What Carb Level Is Right for Me?

As you move from the weight loss to maintenance stage of JumpstartMD, your ideal carbohydrate allowance is likely to change. It’s possible that you may be able to tolerate more carbohydrates during the maintenance phase than you did during the weight loss phase.

Most people find that their ideal carbohydrate range (i.e. the range at which they are able to maintain weight loss, satiety, and healthy metabolic markers) is between 80 and 150 grams of carbohydrate a day (the more carbohydrate-sensitive you are, the lower the allotment will be). People who desire or need to stay in therapeutic nutritional ketosis are likely to have a lower limit, typically under 50 grams a day—although some who have been ketoadapted for a long time may be able to tolerate modestly higher levels.

As a general rule of thumb, for people who are not trying to achieve strict nutritional ketosis, roughly 20 to 30 percent of their daily calories can come from carbs. For people who are staying in strict ketosis, roughly 10 to 20 percent of their daily calories can come from carbs. (Some people may need to bring this down to five percent.)

If you’re interested in experimenting with eating more carbs while testing to find your ideal carbohydrate intake, we recommend that you and your coach/clinician do the following:

Identify your desires and goals. For example, do you want to stay in nutritional ketosis for a health or lifestyle reason? If so, you will need to continue to restrict carbs (and make up for any caloric deficit via consumption of continued moderate protein intake and increased intake of healthy fat).

Do you want a bit more flexibility while still aiming to maintain your healthier weight the same way you lost it with minor adjustments? Consider adding two carb boxes (80 calories) from the preferred non-starchy vegetable list (still avoiding grains, sugars and starches, and keeping fruit to a maximum of two boxes per day). If you still feel hungry, you can consider adding more healthy fat, via additional fat “boxes,” and/or by eating higher-fat versions of dairy products, meats and seafood.

If you are tolerating the extra carb allotment (in terms of weight maintenance, hunger, and sense of wellbeing), you can consider an addition of two additional non-starchy vegetable carb boxes plus a single whole grain or starch serving (box) per day. Be sure that you know what one whole grain or starch serving (box) is composed of (15 to 25 grams of carbs per serving) as outlined in the whole grain and starch box counts on maintenance handout.

Between this visit and the next, monitor your weight and notice if the addition of whole grains and starches is affecting your hunger levels or sense of wellbeing. If you are not tolerating the addition of carbs (in terms of weight gain and wellbeing), go back to your previous level of carbohydrate, and replace those carb boxes with additional boxes of healthy fats.

\At visit 3, we’ll ask similar questions with goal of defining your daily carbohydrate threshold, that level of carbohydrate intake above which you begin to regain fat (weight) and often become more hungry and potentially metabolically imbalanced as determined by labs such as blood sugar . Depending on how things are going, we may be able to consider the addition of one more whole grain or starch boxes/servings per day for a total of 2 whole grain or starch boxes per day +/- 2 more preferred non-starchy vegetable boxes if needed.

Note, please don’t exceed two boxes of whole grains or unrefined starch per day, for a total of no more than 100 to 150 grams of carb total (including those from other sources such as non-starchy vegetables, fruit, and whatever dairy products you are consuming). “If you are at that level and are experiencing hunger or cravings, you may need to cut back on your carbs and / or add more healthy fat but not more carb nor typically more protein.

If you are happy with your current carb level, maintaining your weight, keeping your biometric markers (labs) in a normal range, stay the course.

If you are not tolerating this carb level well, reduce carbohydrate back to the last level at which weight was steady and hunger and cravings were controlled. Start by replacing the carb calories with calories from healthy fat—i.e. maintain caloric equilibrium. If this doesn’t work, it may be necessary to re-create a caloric deficit to spur weight loss. Talk with your coaches and clinicians to nip any weight gain in the bud.

Your level of dietary fat will be defined by your carbohydrate tolerance. In other words, the lower your carbohydrate tolerance, the more calories you’ll need to get from healthy fat in order to maintain your desired weight (this requires keeping your insulin and blood sugars within a healthy range).

For the most carb intolerant or sensitive people, this might mean that they need to stay in nutritional ketosis for the long run—meaning that 65 to 75 percent of their daily calories will come from healthy fats, and that only five to 5 to 20 percent of their calories or 10 to 50 grams per day will be derived from carbs (members will need to pursue the lower end of both of these ranges if they are particularly carb sensitive / insulin resistant – as is sometimes true, for example, in the case of type II diabetics). Remember, we are each unique with associated individualized needs.

For people with higher carb tolerances (and who are not pursuing nutritional ketosis), carbohydrates might account for 20 to 30 percent of their calories (100 to 150 grams per day if consuming 2,000 calories per day), with a corresponding consumption of the percent of calories coming from healthy fat in the range of 50 – 65%.

The key here is that each person must first figure out how many grams of carbohydrate they can tolerate while maintaining their health and weight goals. Then they can figure out what proportion of their calories should come from healthy fats.

As for protein, your daily protein allotment is not likely to change too much between weight loss and maintenance. (It usually changes by no more than two “boxes.”)
In all cases above, your baseline weight (and thus dietary energy requirements) will have a significant influence on dietary recommendations. So it’s key that each person discusses their program and experience with their clinician and health coach to tailor a program that is personalized to your unique needs.

Gluten: We believe that many of the improvements in quality of life that people experience when they eliminate gluten from their diets are actually caused by the reduction in carbohydrate that usually accompanies gluten-free diets. With that said, if you find that reintroducing foods that contain gluten is having a negative impact, you may want to consider continuing to avoid foods that contain wheat gluten.

For some people, FDA approved weight loss medication can make it easier to “say no” to carbohydrates, to curb their hunger, and to control portions. If this interests you, discuss options with your clinician.

Eventually, you should be able to find a level of carbohydrate consumption that is satisfying and sustainable for you. Fear not, we will help you get there!