Carbohydrates

I am fairly new to this group and am curious to know how many carbohydrates you consume per day. 

Thank you!

programs can be really different - so you're bound to get a lot of different answers.  Most programs are really low carb, though.  Mine wasn't - it's more balanced.  While i was losing, my carbs were usually under 80 (although that wasn't a requirement of my program).  You'll find a lot of people on here that are much lower than that - like under 40 or 50.

I echo cat woman's thoughts. My carbs always have run higher than what I see most in this site stick to. Consider the sources of carbs too-- I don't get to hung up if my carbs come from sweet potato, yogurt, and maybe an occasional serving of oatmeal vs. them coming from bread, cookies and candy. 

yea I should have added that.   I don't get too hung up on them, either, if they're the complex variety.  I do try to avoid simple carbs like sweets, breads, white rice, and pasta...

My program encourages between 30-50 grams of carbs per day. YMMV

I chose to be part of a special study at the Cleveland Clinic -- which had it's own special diet plan separate from the mainstream bariatric surgery department.  It was specifically for those over a 50 BMI with co-morbidities of diabetes or "pre"-diabetes -- and was done through the the bariatric endocrinologist researchers there.  Therefore, I had to commit to eating less than 30 grams of carbs until my BMI was under 30 and then under 50 for maintenance.  There were originally over 50 of us -- there are now only around 25 of us.  

Those in my group who've stayed and not opted out have not only lost 90% or more of their excess weight, but all of us have maintained and seen a continued remission of our diabetes.

I am currently in maintenance, I eat a maximum of 45 to 50 carbs per day.  However, I usually eat far fewer and feel better when I do.  

Everyone is different and it also depends on how far out you are.   Additionally, it also depends on the type of carb.  Since I had surgery in 2001, education on nutritional aspects of this surgery were limited.  I had to learn as I went along.  So, in my early days I stuck to low carb and high protein. I think I was probably getting about 20g-30g carbs a day and that came from non starchy veggies.    After having some regain back in 2013, I realized I needed to get back on track and sought the consult of a dietitian.   They recommended 95 carbs per day to help me lose the regain, but I cannot even get myself close to that, mentally.   I stick to low carb, trying to stay below 30, but I do sometimes get as high as 40.  But, again, these are not the simple carbs most focus on, this is non startchy veggies and carbs from any protein source I eat.  

Nik

I don't really try to measure carbs, but I track on MyFitnessPal. In general, I'm between 25-40 carbs a day. All of my carbs come from dairy and veggies. I'm waiting until I reach my personal goal to add back in fruits and simple carbs. I want to get back to lifting heavy weights, but I wanted to reach my weight loss goal before I start. I know it's just muscle, but adding in heavy weights will just increase muscle mass and the numbers on the scale will be off. My goal is 115 lbs before May 16, my surgery date. I'm close.

When I do add back simple carbs, it'll be in the form of black beans, sweet potato, quinoa and a limited amount of whole wheat. I doubt I'll add fruits anytime in the first two years.

I am glad you asked this question.  I am pre-op, so I don't have any answers for you but I'm hoping to hear other people's answers.

I am finding there are some conflicting ideas about carbs and diets.  It seems to boil down to 2 schools of thought.

1. You must eat high dense protein and low carb (forever) to be successful. This seems to be the majority on this forum.  Dense protein keeps you fuller longer.  Carbs trigger hunger and cravings causing you to slip into bad habits again.
2. You must eat a balanced diet - protein first, but stick to complex carbs and not worry about amount of them. Focus on total calories for the day.  The surgery allows you to control your portions and gives you opportunity to reset your body so you can eat what (big quotes here) "normal" healthy people eat - protein, veggies, fruit and complex carbs.

I'm tempted to listen to the people on this forum who limit their carbs to very low amounts - let's face it, the people on this forum are awesome!  Many have had fantastic long term success.

On the other hand, I remember one lady's story.  People told her that the first year is the honeymoon stage and to keep her calories to the 500-600 range, eating almost entirely protein to lose as much as she could as quickly as possible.   Her clinic told her to eat a more balanced 1,300 calorie diet.  She followed her clinic advice and more than 2 years later she is still able to eat 1,300+ calories and hasn't gained any weight back.   She strongly felt that if she had stayed with the low calorie, high protein, low carb route, that her body would have reset to that and deviating away from it in future would cause weight gain.  She didn't want to eat like that for the rest of her life.

Obviously, everyone is unique.  I'll have to see what I think works best for me. 

I think you're right - people are all different.  My program was one of the balanced ones - although I didn't eat 1300 kcal a day until I was well over a year out.  At 19 months out, I'm still eating 1200-1400 kcal a day.  I think "maintenance" for me is probably in the 1400-1600 range (I haven't really started experimenting with it yet).  I have, however, pretty consistently eaten at the high end of the range that most people say on here they're eating, given how far out they are from surgery (e.g., if for the first six months or so most people are eating 600-800 kcal, I was consistently at or near 800).

the other thing to keep in mind is that a lot of people are carb sensitive.  Eating carbs makes them hungry.  I don't really have that issue - although maybe it doesn't happen as much with the type of carbs I eat (complex - like beans and whole grains).

I suppose genetics and activity level play into all of this as well - so anyway, yes, it can vary between people.  But I think you are mostly spot on with your observations.