Limiting carbs or low/no carbs?

[Scought]

A clarification I would like some to make.

We have the thread about the 'dangerously low body fat' etc., and it says that the guy went on a low-carb diet months before his contest.

Now, do you perscribe to no/low-carb? Moderate carb on a consistent basis? High carb/low-carb/no-carb days?

Is it better to eat no more than 50 carbs daily?
Or 200+ on day, 50 the next, none the next and repeat?
Or do some of you even go even lower on a daily basis?

 

[Fred Da Head]

I'd advise you look at articles like "The Beast Evolves" (aka the Transformation Series, if memory serves) on t-nation.com.

No-carb should be pretty self-explanatory unless you're a complete moron.

Anyway, I've noticed that I thrive on a low-carb diet. I don't generally count micronutrients but pretty much all my carbs, when I do eat properly, come from non-starchy veggies. I shed fat and excess subcutaneous water like mad, then. However, that doesn't mean you'll thrive on the same kind of diet.

Do some research on various websites and experiment to find what works for you.

 

[Scought]

Fred,

Thanks for the response. However, I know the research. I was merely asking what others do. I wasn't asking what they meant or how to do it.

Rather, I was seeking advice from people that have tried one, or all.

Now, you say you do low-carb.

What does that mean? What I mean is, what is low-carb in your diet? Do you do it 7 days a week, when cutting, or what?

 

[Warboss Alex]

Low carb to one guy will not be low carb to another. And the amount of carbs will depend on your bodytype, and goals. Be more specific about what you want to do and how big you are, and we can offer more specific advice.

 

[blinkwatt]

@ Scought,

To be honest,no one here can define 'low carb',everyones diet is different.

Personally for me I found out that I can eat natural carbs,the ones in fruit and milk almost any time of the day,I shut them off 2-3 hours prior to bed though. I do not watch or track my natural carbs at all,not one bit. All I can tell you is that I drink almost a half gallon of fat free milk a day and several servings of fruit a day and my bodyfat is consistently falling(8%-9% now) and I do not do any cardio. The ONLY time I ever eat unlisted carbs are @ breakfast,either 2 cups of Special K or Honey Nut Cheerios/Cheerios.

You'll just have to experiment and see what works for you,Good Luck!

 

[Fred Da Head]

Fred,

Thanks for the response. However, I know the research. I was merely asking what others do. I wasn't asking what they meant or how to do it.

Rather, I was seeking advice from people that have tried one, or all.

Now, you say you do low-carb.

What does that mean? What I mean is, what is low-carb in your diet? Do you do it 7 days a week, when cutting, or what?

Yeah, sorry, I didn't read that right.

Anyway, if you're looking at personnal examples... here we go.

Like I said in my earlier post, low-carb in my diet is, as far as possible, avoiding starchy carbs and getting carbs from veggies, fruits (only at breakfast) and whatever carbs are in milk. I do eat starchy carbs after running and spinning classes (stationary biking) but other than that I try to avoid them. I generally try to do that for every meal (I tend to eat only 4 meals a day, instead of the 5-6 that would be prefered) but I keep myself a few meals during the week where I'll eat whatever I feel like, in moderation. That means, I'll have steak, fries and a coke, but I won't go back for seconds. Some people do well with pre-planned "cheat meals" but I find that I do best by listening to my body: when my performance drops too much, or just if I have a really big craving for carbs and I don't think I can resist it, I'll have a cheat meal. I do my best to follow the "10% rule" suggested by John Berardi: 90% of your meals should be "clean" and 10% should be crap.

I did it for most of last semester; this semester my discipline went down and I spent almost half of it being pretty much unable to train and needing some recovery (oral surgery in January and then a car accident in March; no physical injuries except a nasty concussion that made me unable to do much training for a few weeks), so I didn't eat as well as I should have. Also, I ate "richer" in the past few weeks as I ran a half-marathon this weekend; I didn't want to be carb-depleted and try to run 21k, that would've sucked.

IF LAZY, START HERE. () To sum it up, "low-carb" means I try and get my carbs from veggies and fruits only, except after running, and I take a few cheat meals a week, trying to eat clean 90% of the time. I do it 7 days a week and, well, pretty much all the time except if I'm prepping for something for which carb depletion would be a dumb idea, like a long-distance run.

 

[Kev07]

there is no such thing as a "no carb diet" unless you eat absolutely nothing

 

[mrRuckus]

there is no such thing as a "no carb diet" unless you eat absolutely nothing

But there is a thing called being anal

 

[Call_Me_Daddy]

A clarification I would like some to make.

We have the thread about the 'dangerously low body fat' etc., and it says that the guy went on a low-carb diet months before his contest.

Now, do you perscribe to no/low-carb? Moderate carb on a consistent basis? High carb/low-carb/no-carb days?

Is it better to eat no more than 50 carbs daily?
Or 200+ on day, 50 the next, none the next and repeat?
Or do some of you even go even lower on a daily basis?

What the hell are 50 carbs?

You know that carbs aren't a unit of measurement... right?

 

[blinkwatt]

there is no such thing as a "no carb diet" unless you eat absolutely nothing

Meats don't have any carbs.

