Please help me I need to know how many carbs I can eat a day

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newme7g
newme7g Posts: 7 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hello, I am trying to go back to low carb again and I would like to know how many carbs I can eat a day to loose weight. I haven't done the low carb since college and i have been trying the low calorie diet but I've hit a slump and have not lost anymore weight. I remember my trainer in college told me he put me on a low carb diet because he realized my low carb diet worked better for me. I hope you all can help me.

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  • AlyRoseNYC
    AlyRoseNYC Posts: 1,075 Member
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    I eat LC too and I limit myself to 20g net carbs per day.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    Hello, I am trying to go back to low carb again and I would like to know how many carbs I can eat a day to loose weight. I haven't done the low carb since college and i have been trying the low calorie diet but I've hit a slump and have not lost anymore weight. I remember my trainer in college told me he put me on a low carb diet because he realized my low carb diet worked better for me. I hope you all can help me.

    to lose weight it is calories, not carbs that matter. As long as you eat below maintenance calories you will lose weight, whether you eat 300g carbs, 100g carbs or 20g carbs.
  • brucedelaney
    brucedelaney Posts: 433 Member
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    20g of carbs a day while possible is very very hard for many people to maintain. Not even Atkins diet recommends this past the Induction period of 2 weeks (sometimes 3). Once you're past the induction phase of Atkins you're supposed to gradually introduce more carbs each weak until the weight loss stops then back off so that you're losing again. Once you reach your goal weight you add carbs again until you stop losing then you find your magic number.

    PS - The reason atkins works isn't a direct result of the low carbs... It's a direct result of the increased protein which satiates your hunger in a more sustainable manner which in turn lowers your overall calories.

    Most people that are on a sustainable "Low Carb" Diet are doing about 100-150 carbs a day. My carb goal un affected by exercise is 142g a day right now and I'm losing weight just fine. 17.5 LBS in 30ish days.
  • MargaretNoon
    MargaretNoon Posts: 12
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    If you look at it this way. Everything you eat has carbs. I limit myself to 45g carbs for breakfast, 60g for lunch and dinner. It should even out to about 1600-1800 calories a day. This is based on a diabetic meal plan. I've lost 45 pounds total since April and still going. I carb is 15g, think of it that way. If you want more information write me.
  • ElleEmmeKay
    ElleEmmeKay Posts: 62
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    I shoot for 40-60 grams... I don't think a lot of men understand how different our(women) bodies are and the reality of what carbs do to us (think insulin and hormonal changes throughout the month). I'm actually studying orthomoleculare medicine (nutrition therapy) and do a lot of research on carbs and the female body. I guesss what it really comes down to is knowing your body and understanding it's needs, from there just trust your gut feeling :)
  • ak_in_ak
    ak_in_ak Posts: 657 Member
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    set your ratios to 40/30/30 carbs, fat, and protein. only eating 20 g a day is not realistic and you will just set yourself up to fail.
    if you have insulin resistance low carb is a must, carbs are converted to sugar, that is why many people need to limit them. when you do eat carbs shoot for lots of fiber, this helps the carbs digest slower and keep you full.

    the cleaner you ea the better, stay away from processed bars and shakes, it is just chemicals
  • AlyRoseNYC
    AlyRoseNYC Posts: 1,075 Member
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    set your ratios to 40/30/30 carbs, fat, and protein. only eating 20 g a day is not realistic and you will just set yourself up to fail.
    if you have insulin resistance low carb is a must, carbs are converted to sugar, that is why many people need to limit them. when you do eat carbs shoot for lots of fiber, this helps the carbs digest slower and keep you full.

    the cleaner you ea the better, stay away from processed bars and shakes, it is just chemicals

    She didn't say that she is eating 20g carbs. I did. "set myself up to fail"? Whatever. Thanks for the vote of confidence. I'm really starting to hate this site. When I joined (less than a year ago) it was full of supportive members. I became less active in the forums because life got kind of hectic. I come back and it is totally different. Now, I see a passive aggressive comment and backhanded advice in almost every thread. Plus, that new thing called sarcasm is just blowing my mind, kwim?

