The Avatar system will never let your carbs drop to an “unhealthy” level. Your body doesn’t actually need carbs for survival, at least not in the same way it needs fats and protein. Even in low- or zero-carb diets, the body can get energy from other sources. 


If you feel like your carbs are too low, or they’re lower than you expected when you started using Avatar, there may be several reasons. Luckily, each one has a solution:


1. Your carbs are low because your macros are low.

  • If your calories in general are low, your carbs are probably low, too. If this is the problem, there could be several solutions:

    • Your activity level setting could be incorrect, so the system is giving you the wrong macros for your activity level. With more activity, you would get slightly more calories and carbs. However, the system will adjust to this problem quickly on its own.

      If you’re new to Avatar, it could just be that the system hasn’t had a chance to adjust to your specific needs. A check-in or two is probably the solution, and the system will put your macros where they need to be for your chosen goal.

      If you’re new to Avatar and you entered custom calories, the calories you entered may have been too low. We don’t recommend using your TDEE, BMR, RMR, activity tracker, or other type of estimate of what you should be eating. Only enter custom calories if you’ve been tracking carefully and consistently prior to signing up with Avatar.

      If you are on a fast weight loss goal, or if you’ve been dieting for a long time, your macros in general (and your carbs, specifically) are probably low because of that. It may be time to consider switching to a less-aggressive setting, or switching from weight loss to reverse dieting. A reverse will help bring your carbs back up while your metabolism builds.


2. Your carbs seem low because you train hard or you’re an athlete.

  • If your carbs seem too low to sustain your physical activity, your total calories are likely too low as well. If you need to increase your calories and carbs, you can edit them in Diet Settings or reach out to our Coaching Team!

  • If your calories are okay and you just need a higher ratio of carbs to fat, you can adjust this by using the Carb-Fat Preference in Diet Settings or in your tracker via the Edit Balance tool. If you only need higher carbs on certain days (such as for intense training) you can use the High/Low Days setting to have higher carbs on certain days, and lower carbs on others.


3. Your Carb-Fat Slider is set incorrectly. 

  • If, when you signed up with Avatar, you indicated that you prefer fatty foods and don’t care much for carbs, the system will give you more grams of fat and fewer carbs. This can be fixed at any time by adjusting the Carb-Fat Preference slider in your Diet Settings.


In any case, the ratio of carbs to fat is a matter of preference. If you’re an athlete, you may actually need higher carbs to perform well. But the rest of us are likely to do well on any goal setting with any reasonable range of carbs. So, you should find a ratio that works well for you and lets you stick to your macros. After that, don’t worry about it.


If you need help making adjustments to your carb-fat ratio, feel free to reach out to Avatar’s Coaching Team at coaching@avatarnutrition.com.