Low Carb and Calorie Intake

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CherryIceGlitter
CherryIceGlitter Posts: 145
in Health and Weight Loss
OK so I am following a low carb diet limiting myself to a max of 30g of carbs a day which I get from Green Veg but I am only on 1200 kcals a day.. I'm not going to lie I would love a few more kcals but I darent increase them incase I gain weight but I have read on various websites that I should be eating more

HELP!!

Replies

  • Acg67
    Acg67 Posts: 12,142 Member
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    OK so I am following a low carb diet limiting myself to a max of 30g of carbs a day which I get from Green Veg but I am only on 1200 kcals a day.. I'm not going to lie I would love a few more kcals but I darent increase them incase I gain weight but I have read on various websites that I should be eating more

    HELP!!

    You likely could be eating a lot more. What is your ht/wt?

    And why low carb, do you have a metabolic disorder that requires you to keep your carbs so low?
  • karleen
    karleen Posts: 260
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    carbs are goood for you damnit

    edit: i dont mean to come off brash lol. but if you were to eat more like 1600 of all natural foods, fruits and vegetables, then you certainly wouldnt gain.
  • mikituba
    mikituba Posts: 60
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    I do low carb and low calorie, but I"m on special protein. Limit your carrots and beans, potatoes, corn and all starchy veggies. I love kale! A couple salads a day is super helpful! I also had to give up meat for a while which actually is helping my calories stay even lower, I eat a Morning star brand vegan griller and the protein is really high and everything else is quite low and they are very tasty!

    Low calorie and low carb is really really good for losing weight and very maintainable. The low carb diets that ignore calories (IE Atkins) are not healthy and not maintainable.

    I hope this helps :)
  • dls06
    dls06 Posts: 6,774 Member
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    You can do lower carb, good carb without killing yourself. If you are not going to cut carbs forever you will gain it all back and more when you start eating them again. Healthy carbs are the key.
  • shakybabe
    shakybabe Posts: 1,578 Member
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    I find its wheat most people have problems with, rather than all carbs making them overweight, but this doesn't apply to everyone.
    You have to make it something you can stick to.

    I switched regular bread for gluten free bread, pittas and corn tortilla's.. I cut pasta.. I wasn't that bothered about it anyway.. I'm planning to try Quinoa in place of pasta and white rice.

    I allowed one exception as on its own its so small an amount it doesn't have an effect - thats a mini yorkie pud every sunday which is literally 2 bites (about 45cals).. I don't eat other flour products but allow gluten free brownie when I do my food shop thats like a once a month treat! I allow Rice Krispies and Oats.. I looked into some other gluten free cereals in place of wheat ones but alot of them contained nuts and I also have a nut allergy. .. other than those lots of veg fish, meat and some fruit! .. and I easily stay around 1000-1200 cals.

    I've more chance of sticking to it if my favourite's are in there!
  • DixiedoesMFP
    DixiedoesMFP Posts: 935 Member
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    Why are you only eating 1200 kcal a day?
  • kelly4800
    kelly4800 Posts: 4 Member
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    I lost 20 pds. on the South Beach Diet and kept if off for 2 yrs. I was also exercising religiously. I felt great - and didn't look bad, either, if I may say so :) Then one thing and another happened and I quit exercising and started eating a lot of things I shouldn't and the weight all came back. I've started exercising daily again, but this time I'm going the route of counting calories - no weight loss yet, but I know it's early. I sometimes think I might go back to the SB diet since that's how I lost the weight to begin with - still not sure.
  • CherryIceGlitter
    CherryIceGlitter Posts: 145
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    I like to follow low carb as I find it keeps the bloating down and I realy dont agree with any wheat or flour based foods.

    1200 is just what MFP suggests but I do have a feeling I should set it hight.. just how high? I try and keep my fat limited but it does go over most of the time x
  • Hyperspace
    Hyperspace Posts: 78
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    1200 is fine if you're not very big to begin with. But if you're ravenous, bump it up a notch.
  • SueInAz
    SueInAz Posts: 6,592 Member
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    Why don't you add 50 calories to your daily goal and see what effect that has on your weight loss for a week? If you are still losing comfortably, add another 50 the next week and so on, until you hit a point where you are less hungry and still losing weight. That way you won't need to worry about adding them all at once.
  • shakybabe
    shakybabe Posts: 1,578 Member
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    Why are you only eating 1200 kcal a day?

    me?... cos I'm trying to lose weight! .. been working so far... 32lb down.. 13lb to go!.. I do have two treats days in the week though were I eat more cals. My BMI is only just over 1300 so I have to add exercise to get a decent deficit now.

