How many carbs is low carbs?

[missalien]

So in the way that we would count calories , how many grams of carbs is a good low carb level to aim for ? I've cut out bread pasta rice and cereal for the past two weeks but I've noticed cereal bars have carbs but I've not IDE what exactly is high or low ? And overall total to aim for in a day ? I'm enjoying low calorie how chocolate drinks (40 cals) but not sure how high this is all adding up to and if I am defeating my object !

Thank you :-)

[1919]

Cut out the cereal bars and hot chocolate drinks (!) they're far too high in carbs and full of rubbish that you don't need anyway. Shift the focus from calorie counting to making sure you're eating whole, unprocessed foods; meat, leafy green vegetables, fats, some dairy or nuts if you like and the occasional square of very dark chocolate . Cut out grains, legumes and all unnecessary sugars completely and you shouldn't need to count carbs religiously.
Personally I eat around 20g of carbs a day which is enough to keep me in ketosis but it's all about discovering what level works for you.

[HeySoulSister]

About 20 for me too

But yes, ditch cereal bars and hot choc!! You don't need sugar from those sources!

[sudointellectual]

Don't eat anything with more than 5g carbs per 100g and you'll be fine.

I go for about 75 carbs per day, approx. I don't do it for weight loss, though. For that you probably would go lower.

[Sleepwhenidie]

IME a good ratio of carbs:protein:fat to aim for is 30:30:40. This wont put you in ketosis but gives you more flexibility to eat some carbs and is sustainable. keep this within a slightly lower calorie limit than your TDEE and you will lose weight. So, an alternative approach to LCD or full on low-carb, you can choose which suits you best.

You can log on myfitnesspal to get a pretty good guide to how close you are to hitting your target ratios/amounts, although just so you are aware, I think it's not always massively accurate in this respect..the focus is on calories, sometimes things which obviously have protein show as having none . Pretty good as a tool though.

As other have said, choose complex carbs, not white/beige processed ones and make sure you have appropriate portions, not the enormous platefuls that have become normal.

Maximise veg. A small amount of fruit. Eat good fat rather than trans-fats etc, so avocados, olive oil, nuts, dairy, oily fish.

Avoid sugar and also sweeteners - recently it has been shown that insulin receptors respond the same way to sweeteners as they do to sugar, not to mention all the other horrible things they can do to your health. So, as 1919 said, no more low cal hot choc or cereal bars sorry

[BlackAffronted]

I try to stick to 20-30g carbs, but I dont count them. I only eatcarbs in the form of vegetables and a little cream/cheese.

[ChippingInWiredOnCoffee]

Hey - why not join in the Bootcamp threads with us? We are all low carbing and there's a lot of chat, support, meal ideas, recipe ideas etc

It is HERE

[BIWI]

It's impossible to give you a definitive answer, because everybody responds differently and can tolerate different levels of carbs. And it also depends if you're wanting to lose weight or just cut carbs for better health.

If you're trying to lose weight, then many low carb diets have an initial, strict phase, where carbs per day are kept at around 20g, which is quite low. You certainly wouldn't be able to eat cereal bars/drink hot chocolate at this level.

A more relaxed level would probably be between 40-60g carbs per day.

In general, if you're just doing this for your health, as long as you keep your carbs under 100g per day, that should be OK. Remember, though, to keep your fat levels high.