CARBS!!!! UGH! What is the TRUTH?!!!?!?!?!?!!

Foods getting stored as fat by itself isn't all that relevant. Fat storage and release is a continuous process and what matters is the net result at the end of the day. Dietary fats get stored as fat with or without carb intake, but they also get released as the body burns them for fuel.

But one way to know if you are carb intolerant is simply whether you are able to adhere to a calorie restrictive diet that remains high in carbs. Many people cannot because of excessive hunger, so they have to cut their carb intake, and many end up not needing to even count their calories at all as long as carbs are low. Start off by eating the desired foods and if you can't keep your intake low, start working on cutting out more carbs and/or processed foods until you find something that manages your hunger better.

Foods getting stored as fat by itself isn't all that relevant. Fat storage and release is a continuous process and what matters is the net result at the end of the day. Dietary fats get stored as fat with or without carb intake, but they also get released as the body burns them for fuel.

But one way to know if you are carb intolerant is simply whether you are able to adhere to a calorie restrictive diet that remains high in carbs. Many people cannot because of excessive hunger, so they have to cut their carb intake, and many end up not needing to even count their calories at all as long as carbs are low. Start off by eating the desired foods and if you can't keep your intake low, start working on cutting out more carbs and/or processed foods until you find something that manages your hunger better.

Agreed, this is what works for me. I consume about 3000 cals and consume about 200g's of unprocessed carbs, mainly root veg, veg, fruit and some processed and refined carbs like pasta and bread. this has basically curbed my hunger, and have no problem with sugar like I once die.

This thread is interesting to me.

You have the calories in > calories out camp.

You have the low carb / excess carbs are stored as fat camp.

And you have a smaller group of people who are less concerned with "carbs", and more concerned with the effect grains have on our bodies ala primal blueprint style camp.

There's probably truth in all points of view...

calories in/out - It is true that if you're eating less than maintenance, you'll probably lose weight. Simplicity.

low carb - It's also true that if you lower your carbs, you'll ALSO lose weight. Fact is, if you're eating low carbs (~100 or less), you're either starving (bad), or eating high amounts of protein and fats. The nice thing about low carb while dieting is that you're getting your minimums/optimal levels of fat and protein by default (without thinking about it), and you're probably at a strong calorie deficit without much effort as well. Of the 3 macro-nutrients, carbohydrate is the one that doesn't really have a "minimum" that you should meet (protein ~1gram per lbs of lean muscle mass, fat 0.5 per lbs of lean muscle mass). That's not to say that many people don't find that when they are TOO restricted, they feel low on energy and their athletic performance suffers.

anti-grain - there are many people that swear by the health improvements they get when eliminating grains from their diet. This isn't about "dieting or weight loss" as much as it's about health. Supposedly, from an evolutionary perspective, we aren't equipped to digest grains and our bodies react to them badly with various degrees of severity. There are certainly people that are obviously allergic/sensitive to glucose, and the thought is that to a less severe degree we all have problems with grains and they can be safely eliminated in favor of much higher amounts of vegetables/fruits. Right now, this stuff is "fringe science". It won't HURT you to eliminate grains in favor of more fruits and veggies, but nobody can say with certainty that's it's necessary.

The point is that this isn't even a debate really. Nobody can really prove the other wrong. They will ALL , if followed through on as expected, work for you in your weight loss journey. Eat good nutritious food, eat enough fiber to poop regularly, eat enough protein and fat, and after that -- experiment until you FEEL the best.

Whole grains that you buy in a package at a store aren't nessesarily processed. If you are concerned about them being processed read the ingredient information to be sure there aren't artificial preservatives added. Carbs being stored as fat isn't a fact. As long as you eat a balanced diet and have a calorie deflect you will loose weight.

Can you please provide peer-reviewed studies that prove that, as you say, "carbs being stored as fat isn't a fact."? I hate being that jerk but if you have actual factual evidence I would love to see it, considering I live a very low carb lifestyle and have done my research and homework, and I am unsure how one could believe that excess carbohydrates are not stored as fat.