    Just managed to do 14 consecutive days of at least 30 mins.. I'm usually getting at least 1lb off.. occasionally 2-3 (usually after water has dropped from TOTM)

    Edit: oh sorry realised OP is also on 1200 ( thought you meant me as it was asked right after my reply :blushing: )

    To OP, if your BMI is also low.. try using exercise to give you a few more calories and still get a deficit?
  • casbar911
    casbar911 Posts: 61 Member
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    I switched regular bread for gluten free bread, pittas and corn tortilla's.. I cut pasta.. I wasn't that bothered about it anyway.. I'm planning to try Quinoa in place of pasta and white rice.



    I use spaghetti squash in the place of spaghetti and I use Quinoa in the place of rice. :) love it. I have to be gluten free so it works for me. I also like to make the Quinoa with almond milk instead of water and add some vanilla- toss on some berries and poof yummy breakfast :) you should def give it a try!! I am a huge fan of Quinoa and I was afraid to even try it until I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    Why are you only eating 1200 kcal a day?

    me?... cos I'm trying to lose weight! .. been working so far... 32lb down.. 13lb to go!.. I do have two treats days in the week though were I eat more cals. My BMI is only just over 1300 so I have to add exercise to get a decent deficit now.

    Just managed to do 14 consecutive days of at least 30 mins.. I'm usually getting at least 1lb off.. occasionally 2-3 (usually after water has dropped from TOTM)

    Edit: oh sorry realised OP is also on 1200 ( thought you meant me as it was asked right after my reply :blushing: )

    To OP, if your BMI is also low.. try using exercise to give you a few more calories and still get a deficit?

    With only 13 lbs to go your weekly weight loss goal should be 0.5lbs/week, which would be more than 1200 cals. Here is a guide for setting appropriate weekly weight loss goals. And with all of these you should still be eating your exercise calories back to meet this goal.
    If you have 75+ lbs to lose 2 lbs/week is ideal,
    If you have 40-75 lbs to lose 1.5 lbs/week is ideal,
    If you have 25-40 lbs to lose 1 lbs/week is ideal,
    If you have 15 -25 lbs to lose 0.5 to 1.0 lbs/week is ideal, and
    If you have less than 15 lbs to lose 0.5 lbs/week is ideal.
  • EQHanks
    EQHanks Posts: 170 Member
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    I agree with the response someone had about adding 50 calories to your daily intake to see what if any difference that makes for you
  • mandylooo
    mandylooo Posts: 456 Member
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    I like to follow low carb as I find it keeps the bloating down and I realy dont agree with any wheat or flour based foods.

    poor you. Wheat intolerance is proper painful.
  • AdAstra47
    AdAstra47 Posts: 823 Member
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    OK so I am following a low carb diet limiting myself to a max of 30g of carbs a day which I get from Green Veg but I am only on 1200 kcals a day.. I'm not going to lie I would love a few more kcals but I darent increase them incase I gain weight but I have read on various websites that I should be eating more

    HELP!!

    I am also low-carb, under doctor's orders. It has worked wonders for me. However, 1200 cals seems very very low. My doc actually told me not to worry about calorie counts, the important thing for me is to stay under on the carbs and over on the protein. He recommends eating at least your body weight (lb) in protein (g) per day (so I started out eating 300g per day, and now I've adjusted it to 250g per day). So I'd recommend that you play with the numbers on your personal goals. First set your protein level to your body weight, then set your carb level so that it doesn't go over 30g, then make sure your fat percentage is 25-30% (because that's the minimum your body needs for healthy cells, skin, etc). If you can't get that to balance, add more to your total daily calorie count until the numbers work out for you. Personally, I eat around 1900-2100 cals per day, and lose at least a pound a week, pretty steadily. So unless you're a very short, tiny person, you could probably eat a lot more than 1200 calories and still lose weight.

    You could try to base your calorie intake on your BMR, but that's an extremely rough estimate unless you have it measured by a doctor. There are way too many variables that aren't taken into account. It might give you a good starting point, but I wouldn't take it as the Gospel truth about how many calories you burn in a day. Some people's metabolisms are just naturally more efficient than others.

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