NUT told me to eat tons of carbs...say what?!

[DoOver 17]

Please folks, can we dump the "carbs are bad" mentality? It's just not that simple. If you carb-deprive yourself, you'll end up tired and grumpy.

Careful. While you may be right on some levels, you have to understand that it is different from individual to individual and can be quite different for men than women. Some of us females are very carb sensitive and do need to pay close attention or it does effect our weight loss. For what it's worth, I haven't had more than 20g carbs since surgery and was at around 30g before surgery while actively losing and I was never tired or grumpy other than the first 3 days while my body transitioned over. I also gave up caffeine at that time, and I did feel icky for a few days, but never again after that. 20g of carbs and I still play Mom to 5 active kids, do housework, go to school and go to all of their extra curicular activities. I am not tired and grumpy and feel like i have plenty of energy....aside forma little cat nap needed since surgery 2 weeks ago, but I suspect that won' be needed very soon.

I feel great....on 20g of carbs. I will slowly add them back into my diet as I near goal weight. My husband can have 150g of carbs a day and still lose.

Just as a side bar comment, I have a good friend who has lost 65 pounds using low carb. Now, at about 155 pounds she has settled in on 140 carbs a day to maintain. I think that falls in line with the above comment about a husband who can still lose at 150 carbs what with the difference between male and female bodies.

With her story the devil is in the details. That 150 carbs are good carbs. If she takes in crap carbs, she starts to gradually gain and typically sees this during the holidays. We need good carbs. She's been at this for about 8 years now and has convinced me that veggies and whole grains are nothing to fear. Especially if you are only taking 700 claories a day and having those little things helps to make this an easier ride.

[lyndynojo 140]

I just want to say that I don't count anything. I have a teeny, tiny tummy now. I eat Protein first and then anything else I want. I can't eat much no matter what it is. I am 8 weeks out today and have lost 43 lbs. so far. I didn't have major surgery so I could be on a very strick diet for the rest of my life. There is no way I can eat even a fraction of what I could eat pre-op so what is the point of being a super freak about carbs or anything else. I feel great and the weight is coming off.

[ouroborous 519]

Just as a side bar comment, I have a good friend who has lost 65 pounds using low carb. Now, at about 155 pounds she has settled in on 140 carbs a day to maintain. I think that falls in line with the above comment about a husband who can still lose at 150 carbs what with the difference between male and female bodies.

With her story the devil is in the details. That 150 carbs are good carbs. If she takes in crap carbs, she starts to gradually gain and typically sees this during the holidays. We need good carbs. She's been at this for about 8 years now and has convinced me that veggies and whole grains are nothing to fear. Especially if you are only taking 700 claories a day and having those little things helps to make this an easier ride.

This is why I'm always careful to say that "carbs aren't necessarily bad, as long as they're healthy (ie, complex, non-sugary) carbs."

People seem to want to lump things like Pasta and ice cream (simple, unhealthy, "bad" carbs) together with things like vegetables, multigrain bread (complex, healthy carbs). They are not at all alike, from both a caloric and glycemic index perspective, and the end result of eating the same amount of calories in different types of carbs will be very different; you can eat 80g/day of simple carbs and gain weight, or 80g/day of complex carbs and lose weight. Same body, same metabolism, different nutrient.

This is why I hate the overly-simplistic "carbs are bad" thought virus that floats around just about every weight loss community. It just isn't that simple. I blame the Atkins craze (which has shown tremendous success at helping people lose weight, and not so much success at helping them maintain their weight loss, which is the really important bit).

[Tiffykins 673]

I don't think carbs are "bad". I think I have a problem with carbs, I know I gain weight with carbs, and do not have room for Protein when I eat carbs. I know that I feel lethargic/listless when I eat carbs, and I don't care if it's "good, complex, healthy" carbs, my body is carb sensitive.

I don't care what anyone else does with their body or how they choose to eat post-op. I do know what has worked beautifully for me, and I don't plan on changing it.

