How many carbs is VLC?

[way2fluffy]

What is considered eating VLC?
I'm so inspired by Jenna's weight loss, but I need to educate myself.
TIA

[Ilpirata]

You'll get alot of answers. To me I consider it anywhere right around 10g per day (TOTAL NOT NET)

[way2fluffy]

I tried to do a 'search' but failed.....
If someone knows of a good thread please pass it along to me...
and how do you count the carbs....if doing very low it would seem to me you would need to be accurate.....so like stuff that says <1 per what ever serving ...what do you count if you eat like 3 servings.....3 carbs?
Again TIA

[Ilpirata]

There are support boards for zero calorie diets I do not know of any for "very low carb" I think very low carb is just a more strict (carb limited) form of Atkins Induction.

[way2fluffy]

Well, just found a VLC thread in the 'other plan' portion of the boards......

[2big4mysize]

very low carb is a relative term. for zero carbers it is 0 for Atkins folk it is less the the 20 allowed for induction.

for some folk it is under anything from 30-100.

find the carb level that works for your body and use it as your starting point.

[CurlsNCuffs]

Who's Jenna?

[tinatina]

Originally Posted by CurlsNCuffs

Who's Jenna?

GOAL - GOAL - GOAL

[lk2dnce]

Can you post a daily menu? Congratulations on your weight loss!

[Looweewoo]

For me it's 75% fat, 20% protein, 5% carbs.

Some people try to go lower, but it's pretty hard. I would have to cut out eggs and cheese. Not gonna happen.

[hummingbird11]

Originally Posted by way2fluffy

What is considered eating VLC?
I'm so inspired by Jenna's weight loss, but I need to educate myself.
TIA

VLC = under 30 per day

LC = under 75-100 per day

HC = over 100/200 per day

most women do best, hormonally, at 30-50 per day.
(that's what I've read & been told by an expert here)

Barry Groves rec's 50-60 carbs per day; for life

[hummingbird11]

Originally Posted by way2fluffy

I tried to do a 'search' but failed.....
If someone knows of a good thread please pass it along to me...
and how do you count the carbs....if doing very low it would seem to me you would need to be accurate.....so like stuff that says <1 per what ever serving ...what do you count if you eat like 3 servings.....3 carbs?
Again TIA

Google "online carb calculator"

U enter the other macros (Protein/Fat)
the calculator spits out the Carb Count

[Danceruk]

for me personally VLC anything from 0-6g ..but I think upto 10g is all good

[legrandeginge]

There are ZC-ers who eat just meat and water.

There are VLC-ers who include other foods like eggs, some high fat dairy and some very low carb veg like salad occasionally. My experience of VLC is that there is NO RULE about how many carbs you do and dont eat, it's about finding what foods you can eat, feel great and keep losing. But i dont think anyone would describe themselves as VLC if they were having more than 15net carbs a day, most would be under 10net carbs a day.

One i thing i know from my own VLC journey and from learning from other VLC-ers is that for SOME people... VLC is easier and more psychologically liberating than say 20 net carb a day or more. So if you struggle with weight loss, if eating moderate amounts of carbs makes you crave more carbs like a carb addicted crazy lady then eating VLC is actually easier than for instance Atkins induction level carbs.

hummingbird11 i love Barry Groves and i'm sure his advise would work for a lot of people, but eating that amount of carbs would mean no weight loss for me...i went 6 months on a stall and it wasn't until i really reduced my carb intake that i began losing again. And then just by trying VLC out of sheer desperation, i realised how much easier VLC was for me, psychologically that is!!! BUT for some people the opposite would be true i think, some people actually need to increase their carbs to lose.

[Looweewoo]

Originally Posted by legrandeginge

There are VLC-ers who include other foods like eggs, some high fat dairy and some very low carb veg like salad occasionally.

Yep, that's me, when people ask "Well, what can you eat?", I say, "Meat, eggs, cheese and a little bit of salad greens."

Of course, it's not quite that simple, since I use spices, oils and a little splenda. But it rolls off the tongue....

I go by percentages because I believe that the grams of carbs a 100 lb person with a 1200 calorie diet should have is different than a 400 lb person with a 3600 calorie diet. The ratio of fat to protein to carbohydrate is what's important.

[legrandeginge]

Originally Posted by Looweewoo

The ratio of fat to protein to carbohydrate is what's important.

What percentages do you go by? Fat/protein/carb?

[Kaimi2008]

I usually can go 15g-20g 5x's a week and 2x's a week I have up to 50+g.

[Dreams]

For me, it would be below 10 carbs a day.

[Looweewoo]

Originally Posted by legrandeginge

What percentages do you go by? Fat/protein/carb?

I shoot for:
75/20/5

I lose at 5% carbs, a little better if I'm lower, but I keep good blood sugar at anything below 10% and that's the most important effect for me.

