbs alone..but any other weight loss strategy I have tried in the past like just calorie counting and eating healthier, it didn't work for me. I noticed about a year ago when I got put on metformin and started paying more attention to my sugar and carb intake, I felt a lot better and had more energy, as well as I was noticing my clothes fitting better..but shortly after I found out I was pregnant and all that went out the window lol. I gain weight so easily, and it's SO hard for me to lose it..I feel like this is going to be the best way to go. That applies to maintaining a low carb lifestyle as well. I'm not looking at this as a diet, but changing the way I eat overall so I can be healthy for my kids.6
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I'm still restricting calories too, not just focusing on the carbs alone..but any other weight loss strategy I have tried in the past like just calorie counting and eating healthier, it didn't work for me. I noticed about a year ago when I got put on metformin and started paying more attention to my sugar and carb intake, I felt a lot better and had more energy, as well as I was noticing my clothes fitting better..but shortly after I found out I was pregnant and all that went out the window lol. I gain weight so easily, and it's SO hard for me to lose it..I feel like this is going to be the best way to go. That applies to maintaining a low carb lifestyle as well. I'm not looking at this as a diet, but changing the way I eat overall so I can be healthy for my kids.
Cutting carbs will automatically cut calories. They go hand in hand. The difference between this diet and others is that with keto you burn fat for energy while producing ketones. Other diets burn carbs for energy. It's not a diet for everyone, but it's worked for me. It's a lifestyle.13 -
nicci288693 wrote: »I'm still restricting calories too, not just focusing on the carbs alone..but any other weight loss strategy I have tried in the past like just calorie counting and eating healthier, it didn't work for me. I noticed about a year ago when I got put on metformin and started paying more attention to my sugar and carb intake, I felt a lot better and had more energy, as well as I was noticing my clothes fitting better..but shortly after I found out I was pregnant and all that went out the window lol. I gain weight so easily, and it's SO hard for me to lose it..I feel like this is going to be the best way to go. That applies to maintaining a low carb lifestyle as well. I'm not looking at this as a diet, but changing the way I eat overall so I can be healthy for my kids.
Cutting carbs will automatically cut calories. They go hand in hand. The difference between this diet and others is that with keto you burn fat for energy while producing ketones. Other diets burn carbs for energy. It's not a diet for everyone, but it's worked for me. It's a lifestyle.
If you're in a calorie deficit, you burn fat for energy...all diets work on the same premise...energy deficiency...when you're in an energy deficiency, you burn fat for energy...every diet burns fat for energy...You even burn fat for energy when you're not on a diet.9 -
nicci288693 wrote: »I'm still restricting calories too, not just focusing on the carbs alone..but any other weight loss strategy I have tried in the past like just calorie counting and eating healthier, it didn't work for me. I noticed about a year ago when I got put on metformin and started paying more attention to my sugar and carb intake, I felt a lot better and had more energy, as well as I was noticing my clothes fitting better..but shortly after I found out I was pregnant and all that went out the window lol. I gain weight so easily, and it's SO hard for me to lose it..I feel like this is going to be the best way to go. That applies to maintaining a low carb lifestyle as well. I'm not looking at this as a diet, but changing the way I eat overall so I can be healthy for my kids.
Cutting carbs will automatically cut calories. They go hand in hand. The difference between this diet and others is that with keto you burn fat for energy while producing ketones. Other diets burn carbs for energy. It's not a diet for everyone, but it's worked for me. It's a lifestyle.
Um, no...........low carb was popular in the 1970's as a way of not having to count calories. Back when counting calories was a pain.....you looked up calories in a book and kept track in a notebook. The interntet makes this much easier.
Back then some people would eat unlimited bacon, slather on butter, eat fried chicken, etc......and didn't lose weight. Some people will still need to track calories.
"Other diets burn carbs for energy"....low carb still burns the FOOD that you ingest. People who eat carbs while eating at a deficit aren't storing carbs.4 -
Nykkismommy21 wrote: »Why low carb? Why not eliminate just bad carbs,or aka junky food. Fruits have carbs but have too many benefits to leave out of your diet. Just pay attention to total calories. Counting carbs and sugar and all that sciency stuff doesn't really work for me. I just try to eat mostly healthy. Truthfully I go over my carbs alot, and sugar, from alllll the fruit I eat, I dont eat too much fat, not on purpose though, I guess I eat the same things. All the time ,but of different flavors or whatever, and I have lost 15lbs in less than two months. But if you want to go low carb, I guess a keto type diet will work.