Excess anything will be stored as fat, in the case of caloric surplus. In the case of caloric balance, or caloric deficit, nothing will be stored as fat. It's human biology 101.

You're kind of making MY case, actually, though I think you meant to argue with me. The average person takes in so many carbs a day that there is NO WAY a non-active person could EVER burn them off. And, let's face it, there's a whole lot of inactive people out there.

For me, personally, I use this site to actively manage input and output, as well as to hold myself accountable; I will not say that it's 100%, but most people eating low-carb find themselves naturally at a low caloric intake. I'm absolutely not saying that low carb is for everyone. We all digest and process things differently. As explained to me by a dietician, somewhere in the high percentiles of people actually are gluten intolerant, and I think that is a big benefit - as detailed by other posters - of eating low carb, just a healthier system over all.

You will lose weight at a caloric deficit unless, like myself and others, you have some medical reason why you will not. No diet plan, exercise plan, or lifestyle change should be undergone without adequate advice and supervision from a healthcare professional. They may not provide you with the dietary change that will be what's best for YOU but you will know where you're starting off from, and what your hurdles along the way might be.

I got to goal without activity(due to a certain issue)...and was eating high carbs. So, saying NO WAY is a little ridiculous since I'm not you and you aren't me. Like other people here have said what works for someone else may not work for you...doesn't make it wrong.

I personally have not cut down on carbs. I keep my diet balanced. That works for me.

I'd be cranky as hell if I cut down on carbs lol.

You're right, and I rescind my "Wah people aren't agreeing with meeee!" oversimplification. I didn't even really mean carbs, specifically, I meant that all the *kitten* we eat and don't work off is going to make our bottoms bigger and our bellies bulge. But, I am sorry for the generalization

The way I eat now, my body feels GOOD. I won't TMI you, but my doctor is amazed; I have essentially, in not even three weeks, cured my IBS, something that had actually put me in the hospital more than once for dehydration. I can run, I can play with my son, I stay awake all day and sleep all night. I haven't even lost ten pounds (probably because I honestly don't eat enough), but this, for me, was never about looking good in a bikini. It was about enjoying life again.

I don't care what works for you, or me, or anyone else, for the love of God, just DO IT, people. Get healthy. Love yourself. If I had known three years ago that I could be this girl, I would have been her, then. I kept waiting for the miracle cure that would save my life. I was the only cure I needed.

So. No carb, low carb, high fat, low cal, high cal, high protein, no sugar, low sugar, high fiber - whatever you need to get and STAY healthy. Please. Do it.

I'm not sure on factual evidence, but I will tell you my personal experience. I eat carbs, currently 148g is my goal, sometimes i'm over, rarely under, and have lost 35 pounds since Jan 31. I've had only one week since then in which I have not lost 1 pound or more per week. Most of my carbs are veg, but i also indulge in breads& such, if I don't I find myself binging at night. I tried low-carb, less than 100g for a while last year and my loss came to a dead stop. I wasn't fueling my body. It also really messed with my bowels. For me, low carb= no poop, regardless of how much fiber I take in. Not cool.

I have lost 81 pounds, dropped my body fat by 12% (36.2 to 24.2) at last check, and all while eating carbs.

Tigersworld, if you are 600 calories deficient for that day, you might not gain weight from eating a Big Mac, but you're not doing yourself any favors from all the other bad stuff (bad fats, cholesterol, and who knows what else is in that "food"). Not to mention over 1000 mg of sodium. Sodium leads to water retention, which will make you weigh more.

Losing weight comes down to net calories, but there's other factors involved with being more healthy.

So maybe I should have said more healthy as opposed to getting "fat." There's a lot of skinny people that are very unhealthy.

