Calorie counting?
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While it will still come down to calories, whether or not you track them is really up to you. More specifically, I'd base it on how you feel about tracking calories and whether or not you succeed with/without tracking.
If low carb dieting gives you a substantial boost to satiety (which it does for many but not all people) then there's at least a good chance that you can have some success without tracking, and if it's easier/less stress to do it without tracking then that would be a big win.
Just understand that tracking is a behavior that allows you to attempt to monitor calorie intake and that calorie intake matters a great deal -- but tracking calories and eating a reasonable number of calories are not the same thing.
This.
Also, it doesn't have to be an all-or-nothing thing, necessarily. You can, in general, not track, but then track for a week or two to ensure you're still on base, or track when you have a new food or something to see where it sits in relation to your diet.0 -
I need to plan my meals in advance, and usually on Sunday I cook for the next week lunches and dinners. Before I shop or cook anything I enter "ideas" meals for combinations of ideal macros, see what that looks like compared to the prior week. I do shoot for 1200 cals,15g carbs as my key parameters. Some weeks are slightly higher, depending on my breakfasts,and my evening snacks those being my variable meals. "Pre-tracking" makes this doable and easy for me to follow a plan where I feel satisfied, not hungry, and I know it's not in vain, because it consistently works.0
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Dragonwolf wrote: »While it will still come down to calories, whether or not you track them is really up to you. More specifically, I'd base it on how you feel about tracking calories and whether or not you succeed with/without tracking.
If low carb dieting gives you a substantial boost to satiety (which it does for many but not all people) then there's at least a good chance that you can have some success without tracking, and if it's easier/less stress to do it without tracking then that would be a big win.
Just understand that tracking is a behavior that allows you to attempt to monitor calorie intake and that calorie intake matters a great deal -- but tracking calories and eating a reasonable number of calories are not the same thing.
This.
Also, it doesn't have to be an all-or-nothing thing, necessarily. You can, in general, not track, but then track for a week or two to ensure you're still on base, or track when you have a new food or something to see where it sits in relation to your diet.
Exactly. I've experimented and found that by counting carbs and eating till full, I can maintain easily. So I plan to track carbs most of the time. Then weigh once a month. If I'm good, then I will keep on. If I've creeped up, I'll track everything for a week or 2 to recalibrate, and then go back. When I get there that is.
Until then, I personally have to watch the calories really close. 10lb to goal is nice, but being so close is maddening and loss slows down quite a bit. If I pre-track everything, like @slimzandra said, then it's pretty darn easy to stay under cal goal. After breakfast, I quickly enter what I think is going to go on food-wise for the day. That way there are no unhappy-surprises. And it helps to have a plan to stick to if you get the mad-hungries and are tempted to go nuts.
But other people find this level of obsession stressful, so they don't track as much. I'd love to be able to do that. I've found that that doesn't work for me. My appetite tells me it wants my body to maintain. I'm not ready for that yet. And that's all ok. No shame. Finding what works for you is key, period.0 -
I stay below 1500 calories, and below 30 carbs and I've been losing about 1/2 a pound a day. *knock on wood* it won't be like that forever, but for now ? I'm digging it.0
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There are many threads on this here. I wish there was a good search function. But, the general consensus is that there is no consensus. Some of us don't count at all, and have success. Others need to count to have success. For April, we had a no counting challenge run for the month. I forget if there were any definitive results aside from find what works for you.
My advice? Don't be afraid to try it without counting for a while. You may be pleasantly surprised.
Its very easy to make links to previous discussions. I keep the below in a text file and copy & paste.
I hope this helps,
Dan the Man from Michigan
It's Ketogenic or Bariatric! How I Found the Ketogenic Diet
Blog #10 Keto: Abbreviations, Acronyms & Terminology Used on the LCD & Keto Discussion Groups
Blog #13 DittoDan's Milestone's, First's And Good Changes Since Starting the Ketogenic Diet
DittoDan's Keto Blogs
How I got Off of Diabetic Prescriptions Drugs Since I Started Keto
Blog #11 Really Good Keto Websites
Low Carb Discussion Group on MFP (LCD)
Ketogenic Diet Discussion Group on MFP
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Today was day 5 of my low carb diet!
So far, so good and I am feeling fantastic!
I'm using MFP to track my carbs, but of course it has calculated how many calories, fats, etc. I should be consuming. I have quite a bit of weight I would like to lose, and MFP has me at 1,600 calories per day.
