Opinions on Carbs please

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  • cmurray234
    cmurray234 Posts: 112 Member
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    Carbs? Love 'em! :)

    I have carbs at every meal. I try to make them of the whole grain variety, and I definitely do limit portion sizes. And sometimes "carbs" just means fruit. Sometimes it's grains. Sometimes both. For instance, for dinner, I'll have a small amount of potatoes or a half cup of couscous. I've done very low-carb diets. I can't stick to them because I start craving them.

    I believe it works differently for everyone, though. If I could stick with very low carb, I would...I just know that it doesn't work for me and I wont self-sabotage that way.
  • Doomfrog
    Doomfrog Posts: 79
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    I don't eat what I would consider a "low carb" diet, but I try to get 40% carbs, 30% protein, 30% fat. Trying to get so much protein just kind of naturally steers be towards a lower carb diet because it is kind of a lot of work for me to get that much protein in. I think it depends on what kind of exercise you do more heavily. I don't tend to engage in endurance sports. I do moderate running/cardio and lift heavyish weights, so this mix makes more sense for me. When I was barely exercising at all, very low carb did the trick. But now I'm here trying to lose weight again so I don't think it is sustainable.
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
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    I make sure to eat mainly high-fiber whole-grain, vegetable and legume carbs. I limit refined sugars and processed junk, etc. Pasta is my favorite food and I refuse to live without it. Luckily, there are some pretty tasty whole grain pastas out there now. (I can't stand that gritty, cardboard flavored whole wheat stuff, though.) I've never had any trouble taking off or maintaining weight while eating carbs as my primary food source. I enjoy carbs throughout the day, every day. Everybody is different, though. I don't have blood sugar problems, but if I did, I'm sure I'd have to limit my intake a bit more. I think the key for me is just eating within my calorie requirements. :drinker:
    This is me for the last 12 or so years. Slow carb/low crap. Best thing I ever did. I eat mainly whole grains that are high in fiber. Lots of vegetables and legumes. No white bread, no white rice, added sugars, and limit my processed junk. The weight (about 20LBS) came off and stayed off.
  • losinit_4_good
    losinit_4_good Posts: 731 Member
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    I'm a big believer in moderation. I've been at this for a year and here's a tid bit of what this experience has taught me:

    I stick to a low cal diet. When I first started I was eating all "real foods" for the first 6 months, which did include some carbs but were in moderation. I focused on green leafy veg, lean protein with fruits and whole grains incorporated as well. Then after about 6 months I felt like I had done well and "deserved some treats" so I started eating more and more carbs (cuz for me, there is NO better treat then something starchy!). I was still keeping it low cal, but less and less focused on the veg/protein side of things. I continued to lose but much slower, I had to fight for every pound. For the last month or so, I've been back to my original habits and am feeling much better. The weight is coming off eaiser (which is nice!) but the real differnce that I'm noticing is that I have more energy and my digestion is better.

    All that being said, I do not consider my self a true low carb-er. I still love me some carbs and eat them everyday. I just try to balance them in moderation and make the choices that will help me to feel my best.

    Basically, what I'm saying is, try it out. A girlfriend of mine encouraged me to make one "low carb" subsitituion a day to see how i liked it. Well, within a week, I remembered exactly how good I had felt before I started carbo loading and I've been content on this path since. See how you feel and do what works best for you. The journey to your healthiest you is a long one, and the only way to find which path works for you is to take a venture down a side road once in awhile. If it doesn't work out, you can always revert back to what you are doing now, or try something else new and exciting.

    Good luck!:flowerforyou:
  • AbbsyBabbsy
    AbbsyBabbsy Posts: 184 Member
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    Carbs don't seem to have any affect on my weight loss. I'm losing the weight I should based on calorie deficit, and no matter how I play around with the macros it doesn't change. I've never like rice or pasta and rarely eat potatoes, so for me it's just bread and cereal (Cheerios, specifically). I am trying to eat grains fewer times a day, down to two meals from three, and keep my carbs under 100 grams. That's just because my hypochondriac self won't let go of the idea that I might be insulin resistant because of my weight and develop diabetes.
  • Spanaval
    Spanaval Posts: 1,200 Member
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    I'm kind of a carbaholic. I don't limit it at all, just eat within my macros. The only significant diet change I've made is to up my protein consumption, which had been seriously lacking.
  • acragle
    acragle Posts: 26 Member
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    Burn The Fat Feed The Muscle is a good resource for learning about carbs and macros. I have discovered over time and by listening to my body that i am quite carb sensitive so have no hesitations on doing a low carb macro split when cutting. I went from 236 down to @ 195 before I plateaued and had to get creative ... carb split is currently right around 50p/20c/30f but I will carb up every fourth day and pretty much double my intake. The majority of these calories come from the following: yams, brown rice, oatmeal, baby spinach, some fruit (but not much), broccoli, asparagus, cabbage, whole wheat bread, steel cut oats, and black beans. I NEVER eat starchy processed carbs like white bread, pasta, white rice, regular potatoes, etc ... if it's white, it's not right ;)
  • indigenousnudity
    indigenousnudity Posts: 21
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    I do my best to limit my net carbs to under 30g a day or about 5% of my calories. I feel much better doing this than eating a "balanced" diet and I don't have any cravings or hunger even eating at a significant deficit.

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