I am 40-something and could not lose at all until I cut the carbs out of my diet! I've been on low-carb for about 5 weeks and lost 9 lbs! I have whole grains and fruit on weekends only and so far I feel better and no loss of energy. I tend to retain water and I feel so much less bloated and puffy, it works for me!

p.s.- The last time I did a lower carb lifestyle, I lost 35 pounds and kept it off for 4 years (while re-introducing carbs, better carbs, with the occasional doughnut, cookie, candy bar, etc.) before having my son. Eating carbs again daily after stopping my active diet didn't "automatically" guarantee that I would gain it back (AND FASTER!!).........and I didn't:)

Eating right is for life.

Could I live without carbs? NO! So, I include them in my diet. I haven't cut anything out except junk food (and even that I have on occasion).

It is all about finding a balance and eating everything in moderation. By cutting carbs out now I could potentially drop the weight a lot faster but then as soon as I go back to eating carbs I'd pick-up the weight faster than I lost it!

So...slow and steady wins the race.

Carbs are essential to any balanced diet. Focus on fruits and veggies and whole grains.

THIS!!! cutting anything will make you loose weight... if you can sustain that for life, it is fine. But in reality, if you eliminate carbs, when you go back to "normal" balanced eating, you will gain weight very fast.
The nutritionist (and you should listen what professionals have to say) tell you to eat the carbs, because is a helthy and sustained way to go. If you don't trust your fitness nutritionist, go to a second consult.
But I would trust what she has to say, better than the individual stories on this site.

Internet does not have the truth. And, as another person said in this thread, you can find evidence to contradict whatever you want if your search on the web. Trust professionals.

Eating right is for life.

Could I live without carbs? NO! So, I include them in my diet. I haven't cut anything out except junk food (and even that I have on occasion).

It is all about finding a balance and eating everything in moderation. By cutting carbs out now I could potentially drop the weight a lot faster but then as soon as I go back to eating carbs I'd pick-up the weight faster than I lost it!

So...slow and steady wins the race.

Carbs are essential to any balanced diet. Focus on fruits and veggies and whole grains.

THIS!!! cutting anything will make you loose weight... if you can sustain that for life, it is fine. But in reality, if you eliminate carbs, when you go back to "normal" balanced eating, you will gain weight very fast.
The nutritionist (and you should listen what professionals have to say) tell you to eat the carbs, because is a helthy and sustained way to go. If you don't trust your fitness nutritionist, go to a second consult.
But I would trust what she has to say, better than the individual stories on this site.

Internet does not have the truth. And, as another person said in this thread, you can find evidence to contradict whatever you want if your search on the web. Trust professionals.

Why would cutting anything cause you to lose weight when you can just switch to a different food to fill the caloric void? Also why would reverting back to a balanced diet cause you to gain weight very fast? Why wouldn't someone just eat the same amount of food regardless of how they change up the macro nutrients?

So... 100g of Carb is 400 cals...
If I burn those 400 cals... amd the glycogen store are depleted... what is used for energy next?
(PLEASE say fat)

Fat.

Maximum calories stored in carbohydrate form is perhaps 2000 (500g). Just one pound of fat has well over 3000 calories, so fat is the body's energy reserve and what powers you when the short terms supply of carbs has gone.

You can live and thrive without carbohydrate, but there are fats you can't get other than by eating, and protein has to be eaten to sustain our organs and muscles- hence less calories = less carbs for many.

If you graze on carbs all day your blood insulin will be elevated and this inhibits release of fat from storage tissues. If I'm looking to lose fat I prefer to maximise the chances of doing it by avoiding this effect.

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what this person said!

I haven't limited my carb in take per say. I stick strictly to calorie alotment for the day and have been able to consisitantly lose weight.

Every body is different. I eat like 60% carbs and still have lost a lot of weight. I don't think there's a formula to weight loss. Eat what you need, cut what you don't, work out and you'll get there.

I am not a dietician by any means, but when I went to see one, she told me to watch my cards. Don’t eat more than 60 cards per meal and have two snacks and don’t go over 15 carbs. She said not to pay too close attention to calories but to really watch my carbs. I guess it all depends on which trainer or dietician your talking to.

What is the secret if you have PCOS?