I've been using MyFitness Pal on my IPhone to track everything I eat and drink. As long as I stick to 1200 calories a day my weight loss is consistent. But I've noticed I lose even more if I stick to 50 grams of carbs a day and 1200 calories. Out of curiosity I got some of those test strips for urine that test for ketosis. At 50 grams of carbs a day and 1200 calories i reach and stay in ketosis.

Is that a good or bad idea? Or should I just count calories and ignore the carbs?

Ketosis is good, as are low carb diets Ketosis is generally an indication that your body is burning fat, not muscle. I say stick to it. I ate no more than 50g of carbs a day for the first 7 months and lost flawlessly. Now that I am exercising an hour+ each day I've needed to up my carbs as I was burning out easily, so now I try to eat no more than 70g a day, which is still quite low.

I don't know whether it's good to stay in it for really long periods of time. My concern would be when you hit your goal weight if trying to add in carbs might be problematic for you. Will you start to gain even on low calorie levels? Also you would have to be very diligent about your protein levels; at low cal. levels your body will eat muscle (read heart). When I was in high school and on a very low cal diet (read eating disorder) I went in for my precollege physical. The nurse came crashing in and asked if I was on some kind of diet. I would guess becaue my urine test showed I was in Kenotosis.

Well I don't really consider 1200 calories a day to be too low cal. My doctor says I should only eat 900-to me that's too low cal.

I get between 65 and 90 grams of Protein a day and stay at or below 1200 calories.

My calories are also at 1200, my fat is 70-80gm (about 60%) and 15-30gm carbs. At least for me, carbs count. When I increase my carbs to around 60, keeping my calories and fat the same, I don't lose...or worse, will gain over time.

I'd dump the ketostix. They're expensive and aren't really a good measure of 'ketosis' anyway because if you drink a lot of Water, they may not change purple even if you're in ketosis. If you keep your carbs below 30, most likely you'll be in ketosis anyway. I can tell by the taste in my mouth.

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I've never counted carbs, but have done calories. My caloric goal right now is around 1200.

I do try to limit processed foods and I try to eat low glycemic.

When you say "count carbs" do you mean all carbs or just the processed ones? IMO veggie carbs (non-starchy) aren't to be worried about.. but what do I know?

Thanks for posting this. I was never much of a carb counter, more trying to watch the total calories. I've been noticing my weight is fluctuating between a few lbs back and forth and can't seem to lose.

I just checked myfitnesspal and realized the days I've lost I've had less than 50-60g carbs, but on days I gained or stayed the same I had over a 100g carbs.

I *think* this might be the answer, or at least I'll try and see where it takes me.

I dont personally think its a good idea to try to stay in ketosis, that's an extreme (and toxic) situation for your body. Most bandsters end up reducing carbs substantially anyway because you just cant fit in the carby foods to the same degree. I actually never counted, wouldnt have a clue how many carbs I ate in a day. Since hitting goal and maintaining for a few years I've had an ileostomy and now I have to follow a low residue diet which is based on white bread, rice, Pasta, lower levels of vegies. I hate it, its not my idea of healthy eating at all but I havent gained an ounce on this diet even though my band is totally unfilled, in actual fact I've lost significant weight.

I think just keep carbs reasonable unless you are specifically wanting to low carb it which many people do,.

You lose quickly when you cut carbs because carbohydrate molecules bind to Water molecules in the body, this when you cut them, you lose a lot of water, which you will quickly regain on a day when you eat more carbs. It takes time to lose fat on low carb diets just like on ordinary diets, there's no particular magic to it. But it does seem to suit some people's bodies a lot better.

When you say "count carbs" do you mean all carbs or just the processed ones? IMO veggie carbs (non-starchy) aren't to be worried about.. but what do I know?

I count *all* carbs because even the vegie carbs can add up and for those of us who are sensitive to carbs, it makes a difference. Over the last year my carb count has fluctuated between 30-60gm per day. I've averaged out at less than 1 lb per week even though my calories were right around 1200-1300. For a month I dropped my calories to around 900 and kept my carbs the same. I actually loss less weight that month.

Over the last 2 weeks I've lost about 12 pounds after dropping my carbs to less than 20gm consistently.

I'm fortunate that my diabetes specialist does not buy into the traditional approach of treating diabetes. Assuming her patients do not already have compromised kidneys, she recommends a diet very similar to mine and does not have a problem with ketosis (which many people confuse with the toxic condition of ketoacidosis). The only difference is that she'd be happier if I'd drop my fats down from 60% to 30% but since my LDL/HDL and other blood work are in a very good range, she isn't busting my chops about it...and it's the fat that keeps me sated and allows me to go 4-5 hours between meals.

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I've had an ileostomy and now I have to follow a low residue diet which is based on white bread, rice, Pasta, lower levels of vegies. I hate it, its not my idea of healthy eating at all but I havent gained an ounce on this diet even though my band is totally unfilled, in actual fact I've lost significant weight.

White bread, rice, etc. are considered low residue? Do you have to stay on this permanently or is this just a temporary thing?

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