Working Out Your Ideal Carb Intake

Say Hello to Carbs

Before we even get into how many carbs you, as an individual, should be eating every day, let’s talk about what carbs are, what they do, and what purposes they serve.

You probably know carbs as providers of energy, and that’s exactly right. While we can get energy from fat, and even from protein, carbs are our bodies’ most easily accessible source of energy. The carbs we eat are broken down, either into glucose to be used for energy virtually straight away, or for glycogen, which is stored in the liver and muscle cells and can be used at a later date.

Therefore, it would make sense that the more energy you expend, the more carbs you need. This brings us on to the first general point regarding how many carbs you should eat.

If you have an active job, train hard several times per week, and especially if you’re a competing athlete, you’ll be using glucose and glycogen at a much faster rate than the average person, so therefore need to eat more carbs to replenish your energy stores. Likewise, if you spend eight hours every day behind a desk, drive to and from work, sit on the couch when you get home, and rarely exercise, you really don’t need that many carbs to sustain your energy output.

Define your goals

The second point of consideration is what your goals are. The S.M.A.R.T. criteria is a popular method used to formulate effective goals in various contexts, from personal growth to project management. When setting goals using the S.M.A.R.T. criteria, you ensure that they are:

1. Specific: Clearly define your goal. Instead of making a vague objective like "I want to get fit," you should specify what that means for you, such as "I want to be able to run 5 kilometers without stopping."

2. Measurable: Establish a metric to measure your progress. By having measurable goals, you can track your progress and stay motivated. For example, "I want to lose 15 pounds" is a measurable goal.

3. Achievable (or Attainable): Your goal should be realistic based on your current situation, resources, and time constraints. For instance, aiming to lose 50 pounds in a month is neither healthy nor achievable for most people.

4. Relevant: Your goal should be relevant to your broader life objectives or values. If you're aiming for a healthier lifestyle, a relevant goal might be to reduce your cholesterol levels or decrease blood pressure, rather than merely focusing on aesthetics.

5. Time-bound: Assign a deadline or timeframe to your goal. This creates a sense of urgency and can be a strong motivator. For example, "I want to lose 15 pounds in the next 3 months" is a time-bound goal.

Low carb is often touted as a method of losing weight, and while there are flaws in the theory that cutting carbs automatically leads to weight loss, it is true that by slashing your carb intake, you do two things that help with weight loss.

Firstly, by taking your carb intake down, you slash your calorie intake, which will almost certainly put you into a calorie deficit, which leads to fat loss. Secondly, lower levels of carbohydrate in your diet leads to lower levels of insulin and blood sugar, which may be beneficial for burning fat.

Carbs are highly effective for laying down slabs of lean muscle, as they aid recovery and provide a much needed source of calories to aid with bulking.

The final consideration here is your current condition and dieting history. If you’re currently overweight or obese, you may well benefit from a lower carb intake. Your body has plenty of readily available body fat to use for energy, so doesn’t need much in the way of carbohydrate to survive. If you’ve frequently yoyo dieted, and always had trouble with sticking to a plan, then going slightly lower with your carbs may be helpful too.

See Also: 10 Carbs You Should Always Keep In Your Diet

Genetics play somewhat of a role too, as simply put, some people just tolerate carbs better than others. You’ll probably know how well you deal with carbs, simply by monitoring how you feel after eating a high carb meal:

Feel energetic and ready to go and work out? Then you respond well to carbs.

Feel like going straight to bed? High carb diets probably aren’t for you.

Carb Calculations

If you’re just starting out with a diet, or are new to the whole healthy eating and macronutrient “thing” then simply lowering your carb intake (particularly from refined and sugary sources like cakes, sweets, pastry, pizza, junk food and the like) is one of the best ways to go.

However, while that will certainly work for a while, the further into your diet you get and the more fat you lose, the more in-depth you need to get, hence where the carb calculation comes in...

Protein and fat come next, as these are the essential macronutrients. Carbs get worked out last, as you can theoretically survive without carbs, though it wouldn’t be optimal.

Calories

Take your bodyweight in pounds and multiply it by a number. This number is dependent on your activity levels and goals…..

Looking to lose fat? Multiply by between 10 and 13.

Want to maintain weight? Multiply by 14 or 15.

Looking to build muscle? Multiply by 16 to 20.

Within these boundaries, the number you pick depends on how active you are. If you’re highly active, go toward the higher end, or go lower if you’re sedentary.

Protein

For protein, multiply your bodyweight in pounds by 0.8 to get how many grams you need to eat each day.

Fat and Carbs

Here’s where you’ll need a calculator. You have your total desired calorie intake, and the grams of protein you need to eat each day.

Multiply your protein intake in grams by 4. (There are 4 calories in 1 gram of protein). A 150lb person for instance would need 120g of protein each day, which is 480 calories. Take these protein calories from your total calorie intake.

Say our 150lb guy or girl is moderately active and looking to lose weight. They might have their calories at 1,800 (150lbs x12) and their protein is 480 calories, giving them 1,320 calories left for carbs and fat.

The more active you are, the more carbs you need

Going with the theory that the more active you are, the more carbs you need, here’s how they’d work out their carbs if they were either highly active, or sedentary:

Highly Active

They need more carbs, so fat intake will be lower.

Multiply bodyweight in pounds by 0.3 to get daily intake of fat in grams.

150lbs x0.3 = 50g of fat. (1g of fat has 9 calories, so 50g of fat = 450 calories.) Take 450 away from 1,320 = 870.

This gives them 870 calories to eat from carbs. 1g of carbohydrate has 4 calories, so divide 870 by 4 and you get 217.5g of carbs.

Round this to 215 or 220g, and you have your carb intake.

See Also: Carblover's Diet- 10 Carb Foods that Burn Fat

Sedentary

If you’re sedentary, do the exact same calculation, but use a higher fat ratio. We’re looking at 0.6g per pound of bodyweight.

150x0.6 = 90g fat per day (or 810 calories)

1,320-810 = 510 (calories from carbs.)

510 divided by 4 = 127.5g carbs per day.

So there you have it. Just use the examples above, but substitute in your own bodyweight, activity factors and ratios to work out your optimal carb intake.