Should I be watching calories as well?
Usually I end my days at roughly 2,000 calories with 3 meals & 2 snacks, so I'm not going overboard.
And, is there anything else I should be careful to keep an eye on? Thank you!
Like everyone else said, get used to eating lo-carb first. Then when you start stalling on your weight loss, or worse, gain, then start plan B, tracking with MFP. Tracking is preferred. For example, lets say you had a problem with credit cards and your debt kept piling up. You could tear up the credit card, then start budgeting. Maybe you would log everything you purchased on Quicken accounting software. You would also track what was coming in. Then at a glance, in the software, you could see if you spend more than you take in. The same effect with tracking on MFP, you can see if you're going over very easily. I'm not saying its impossible to do the diet without MFP, but it just makes sense, especially if things go wrong.
I hope this helps,
Dan the Man from Michigan
It's Ketogenic or Bariatric! How I Found the Ketogenic Diet
Blog #10 Keto: Abbreviations, Acronyms & Terminology Used on the LCD & Keto Discussion Groups
Blog #13 DittoDan's Milestone's, First's And Good Changes Since Starting the Ketogenic Diet
DittoDan's Keto Blogs
How I got Off of Diabetic Prescriptions Drugs Since I Started Keto
Blog #11 Really Good Keto Websites
Low Carb Discussion Group on MFP (LCD)
Ketogenic Diet Discussion Group on MFP
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If you got lots to lose, many people can do lazy keto and still shed scale weight. But as you get leaner, the margins of your deficit get smaller...making it easy to obliterate the deficit. At some point in time, most people need to start weighing (grams) to get a better estimate of caloric intake.
For example: Some people can load their BPC with tablespoons of stuff and still lose scale weight. I can't have BPC at all, because I'm down to the very last ca 3-4 lbs.
The subject of «more accurate» tracking is constantly an issue both here on MFP and on /r/keto. IMO, when you start stalling, it's time to recalculate TDEE, scrutinize your routines and troubleshoot what might cause stalling. The most glaring error people in general do (yup, me too
) is to underestimate kcal intake and overestimate activity level. Find a system that works for YOU. 0 -
Today was day 5 of my low carb diet!
So far, so good and I am feeling fantastic!
I'm using MFP to track my carbs, but of course it has calculated how many calories, fats, etc. I should be consuming. I have quite a bit of weight I would like to lose, and MFP has me at 1,600 calories per day.
Should I be watching calories as well?
Usually I end my days at roughly 2,000 calories with 3 meals & 2 snacks, so I'm not going overboard.
And, is there anything else I should be careful to keep an eye on? Thank you!
Like everyone else said, get used to eating lo-carb first. Then when you start stalling on your weight loss, or worse, gain, then start plan B, tracking with MFP. Tracking is preferred. For example, lets say you had a problem with credit cards and your debt kept piling up. You could tear up the credit card, then start budgeting. Maybe you would log everything you purchased on Quicken accounting software. You would also track what was coming in. Then at a glance, in the software, you could see if you spend more than you take in. The same effect with tracking on MFP, you can see if you're going over very easily. I'm not saying its impossible to do the diet without MFP, but it just makes sense, especially if things go wrong.
I hope this helps,
I agree with this. Ive tried both ways and i've found that not counting calories is a disaster for me - i just overeat, even if im strict with my carbs, and more calories coming in than going out is a sure-fire way to gain weight imo.
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I don't know about this CICO thing... I mean true you eat a boatload of calories, weight gain is inevitable... But if you "listen" to your body, I don't think you need to count as strictly... If you eat, just to eat, opposed to eat when your hungry and only eat as much where you start to feel satisfied, then count calories, otherwise it's not that important.
I have read over and over is that sugar makes you fat faster than other things... I didn't say foods, because I don't think sugar should be considered a food, but a poison... Look it up on the internet, sugar is not good in any quantity. But since we're talking low carb, sugar usually doesn't play a big role in your diet, or it shouldn't.
So I'm up in the air with counting calories... eating natural, unprocessed foods is more important, and knowing when to stop... Even if there's food still on the plate.
My $0.00002 worth.
Michael.0 -
I definitely have to count but that is probably due to my past with binge eating disorder.
I could probably eat to maintain but I can't do it to lose weight with no tracking.
