Carbs

Well, if your welcome post gets noticed, yeah, you’ll be inundated with people who have done this successfully.

I lost quite a bit myself, and I wasn’t even mindful about macros til I reached Goal. It’s all about calories in vs calories out, the great CICO.

Some people swear by Keto, but I’d rather have the freedom to eat what I want- just less of it.

If you’ll check the Success Stories threads, you’ll find plenty of posts by successful losers who still ate carbs.

I've lost 75lbs while eating carbs, around 45% of my calories on average (since I ate 1700kcal or more, that's at least 190gr of carbs a day, often more).

I don't really follow the macro split MFP gives me in the sense that I aim for at least 100gr protein, and I let the rest fall as it may (I'm mindful of a minimum fat intake as well, for hormone health, but I've never been low, so I don't check that very often).

Innal52883 wrote: »

I got sucked into the keto fad diet. It definitely works but is not a long-term option for me. Have any of you lost weight while consuming carbs and following the app's macros and daily calorie recommendations?

I don't pay attention to carbs (only protein and fats are essential nutrients, technically speaking). Looking back at my diaries, during weight loss I was eating 125g-150g of carbs most days, and losing weight just fine. Just counting calories, I lost 50+ pounds in a bit less than a year, obese to healthy weight, and have been maintaining a healthy weight for 6+ years since, now eating 225g+ of carbs most days.

I did have to adjust my calorie intake, once I got enough experience-based data to do that - most successful people here recommend thinking of the MFP estimate as a starting point. Follow it for 4-6 weeks, then see how loss compares to target rate, adjust if necessary. (For adult women not in menopause, it's best to compare bodyweight at the same relative point in at least two different menstrual cycles.)

MFP's calorie estimate will be close for most people, because it's essentially giving you the average for people similar to you, and most people are close to average. A few people can be little higher or low, and a rare few are surprisingly higher or lower than the estimate. (I lost too fast at the calories MFP recommended, to an unusual extent. That's rare.)

Like some others, I prefer to keep my protein level on the high side, but my carb intake falls close to MFP's recommended percentage. Carbs are not the devil, no matter what the trendy marketing in the blogosphere may be saying these days. Obviously, some people with certain health conditions - such as diabetes - do have to manage their carb intake. For those of us without relevant health conditions, it's more about paying attention to how carbs affect our appetite and energy level (if they do) and adjusting as necessary.

Clendenen49 wrote: »

Carbs are the bomb. As others have said. It's all about the calories in and calories out. Hit that golden 120-180g protein per day. And for the rest do what you want. I'd recommend 1 serving of a nut per day as well. Take a look at my dairy I just came back to MFP recently I'm on 2200 cal per day and losing quickly on 200+ carbs per day. Energy is never a problem.

How did you determine OP needs that protein range? Particularly with no information about this person.

OP, like Ann and others have said, I focus on protein and fats, carbs fall where they may with the leftover calories. There are some fabulous threads with recommendations on setting up your macros based on your specific information. I highly recommend reading through the most helpful threads at the top of the getting started and general boards.

ChefMader wrote: »

Just my two cents. I keep track of my calories on MFP for many years - most the time not really "dieting" per se, but just to maintain "awareness" of where I'm at and what I'm doing. I've steadily and slowly gained weight. So people saying just follow the calorie recommendations, I would say:: This DOES NOT work for all people unfortunately.

If you have insulin resistance, a metabolic disorder, have PCOS, are impaired/disabled and unable to be active, are peri-menopausal or menopausal, are diabetic, have no gallbladder or other major organ issue.... (just to name a few) the calorie suggestions DO NOT WORK.

What works is trial and error for your body and what your body responds to. What worked for me in my 20's is NOT working for me in my almost 50's. I'm now having to shift and do things completely differently.

Well, if you track calories and see you’re gaining weight, then clearly you’re eating too many calories. Expecting to carry on as if you were still in your 20’s, well what do you expect? If I weighed 125 like I did on my wedding day, I’d look like Stick Man. Bodies change. In my case very much for the worst, and then for the better.

And there’s a shedload of people here with all those “conditions” who have successfully lost. I lost 97 starting at 56, after being obese for 25 years. My 67 year old husband is T2 diabetic and has lost enough weight here in the past year that his doc took him off diabetes medication. What magic did he use? Calorie counting.

There’s story after story of people who are disabled are unable to exercise who have still lost weight. Check out Success Stories if you need proof:

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/categories/success-stories

“Weight loss is made in the kitchen” is a favorite saying ‘round these parts and for good reason.

I never really even paid attention to carbs. They don't have anything to do with weight management. I eat plenty of them. If you're coming off of keto just be aware that you will see a spike on the scale as carbohydrates carry about 3-4 grams of water per gram of carbohydrate...the fast part of keto loss is water...when you resume consuming carbohydrates, you will also gain water weight.

edit