    OP, if you want advice regarding carb intake and how different people respond differently to them, you won't find much supoprt here, to be honest. I was not telling you to eat 20g of carbs. That is just what I am doing temporarily.
  • SueInAz
    SueInAz Posts: 6,592 Member
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    PS - The reason atkins works isn't a direct result of the low carbs... It's a direct result of the increased protein which satiates your hunger in a more sustainable manner which in turn lowers your overall calories.

    Most people that are on a sustainable "Low Carb" Diet are doing about 100-150 carbs a day. My carb goal un affected by exercise is 142g a day right now and I'm losing weight just fine. 17.5 LBS in 30ish days.
    This isn't necessarily true. I can eat 1200-1300 net calories (with ~150 grams of carbs) and work out and still not lose weight. I've been living that for a few months now. I switched it up a few weeks ago. I now eat the same amount and work out the same amount and cut carbs to 50-60 grams a day and "magically" I'm losing weight again.

    The point is, everyone is different and our bodies respond differently to different diets. If the OP has been told she responds better to a low carb diet, then it's what she should strive for until it doesn't work any more.

    To the OP, I'd suggest checking out the Atkins website. As that site will tell you, only you can determine the right amount of carbs for you and it'll help you figure that out.
  • newme7g
    newme7g Posts: 7 Member
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    Thank you everyone for your input. I have tried doing low carb and low calorie diet and it seems low carb worked better for me. I just needed to know how many carbs a day is good because honestly I do not remember the amount I used to eat. Imark I agree with you completely. ak_in_ak that is what my trainer in college told me and based on the different diets he put me on he told me that low carb diet was the type of diet I should stick to bc it seemed my body was insulin resistant.
  • newme7g
    newme7g Posts: 7 Member
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    sfoust 66 thank you ill look into it. I did loose weight with the low cal diet but after 12lbs I havent lost any more weight. I have been working out a little more and nothing. So thank you to everyone's comments and advice but this is why I am going back to low carb.
  • brucedelaney
    brucedelaney Posts: 433 Member
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    PS - The reason atkins works isn't a direct result of the low carbs... It's a direct result of the increased protein which satiates your hunger in a more sustainable manner which in turn lowers your overall calories.

    Most people that are on a sustainable "Low Carb" Diet are doing about 100-150 carbs a day. My carb goal un affected by exercise is 142g a day right now and I'm losing weight just fine. 17.5 LBS in 30ish days.
    This isn't necessarily true. I can eat 1200-1300 net calories (with ~150 grams of carbs) and work out and still not lose weight. I've been living that for a few months now. I switched it up a few weeks ago. I now eat the same amount and work out the same amount and cut carbs to 50-60 grams a day and "magically" I'm losing weight again.

    The point is, everyone is different and our bodies respond differently to different diets. If the OP has been told she responds better to a low carb diet, then it's what she should strive for until it doesn't work any more.

    To the OP, I'd suggest checking out the Atkins website. As that site will tell you, only you can determine the right amount of carbs for you and it'll help you figure that out.

    I'm sorry you are right, due to my size I'm eating 1600+ Calories a day with 142g of carbs which is restrictive for that overall caloric intake... This is why i did give a range of 100-150... it should have been a bit wider and I also forgot to mention the effects of carbs on different people.

    The main purpose of my post wasn't to bash LC Diets... I'm limiting mine as well (The reason mine are at 142 is due to me adjusting my macros, MFP has me at over 200 a day with it's default setting)

    Didn't mean to upset the other poster that's staying at 20 currently, I just know it's difficult to maintain. What I was ultimately trying to point out is it's not just carbs even if you are on a low carb diet.
  • jpatrickwinstead
    jpatrickwinstead Posts: 43
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    Everybody has their own opinion, but here's mine:

    100 - 150 g of carbs per day to maintain weight
    50 - 100 g per day to lose weight

    1 g of protein per day per pound of body weight

    Get the rest of your calories from healthy fats.

    For me that works out to a ratio of about 50/25/25 fat/carb/prot.

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