I am 149cm (about 4'11") and have lost 32kg/70lbs so far. I have varied from 700 to 1350 kcal per day. I'm attempting to sit around 1250 and apparently that will lose me .5 of a kilo a week which is just over a pound. I don't know how much more I want to lose. Maybe another 60lbs.0 -
I don't know about this CICO thing... I mean true you eat a boatload of calories, weight gain is inevitable... But if you "listen" to your body, I don't think you need to count as strictly... If you eat, just to eat, opposed to eat when your hungry and only eat as much where you start to feel satisfied, then count calories, otherwise it's not that important.
I have read over and over is that sugar makes you fat faster than other things... I didn't say foods, because I don't think sugar should be considered a food, but a poison... Look it up on the internet, sugar is not good in any quantity. But since we're talking low carb, sugar usually doesn't play a big role in your diet, or it shouldn't.
So I'm up in the air with counting calories... eating natural, unprocessed foods is more important, and knowing when to stop... Even if there's food still on the plate.
My $0.00002 worth.
Michael.
Listening to your body works a lot better with LCHF, but not otherwise. Because hunger is controlled by hormones, and hormones are affected by what one eats.
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@professionalHobbyist....... I agree, the closer I get the harder it gets too.
I still look for carb count over calories when making food choices, and I eat until I'm full. A couple weeks ago I was hungry all the time, and was nervous about overdoing the calories, but at the end of that week I saw a good loss. So I let my hunger guide me.....0 -
Wow Minties, 70lbs is an amaaaaazing loss! Well done, you!0
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Its very easy to make links to previous discussions. I keep the below in a text file and copy & paste.
Fine, I'll go and find some of them.
This was intended to be a mega-thread about the whole thing. I meant to get around to cleaning it up and organizing it into a "No Counting" Resource. There's a link in the first post the to "Pro-Counting" counter-point thread.
Doesn't Counting Calories Count?
The below are the links to the "Ad Libitum April" Challenge threads from when we did a no counting month, for those who were interested.
Ad Libitum April Challenge
Ad Lib. April {Initial Check-In}
Ad Lib April {April 8th}
Ad Lib April {April 15th}
Ad Lib April {April 22nd}
Ad Lib April {Final: May 1st}
I am sure there are other threads around. These are the ones I was able to find quickly.0 -
IMO in weight loss phase, some people can do lazy keto, especially if they have lots to lose. The same people often need to tidy up their habits when stalling or getting closer to goal weight.
Short people or with dysfunctional metabolisms/diseases have MUCH smaller margins of error, so most often have to count.
Other things already mentioned is a past of bingeing, possibly affects ghrelin/leptin levels.
The individual's metabolism is regulated by hormonal environment and state of balance/unbalance. This again is influenced by lifestyle factors: diet, exercise, mood, stress, sleep. But also more inherent factors: Genes, action potentials, transcription factors, non-mendelian heritage (dutch hunger winter). If you don't need to count you probably hit a good balance intuitively of caloric intake and nutrient efficiency for YOUR body. This might not be applicable for another person.
Some people can omit counting, some can't. But «repairing» of metabolic function by uooing BMR more can be improved by individual lifestyle choices.
TL;DR We're all different. Adjust to methods that work for YOU.
Edit: added context definition in italics.0 -
IMO in weight loss phase, some people can do lazy keto, especially if they have lots to lose. The same people often need to tidy up their habits when stalling or getting closer to goal weight.
Short people, very lean, or with dysfunctional metabolisms/diseases have MUCH smaller margins of error, so most often have to count.
Other things already mentioned is a past of bingeing, possibly affects ghrelin/leptin levels.
The individual's metabolism is regulated by hormonal environment and state of balance/unbalance. This again is influenced by lifestyle factors: diet, exercise, mood, stress, sleep. But also more inherent factors: Genes, action potentials, transcription factors, non-mendelian heritage (dutch hunger winter). If you don't need to count you probably hit a good balance intuitively of caloric intake and nutrient efficiency for YOUR body. This might not be applicable for another person.
Some people can omit counting, some can't. But «repairing» of metabolic function by upping BMR more can be improved by individual lifestyle choices.
TL;DR We're all different. Adjust to methods that work for YOU.
Edit: added in italics.
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As we get closer to our goal the ground is tougher to cover
No more true words written
The first 100 pounds lost is practice for the last 10.0
