Why 20 grams of sugar daily?

[Siltz]

Is 20 grams of sugar/day the generally accepted amount where ketosis begins or is most efficient?  Does the amount of sugar/day needed to lose weight vary per person?

[Doug Varrieur]

Hi Siltz, welcome!! Here's your answer. When I developed my eating plan I kept very close counts of my "net carb" intake and I found that taking in any more than 20 net carbs per day made it very difficult for me to drop weight. As I shared my program with others I discovered that some people could eat more daily net carbs and still lose weight while others had to drop as low as 10-15 net carbs per day to lose weight. Each of us is different, we have different metabolisms, different routines and different activity levels. These factors all effect our individual net carb tolerance levels. You'll also find that as the weight drops off and you stall that you'll need to address this issue once again.

Bottom line.... Our bodies will always use the first available fuel (blood sugar) before it uses stored fuel (Fat) the key is to take in as little net carbs per day which turn into blood sugar to force the body to use your fat as fuel.

Net carbs are factored by taking the carb count of the food/beverage then subtracting fiber and if present sugar alcohols. 

[MarkMoxom]

I can only back up what Doug is saying as I had a very similar experience to him. My carb limit for [url=http://www.fattoskinny.com/]weight loss[/url] was, when I first started, exactly around 20 grams per day. You've probably already heard this before but it's worth saying again, is that, carbs can enter our diet in the most insidious of ways and as a general rule of thumb, I think you can assume that the more processed the food is, the higher will be its carbohydrate content, usually in the form of added sugars and fillers in order to make the processed food taste okay which is obviously a clear call to eat as naturally as possible. If you know where your food is coming form and you can verify that the sources or producers of that food do little or low processing then on the whole, you don't have too much of a problem meeting that all important 20 grams of carbohydrates a day. Simply, the more we educate ourselves on what's good to eat and what's not good to eat, the greater our level of success will be.

Hope that helps,

Mark

[umpa]

well said

[SherriPie]

Love your answer Mark. When I was really hardcore losing on FTS I would stay around 12 carbs per day. It was really easy to do and I was always full.

[mouseissue]

I agree, Mark!

Being, and eating, natural is the best course!

Tony

[Elizabeth779]

Hi Siltz -- Why 20 grams of sugar daily?  Because it works best for health and weight loss and works BEST that way (less stalls).   The less sugar we have, the more our bodies burn the "fat of the land."  It sets you up for success.....watch out for the carbs....they are sneaky little creeps, and our grocery stores are full of them. 

[umpa]

 

[jay12]

That's how it works for me too as mark was saying.  Very well said

[Dieter no longer]

I have been a long Atkins follower and I do not understand why we can have any sugar.  Why not avoid it altogether.  It seems like sacriledge to eat sugar.

[o0OSusieO0o]

I follow Fat to Skinny and don't eat sugar, I watch the amount naturally occurring in carbs in foods like nuts, cheese, meats, vegetables, etc.

[shawn116]

Why not avoid it altogether.  It seems like sacriledge to eat sugar.

Hi very short dieter  welcome to the forum    You are so right, you would definitely want to avoid actual table sugar...   I avoid it like the plague  


Being that you are a long atkins follower I know you know this but for any that don't.... It would be pretty hard to avoid all hidden "sugar" altogether if you plan on eating anything at all.  Considering any carbs that you eat will in turn be converted to blood sugar regardless of where they come from.  I believe what Siltz was asking is really about net carbs and why that is the magic number     I love Doug's answer....simple and to the point  

Again welcome and don't be a stranger  

[mouseissue]

I have been a long Atkins follower and I do not understand why we can have any sugar.  Why not avoid it altogether.  It seems like sacrilege to eat sugar.

Welcome to the FTS family, very short dieter!!!

The bottom line... Sugar is toxic and dangerous, period!!!

Like TooSweet,  we try to avoid it like the plague!
It's the reason why we got FAT and unhealthy in the first place!
A maximum of 20 net carbs a day allows us to eat with variety and still lose weight!

Looking at your member name, I can't help but ask if you think that eating low carb should be a temporary "diet"?
The FTS lifestyle is something we adopt for a lifetime to avoid getting FAT again.
Diets will only aggravate our weight and health issues.
With diets, our weight goes up and down which further damages our health.

So to fully adopt FTS, think of it as a new way of life!
It will make you healthier and live longer, too!

Tony

[Doug Varrieur]

Welcome to the party very short dieter! I agree with you.....sugar has no place in our lies, it's the root of health evils  visit and post often 

[Dieter no longer]

Thanks for the comments, all.   You are right Mouseissue.  I am not dieting, I am eating differently so my name is inappropriate.  I have such a hard time chosing my name so this is what I choose.  How do I change it?   I have always known that.  I am an long time atkins person but I do not like their new program.  I liked the original 1972 version.  So when I ran across your forum. I decided to give it a try.  I am now waiting for my book to arrive from Amazon.  I am sure that I will do better when. that arrives.  As of now, I am losing fat around my middle but not any weight.  I know that the inches are important but I still would like to see the scale go down