- This topic has 5 voices and 30 replies.
-
Posts
-
I'm new to CNS and am hoping this will help me to lose weight. I'm a bit nervous about the idea of not counting calories though as I gain so easily. I really need that security of the macros, so would appreciate some feedback.I've been low carbing (less than 25gm per day) since June 24th. I'm a 5'3", 60 year old post menopause female and, despite eating a diet of only protein, fats and non-starchy vegetables, have only lost 10 pounds in that time. Since I started at a weight of 226 lbs, I would've thought such a drastic change in my diet would result in greater weight loss since it's not like I'm even close to my correct weight. My calories are usually around 1200 with my proteins about 26% and fats around 72%. As I said previously, carbs under 25gm, although some days they're under 10 because I just don't feel like eating vegetables. As far as I can tell, this fits in with CNS, but...I'm confused about carb nite. How many grams of carbs should I be eating during that evening window? As others have said, I don't have a full point so I need some type of boundary. I don't want to eat too much, but I have a feeling that I'm more likely to not eat enough carbs. How many grams should I be aiming at?Also, I have stuck rigidly to this way of eating since June 24th. Should I do a carb nite immediately? I'm assuming I don't have to wait for 10 days more?I appreciate any help you can give me.
To garuntee success on this plan I would go the full 10 days. It could only make results better seeming as your body is use to a low carb lifestyle already.10lbs only? I think thats a pretty good start! Congratulations on that. But if you have been consistently ULC since June, your metabolism has probably down regulated some, making it harder to loose the fat. CN should certainly help with that. As far as carb counting goes a lot of people dont count, and just go crazy and do fine. Others have to, or prefer to have a more "controlled CN." There is no magic number and will come down to you individually finding your sweet spot. I would recommend enjoying your first CN, eat until satisfied, and monitor the results of it. You may find that you feel like you need more or a little less. Just takes at least a few weeks to try out what is best for your body. Additionally you may have to experiment with the types of carb your eating. Just keep a record of each CN and monitor progress. Dont worry about fat gain on CN as long as your following the guidelines its almost impossible to do.
The carb count on carb nite concerns me because I've seen some posts where people said the poster wasn't eating enough carbs which suggests there has to be a minimum. Ok, for example, if on my carb nite, I ate a 4″ square of homemade lasagna with a piece of garlic bread and salad for dinner and then a snack of a wedge of homemade cheesecake (24gm of carbs if I made it with a nut crust and artificial sweetener or at least double that with the cookie crust and regular sugar), would that be enough carbs? I'd prefer the cookie crust and using real sugar.
Probably need more than that. Keep in mid this a CARB NITE. Not carb dinner and desert. You aiming for 6 hours of raised insulin levels through eating high glycemic carbs. Which lasagna is not. Not to say you can/ should have that. Just consider eating some high GI with it.
This is what I'm concerned about. I think Lasagna *is* high GI with the noodles and sauce. 😛Am I looking at foods by glycemic index...or glycemic load?
Both. Note that the GI of food is lowered (GL) when mixed with fat and protein. Noodles are generally not very high glycemic. Couple that with cheese beef and pasta sauce and it's even lower. Have you read the book thoroughly? There are tons of great examples to follow. Also follow up posts by Keifer, and Q&A's to reference on the athlete.io webpage
Yes, I have read the book…and reread it. I guess I just like to have things spelled out and he doesn't do that. With Atkins there were no questions. I knew what my CCL was and knew that my top limit on carbs was 25gm. I went with his recommended 1gm of protein per kilo of ideal weight as the basis of my protein and the rest of my calories are made up of fat which puts me around 73% of total calories for fats. I do have to watch calories or, even on low carb will gain weight if I eat more than 1500 calories. Slowly, but I gain.It's this idea of eating the right carbs and having to eat enough of them (based on other posts telling people they aren't eating enough carbs on carb nite) but not knowing what is 'enough'...or too much.
Thats what Im saying your going to have to experiment. I would recommend starting large, meaning eating a bunch of carbs on your first few CN's. If your unhappy with the results, or not getting any, go down from there. Although more often than not people struggle with the ULC portion of CN. Which is the underlying cause of there stalls, and lack of progress. It seems like you have yours down pretty good. Though I might add you may think you gaining weight on 1500 calories, but there is no way thats even possible. Unless your 25g of carbs are being taken in all at once, are from sources like fruit, or starchy vegetables, or your not eating enough with EACH protein meal. Any of these can cause an rise in insulin and cause fat loss to stall, or possibly fat storage.
