Dr. Cirangle's Support Group meeting.. Lots of INFO from his meeting

My understanding is that he was saying 20 grams during weight loss for most people as close as you can get to that, but for maintenance low carb was good for long term, but i doubt he would say 20 carbs in maintenance.  The context was that one of the sleevers asked him how many carbs we should be doing and he said 20 grams in response to her. 

Since I know she is in weight loss phase I assumed in that context he was referring to weight loss phase only, but he did say that people who are doing high carbs he was sure were going to eventually have that catch up with them. 

That doesn't mean he is right, just it's what he has seen or his hypothesis based on his experiences.  I don't believe in any absolute cases as there are always expectations to every rule or generalization, but I thin the majority will find they have to stick to low carb for life.

And another point of clarification is that different people mean different things when you say "low carb". Technically, anything under 200 g a day is considered low carb!

20 g is usually to induce ketosis. But you don't want to be in ketosis long term (Which he also said). So you couldn't really do it forever because you'd damage your body!

So, yes, he said that people who don't try to limit carbs and emphasize protein have problems in the long run. But what exactly did that mean? I think you can interpret that in so many ways. We didn't really get into that in the meeting and exactly what he meant.

Based on my own personal experiences with him, I think he means people who go back to eating like they did before which is very high carb and often low protein. I.E., if you follow the traditional recommendations of 50-60 % of your calories from carbs and only 20% from protein, I do think most people will eventually have troubles with that. It just doesn't keep you full enough and over time hunger does return to some extent for most.

Even with my 175 g of carbs a day, that is still only 40% of my calories. And that's during the season when I am working out a lot. During the off-season, I eat less carbs, more like 33% of my diet.

We've talked about this when I've gone in for follow-up meetings. He has said that I need carbs to fuel my exercise. Do he does recognize that different people have different needs. But in group, I think he speaks to the "typical" patient, which is usually someone with a desk job who does moderate working out (or less) and is eating 1500 or less calories a day on maintenance.

That makes sense as far as what he means.  I should state that I also think dietary induced ketosis is NOT a bad thing.  People go into ketosis for all sorts of reasons, and you want to burn stored fat for fuel which could throw off ketones.  I'm also in the higher fat for fuel camp rather than eat lots of carbs for exercise, but that's a whole 'nother ball of wax. :)

Then you'd probably be happy to know that my fat intake runs in the 33-36% range.

It's all those nuts I eat!

OMG.. love the nuts for so many reasons!  Just call me nutty. :)

What is low carb for you? What is high carb? I'm getting close to my goal and am trying to figure this out. My carbs have been increasing a bit and I don't want to go too high. They used to be 40, but the past couple of weeks, they have been more like 50-60. The dietician said to keep my calories between 800-850, based upon my weight and exercise level.

Any suggestions are welcomed.

gail

During weight loss I'd be at 30 grams maximum.. the lower the better , with all carbs coming from green veggies only, with perhaps a small amount of dairy carbs.

I think I will go back down on the carbs. I have about 5-6 more pounds to go, before I hit my goal. Most of my carbs have been coming from yogurt, non-fat milk, veggies, and a little fruit. I have stayed away from cereal, crackers, rice, etc.

Thank you!!!!

I think you are OK to keep the veggies and some greek yogurt.  You are so close, just a little bit more and then you can be at goal and maybe relax your carb restriction a bit.  I'm so excited for you!