Low energy levels - Am I not eating enough carbs? page

[Eule]

Hey guys,

this issue was probably already covered a couple of times, so I hope you don't mind me asking again.
My BF and I both have the problem that we have really low energy levels at the moment so that it already gets hard to do our usual workouts.
We've lived on a low carb diet for 3 months (still ate beans like advised in the 4 Hour Body) and switched to primal 3 weeks ago. Now we only eat meat,veggies, nuts and the occasional butter, chocolate and red wine. The first week was awsome. We were fit like never before. But afterwards it dropped. We both sleep 8-9 hours per night and usually wake up before our alarm clock. We lift heavy 2x per week, do some HIT once a week or every 2 weeks and walk a lot. Usually an hour per day and more on the weekends.
I've tracked our food intake for a couple of days and it looks somehow like this:
Breakfast: 3 Eggs, Bacon or chicken breast or something similar
Lunch: Some kind of meat plus veggies
Dinner: Some kind of meat plus a BAS
Snack: Handful of nuts 1-2 times per week

Consulting Sparkspeople that results in about 1500 calories, 35g carbs, 85g fat and 140g fat. For my BF a little bit more. Strangely we are both not loosing weight.

We also do IF once a week.

Can anyone give us a hint what might be the problem with our regime? We don't feal hungry and I like the way we eat but we don't loose weight and feel tired all the time. Are we maybe eating not enough carbs? This cannot still be crab flu, right? Wa cut out grains 4 month ago.

I'll appreciate every help. And sorry for the length of my post.

[redberry]

Do you guys cook in butter/lard/coconut oil or put oils on your salads? You may need to up your fat intake just slightly. Or you might also need to do a carb refeed on your heavy lifting days to get your bodies to respond, at least for fat burning/weight loss purposes. Just my meager 2 cents.

[Edje Noh]

Sounds like very little calories. Add in more fat like redberry said.

[RennieVan]

How much do you need to lose? Don't overlook fruits because they can give you some good carbs and satisfy a sweet tooth. Try having fruit every other day or something. I would be sure to use olive oil on your salads and enjoy some fatty meat! Like steak. DH is on the way to pick up our grass-fed beef right now! So excited!

[JPA]

1500 calories is what I sometimes get in a meal.

[croí]

1500 calories is what I sometimes get in a meal.

Yea, but if she is smaller, she may not need as many calories as a man. I average about 1500 - 1700 calories a day.

[Diana Renata]

A little more carbs & calories could help.

I was VLC for a while and at first I felt great, but my body doesn't seem to like to lose weight that way. I bumped up carbs (eating sweet potatoes and fruit daily,) stopped counting calories and just let things be. Initially, my weight went up 5 lbs but my clothes fit the same, now I'm back on a downward tick without all the counting and effort. So far, so good, and my energy levels are great in spite of not getting enough sleep lately.

[KellyS]

A little more carbs & calories could help.

I was VLC for a while and at first I felt great, but my body doesn't seem to like to lose weight that way. I bumped up carbs (eating sweet potatoes and fruit daily,) stopped counting calories and just let things be. Initially, my weight went up 5 lbs but my clothes fit the same, now I'm back on a downward tick without all the counting and effort. So far, so good, and my energy levels are great in spite of not getting enough sleep lately.

What she said. You will find lots of fat pushers on MDA. Fat is good but so are healthy carb sources. I personally shoot for 100g. carbs on a daily basis. Some days up to 150 based on my activity level. My experience has been that you have to replace your glycogen stores after a hard workout.

[JPA]

I just had 170 carbs after a workout on one meal alone. I'll have a bunch more on my second meal for a total of 250g. This isn't to say I'll do this everyday, only on days I workout. On other days, I'm finding the Perfect Health Diet approach more and more attractive. I think most people would be fine on a 100g carb per day approach (with starches, not just puny vegetables )

[AndreaReina]

I just had 170 carbs after a workout on one meal alone. I'll have a bunch more on my second meal for a total of 250g. This isn't to say I'll do this everyday, only on days I workout. On other days, I'm finding the Perfect Health Diet approach more and more attractive. I think most people would be fine on a 100g carb per day approach (with starches, not just puny vegetables )

I agree. Well, except for getting 250g of carbs but that's because I don't work out that hard . 100g is a good target, and don't count non-starchy vegetables.