Ok all, here's the scoop. I think I was poisoned in the early 2000's by a boyfriend who did Atkins religiously. He'd lose all this weight during the week (and even checked his urine with ketosis strips) by eating cheese, meat and beef jerky (barf!!). He lectured me over and over by how many carbs were in my rice/pasta/apples!! APPLES!! come on! I eventually thought that a baked potato was the devil and thought of it as 26 teaspoons of sugar instead of a nutrient dense, all natural, unprocessed food. At the time, I was a college athlete and really cared more about unprocessed foods than carbs. Still feel the same way in fact.
Long story short, I've never been on a diet and recently had the misfortune of needing to lose 33 pounds. I took prednisone--the "devil drug" and within 2 months had put on the weight. I complained for a year about it..and then a month ago I decided I couldn't go another fall NOT in my fabulous clothes.
So, I've been eating small portions, zero processed food--except for gluten free pasta (I'm allergic to wheat)--and 1 cup of it for dinner with a salad and some cheese and some steamed veggies. I've had beans for dinner, I've even had 9 bean chili...and I eat 6 servings of fruit every day. Is it my running/lifting/elliptical/kettlebell burning off my carbs? How is it possible that I'm eating lots of carbs and still losing weight? Has my brain simply been corrupted by the carb backlash? I was always taught good nutrition by my mediterranean physician mother and have always thought that it was calories burned in excess of requirement = weight loss. A calorie isn't just a calorie, you should use it in a nutritious way to get the most out of each one.

Am I going to keep losing this weight? I have to have it off ASAP but I don't want to risk ever gaining it back. As I am allergic to wheat, rice and potatos are very important to my diet. So is fruit (particularly bananas) and things that keep my body full, like legumes.

Is anyone else losing weight and still eating between 120-200 grams of carbs/daily? Are you active or not?

I'm a vegetarian. Usually, about 55% of my daily caloric intake is carbohydrate.

From July 27, 2007 to December 31, 2007, I lost 46 pounds. In five months. With a ratio of 55% carb / 15% fat / 30% protein. (Bodyweight: 196 -> 150). Today, I still weigh 150, although I wobble between 148 and 151.

In accordance with Mark Rippetoe's recommendation ("starting strength"), I try to eat 1g of protein per day per pound of my body weight. I keep my caloric intake between about 2450 and 2750 per day, although when I was in weight loss mode, I aimed at 1700 - 1900 per day. Generally, I would calculate my caloric intake on my basal metabolic rate, multiplied by the SEDENTARY multiplier of the Harris-Benedict formula (1.2).

Dig: http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/

But, right now, I'm no longer trying to lose weight. Now, I'm trying to maintain my weight and get stronger. So, I just do my workout of the day and try to put better times in my log book than I did last time I had today's workout.

My program:

http://www.crossfit.com/

Good luck.

Thanks Apollo, it's good to hear that a vegetaian was successful. Most people think that us meat minimalists (I was a vegetarian for 12 years until I was diagnosed celiac--now I eat fish a few times a week and steak sparringly, maybe once every 3 or 4 weeks) can't lose weight. I'm totally committed to losing this, but in a way that encourages me to eat foods I actually eat. As soon as folks go off atkins, they blow up because their cells are retaining fluid again...1 g carb holds almost 4 g water!

Now the big challenge is to keep losing (and make it permanent). Everyone seems to think carbs are the devil. I'd like to give everyone a challenge to eat carbs and see if they lose weight!

Obviously, I don't think carbs are the devil and I've proven you can lose weight and still eat more than 200g per day of carbs.

It doesn't matter whether you're eating meat or you're a vegetarian. If you burn more than you eat, you lose weight. It's really that simple.