If I worked out more, would this equation change? Probably. If I had room for more healthy carbs over Protein, would I eat more? Probably. But, I do what is best for my body, and for how I need to maintain.

I did what I needed to do to get to goal, and figure out the rest later. Eating a balanced diet was pretty difficult for me during my losing stage. I simply did not have room for more than what I could consume from protein dense foods. It just wasn't physically possible.

I'm a meat eater, very carnivorous, more so than many of my female friends. I like it better than whole grains and even veggies. I love carbs, but I don't like the way they make me feel, and definitely do not like the added bloating, and capacity issues that I run into when trying to eat more carbs.

Women, especially those with PCOS, are specifically told to avoid carbs of all sorts because they are metabolically challenged. When we were looking into seeing the reproductive endocrinologist, I was advised to go back to low carbing even though I've never been diagnosed with PCOS. I honestly think people need to do it how they need do it. Also, some people struggle with making the best choice, or have food issues. Justifying eating healthy carbs in my mind is no different than justifying eating all those extra points on Weight Watchers. I remember telling myself "Oh I'll just eat this because I have 30 extra points for the week". Unfortunately, that justification led me to making bad decision the following week. We all have our own individual struggles, and issues with eating. I picked my battles, and my battle was carbs and justification. Everyone here knows I do not diet, deprive myself or forbid any foods in maintenance, but for me to instill better behaviors and really learn to listen to my body, I had to cut carbs, and focus on what would work for ME.

[Heatherr 149]

This is why I'm always careful to say that "carbs aren't necessarily bad, as long as they're healthy (ie, complex, non-sugary) carbs."

People seem to want to lump things like Pasta and ice cream (simple, unhealthy, "bad" carbs) together with things like vegetables, multigrain bread (complex, healthy carbs). They are not at all alike, from both a caloric and glycemic index perspective, and the end result of eating the same amount of calories in different types of carbs will be very different; you can eat 80g/day of simple carbs and gain weight, or 80g/day of complex carbs and lose weight. Same body, same metabolism, different nutrient.

This is why I hate the overly-simplistic "carbs are bad" thought virus that floats around just about every weight loss community. It just isn't that simple. I blame the Atkins craze (which has shown tremendous success at helping people lose weight, and not so much success at helping them maintain their weight loss, which is the really important bit).

Na. I think many of us who frequent these boards are mostly talking about the simple white carbs when we say carbs. My 20-30g of carbs come from dairy and vegetables. I simply do not do simple white carbs, but I am very early out. When I am in maintenance, the plan is to have a more normal diet, just in smaller portions. That's why I chose the sleeve.

Just to also play devil's advocate, my husband who has the 150g od carbs a day and loses is getting his carbs from sugar and Pasta. He's addicted to carbs and used to have 300g a day. If I had 300g a day nomatter what type of carbs they were, I'd be a fatty Mcfatterson. That's why I made that point. Our bodies are just different. Period.

[Heatherr 149]

^^^^ and to add menopausal women. Last I knew men couldn't be in (peri)menopause or have PCOS. It can be very different for men and women.

[ouroborous 519]

Sure, all body types are different. Plus, generally speaking, limiting carbs (in fact, limiting ANY type of food) tends to limit calories -- which tends to produce weight loss. In fact, caloric deficit is about the only thing we know for sure produces weight loss, so anything that reduces calories tends to produce weight loss (whether it is healthy or durable weight loss is another matter entirely).

There is zero proof that extremely low-carb diets are any more safe and effective for durable weight loss than there is for extremely low-fat diets. They both have been fad diets for a long time, they both have adherents who will discount any evidence that the diet might be ineffective or overly simplistic (see: the confirmation bias), and they both have little to no uncontested evidence (large, peer-reviewed, repeatable, randomized, placebo-controlled trials) supporting their long-term, widespread efficacy. They exist primarily due to word-of-mouth in forums like this, not due to scientific consensus.

That's why my advice is always: talk to your doctor. If you don't trust your doctor, then you've got a problem, since you just had a major surgery...