Fitday says yesterday was 73/24/3

B: Sausage and eggs
L: Cheeseburger on a plate with celery
S: Coconut Bark
D: Steak and eggs
4: Sausage and egg muffins with mustard

A little boring, but my kitchen is minimal right now. I usually have a little more variety.

[Blood Sugar 101]

Actually, the definition of High Carb is north of 150 g a day.

When you consider that nutritionists consider 300 g a day at 2000 calories "normal" that makes a lot of sense.

Several people posting here on maintenance threads over the years have posted daily intakes of 110 g or so.

The impact of each gram of carb on blood sugar and insulin depends greatly on your body size. A 100 lb person will get twice as high blood sugar spikes than a 200 lb person gets from the identical carb intake.

It also depends on your degree of innate insulin resistance. IR does not go away if it is from problems with the mitochondria or other genetically-related causes--which many people have. The more IR you are, the fewer carbs you can handle without weight gain.

[hummingbird11]

you are sooooo right!

some must eat VLC to lose and some must actually increase carbs to lose.

i think it really comes down to:

1) we are all different
2) "keeping the body guessing"; don't let it adjust to anything "too low" (low cal; low carb; low fat; low protein).

every once in awhile, throw a high day in there to keep the body guessing!

Originally Posted by legrandeginge

hummingbird11 i love Barry Groves and i'm sure his advise would work for a lot of people, but eating that amount of carbs would mean no weight loss for me...i went 6 months on a stall and it wasn't until i really reduced my carb intake that i began losing again. And then just by trying VLC out of sheer desperation, i realised how much easier VLC was for me, psychologically that is!!!

BUT for some people the opposite would be true i think, some people actually need to increase their carbs to lose.

[way2fluffy]

Thanks for all the feed back. It sure looks like a case of YMMV like everything else.
For now, I'm going to track carbs (total not net) on the daily plate to get some sort of rough idea what level to aim for, aiming for around - under 20. I ABHOR tracking but it needs to be done to figure this stuff out I guess.
Again, thanks for the info and support.

[legrandeginge]

Originally Posted by hummingbird11

i think it really comes down to:

1) we are all different
2) "keeping the body guessing"; don't let it adjust to anything "too low" (low cal; low carb; low fat; low protein).

every once in awhile, throw a high day in there to keep the body guessing!

You know what...i've just been reading about carb cycling and it does make a lot of sense. I think i might try mix it up a bit more. Keep to my mainly VLC but see if a few days of higher carbs would help keep my system fired up! I probably wont go above 35g on my "carb days" to begin with.

[hummingbird11]

excellent; good for you!
they say it's the most effective way to reduce bodyfat %

zig-zagging your calories is good, too.

I'm keeping my carbs below 75g for 6 days a week...
...and 1 day per week; I don't track (I eat Pizza & drink Beer & Wine!!)

we'll see where this takes me; but so far so good + I do NOT feel deprived!!

Originally Posted by legrandeginge

You know what...i've just been reading about carb cycling and it does make a lot of sense. I think i might try mix it up a bit more. Keep to my mainly VLC but see if a few days of higher carbs would help keep my system fired up! I probably wont go above 35g on my "carb days" to begin with.

[hummingbird11]

Ohmygawd ~ I would call that (under 10g) practically Zero Carb!
I would die at that low amount; I'd just be miserable
I veggies & fruit too much to even get below 20-30 a day.

I "feel" like I'm eating VLC at less than 50 per day.
And to be honest, I practically am!

Seriously, anything under 20-30 carbs is VLC
I think Dr Atkins would agree; esp since he placed Induction at 20g.
And even when climbing the Carb Ladder in 5g increments; it's still LC.

Think about it, most people (non-LC'ers) can eat 50-100+ in ONE meal!
Most of America eats several hundred carbs per day.
Not saying it's healthy; just placing it into perspective

I think peeps around here get way hung up on keeping carbs way too low, for way too long.

And then what happens??

One day they just can't do it anymore, they say F it; they go back to eating HC and then they crawl back here all ashamed (shouldn't be) and RE-START (again & again & again).

How many peeps "stats" say 1st time or 2nd time in 2002 or 2004 or 2006 or whatever -- and they STILL struggle with permanent weightloss?

Because it's just not realistic for MOST peeps to keep carbs for so low, for so long.

Too many yummy/available foods are restricted.

Now there are some people that are perfectly happy eating VLC and Zero Cab -- forevah.

But I don't think that's the norm. Just look around here. Most struggle with their "plan" of permanent Induction. That's not a plan for a lifetime!

And that's NOT what it's all about; NOT what was intended by Atkins or Southbeach or Groves or any of the true LC WOE's.

