Carbs/Weightloss??

Now I will touch a bit on ketosis; ketosis is very effective though not sustainable for targeted fat loss. The cliff notes of ketosis is that it puts your body into a state where it is readily metabolising calorie rich fat, to process not as calorie rich and harder to break down into energy; protein.

However the principles are still the same, and even on ketosis you do it in cycles, and "carb load" inbetween.

I know people that have been doing it for years...

I'm going to have to agree with most on this post. It is a combination of lower carbs and lower calories. When I did Wt. Watchers, I would eat low calorie carbs and I was starving in an hour. Then I tried a higher fat/lower carb approach and I felt much more satisfied.

Carbs will not slow weight loss. There are not many people who can sustain a low carb diet forever. But there are a whole lot of people at a healthy weight out there eating carbs.

Avoid sugary foods and concentrate on how healthy, rather than how many, your carbs are. And, of course, don't go over your calorie limits.

Now I will touch a bit on ketosis; ketosis is very effective though not sustainable for targeted fat loss. The cliff notes of ketosis is that it puts your body into a state where it is readily metabolising calorie rich fat, to process not as calorie rich and harder to break down into energy; protein.

However the principles are still the same, and even on ketosis you do it in cycles, and "carb load" inbetween.

I know people that have been doing it for years...

I highly doubt they have done it non stop, day in, day out without some kind of cycle off inbetween ketosis cycles.

A carb up weekend every week or two is part of this diet.

Glycogen requires the water for storage. Cutting carbs reduces your glycogen supply, as your body doesn't refill glycogen stores from protein or fat, only from carbs. Without the stored glycogen, the water is unnecessary.

I think it depends on what you want to do. I joined Medi Weight Loss last year on 7/27/11 and reached my goal weight at the beginning of March 2012. MWL is low carb. I pretty much just ate protein and veggies for all that time and now I'm in the maintenance phase and have 3 servings of "healthy" carbs each day...so whole wheat bread, rice, etc. I lost 60 pounds doing this (as well as going to the gym at least 5 times a week if not more) and so far since March I'm keeping it off. You should do whatever is comfortable for you.

I do the same as you. I do low carb during the week and then saturday i eat basically whatever. I have lost 35 pounds since march.

I've thought about it for a long time. I think its still calories in/calories out. BUT, the reason people think they lose more weight when doing lower carbs is because they do. Inherently while cutting carbs your going to cut calories, its very hard to cut carbs, very limited in what you can have. So naturally while cutting carbs your going to cut some calories.

I don't see the same thing at all in my body. There is definitely a relationship between the amount of starches I consume (and the timing) at the same exact calorie level.

I think many people, especially women over 30, will see a bigger change if they reduce starchy carbs. Not eliminate, but cut back. Timing seems to matter too. Earlier in the day appears to be better.

The "quality" of the calories makes a big difference. In fact take a look at this recent study on diets and calorie burning, following a lower glycemic diet was very effective (and much more sustainable than cutting out carbs completely.)

http://www.webmd.com/diet/news/20120626/all-calories-not-created-equal-study-suggests

Lots of people say it does. I am not finding this to be so for me.

Since June 1, I have been experimenting with eating 50-100 gr carbs per day (kinda primal-ish). I've had 4 days over 100, but the average over 28 days has been 97 gr carbs per day. Prior to June 1 I only aimed for 30% protein without regard for carbs. I was eating 200-300 gr carbs a day. I'm measuring and tracking very carefully; and I keep a spreadsheet so I can run the averages and see the weight trend (I weigh daily and track it on Hacker). On average over these 28 days my macros have been 52 fat, 33 protein, 15 carb.

So . . . . 28 days into my experiment I have lost . . . . . 1 pound. (This is the average weight for June compared to the average weight for May, but actually today I am up by 2 lbs after a carby day yesterday).

That being said, I have discovered some interesting things about eating Primal(ish):

1. I am not lactose intolerant. I thought that I was for many years. Perhaps it was WHEAT that was the problem, or the combination of dairy and wheat.

2. The scale fluctuations while eating fewer carbs are less dramatic. I ate 133 carbs yesterday due to Bunko at my house, and went up 2 lbs. this morning. Also last Sat I went to a baby shower and the scale took a big jump Sunday morning thanks to the cake and cookies. The rest of the month when the carbs were <100 the scale would read the same for many days in a row, or fluctuate by only a few tenths of a pound.

