No weight loss, is it the carbs?

I have been cutting my calories for 10 days now. I have stayed somewhere between 1100-1500 daily. (1500 is my limit for my size if I want to lose weight.) I have logged everything! but no weight loss. Could it be that I am getting too may carbs? The carbs are ranging between 111 - 149 daily. The only way I have ever lost weight was with Atkins, which I don't think is very healthy. BUT it worked. HELP!

Possible.

Everyone needs different amounts of carbohydrates. You can do a trial and error - cut down on the carbs, then increase if you notice any unwanted changes.

Prepare to let the rage trample all over my view, apparently I offend people when i bring all this up.

So anyway, from wikipedia: "Carbohydrates are not essential nutrients in humans: the body can obtain all its energy from protein and fats[5][6]."

Ya, I'm on atkins, still in strong support of it.  So I've been reading studies and people can eat up to 2, 900 calories a day on it and still lose weight while someone else can eat under recommended calorie intake can gain the weight.

Even though I'm in support of this, I also realize everyone has their own "problems" and it's that problem you need to understand and tackle.  My problem is it's been carbs every single meal and snack and over eating the carbs for my entire life.  So this diet works for me :D  btw being in the "induction" phase (first two weeks) I have less than 20 grams of carbs a day.

Original Post by du57y:

Prepare to let the rage trample all over my view, apparently I offend people when i bring all this up.

So anyway, from wikipedia: "Carbohydrates are not essential nutrients in humans: the body can obtain all its energy from protein and fats[5][6]."

Ya, I'm on atkins, still in strong support of it.  So I've been reading studies and people can eat up to 2, 900 calories a day on it and still lose weight while someone else can eat under recommended calorie intake can gain the weight.

Even though I'm in support of this, I also realize everyone has their own "problems" and it's that problem you need to understand and tackle.  My problem is it's been carbs every single meal and snack and over eating the carbs for my entire life.  So this diet works for me :D  btw being in the "induction" phase (first two weeks) I have less than 20 grams of carbs a day.

O_o Almost everything has carbs, you know. You cannot completely avoid them. Eating too little carbs can result in health problems, too.

In answer to the OP.... it's not the carbohydrates.   The usual reason for not losing weight is that you're eating more than you think.... are you weighing and measuring every single thing you eat and drink or just guessing, for example?  Undereating can cause its own problems.... although it usually takes longer than 10 days to materialise.    If 1500 is a sensible limit for someone your size, age and activity level then go with 1400-1600 every day and not 1100 some days and 1500 on others.  If you severely undereat for a few days and then eat just a little more you can find you depress your metabolism.  In a similar vein...  do you eat/snack regularly or do you tend to eat nothing all day and then have a big supper... ?  Irregular eating patterns can affect weight-loss prospects. 

Another reason.... are you choosing good quality wholefoods or is much of what you eat heavily processed or bought outside the home?   The salts and preservatives in processed food can cause fluid retention which will show up on the scales.  Another reason.... are you actually overweight?  If your BMI is in the healthy zone 20 - 25 it's very difficult to shave off more lbs.  

But it won't be the carbohydrates..... Don't worry about that.

I just wanted to say...listen to gi-jane...she knows what she's talking about!

Thanks for the support tankgirl124...   And should I ever start quoting Wikipedia as a reliable information source shoot me, will you? 

Original Post by gi-jane:

Thanks for the support tankgirl124...   And should I ever start quoting Wikipedia as a reliable information source shoot me, will you? 

LOL! I promise

I put up my opinion for it to be my opinion.

You should do the same and grow up.

Wow, I didn't think I would stir up anyone on this question.  But in response, Yes i have been weighing items, and yes i spread out my meals, with snacks.  Oh, and yes i am counting everything.  I am 40 years old and only 5 ft. tall so i have always watched my food intake.  But the last year the weight has been the same.  Maybe its my age, but the actually weight doesn't bother me its the extra that makes my clothes tight.   I didn't tell you that i drink 2 - 3 diet cokes a day and maybe one bottle of water.  Would this affect the weight loss that much?