I applaud Jenna; I really do. She deserves a LOT of credit. But what will happen when she tires of eating VLC? Because it will happen. Maybe when Hubby comes back home and starts brigning Carby stuff back into the house?

First, she'll probably immediately gain 10-20 lbs back ... and maybe then some. Because she never learned how to eat LC in a healthy manner for a lifetime.

+ I'm curious to see how she's going to fuel her workouts at that level.

I pray that she's successful; I do.

But B4 anyone takes off down that path; I ask you to think about that; what happens when you just can't stand eating VLC anymore??

I guess once you make goal, you can slowly add 5g of carbs back in each week until you find your threshold; but you should have a longer-term plan than just simply VLC.

And remember, with VLC for too long, you can "shoot yourself in the foot".

Originally Posted by Dreams

For me, it would be below 10 carbs a day.

Originally Posted by Ilpirata

You'll get alot of answers. To me I consider it anywhere right around 10g per day (TOTAL NOT NET)

Originally Posted by Danceruk

for me personally VLC anything from 0-6g ..but I think up to 10g is all good

[Dreams]

Originally Posted by hummingbird11

:How many peeps "stats" say 1st time or 2nd time in 2002 or 2004 or 2006 or whatever -- and they STILL struggle with permanent weightloss?

Because it's just not realistic for MOST peeps to keep carbs for so low, for so long.

Too many yummy/available foods are restricted.

I applaud Jenna; I really do. She deserves a LOT of credit. But what will happen when she tires of eating VLC? Because it will happen. Maybe when Hubby comes back home and starts brigning Carby stuff back into the house?

First, she'll probably immediately gain 10-20 lbs back ... and maybe then some. Because she never learned how to eat LC in a healthy manner for a lifetime.

+ I'm curious to see how she's going to fuel her workouts at that level.

I pray that she's successful; I do.

I think you make a valid point about people restarting but that is not just with Low Carb. It's with every other diet or WOE.

If I were Jenna, I would be upset with this post. I don't think it was your intentions but it came out pretty harsh.

[babetteq]

Because it's just not realistic for MOST peeps to keep carbs for so low, for so long.

the Maasai and Inu might disagree...

Sticking to a WOE is the clincher in any plan. MOST changes to eating habits have low success rates because people go back to what they know. Whether you're restricting calories, carbs, fat, or small purple monsters, if you go back to the woe that made you gain weight, you will gain weight again.

The fact that Jenna achieved goal & a lofty goal at that is a prize. Absolutely to be celebrated Whether or not she, or any of us, stay on track can only be measured when we die. Did we gain our weight back 20 years later? 40? or a week? Who knows. Don't know until we get there. It's an ongoing process.

We all try our best and what we can maintain will be intensely personal. I didn't grow up with a whole lot of food choices. There was never a thought to "how many days in a row did you have xxx for dinner". Often it was months of spaghetti, then a sale on beans would happen and we'd have chili for months. We were broke. Now, I have no problem making a giant pot of soup and eating it until it's gone. Often several weeks of the same dinner. Going off a WOE due to other foods being available won't be an issue for me. It might be for some other.

Point is, maintaining is a process that will go on for the rest of our lives. Who knows if you'll keep your weight off with your woe? None of us. Not even you.

[NewStartNow]

Originally Posted by hummingbird11

Think about it, most people (non-LC'ers) can eat 50-100+ in ONE meal!
Most of America eats several hundred carbs per day.
Not saying it's healthy; just placing it into perspective

That is so true. Even on days when I slip and eat something I shouldn't it is no where near the amount of carbs I would eat before learing about LC.


Scary!!!!!!

[Looweewoo]

Originally Posted by hummingbird11

Because it's just not realistic for MOST peeps to keep carbs for so low, for so long.

Most "peeps" don't have to do VLC for very long.

Apparently most people can't stick to moderate carb diets either. Some folks don't like vegetables. Some folks won't eat any meat. You seem to enjoy your way of eating, that doesn't make it right for anyone else, it only makes it right for you. I can't eat any fruit at all, if you talk me into it, I might die. My way is right for me, but not for you.

I have to do a carb count that keeps my blood sugar low enough to prevent the complications of T2 diabetes. I would never disrespect your diet, or try to tell you that you can't do it.

There are indeed many people who stick to their VLC diet, and not just Tribes people without access to Dairy Queen or Burger King. Sure, it's a small percentage of the total population of dieters, but all the success stories of all the diet plans are just a small percentage... it's hard to stick to any diet.

[hummingbird11]

Originally Posted by babetteq

the Maasai and Inu might disagree...

nor are they tempted by donuts or cheeto's or big macs or anything super-sized or any of the other garbage we eat here

i know there are civilizations that eat different than us -- they survive and thrive.

but it's not apples to apples.

they also don't sit at desks all day