3. I am not more fatigued due to a lack of carbs.

4. I did not experience carb "flu"

5. It is very challenging to make my calorie goal without eating carbs (I work out every day and burn a LOT of calories). Overall my avg. daily net calories for these past 28 days has been only 1514, despite my best efforts not to fall below 1650.

6. Overall, my stomach is not bloating and I feel better after meals, HOWEVER, motility is a challenge. First time in my life I am needing some natural supplements to assist. Ahem. Some would blame that on the protein, but I was already eating high protein before I tried this primal experiment.

7. It's not that hard to keep carbs under 100. You just have to get over that mental shock of how much fat you're eating.

Conclusion: none. Ha. I'm really essentially at goal anyway, but I was hoping eating fewer carbs would assist in body fat loss and that I could expose my 6-pack. It hasn't happened yet. I'm still going; we'll see.

EDIT: I haven't actually measured my body fat, so I don't know if it went down. I just know I can't see a 6-pack. Good thing I'm not a scientist bc I'd get fired.

Prettygirl, If watching carbs, (Low Carb Diet) works for you and makes you feel healthier and more energetic, then do it. I know that it is what works for me. I have tried watching calories so many times and have put weight on each time. I walk 30 minutes a day and I do mild weight lifting, (playing with the weights). This month I lost 24 pounds and I started this site just this month. I feel so much better and even stopped taking one heart medication for my heart arrhythmia. I have gone from an 18 dress to a 14 and it really shows, despite my pear shape...lol Good Luck and remember, only you will know what works for you.

For me it is calories in vs calories out. I don't pay any attention to what is carb/protein, but I do look for high nutrient food and I don't eat wheat or any glutenous grain. I am losing at a steady rate of 2 pounds a week.

Glycogen requires the water for storage. Cutting carbs reduces your glycogen supply, as your body doesn't refill glycogen stores from protein or fat, only from carbs. Without the stored glycogen, the water is unnecessary.

Thanks for answering that. I have a tendency to dehydrate myself as it is, plus I drink coffee, so I was kind of worried.

Seems level of exercise is key.

Strength training or runner = need the carbs.

Sedentary people (or people with insulin resistance) = need to reduce the carbs.

A sedentary person does absolutely nothing during the day.
I dont think you know what you are doing.

My wife set herself up as sedentary.

We recently figured out she takes 16k steps a day and burns 2600-3k/day.
Zoiks!

I was a long distance runner & triathlete and used to eat A LOT of carbs... at least 400-500g a day, none of it in some eyes particularly bad stuff just a lot of pasta, rice, bread, cereals etc. Then there are the extra carbs in sports drinks etc. I also used to take extra sugar in hot drinks.

All this was sort of fine while I was training like a demon (15 hours a week plus), but the moment you tone that down it comes to bite you in a spectacular way.

I'm now limiting my carbs primarily to vegetables, fruit and maybe a slice of bread here or there and keep it to 100-150g of carbs, with 1g of every pound of lean mass in protein (for me around 100g) and I feel HEAPS better for it.

My energy was a slave to available carbs. If there were no carbs I had no energy. It was like my body had nothing of its own to utilise. With a higher protein, more good fats and fewer carbs eating regime I am by no means deprived of anything but I feel a lot better in terms of having sustained energy.

I see a lot of people new to running indoctrinated into this "carb loading" lifestyle that's totally unnecessary. You don't need all those carbs. I do two back to back spin classes without them with no prop in performance.

Continue to eat carbs, but make sure you are keeping true to the portins. Pasta is normally only 1/4 cup. Potato is 1/2. Brown rice 1/2 cup. Bread is one slice. I try to keep my carbs at or under 150g. This includes carbs from all sources. So I do have to limit those grain carbs as much as possible. But I don't deprive my self because I am trying not to "diet". I don't want to go to low and then introduce those types of food again and gain the weight back. Just make sure you keep those carbs healthy! No white refined stuff. Or very minimal. Keep it true whole grain.

Anyways, I am not a doctor. This is just what personally works for me and what I have learned through online research the past three years.

I should add that you may need more carbs depending on your height and weight.