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calories vs carbs for weight loss

System
System Posts: 1,919 MFP Staff
edited July 2018 in Debate Club
This discussion was created from replies split from: Going Keto from from Monday. Anyone want to join me?.

If you would like to debate macros vs calories for weight loss this is the place. As always, please remember to be respectful in your debating.

Sincerely,
4legsrbetterthan2
MFP moderator

yurita87:

I know Keto is trendy nd whatever now but ages ago I did Atkins and I remember feeling a bit dizzy but nothing more than that.
Thanks for the advice.
Basically I used to eat very low carb back home but that changed after I got married which us why i put all the weight on.

veganbaum: You put weight on because you ate more calories, not because you ate more carbs. So long as you understand that and have done your research and still want to do keto, good luck.


onemanpeloton: There's some interesting articles and papers that would suggest that calories are not equal, and that composition of your diet does change weight characteristics, regardless of the calorie count[/quote]

Replies

  • sunfastrose
    sunfastrose Posts: 543 Member
    veganbaum wrote: »
    yurita87 wrote: »
    I used perfectketo.com for a lot of advice. Try there for more specific help :smile:
    I used perfectketo.com for a lot of advice. Try there for more specific help :smile:

    Thanks!
    I know Keto is trendy nd whatever now but ages ago I did Atkins and I remember feeling a bit dizzy but nothing more than that.
    Thanks for the advice.
    Basically I used to eat very low carb back home but that changed after I got married which us why i put all the weight on.

    You put weight on because you ate more calories, not because you ate more carbs. So long as you understand that and have done your research and still want to do keto, good luck.

    There's some interesting articles and papers that would suggest that calories are not equal, and that composition of your diet does change weight characteristics, regardless of the calorie count

    Uh-huh. And the links to these papers?
  • inertiastrength
    inertiastrength Posts: 2,343 Member
    veganbaum wrote: »
    yurita87 wrote: »
    I used perfectketo.com for a lot of advice. Try there for more specific help :smile:
    I used perfectketo.com for a lot of advice. Try there for more specific help :smile:

    Thanks!
    I know Keto is trendy nd whatever now but ages ago I did Atkins and I remember feeling a bit dizzy but nothing more than that.
    Thanks for the advice.
    Basically I used to eat very low carb back home but that changed after I got married which us why i put all the weight on.

    You put weight on because you ate more calories, not because you ate more carbs. So long as you understand that and have done your research and still want to do keto, good luck.

    There's some interesting articles and papers that would suggest that calories are not equal, and that composition of your diet does change weight characteristics, regardless of the calorie count

    Uh-huh. And the links to these papers?

    wordpress blogs*

  • Silentpadna
    Silentpadna Posts: 1,306 Member
    There may be some interesting articles, but there are some interesting peer-reviewed studies that don't support those "articles"

    https://examine.com/nutrition/low-fat-vs-low-carb-for-weight-loss/

    References/studies in footnotes

    The footnotes in there are gold. You can gain a lot by reading the abstracts and conclusions. If you have more time you can see how the scientific portions are controlled studies - not just anecdotal.

    As I frequently point out to many of my friends and family that do keto - it works, but it doesn't work magically. It works with energy imbalance - the only way any diet ever works. Now, as to how it potentially helps stop cravings and such, that may be a positive for you.

    As the first commenter stated, go for it as long as you have an idea what you are doing. It'll work if you do it right and stick with it.
  • fb47
    fb47 Posts: 1,058 Member
    veganbaum wrote: »
    yurita87 wrote: »
    I used perfectketo.com for a lot of advice. Try there for more specific help :smile:
    I used perfectketo.com for a lot of advice. Try there for more specific help :smile:

    Thanks!
    I know Keto is trendy nd whatever now but ages ago I did Atkins and I remember feeling a bit dizzy but nothing more than that.
    Thanks for the advice.
    Basically I used to eat very low carb back home but that changed after I got married which us why i put all the weight on.

    You put weight on because you ate more calories, not because you ate more carbs. So long as you understand that and have done your research and still want to do keto, good luck.

    There's some interesting articles and papers that would suggest that calories are not equal, and that composition of your diet does change weight characteristics, regardless of the calorie count

    You're wrong and the article should be burned considering that for body composition calories are equal.
  • onemanpeloton
    onemanpeloton Posts: 58 Member
    edited July 2018
    veganbaum wrote: »
    yurita87 wrote: »
    I used perfectketo.com for a lot of advice. Try there for more specific help :smile:
    I used perfectketo.com for a lot of advice. Try there for more specific help :smile:

    Thanks!
    I know Keto is trendy nd whatever now but ages ago I did Atkins and I remember feeling a bit dizzy but nothing more than that.
    Thanks for the advice.
    Basically I used to eat very low carb back home but that changed after I got married which us why i put all the weight on.

    You put weight on because you ate more calories, not because you ate more carbs. So long as you understand that and have done your research and still want to do keto, good luck.

    There's some interesting articles and papers that would suggest that calories are not equal, and that composition of your diet does change weight characteristics, regardless of the calorie count

    Uh-huh. And the links to these papers?

    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC538279/

    https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11745-008-3274-2

  • veganbaum
    veganbaum Posts: 1,865 Member
    veganbaum wrote: »
    veganbaum wrote: »
    yurita87 wrote: »
    I used perfectketo.com for a lot of advice. Try there for more specific help :smile:
    I used perfectketo.com for a lot of advice. Try there for more specific help :smile:

    Thanks!
    I know Keto is trendy nd whatever now but ages ago I did Atkins and I remember feeling a bit dizzy but nothing more than that.
    Thanks for the advice.
    Basically I used to eat very low carb back home but that changed after I got married which us why i put all the weight on.

