We all know that one of the best ways to lose weight is to lessen the amount of carbs that we eat. By going on a low carb diet such as the ketogenic diet, you’ll not only lose weight, but you’ll be able to improve your overall health as well. But the question that many people have is:
How many carbs do you need to eat to lose weight?
First let us look at what exactly “Low Carb” means on a Low Carb Diet.
If you’re going to follow the ketogenic lifestyle, remember that you need to consider everything, up to the last gram of carbs that you consume on a daily basis. The statement “low carb” does not refer to a specific amount of carb. It’s not like a quick fix “fad diet” for it’s meant to promote a real and long lasting change of your lifestyle, a change that will eventually help you to be less dependent on carbs and use fats for energy instead!
When you’re on the keto diet, you need to actually trigger a metabolic shift in your body and you don’t just simply guess if your carbs are low enough. This won’t help you to lose weight. You must absolutely keep your carbohydrate count within the specific range that your body operates in. Or else, you won’t get into ketosis, which totally defeats the purpose.
How Many Grams of Carbs Should You Eat?
According to Chris Gunners of Healthline whose articles are based on scientific facts:
50-100 grams per Day
This range is great if you want to lose weight effortlessly while allowing for a bit of carbs in the diet. It is also a great range to maintain your weight if you are sensitive to carbs.
20 -50 grams per day
When eating less than 50 grams per day, your body will get into ketosis, supplying energy for the brain via so-called ketone bodies. This is likely to kill your appetite and cause you to lose weight automatically.
If you’re an average person, meaning you’re not an athlete or a bodybuilder, then you should follow the standard ketogenic dietary ratio of:
• Protein – 20 to 25%
• Fats – 70 to 80%
• Carbs – 5 to 10%
These percentage ratios are not really the best guide because you cannot accurately measure these nutrients in real life. It will be easier to say that you should follow an average of 15 to 30 grams of net carb consumption per day.
However, that’s still too vague and does not take into account your individual body consumption. It’s always better to be specific. Your best bet is to use the Keto Macro Calculator. This tool will provide you with your gram amount per meal from the three macronutrients.
Targeted Ketogenic Diet and Carb Intake
If you are someone who engages in physical activities regularly and at an intense level, then the standard ketogenic dietary ratio may not work for you. This is where the targeted ketogenic diets will come into play.
In a targeted keto, you can integrate carb boost both immediately before and after your training. This is to ensure that your muscles will have enough glycogen to perform the necessary physical activities and fully replenish it afterwards.
When adapting the targeted keto, you should still adhere to the standard ketogenic dietary ratios daily. But you need to make sure that you consume a carbohydrate boost of 15 – 30 grams within an hour before and after training.
Count your Carbs and Be Precise
After you have determined the amount of carbs that you need to consume based on your calorie consumption, it’s now up to you to determine how much carbohydrates you should eat daily. Make sure you religiously stick to your numbers for if you don’t, you’ll never going to achieve the benefits of the keto diet, most especially losing weight.