 

[Kev07]

i'm pretty sure meat does have carbs, just not much, correct me if i'm wrong.

and who's anal?

 

[Throttle]

i'm pretty sure meat does have carbs, just not much, correct me if i'm wrong.

according to nutritiondata.com, beef, chicken & salmon all have 0g carbs per serving (i picked those since they're the foundation of my meat intake).

OTOH, never eating any veggies is unhealthful and stupid, and they fit easily into any low carb approach.

 

[blinkwatt]

OTOH, never eating any veggies is unhealthful and stupid, and they fit easily into any low carb approach.

It's not unhealthy if you know what you are doing. Say you eat meats and water only,then that could be unhealthy,because if you stick to that diet your not burning anything for energy. You could use fruits and juices to fill the energy need.

 

[blinkwatt]

i'm pretty sure meat does have carbs, just not much, correct me if i'm wrong.

and who's anal?

Well my 90% fat free ground beef,boneless skinless chicken breast and tuna do not have a single carb according to their nutritional values.

F.Y.I.
My eggs have less then 1g of carbs per egg. Unsalted peanuts have 0g of sugar or unnatural carbs and 2g of dietary fiber per serving. Both are healthy and help you build lean muscle.

I eat any of those around the clock(I stop eating and drinking 1 hour prior to bed,if I eat directly before bed it takes me awhile to get to sleep).

 

[Throttle]

fruits & juice are no substitute for veggies & legumes. your body needs a significant amount of fiber to function properly, and no amount of apples can give you enough. besides, we're talking about low carb diets & you start talking about fruit juice. hello.... bueller?

and you can get plenty of energy out of the protein & fat in meat. i do not understand your fascination with carbohydrates. perhaps it's because i've never shed any bodyfat w/o restricting them.

 

[blinkwatt]

your body needs a significant amount of fiber to function properly, and no amount of apples can give you enough.

Look at bananas,
http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts-C00001-01c20Tm.html

Strawberry
http://www.thefruitpages.com/chartstrawberries.shtml

I eat at least 1 a day and a couple handfuls of strawberries and haven't had any issues.

besides, we're talking about low carb diets & you start talking about fruit juice. hello.... bueller?

First off I don't drink juice but look at it because I monitor my family food intake for health reasons. I mentioned juice as an alternative to veggies,but in no way am I promoting it for anyone who wants to lose weight.

and you can get plenty of energy out of the protein & fat in meat.

I didn't know that's possible,I haven't tried just eating meat.

i do not understand your fascination with carbohydrates.

I don't keep track of my carbs,I just eat fruits,peanuts and drink milk almost all day long. I looked at their nutritional values once,saw they had natural sugars and some fiber(fruits and peanuts not the milk),and not too high in sugar and never looked again. It's worked,gone from 12-15% bodyfat to 8-9% steadily w/o any cardio.

 

[Warboss Alex]

edited

this thread is veering from its original intentions.

simply put: if you want to lose fat, eat only vegetables and fruits for your carb sources but include starchy carbs when they're most needed, i.e. before, during and after exercise. some people may need carb-up days if muscle is being lost, or if they're trying to gain on a low-carb approach. if insulin sensitivity is poor, don't even eat fruit until you're starting to lose fat, then add in low GI fruits like berries, apples, plums and pears. depending on metabolism and fat loss, more fruits can be added in. you must improve your carb tolerance to be able to utilise rice, potatoes, etc efficiently (without getting fat).

 

[Fred Da Head]

As much as I hate to say it (because I didn't come up with an explanation like it), WBA is right.

 

[Kev07]

edited

this thread is veering from its original intentions.

simply put: if you want to lose fat, eat only vegetables and fruits for your carb sources but include starchy carbs when they're most needed, i.e. before, during and after exercise. some people may need carb-up days if muscle is being lost, or if they're trying to gain on a low-carb approach. if insulin sensitivity is poor, don't even eat fruit until you're starting to lose fat, then add in low GI fruits like berries, apples, plums and pears. depending on metabolism and fat loss, more fruits can be added in. you must improve your carb tolerance to be able to utilise rice, potatoes, etc efficiently (without getting fat).

yep sounds good

 

[Scought]

Thanks for the responses.

I think it's good to hear what works for others. It can be tiresome to read study after study, etc. So, this is a nice change.

To the poster that said there are no-carb diets.
Ugh. Yes, there are.

I can think of, off the top of my head, a no-carb day.

Egg whites, tuna fish, protein shake, chicken breasts, turkey breast, lean lunch meats that say (ding) no-carb. That's quite a variety and that's off the top of my head. If someone has a day of no-carbs--it can be done.

TO the other guy that says what is 50 carbs? I know carbs are measured in units. But you get the point. Sorry, I left out the g.

I am thinking of doing a regular carb day, low-carb day, minimal carb day, low carb day, regular carb day.

Any thoughts to this?

My current protein shake has 2g's of Carbs in each serving so, most likely, I will get 10g carbs on a 'no-carb day.'

Low-carb would be around 30-50 carbs.
Regular carb-day would just be to eat healthy: oatmeal, whole wheat bread, etc.