Carbs seem to get a bit of a bad rap on this site, especially but not exclusively refined carbs. I, for one, think carbs are great. I probably "spend" 60% of my calories on carbs, which would equate to about 300 grams of carbs per day. They've been no hindrancce to my weight loss or maintenance. If anything they've helped me, as they satisfy like nothing else. Personal favourites include whole-grain bread and tortillas, sweet potatoes, popcorn, fresh pasta, and Cheerios cereal. Just wondering if there any other high-carb weight losers or maintainers out there.
I looked at my fitday. Apparently I eat 55-60% of my calories in carbs. I didn't really think that was high though. I do love whole grain bread, pasta, rice, tortillas, etc. and I frequently eat beans and lentils for protein, so low carb would never work for me.
I love carbs. Fresh-baked bread, pretzels, cheese puffs, whole grain anything, popcorn, sesame crackers...yeah, they're all great. I eat all of those things weekly. I haven't broken down my overall intake, 'cause I like to keep it simple, but today, for instance, I've had two Eggo Nutri-Grain waffles, four Ak-Mak sesame crackers, a take-and-bake ciabatta roll, white cheddar cheese puffs, and pretzels. That's about normal for me on 1200 calories.
I don't think I could survive without carbs. I don't think my carbs consumption has put a damper on my weight loss, like pp said, it's all about portion control for me.
I don't limit my carbs all that much. I do try to moderate them b/c I have tempermental blood sugars and carb control with added protein helps but I don't do what people consider low-carb really. My carbs seem to still make up a good portion of my diet, like 45-60% falling somewhere between 150-250 grams a day. My protein usually falls between 75-100 grams if I can get it there. It's all about balance for me.
Carbs do get a bad wrap. They are essential for serotonin production and other brain function, not to mention energy, so our bodies really do need them. I recommend balancing(and possibly limiting) them to deal with carb-driven binges in the aftermath of blood sugar spikes but if a person doesn't have those issues, they should be able to handle carbs just fine. If I didn't need to limit them, I probably wouldn't.
I don't restrict my carbs at all either, and end up eating about 45-55% on average. I believe in balance and nothing should really be cut out of your diet, unless you have some sort of allergy or religious reason.
Carbs = love. (Especially goldfish crackers...I don't know why, but I've developed an addiction.) It's all about the calories for me at this point. Once I get close to goal, I'll start worrying more about what proportion of my food is protein, fat, carb, etc... I kind of think I need to make my lifestyle changes in small steps instead of giant leaps. I'll eventually be used to limiting my calories, and then i can work out everything else.
And, no, I haven't noticed it slowing my weightloss any.
I also haven't really tried restricting carbs yet - because I don't think it's something I can keep up in the long run. I love sandwhiches, crackers, pasta etc. Now, I've cut back on all of that, but it's more to balance and eat proper portions than to specifically restrict my carbs. I average 130-150 carbs, occasional 200. My protein hovers anywhere from 50-120. Fat is usually in the 20's. This is for a 1200-1300 cal goal.
I don't think anyone should restrict carbs unless they have to. When I was younger, I lost about as well on low-carb as I did on high-carb. At least it seemed so. Now, that's not true so I have to restrict carbs, because I don't lose well when I don't.
I do usually eat relatively low-carb, but I also have a high-carb "back-up plan" for days when low-carb is going to be difficult or just because I want to eat high-carb. I also will eat VERY low-carb on days I want to get rid of water retention.
To me, it seems that low-carb diets get every bit as bad of a rap as high-carb diets do. And I think that's unfair to both. The focus tends to be on "which diet is best" rather than "which diet is best for whom."
I only tried low-carb diets a few times when I was younger, and I cut carbs so low that I would get sick, and decide that all low-carb diets were dangerous.
When my doctor recommended that I try low-carb for my insulin resistance (because he said recent research found that people with IR lost better on low-carb diets), I was very skeptical, especially when he warned me not to go to low, but couldn't tell me what was too low.
I started experimenting with different carb levels and found the best level for me. It's relatively low, but not Atkins induction low. I don't eat many grains and I eat them far less frequently than I ever have before. I find that I lose better and am less hungry when I eat lower carb.
That doesn't mean I'm anti-carb any more than I am anti-milk (I am also mildly lactose intolerant and can eat yogurt and cheese in moderation, but liquid milk tends to make me feel bloated and nauseated).
I think there's been this carb "debate" that doesn't need to exist, because the debate focuses on "are carbs good or bad?" not "do some people have a harder time with carbs, and how do we identify which carbs and which people?"
From my experiments and from talking with other people who have similar (and dissimilar) experiences, I'm more and more convinced that carb-sensitivity is real, but not universal. Some people will lose weight and will have no more hunger whether on low-carb or high-carb. Other people have difficulty losing weight on high-carb, either because it screws with their metabolism or because it increases their hunger to the point that they find it very difficult to restrict their calories.
I experience a bit of both. Through my food journals I've learned that I lose about the same amount of weight on 1800 calories of relatively low-carb (100g and lower) as on 1500 calories of high-carb. That alone wouldn't scare me away from carbs, I would just have to learn to control calories a little more when I was eating high-carb (and to some degree, that's exactly what I do).
However, I've also learned that carbs (especially some carbs, the refined ones and high glycemic ones) tend to trigger what I've come to call "rabid hunger." Eating these carbs make it very hard to stay on plan. I find that I'm often hungrier on 3,000 calories of high-carb than on 1100 calories of low-carb.
I also learned that my "normal" body temperature is higher on low-carb (which may indicate a higher metabolism). And I have health issues that because I also keep a symptom log in my journal, I've learned that some carbs (wheat especially, sugar to a lesser degree, and carbs in general to a much lesseser degree) aggravate my health issues (I was skeptical when I read that grains and carbs aggravated inflamation and autoimmune disease, but I couldn't refute the effects I saw when I experimented).
I wish I had been more open-minded to low-carb diets, because I spent over 30 years avoiding them and it turns out they're the best for me.
Still, as great as low-carb dieting is for me, I wouldn't recommend it for everyone. And I certainly wouldn't recommend drastic low-carb for a first-time dieter. I think "the least restrictive plan that works reasonably well," is the best plan, at least to start with. However, if someone has been struggling and struggling, or has health issues related to inflammation or metabolic issues, I think low-carb is worth considering. Though I'd give the same advice my doctor did, "don't go too low," and the only way to find what is "too low" is to experiment.
I think we need to be much more tolerant of the "experimenting" and the customized approach. There really is no one-size-fits all diet, and unfortunately even now much of the research is still focused on finding the best one-size-fits-all diet rather than on finding which diets are best for which people (I was actually excited to hear from my doctor about the research that found that low-carb worked better for people with IR, because it meant the researchers actually were looking for the difference. They weren't trying to determine which diet was best, but which diet was best for people with IR).
Maybe eventually there'll be a diagnostic tool that will help people find their best diet (without the need for all the experimentation), but right now self-experimentation is all any of us have.
I love carbs. Couldn't live without them. Eating carbs has never had a negative impact on my weight loss in the past, and so far this time it's not hurting me either.
Any other high carbers out there?
I utilize portion control.
