I read a website done by a registered dietician who said that the average American woman in 2000 ate 1877 cals containing 244g of carbs per day. She didn't give a number for the carbs, but said it was 52% of calories which works out to 244g.

That seems like a lot to me but I find the number believable.

Val, I think that is moderate carbs, too.

(Edited to correct the math, which I should not do at this hour of the morning without having finished a cup of coffee!)

Were you counting fat grams then Valerie? I'd be interested to know.

Are you sure about that math, Liz? At 4 calories per gram of carbohydrate, wouldn't 480g of carbs a day be 1920 calories in carbs only?

Or am I missing something here?

You are right -- gonna correct that. Managed to not put in the right starting calories!

This was my average per Fitday. I say my maintenance calories are 100 less per day because I gained 1 lb during that 5 week period. That could be a water fluctuation, so my average calories could be 2500 or more or less than the 2400, but it's close.

Thanks Valerie!
I love seeing what people can maintain on so I have ideas of how to adjust things in the future.

My fat is low now (avg 25 to 28 g a day), but I'm still learning.

Trying veggie burgers for the first time tonight. Talk about a whole new way of life.

I'm averaging 50% fat, 27% protein and 23% carbs just for comparison. We're pretty close.

We are very close.

I don't count calories now, but during that time I was trying to eat the way I ate normally, without trying to manipulate the calories or macros and just record after the fact what I was eating. I eat pretty similiarly now, so I figure that I'm probably eating very similiar calories & macros now.

Hi Liz!

Its interesting to me that you see phase I of SB as very low carb. It comes to about 60 grams a day if you eat the 2 servings of beans( right there is about 40 grams) that they encourage. Phase II can get up to 100-120 a day....phase III, which is where I am now, I stick at about 100 a day.

I see many do phase I in a very stringent way...more akin to an Atkins Induction....leaving out the beans and limiting their phase I veggies because they don't like to chop or cook.

The thing that enabled me to get to my goal weight on SB was the simple fact that it taught me portion control on calorie dense foods. That alone was huge for me as I always just ate until all food was gone, literally. If I bought an 8 oz container of hummus, I'd eat the whole thing prior to dinner ...then eat dinner!! I never used to look at the recommended serving size......never!! I had to learn to do that...now I do that all the time! I'm very grateful for the Meal Plan Charts that gave me all the info I needed!!

The other thing I did while in weight loss mode was be very tight on my intake of grains. I'd add them in one day( 1 Wasa)...and the next few days until I saw no loss....then I'd kick them out again utnil the scale moved again. It was my simple way of carb cycling as it did keep my body guessing.

I see SB as "moderate low carb" in every phase. I think that a better way to call it is "controlled moderate carb".

Being that most people here follow Atkins, I see very low carb as Atkins Induction and everything below 20 a day.

Are you eating the Wasa high-fiber rye? Dr. Bernstein allows those on his VLC diet because of the minimal glucose effect.

Grains with sugar is a deadly combination because of the initial and extended blood glucose effect. There is no other combination of food quite like it. A fruit will give you a short punch and a grain like oatmeal with give you an easy rise. When you add fat like in a muffin, you've got a high-calorie extended-release insulin bomb.

What you eat in the form of carbs does matter.

Paleo doesn't dictate any particular # of carbs, so it can be as moderate carb or low as you like. So I find myself going from low to moderate from time to time. Depending on what my fruit trees are doing! Actually, I often think I'm eating higher carb than I often am.

But my weight loss (and maintenance) definitely is impacted by the number of carbs.

Yesterday, my grain intake was 1 rye Wasa, 1 slice of Ezekiel.

The day before, I treated myself to an oatmeal cookie....that was not such a good idea for me. It tasted great in my mouth but didn't feel good as it digested....gave me a gummy feeling, if you KWIM. Good thing that I don't eat a cookie like that daily....but once in a while, its OK for me as a treat.

I wish my weight loss were impacted by the number of carbs. Pick a carb level -- I'll lose weight as long as I'm eating very low cal.

I pretty much limit my grains to oatmeal and an occasional sandwich with 48% fiber bread. In my mind, it is all starch, along with sweet potato. They have similar effects on insulin. Eating rice, brown or white, is almost like eating fruit or sugar.