Restart LC, count calories?
Jdkbs
Posts: 98 Member
Hi guys,
I am restarting LC yet again. I hope that I have finally realized that this is a lifestyle and not give up after first slip up.
How many here count calories along with LC?
Right from the start or later?
I am restarting LC yet again. I hope that I have finally realized that this is a lifestyle and not give up after first slip up.
How many here count calories along with LC?
Right from the start or later?
0
Replies
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I count my macros. I look at the calories, but I'm not that concerned about them.2
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I look at my macros and my calories, only because I need to lose weight, saying that. Most days I am under (I do have the days over too) and over the week, I generally hit both my macro's and my calorie goal without feeling hungry at all.4
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I also try to hit my macros versus strictly counting calories, namely protein and making sure my net carbs don't run away on me. I usually have a bulletproof coffee in the morning or something with a shot of MCT oil in it a little before working out on those days, so I don't worry about fat too much once I'm good and well into ketosis... my body can feel free to use what I've got stored already lol.4
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I'm with Bonny, I count both calories and macros.1
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At first I wasn't counting calories, just macros. But I wasn't losing after a bit, so I started watching the calories too, and now I'm losing again. It really helps me when I up my fat intake. I'm usually under 20 grams of carbs a day.3
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I counted calories for weight loss (5/19/13 through 5/25/14).
I count calories for weight maintenance (5/25/14 to present).
Now I also closely monitor (count) macros for a ketogenic diet (4/3/2016 to present).3 -
I watch both carbs and calories. I've lost ~35 lbs since the end of March so I would say it is working for me!6
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I'm just starting after a scare getting a prediabetes diagnosis at my annual physical. So I'm 100% committed to dropping weight and improving my metabolic and hormonal markers. After asking this question here, and reading the new Atkins book, I decided I would do best by tracking both macros and calories. (It's only been a few days!) So far, I'm finding it far easier to eat 1500 cal./day on a low carb/high fat macro basis than if I were doing a standard low-fat, WW style diet. (Been there, done that, got the T shirt, the hunger and the regain to show for it.)
Since I am trying to reverse insulin resistance, I set my net carbs to 20 and am careful about my proteins. (Classic Atkins induction phase.) I will do this for two weeks and then see, but I expect to stay at these levels until I've dropped about 10% of my current weight (now 20 lbs.) so more than two weeks!
The short answer is yes, both calories and macros because of advice I got here. Good luck!
Rosey6 -
When I began, I was ad libitum (I only counted carbs and ate until full.) After about 3 months, however, I stopped losing and logged back into this here old account and started counting calories. I lost 92lb over the next year and a half. I still count calories while maintaining.7
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If I don't count calories I gain weight regardless of how my macros balance. But what happens to me may not happen to anyone else. I am very upset with myself today because I spent all weekend eating like crazy (always under my carbs but who knows how many cals I ate and I'm crazy frustrated that I slipped because I know the scale consequences...3
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I was just watching carbs and then I stopped losing weight. So I started watching calories too and started losing again. I'm hoping to go through a few weeks of measuring everything and then just be able to "eye-ball" serving sizes after awhile.4
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atlathemis wrote: »I was just watching carbs and then I stopped losing weight. So I started watching calories too and started losing again. I'm hoping to go through a few weeks of measuring everything and then just be able to "eye-ball" serving sizes after awhile.
A perfect plan (perhaps with an occasional random spot check to calibrate your eye ball).2 -
I count calories and macros both. Weight comes off slowly for me and if I don't watch the calories, weight loss will stall or reverse.
@Roseygirl1, you might find this article interesting since you got the prediabetic warning at your last physician visit.
https://optimisingnutrition.com/2016/02/15/how-to-use-your-glucose-meter-as-a-fuel-gauge/
This is something I added to my plan (but I've been at it for a couple of months now). My numbers are very nearly out of the prediabetic range, and I was actually just shy of a diabetic dx in December (147 fbs with 6.5 A1c).3 -
I count calories and macros both. Weight comes off slowly for me and if I don't watch the calories, weight loss will stall or reverse.
@Roseygirl1, you might find this article interesting since you got the prediabetic warning at your last physician visit.
https://optimisingnutrition.com/2016/02/15/how-to-use-your-glucose-meter-as-a-fuel-gauge/
This is something I added to my plan (but I've been at it for a couple of months now). My numbers are very nearly out of the prediabetic range, and I was actually just shy of a diabetic dx in December (147 fbs with 6.5 A1c).
Great suggestion. Do you pretty much follow the eat/don't eat protocol in the article you cited?
Sounds like you should be able to dodge that dreaded diabetes dx!0 -
Suzqtme, that is one fascinating website. Thank you!1
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I lost lots of weight before using LCHF but this time it didn't seem to work! So I tried to keep my calories down too (about 1100-1200) and it is working again!!! I read an article once about only getting the "Sweet Spot" of low carb the first time... It said every time you do it, it works less. Not sure if it's true but changing it up is working for me!1
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How many here count calories along with LC?
Both. I count carbs to ensure my blood glucose doesn't spike. I count calories for weight loss. From Oct 2, 2015. (Down 70 lbs, with an ~3 month break at maintenance during cancer care.)