I agree a bit with this part. Why was it so bad? I try to eliminate junky carbs also.4 -
TheWJordinWJordin wrote: »Nykkismommy21 wrote: »Why low carb? Why not eliminate just bad carbs,or aka junky food. Fruits have carbs but have too many benefits to leave out of your diet. Just pay attention to total calories. Counting carbs and sugar and all that sciency stuff doesn't really work for me. I just try to eat mostly healthy. Truthfully I go over my carbs alot, and sugar, from alllll the fruit I eat, I dont eat too much fat, not on purpose though, I guess I eat the same things. All the time ,but of different flavors or whatever, and I have lost 15lbs in less than two months. But if you want to go low carb, I guess a keto type diet will work.
I agree a bit with this part. Why was it so bad? I try to eliminate junky carbs also.
Because carbohydrates are just carbohydrates. It's true that some foods with carbohydrates are more or less nutrient-dense or more or less calorie-dense than others, but there is no such thing as a "bad" carbohydrate. It's just a macronutrient.1 -
But there are bad fats and good fats. So I thought.... Anyone else care explain? I really do well when I separate bad carbs and good carbs. Keeps me away from cookies and cake and lets me eat beans. Can this thinking be called something else?
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TheWJordinWJordin wrote: »But there are bad fats and good fats. So I thought.... Anyone else care explain? I really do well when I separate bad carbs and good carbs. Keeps me away from cookies and cake and lets me eat beans. Can this thinking be called something else?
Are you thinking of trans fats? Yeah, the best available evidence is that they aren't good for us. But it doesn't follow that there are automatically good carbohydrate and bad carbohydrates (or good protein and bad protein).
If limiting cookies and cake helps you meet your calorie goals, then it sounds like a good strategy for you. But it doesn't mean that the carbohydrates in cookies and cake are "bad."1 -
No need to do "low carb" per se, unless you find it easier to count carbs than calories. They're not the same thing, but many people tend to consume fewer calories while going low carb and that's why it's perceived to work.
Do make sure your carbs are no more than 50% of your total calories (per MFP default recommendation), because you still need fat and protein nutritionally. I've had to cut back on carbs a lot just to keep them at that 50% level.
I tend to watch my carbs when eating out because bread & pasta can load on excess calories fast. I still eat them, but it's like one roll or one piece of bread and a small portion of pasta, maybe 1/4 of most restaurant portions. The rest gets left behind or taken home for more meals.2 -
TheWJordinWJordin wrote: »But there are bad fats and good fats. So I thought.... Anyone else care explain? I really do well when I separate bad carbs and good carbs. Keeps me away from cookies and cake and lets me eat beans. Can this thinking be called something else?
Cookies and cake are not "carbs." They are half carb, half fat.
Beans are more nutrient dense than cookies and cake, of course, and lower cal (depending on how much you consume, of course) and (for me) more filling. They make more sense as part of a meal, whereas cookies and cake aren't really a meal, they are a treat food that one will eat more rarely than staple foods, presumably.
Cookies and cakes are high in sat fat and refined carbs, but I wouldn't call everything that has sugar (fruit) or refined flour (pasta -- which can be eaten with lean meat, vegetables, and olive oil) "bad carbs." Nor would I call everything with sat fat unhealthy, although I do limit it and more actively try to get in other sources of fat.4 -
Anyway, OP obviously doesn't need to go low carb to lose, but she seems interested in trying it, and she said:I noticed about a year ago when I got put on metformin and started paying more attention to my sugar and carb intake, I felt a lot better and had more energy, as well as I was noticing my clothes fitting better..
Thus, likely she's IR or T2D. Lots of people who are IR (and some who aren't, like me), find that eating a diet higher in protein and fat and somewhat lower in carbs (even carbs I personally consider perfectly healthy, like potatoes and sweet potatoes and grains, as well as added sugar) can make a calorie deficit easier. So if she's interested, it's worth trying, IMO (and my opinion doesn't matter anyway, obviously).3 -
So I've been using MFP off and on for several years. I've struggled with my weight since the birth of my first daughter in 2005, prior to that I weighed 135 lbs. I just had another baby in may and I'm at my heaviest (post baby) at 232 lbs! I know I have a long way to go. I'm pretty sure the best way for me to lose the weight is going low carb..my question is being that I'm 232 lbs and 5 ft 3, what should I be restricting my carbs too? Also should I be counting total carbs or net carbs? Thanks!
I'm not low carb, but I believe the key is finding the level where you can comfortably eat the right amount of calories and not be hungry all the time. I've heard here that anything under 150g is technically "low carb", though I think most people who are actively trying to do low carb are under 100g. Keto is more specific obviously.
Good luck!1
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