I wish you were right, but since June 24th I've been eating 1200 calories per day, less than 25gm of carbs and they're only from non-starchy vegies (green beans, broccoli, kale, etc.). I eat 2 slices of bacon and 2 eggs for breakfast, 4 oz of protein and my vegies for lunch and same for dinner. I eat 4-5 carbs (usually found in the eggs and the 2 Tbs of half and half in my coffee) for breakfast and then 10 carbs worth of the vegies at lunch and again at dinner. I never eat processed foods, fruits, grains, starches or even artificial sweeteners. In that same period of time I've lost 10 pounds. Oh wait…I was actually down another 7 pounds, but that gradually came back on.I don't get much more exercise than walking for an hour each day (3 miles). It's frustrating because about 10 years ago I did Atkins and went from 330 to 270 in 3 months. Don't ask me why I stopped low carbing, but at least I never put the weight back on. Then in 2010 I did low carb again and lost 44 pounds over 6 months, although I'll admit I didn't stuck 100% so I didn't lose as quickly (never put that weight back on either), but this time around I feel like I'm just not getting anywhere. It's really frustrating since the previous two times I didn't even walk, so now I'm more active. Plus I'm more active on a daily basis just because it no longer hurts just to move around. :-I guess I want to make sure I do carb nite correctly because I'm terrified of gaining back the 10 lbs it's taken me 4 months to lose. 😮Btw...thank you for taking the time to respond to my posts. 🙂
No, it varies – chicken, burger, steak, shrimp, etc. Which I choose depends on how well it fits with my total protein grams for the day. I eat about 63gm of protein per day based on 1gm per kilo of ideal weight. Works out to about 26%…give or take.
Let me tell you from a bio standpoint. Your BMR is a lot higher than 1200kcal a day. If you are truly getting only that much in, and your coupling EACH protein meal with sufficient fat. It is impossible that you are gaining weight. Now this being said 10g carbs is the upper limit to intake at one meal. Try cutting that down, remember veggies are not necessary. Also, are you taking a multivitamin? If not I suggest taking a whole foods or green multi. The multi + digestive enzymes, among other things to help regulate digestive functions may help. (GNC has great Green Multi's)About your CN, do it big, and track progress. If youd like post it on here, post your thoughts, and myself and others will see this and give feedback. The only way to truely see whats going to work is to try it. The worst thing thats going to happen is nothing. You will not gain weight on CN.
<>Correct. I said if I eat over *1500* I gain weight...slowly, but it creeps on. At 1200, I've lost 10 pounds since June 24th. Then again, I was down 7 more pounds at the beginning of September and that's been creeping back on. To be honest I don't give a crap what the charts say because I know from *living it* that I have stuck to this without any deviation or cheating and *according to the charts* I should be losing 2-3 pounds per week...minimum...but I'm not. Calories in/calories out is bull.<>Yes, I discovered in mid-August that vegies weren't all that necessary. The 10 carbs of vegies are when I start missing them. I would say my carbs per day generally run at less than 10 and come from what is in other things (e.g. eggs).<>I do take a multivitamin. Not sure what 'green multi' is but I'll check it out.<>Mmmm...we'll see about the 'not gaining weight'. :- When I do CN, I'll post what I did and follow-up with results. Here's hoping because I'm getting really frustrated.
I understand your hesitation. I have personally downed over 5k calories on a CN before and not gained an ounce. Now the scale would disagree for a few days due to water retention, but no weight gain. Calories are not the focus though. You can easily go lower than that, and get a significant amount of carbs in. That particular CN I ate burgers, ice cream, donuts, chips, etc.
5k? Wow! Not sure I could even down that much food. However, I love carbs (thus the reason I'm in the 'shape' I'm in) and my preferred dessert is a baked potato or mashed potatoes. Homemade bread…yummy. Which is why I don't bake it anymore because I *will* eat it. Pasta…bring it on. Just from rereading, it sounds like these would be good carb nite foods?
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.