How many carbs a day?

[Greeneggs&ham]

How many carbs are you consuming in an average day? For some of the lower amounts, I have indicated stage of diet as well to keep from skewing results. I just began extended Induction (want to get to 240 before switching to OWL) and consume less than 10 on average simply because it's hard to get more out of 3 cups of salad veggies!

I'm especially curious to see how many OWLs are consuming higher levels since my guess is most newbies like me believe we will be stuck eating 20 carbs a day for the rest of our lives!

[murphy'smom]

Oh, I try to get as close to 20 as possible. I don't feel good if I don't have any carbs. Just try to remember, this is a low-carb, not no-carb WOE. Thanks for the poll!

[jimmie 48]

i marked 50 - 80 and those being net carbs. i'm eating a bit off plan at the moment because of my cancer and treatment but i was consuming that many, on an average and maintaining my weight goal. often times i was consuming even more.
i have grits, oatmeal, corn on the cob, sweet potatoes, wheat bread... alot of the higher rung stuff without too much problem.

[gman]

I said 10-20 which I am doing on Induction. Lower 10-15 recently with fitday.com as a planning tool.
Eric I hear you ... 20 carbs for life it seems these days.
Jimmie48 how is your treatment going?
PS: Why did you have to say sweet potatoes?! Dang. They are in the dinner-and-a-dessert food group, like scallops. And yes they both can be fried. Someday.... Now I have to erase my short-term memory!

[liv]

I said 35-50. I am on Rung 6 and am pushing the carb content towards 40 these days.

[Alexa]

I said 20-35. I did get up to 40g for a while but to maintain I need to be around 25g which is a bit frustrating. However, I am still working on whether I can eat less dairy and more veggie carbs.

[mitzimarie]

My vote is for 35 -50g net carbs. I lost the overwhelming majority of my weight in OWL, eating up to 40g net carbs. I've been in Maintenance since 11/11/07, and can generally maintain eating up to 50. If I've indugled and put on a few pounds, I drop back down to 30 - 35 to get the weight off again.

I stayed in Extended Induction for a about a month after Induction, and ended up experiencing PISS (Post Induction Stall Syndrome). The weight loss slowed even though I was eating the same foods as Induction. Thankfully, the first semiannual Veggie Challenge ocurred in April of that year, and I practiced for that challenge a few weeks ahead of time by moving on to OWL Rung 1 (more veggies). To my surprise, I started dropping weight again.

Interesting note: I have determined that the number of net carbs isn't necessarily the biggest factor in losing or maintaining... it is the kind of net carbs that matter most, for me. What I mean by that is, even now in Maintenance, I pretty much can only eat Rung 1 foods (veggies) without getting into trouble. By moving through the rungs of OWL, I discovered that I have many food intolerances. There are lots of foods that either bloat me, trigger cravings, or just plain spin me out of control, and they start in Rung 2 and are present in every rung. So I have had to accept that as a fact of life for me... a bitter pill to swallow at first. However, I have also discovered that as long as I am eating from Rung 1, I can eat at least 50g of net carbs and still easily maintain. Heck, I could probably eat more than that, but I just can't consume that many veggies. 50 is a TON for veggies! I've done it before, but I can't pull if off everyday.