low carb or caloric deficit

moniquebravo1011
moniquebravo1011 Posts: 22 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Which is more effective for fat loss...caloric deficit or low carb diet?
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Replies

  • 85Cardinals
    85Cardinals Posts: 733 Member
    edited May 2016
    People here will say it's only calories. I think it's mostly calories but carbs have more influence than people here want to admit. Just my opinion!

    Best to concentrate on calories if you're trying to lose weight. (probably)
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,928 Member
    Calories. I've lost around 40lbs by eating a diet consisting of about 60% carbs. It wasn't slower than other weight losses reported here. The only reason people say low carb helps them lose weight is because if you eliminate carbs from your diet you lose some stored water weight. It is not fat, but simply water.
  • kimdawnhayden
    kimdawnhayden Posts: 298 Member
    I went Paleo a few years back and gained weight. I eat carbs at almost every meal and lose weight. Weird.
  • ReaderGirl3
    ReaderGirl3 Posts: 868 Member
    Calories.
  • moniquebravo1011
    moniquebravo1011 Posts: 22 Member
    Thanks guys
  • snowflake954
    snowflake954 Posts: 8,399 Member
    Both. If you eat lowcarb, watch your calories.
  • critterbug15
    critterbug15 Posts: 55 Member
    Yea, no matter what, you have to have a calorie deficit if you want to lose. A lot of people find that lowering carbs and increasing fats and protein help curb their appetite, so it makes it easier to sustain a nice deficit. Any recommended diet will usually require you to tweak it a little in terms of macros to fit your needs in terms of deficit and feeling good at the same time.
  • cmarangi
    cmarangi Posts: 131 Member
    Calories are definitely number one, but I find with my body that the more carbs I eat, the more bloated I am, so I keep mine lowish, around 100 and then I like the way i fit in clothes better, and I feel better as well. But everyone is different.
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,968 Member
    If you eat NO carbs but more calories than you burn, you'll get fatter. If you eat lots of carbs but fewer calories than you burn, you'll lose fat.

    The way low carb diets work is by eliminating a lot of foods that have lots and lots of calories; they make it easier to make a calorie deficit, that's all. (Note that for people with diabetes, this sort of diet has other benefits.)

    I've lost about 80 pounds and I eat plenty of carbs every day.
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
    Calories. Period.
  • Jams009
    Jams009 Posts: 345 Member
    Calories, you can manipulate carbs to control water weight, but that's not fat loss.
  • zoeysasha37
    zoeysasha37 Posts: 7,088 Member
    For any way of eating - you need a calorie deficit to lose weight.
    Weight loss - calorie deficit.
    Calorie deficit- weight loss

    The evangelists like to try to say that low carb alone produces weight loss. But in reality for any weight loss to occur one must be at a caloric deficit .

    If you ate low carb but still ate at a calorie surplus or maintenance ,then you would lose no weight.
    Again- for weight loss to occur , you must be at a calorie deficit. Regardless if you eat low carb keto vegan paleo whatever. You still need to create a calorie deficit in order to lose weight. Don't believe the hype , carbs are nothing to fear unless you have a medical condition that warrants you to restrict your carb intake. People like to demonize carbs but often forget to say that a calorie deficit is still needed for weight loss. They like to give low carb the credit without explaining that for any diet to work , you must create a calorie deficit.
    For me, it wasn't worth the torture of eating low carb when all I had to do to lose weight was eat less calories then I burned. ( calories in -calories out )
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    I found reducing carbs helpful to create a calorie deficit. (I'm not low carb.)
  • benzieboxx
    benzieboxx Posts: 253 Member
    I love carbs way too much to cut them back/out. I eat carbs and just stay within my calorie goal and I consistently lose.
  • mom22dogs
    mom22dogs Posts: 470 Member
    Calorie deficit is ultimately what makes you lose weight. People like myself, control calories by lowering carb intake because carbs are so high calorie - 9 calories per gram as opposed to 4 calories per gram for protein. Most people eat hundreds and hundreds of grams of carbs a day, so for some, lowering this lowers calories, and helps them lose weight.
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
    mom22dogs wrote: »
    Calorie deficit is ultimately what makes you lose weight. People like myself, control calories by lowering carb intake because carbs are so high calorie - 9 calories per gram as opposed to 4 calories per gram for protein. Most people eat hundreds and hundreds of grams of carbs a day, so for some, lowering this lowers calories, and helps them lose weight.

    I think you are confusing carbs and fat. Carbs are also 4 calories per gram. Many just don't find that to be as much volume or as filling as protein.
  • critterbug15
    critterbug15 Posts: 55 Member
    edited May 2016
    ...
  • butterfli7o
    butterfli7o Posts: 1,319 Member
    I did Atkins for a brief period years ago and lost some weight...but probably because I got so sick of eating eggs and bunless burgers that I stopped eating as much.
    I did no carbs for a month about a year ago and lost nothing. It's CICO.
  • Hornsby
    Hornsby Posts: 10,322 Member
    Calorie deficit is immutable. How you get there is up to you.

    I personally have lost 80lbs and am currently at 7% body fat while eating 250-400 grams of carbs per day.
  • Intentional_Me
    Intentional_Me Posts: 336 Member
    For those responding, do you only eat complex carbs most of the time?
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    oliverneedsyou wrote: »
    For those responding, do you only eat complex carbs most of the time?
    No idea - I don't make any distinction between them as it's irrelevant to me. Complex carbs I actually find the most filling food, far more satiating than high protein or high fat foods.

    Ate 615 grams of carbs last Saturday and was still in a calorie deficit.
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,928 Member
    tlflag1620 wrote: »
    yirara wrote: »
    Calories. I've lost around 40lbs by eating a diet consisting of about 60% carbs. It wasn't slower than other weight losses reported here. The only reason people say low carb helps them lose weight is because if you eliminate carbs from your diet you lose some stored water weight. It is not fat, but simply water.

    So I had 45-50 lbs of stored water? Good to know, lol.

    OP - some people find low carb diets helpful because they can help make it easier (effortless even, for some, I'd count myself in that group) to create a deficit by helping reduce/regulate appetite. If it's something you are interested in trying I'd suggest reading up on various low carb plans, make sure you get enough fat, make sure you get plenty of salt especially in the first few weeks, and give yourself sometime to adjust. I committed to a six week trial (figured that was long enough to adjust and see if I was getting the results I wanted, but short enough that if I didn't like it there was a clear, and close, endpoint). That was three years ago. I'd never go back to high carb again.

    Oh come on, that's just plain silly. I wrote 'some water weight'. You lost weight because you ate less calories than your body needs, not because you were eating keto.
  • ReaderGirl3
    ReaderGirl3 Posts: 868 Member
    edited May 2016
    oliverneedsyou wrote: »
    For those responding, do you only eat complex carbs most of the time?

    Nope, I eat them all :D Yesterday my carbs came from white rice, veggies, pretzels, oats, granola, a banana and a beer. Today my carbs came from bread (Subway), veggies, banana/berries, yogurt and a cookie. And possibly another beer/ice cream if I make an 'adult' root beer float tonight.

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