Diet sodas are an odd beast...  The jury's out on whether or not they affect weight-loss.  Personally, I think they should be in the bracket of 'occasional treat' rather than 'dietary staple' because they're quite a chemistry set.  And I suspect they may add to fluid-retention, but that's subjective.

Try cutting out diet cokes for a week and drinking more water and other less artificial fluids instead.  What have you got to lose?

Original Post by du57y:

I put up my opinion for it to be my opinion.

You should do the same and grow up.

I wouldn't normally waste my breath but that's quite offensive....  'grow up?'

Anyone posting a quote like 'Carbohydrates are not an essential nutrient in human beings'  deserves a little good-humoured mockery.

If you have another look on Wikipedia.... you'll find that carbohydrates cover a huge range of foods from vegetables & fruit to grains & pulses and all the way through to simple sugars and starches.  Foods that contain a huge range of essential vitamins, minerals, fibre and other things that are not found in proteins and fats. 

The world is full of slim, healthy people that eat those kinds of foodstuffs in sensible amounts.  A significant proportion of the world's population are vegetarian with diets very high in carbohydrates as a result.  The much vaunted 'Mediterranean Diet' with its tomatoes, olive oils,  pasta, bread and seafood seems to keep the people in that area in good nick.  There are nomadic tribes in Africa that live on bull's blood, milk, mealies and meat quite happily.  All very healthy people.... all with some type of carbohydrates in their diet.

The world is also full of enormously overweight people, eating all kinds of foods in far larger amounts and combining it with very little activity.

Eliminating carbohydrates is one way to lose weight, and if you don't like carbohydrates then don't feel you have to eat more than 20g.   That's your opinion and good luck.    However, it's quite a different thing to saying they are 'not an essential nutrient'.

hahaaa bet you didnt think you'd stir up so much debate!

How funny that Ask Mary's question of the day is this one!

How many carbs should I consume in a day?

Carbohydrates should provide 40 to 65 percent of the calories in your daily diet.  For instance, if you need 1300 calories a day, then you need 520 to 845 of calories from carbohydrate.  That is 130 to 212 grams of carb a day (divide calories by 4 to get grams).  Carbohydrates are found in fruit, vegetables, milk, grains, legumes, and added sugar.  Added sugarwhole grain should contribute less than 10% of your calories because sugar lacks nutrients. Of your grains, 50 percent should be in the form of cereals, breads, crackers, rice or pasta every day.

And here is another pertinent question/answer:

Is Atkins a good diet?

The Atkins low carbohydrate diet (not NO carb) is an acceptable diet for weight loss.  It might even provide better glucose and triglyceride control for people with diabetes and metabolic syndrome.  Current research comparing the Atkins Diet to the low fat diet found, at the end of one year, both diets produced an equal amount of weight loss and favorable changes in blood lipid levels.  But regardless of the way you mix the ratio carbohydrates, protein and fat in your diet, you must burn more calories than you consume to lose weight.  Read slightly different interpretations of the research from the Guides to Heart Disease, Thyroid Disease and Low Carb Diets at About.com

Original Post by gi-jane:

   And should I ever start quoting Wikipedia as a reliable information source shoot me, will you? 

 haha, I just did that today, against my own better judgment!! But I had verified the information and was just too lazy to piece it all together. My bad! Thanks, gi-jane. I definitely know better and it feels good to get caught!

Carbs are an important part of your diet, and thus you should never go the Atkins way.

Make sure you eliminate all processed forms of carbs such as white rice, white flour, etc. Remember that carbs exist in more than just bread. For example, fruit is practically made of sugar, so you may be eating a lot of fruit but then also drinking juices, etc. That amounts to quite a bit of carbs. Don't stop eating fruit of course, but if you can, eat the fruit instead of drinking the juice, because you'll get more nutrients out of it.

Whole grains will provide you with nutrients and will fill you up for longer. Also, try to eat most of your grains in the morning, and some for lunch, and less for dinner.

Last but not least, exercise! sugar (carbs) turns into fat if it isn't burnt off.

I know how hard it is to lose weight.. I am a carb lover myself and find it very difficult.

Good luck!