For me, the only thing that matters for weight loss is limiting intake. I can only do that by counting calories (or a calorie substitute - since fats (at least some) create cravings - not satiety. I also don't have the normal "hungry/full" sensors - so I could easily put away several thousand calories of low carb food (cheese/nut butters/Quest bars) without batting an eyelash.5 -
Suzqtme, using a blood glucose meter as a fuel guage is such in interesting concept. I'm familiar with intermittent fasting, but not using a meter to determine when you should eat your next meal. I'm at the point where I find myself eating a meal just because it's mealtime even though I'm not really hungry. I may give this a try and see what happens.2
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I log my food so I see my calories but I don't particularly count them. I lost 50lbs over 5 months previously without counting and as a fairly small (5'2") woman I definitely often eat more than MFP tells me I should while losing regularly. Some days I'm not very hungry or my CFS is bad so I sleep all day and ignore food and eat under 1200 calories. Other days I might be out and about needing fuel and eat 2000. It seems to balance out. I do find that if I eat too little for too long my losses stall, and also if I eat too much of certain foods eg peanut butter it seems to stall me too - I think if I was eating 2000 cal a day all the time it might be too much but I think I even out between 1500 and 1800 over most weeks.
I also find strict calorie counting makes me too obsessive and leaves me feeling stressed and guilty if I go over calories which isn't conducive to loss, personally.1 -
I am anti-counting calories. But, this is a calorie counting website/app, so I understand that arguing this point will be a losing battle for me. There are threads in the Launchpad where we tried to list the pros and cons of why people should or shouldn't count.2
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sherryrichie wrote: »@Suzqtme, using a blood glucose meter as a fuel gauge is such in interesting concept. I'm familiar with intermittent fasting, but not using a meter to determine when you should eat your next meal. I'm at the point where I find myself eating a meal just because it's mealtime even though I'm not really hungry. I may give this a try and see what happens.
!! Danger!!
Eating "just because" (it's that time, someone at work brought you a plate of fried Twinkies for your birthday, your in-laws want to see how many Hostess Snowballs you can fit in your mouth, etc.) when you're not hungry is a recipe for... well.... it's usually not weight loss.
Good insight - kudos for recognizing what your subconscious is up to!3 -
I watch carbs like a hawk, and keep an eye on calories so I guess both.1
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I count calories and macros both. Weight comes off slowly for me and if I don't watch the calories, weight loss will stall or reverse.
@Roseygirl1, you might find this article interesting since you got the prediabetic warning at your last physician visit.
https://optimisingnutrition.com/2016/02/15/how-to-use-your-glucose-meter-as-a-fuel-gauge/
This is something I added to my plan (but I've been at it for a couple of months now). My numbers are very nearly out of the prediabetic range, and I was actually just shy of a diabetic dx in December (147 fbs with 6.5 A1c).
This is the second time I have seen this link, but the first time I read the whole thing. I decided to give it a try this morning. I workout 5 days a week in the morning which makes my BG elevate. Normally, I eat breakfast afterwards because I feel like I am starving and bordering on "hangry."
Today, I just kept tracking my BG until it got down under 95 before I ate (which wasn't until after 11). This meant instead of eating breakfast around 6:45 or 7am, I did not eat any calories until almost 11:30.
What I noticed is the way I felt hungry changed as my BG dropped. I felt belly hungry, but the irritation associated with being hangry slowly went away.
This was definitely a worthwhile experiment that I will be repeating as, at least initially, it seems being hangry has more to do with the BG spike and associated insulin spike than it does with actually being hungry.6 -
I've been trying to count both calories and carbs, but there are a lot of days I've been over on calories in the past month or 2. My RMR is 1,607 according to online calculators, so I've been trying to target 1,400 + FitBit exercise adjustment calories.
Unfortunately, my appetite is much bigger than that. So while my carbs have been pretty good, I'm still over on calories more days than I would like. For example, I haven't had dinner yet and I'm super hungry (it's almost 3:30pm here), but I have only 283 calories left today. I'm thinking I'm going to be giving in to hunger and will be way over on calories today, despite that I still plan to stay fairly low carb (I'm at 29g now and think I'll be <50g even if I eat another 1K calories).
The good news is that going over on calories so frequently hasn't stalled weight loss. I'm not losing as fast as I want, but am averaging about 0.6 lbs. / week loss despite having a lot of days (maybe 1-2 per week) where I'm over my calorie goals. Before going low carb, a larger calculated deficit with much more rare occasions going over calories only yielded 0.19 lbs. / week loss on average... so I can't complain.0 -
Both. I count carbs to ensure my blood glucose doesn't spike. I count calories for weight loss. From Oct 2, 2015. (Down 70 lbs, with an ~3 month break at maintenance during cancer care.)
For me, the only thing that matters for weight loss is limiting intake. I can only do that by counting calories (or a calorie substitute - since fats (at least some) create cravings - not satiety. I also don't have the normal "hungry/full" sensors - so I could easily put away several thousand calories of low carb food (cheese/nut butters/Quest bars) without batting an eyelash.
Same here, but lately my appetite / hunger has really been getting the better of me and I'll put down a ton of low carb foods. Before going low carb, I once ate 9 lbs. of lettuce and only stopped because I ran out and didn't have anything else that was not calorie dense. Sometimes I see suggestions for things that are not calorie dense like watermelon, but the carbs in 1-2 regular sized watermelons is way too high for a low carb WOE.1 -
@midwesterner85 I understand that feeling. Everyone seems to have a version of a "fat bomb" which I think helps. I can have a cup of almond milk with a quarter cup of hwc for about 230 calories, but my belly feels like I just ate 1,000+. I have done this on a couple of those evenings where I have felt like what you are describing with good success at curbing how much "over" I went.0
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Hi guys,
I am restarting LC yet again. I hope that I have finally realized that this is a lifestyle and not give up after first slip up.
How many here count calories along with LC?
Right from the start or later?
Only cause MFP makes me. I try not to look. It's ingrained. I also hate that "this food is high in calcium" is green. But "this food is high in saturated fat" is red. >:(0
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