Carb Free, or Everything in small Portions???

Live2InspireHope

RabbitJB Thanks i have never heard of the TDEE I will look it up and thanks for sharing that Info. I feel moderation is where i want to get when i am fine with who i am again after being well over 100 pounds over weight it was time to take control have a great day

You mean TDEE not BMR

You eat 500-1000 below TDEE, not BMR

But well done finding your own path

I personally find eating everything in moderation is perfect for me

krazyforyou

AllOfTheStars77 wrote: »

So, I am struggling with creating a food plan. I have always been a horrible judge of food and how much of something I can or can not have. I have been cracking every cell of my brain on what is the better route to go. I have done weight watchers a long time ago but I found myself saving my points in order to eat the worst items possible. My mom is telling me that Atkins is the way to go. So, please some advice in this category would help me tremendously. If you must be brutal that is fine I can take it, just try to be constructively brutal lol..

krazyforyou

AllOfTheStars77 wrote: »

So, I am struggling with creating a food plan. I have always been a horrible judge of food and how much of something I can or can not have. I have been cracking every cell of my brain on what is the better route to go. I have done weight watchers a long time ago but I found myself saving my points in order to eat the worst items possible. My mom is telling me that Atkins is the way to go. So, please some advice in this category would help me tremendously. If you must be brutal that is fine I can take it, just try to be constructively brutal lol..

SciranBG

lemonsnowdrop wrote: »

There's no such thing as good or bad foods.

Except trans-fats, even sat-fat loving low carbers say to stay away from it.

Asher_Ethan

JPW1990 wrote: »

holly55555 wrote: »

Small portions. Atkins only works if you stick with it forever. If you ever start eating carbs again, your weight will go back up. It DOES work well and quickly, but it doesn't teach you portion control or maintaining after the fact. Plus, depriving yourself of an entire food group is really difficult and a lot of people feel very sick on Atkins. It's difficult to stay with, especially for forever!

On the other hand, you can eat whatever you want, just smaller portions of it. You know what is healthy and what isn't. But if you really want that burger and fries once a week, you can budget it into your calories. You probably won't be able to eat it every day, so you'll find healthier alternatives. Calorie counting teaches you how much you should really be eating and because you're not deprived - you can eat anything, just maybe not every day or huge amounts of it - it's much easier to stick to.

Good luck!

Please explain how CICO magically stops working for anyone who adds carbs to their diet?

@JPW1990
I have always been curious about this. Back story: My mother was overweight her whole life, 2005 she starts doing low carb, looses 50 pounds and she's been low carb ever since. She is CONVINCED that even if she eats at a deficit, if she adds carbs back into her diet she's going to gain everything back.

So if she did add carbs, even at a deficit, would she gain it all back?

JPW1990

Asher_Ethan wrote: »

JPW1990 wrote: »

holly55555 wrote: »

Small portions. Atkins only works if you stick with it forever. If you ever start eating carbs again, your weight will go back up. It DOES work well and quickly, but it doesn't teach you portion control or maintaining after the fact. Plus, depriving yourself of an entire food group is really difficult and a lot of people feel very sick on Atkins. It's difficult to stay with, especially for forever!

On the other hand, you can eat whatever you want, just smaller portions of it. You know what is healthy and what isn't. But if you really want that burger and fries once a week, you can budget it into your calories. You probably won't be able to eat it every day, so you'll find healthier alternatives. Calorie counting teaches you how much you should really be eating and because you're not deprived - you can eat anything, just maybe not every day or huge amounts of it - it's much easier to stick to.

Good luck!

Please explain how CICO magically stops working for anyone who adds carbs to their diet?

@JPW1990
I have always been curious about this. Back story: My mother was overweight her whole life, 2005 she starts doing low carb, looses 50 pounds and she's been low carb ever since. She is CONVINCED that even if she eats at a deficit, if she adds carbs back into her diet she's going to gain everything back.

So if she did add carbs, even at a deficit, would she gain it all back?

Nope, she wouldn't. At best, she might gain 2-3 lbs of water weight, depending on other factors like medications, activity, etc. If she did it gradually and ramped up, she probably wouldn't even see that much.

allenpriest

Unless you can follow your plan for the rest of your life then don't adopt it. Don't try a diet. You have to change your lifestyle permanently. Thst means you eat things you want, just less of it and plan for it. If you don't change your lifestyle you are likely to yo-yo which is not at all healthy.

Phoenix_Down

Asher_Ethan wrote: »

JPW1990 wrote: »

holly55555 wrote: »

Small portions. Atkins only works if you stick with it forever. If you ever start eating carbs again, your weight will go back up. It DOES work well and quickly, but it doesn't teach you portion control or maintaining after the fact. Plus, depriving yourself of an entire food group is really difficult and a lot of people feel very sick on Atkins. It's difficult to stay with, especially for forever!

On the other hand, you can eat whatever you want, just smaller portions of it. You know what is healthy and what isn't. But if you really want that burger and fries once a week, you can budget it into your calories. You probably won't be able to eat it every day, so you'll find healthier alternatives. Calorie counting teaches you how much you should really be eating and because you're not deprived - you can eat anything, just maybe not every day or huge amounts of it - it's much easier to stick to.

Good luck!

Please explain how CICO magically stops working for anyone who adds carbs to their diet?

@JPW1990
I have always been curious about this. Back story: My mother was overweight her whole life, 2005 she starts doing low carb, looses 50 pounds and she's been low carb ever since. She is CONVINCED that even if she eats at a deficit, if she adds carbs back into her diet she's going to gain everything back.

So if she did add carbs, even at a deficit, would she gain it all back?

Outside of water weight replenishing (not fat and it wouldn't. Ounce you back up 50 lbs. Like a few lbs max), adding carbs back to a low carb diet wouldn't cause a magical regain of all the weight lost.

What often happens, unless you're restricting for medical reasons, people drop their "diets" once the hit goal weight and regain all of it back because they fail to remain at maintenance from adding back things the cut because they never learned how to moderate. Plus, if you're like me, the longer I deprive myself, the more I want it and am more likely to go hogwild when I can eat it again.

This is why I lost 40 lbs in 2012 only to regain it back in 2013. I've remained 50 lbs down for over a year now because my last attempt turned to a path of moderation not deprivation.

But if someone where to jump off of low carb and remain at maintenance with more carbs, they won't magically bounce back to square one.

DevilsFan1

I could never go carb-free because ... BEER!

If you're working out, you absolutely NEED carbs. They are the primary fuel source for exercise. Just be reasonable.

Phoenix_Down

Carb free? Does that mean my all bacon diet has come to fruition?

harmar21

lemonsnowdrop wrote: »

There's no such thing as good or bad foods. The sooner you come to terms with this, the sooner you can decide on a diet that works for you. I eat anything I want in moderation, but some people love eating a low carb diet. Low carbs doesn't = weight loss though, so keep that in mind.

Of course there is such things as good foods or bad foods.. maybe not for weight loss but for overall health.. Unless of course you are telling me that somehow 120 calories of pepsi is just as healthy as 120 calories of spinach. Love to hear that logic.

Anyways op, the only person who can answer that is yourself by just trying it. Low carb worked wonders for me. However this past month I transitioned off of low carb and now have carbs again and still progressing fine (but still somewhat lower carb, I limit myself to about 100-150g range, instead of the 20g range I did before). If I would have started off with just reducing portions I would have failed (like I have failed many times in the past by doing exactly that). There are still foods I completely avoid though such as snacky type foods (chips, salted nuts) just due to the fact that I seem to lose complete self control around them.. so I just avoid them altogether... If I had self control around those foods I would have no problem eating them. I also eat at a 1000+ calorie deficit so I just dont have the calories to spare on junky food that dont help me meet my macro goals.

harmar21

DevilsFan1 wrote: »

I could never go carb-free because ... BEER!

If you're working out, you absolutely NEED carbs. They are the primary fuel source for exercise. Just be reasonable.

No you dont. worked out 5 months in a row doing keto.The last 2 of those months I was going 5 days a week.. 3 days/week of those being C25K.
This past month when I started added carbs back in I have not noticed any difference in endurance or lifting capabilities.

GaleHawkins

Need2Exerc1se wrote: »

I think eating in the manner you plan to eat once you reach your goal is best for weight loss. If you plan to include junk in your diet after, I'd include it now. If you don't plan to eat low carb once you are at goal, I would not eat it now. Eat in the manner that you feel is best for you while keeping a calorie deficit. And you can tweak your diet as you go along, as you find what does and does not work for you.

Eating just for weight loss while planning to completely change when you are at goal may work for you, but I think the odds are against it. Other than number of calories, of course.

This is my thoughts on the subject as well and over time I evolved into a Low Carb High Fat eating lifestyle. After 40 years of yo yo dieting my health was failing fast. After 8 months on LCHF it fits like a glove and my 40 years of carb abusing is showing some signs of reversing but I know it will be slow at best.

casinsf

I DO think there are good foods and bad foods. I used to believe that a calorie was a calorie, but that is just not true. Eating 1600 in ice cream a day, vs 1600 calories of veggies, fruits, and whole grains is different the way it is metabolized in your body and over time makes a difference. Not just for weight, but overall body function: brain, cells, muscle, etc. I think media has us thinking we need way more protein than we really do. There is protein in veggies and whole grains. I think eating clean is more important that anything. As far as portion control, if you don't like to measure, there are "eyeball" methods that work. For example, the tip of your thumb is approx. 1 oz. of cheese, a deck of cards = 1 meat/protein serving, handful = 1 cup. This will work, Concentrate of quality vs quantity of foods. Personally, I think any food that comes in it's natural state is basically good.