    You put weight on because you ate more calories, not because you ate more carbs. So long as you understand that and have done your research and still want to do keto, good luck.

    There's some interesting articles and papers that would suggest that calories are not equal, and that composition of your diet does change weight characteristics, regardless of the calorie count

    What in the world does "weight characteristics" mean? Is that having to do with body composition? If so, I didn't say anything about that.

    Regardless, I don't see how your post is at all helpful to the OP. She made a statement that seems to imply she thinks she put on weight because she ate more carbs. She may have put on a bit of initial water weight if she was previously eating low carb, but not 40 pounds worth. Based on her statement it seemed worthwhile to point out that in order to gain 40 pounds, she was eating more calories. I'm not here to argue about keto or anything other way of eating a person chooses, I just really don't care enough to argue about that. But it's beyond evident that a lot of people do not understand the basics of weight loss/gain/maintenance and when someone's statement indicates they may operate under a misunderstanding, it can be helpful to point that out to them. Otherwise, you see the bajillion posts about "Not losing weight, what am I doing wrong?!?!?!?!?!" and typically those individuals are not tracking their calories well. Then they quit and just think they have to remain overweight because it's just too hard to lose weight.

    ETA: OP says she has 40 pounds to lose, maybe she didn't gain that while married. Regardless, beyond a few pounds of water weight, weight gain was from eating more calories.

    Whoa slow down there mate, just relax.

    By weight characteristics I mean weight, and how its stored. I'm not going to say "weight" if I mean "fat". People say they need to "lose weight" when they often mean "lose fat". And you not having said it doesnt mean I cant post it......

    I'm just fine, thanks.

    You can post anything you like, but if you're quoting someone it only makes sense to actually respond to what that person posted.

    I notice you responded to my post, but not to those asking for the "articles" you mentioned.
  • veganbaum
    veganbaum Posts: 1,865 Member
    veganbaum wrote: »
    veganbaum wrote: »
    veganbaum wrote: »
    yurita87 wrote: »
    I used perfectketo.com for a lot of advice. Try there for more specific help :smile:
    I used perfectketo.com for a lot of advice. Try there for more specific help :smile:

    Thanks!
    I know Keto is trendy nd whatever now but ages ago I did Atkins and I remember feeling a bit dizzy but nothing more than that.
    Thanks for the advice.
    Basically I used to eat very low carb back home but that changed after I got married which us why i put all the weight on.

    You put weight on because you ate more calories, not because you ate more carbs. So long as you understand that and have done your research and still want to do keto, good luck.

    There's some interesting articles and papers that would suggest that calories are not equal, and that composition of your diet does change weight characteristics, regardless of the calorie count

    What in the world does "weight characteristics" mean? Is that having to do with body composition? If so, I didn't say anything about that.

    Regardless, I don't see how your post is at all helpful to the OP. She made a statement that seems to imply she thinks she put on weight because she ate more carbs. She may have put on a bit of initial water weight if she was previously eating low carb, but not 40 pounds worth. Based on her statement it seemed worthwhile to point out that in order to gain 40 pounds, she was eating more calories. I'm not here to argue about keto or anything other way of eating a person chooses, I just really don't care enough to argue about that. But it's beyond evident that a lot of people do not understand the basics of weight loss/gain/maintenance and when someone's statement indicates they may operate under a misunderstanding, it can be helpful to point that out to them. Otherwise, you see the bajillion posts about "Not losing weight, what am I doing wrong?!?!?!?!?!" and typically those individuals are not tracking their calories well. Then they quit and just think they have to remain overweight because it's just too hard to lose weight.

    ETA: OP says she has 40 pounds to lose, maybe she didn't gain that while married. Regardless, beyond a few pounds of water weight, weight gain was from eating more calories.

    Whoa slow down there mate, just relax.

    By weight characteristics I mean weight, and how its stored. I'm not going to say "weight" if I mean "fat". People say they need to "lose weight" when they often mean "lose fat". And you not having said it doesnt mean I cant post it......

    I'm just fine, thanks.

    You can post anything you like, but if you're quoting someone it only makes sense to actually respond to what that person posted.

    I notice you responded to my post, but not to those asking for the "articles" you mentioned.

    Like you said, I can post what I want. Quoting you was part of making a bigger point. You don't have to be defensive about it. I could point out that your first reply was answering a question that the OP didn't ask, but I'm sure thats fine.

    And I've already posted the articles, I'm sure you know how to read

    Wow, talk about defensive. I told OP good luck and responded not to a question, but directly to a comment she made. I sincerely hope the OP does well and learns how to be successful while she's here.

    I was typing on my phone while you posted the links, but thanks for your response. There's no point in further comment, as it just derails the thread. I wasn't arguing against keto, just clarifying a point for the OP and lurkers.

  • tarukoi
    tarukoi Posts: 2 Member
    At the Weight Clinic ive been going to, one of the nutritionist/fitness people i see, who had several years of schooling (so pls dont discredit him right off the bat)
    He told me that in the great carb vs calorie debate, that while low carb will lose faster than low calorie, in the long term, say a year the overall weight lost will be very close to the same if that is the only difference. Just my two cents.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    Thank you for discussing this topic. So I seem to have TWO problems on my hands: 1) I am extremely morbidly obese (started on 170 kg, 375 pounds) and 2) a high starch / bread / sugar / cake diet makes me feel miserable, very tired, lethargic and makes me eat much, much more than I actually need. As a child I regularly fell asleep in school after having eaten a starchy breakfast.... For the last 4 months my starch comes just about only from vegetables, salads and a little bit of fruit and I stick to the daily calories suggested by MFP. So far I have lost 17 kg (37 pounds) - I eat 1800 calories or slightly less a day, try to walk as much as possible and I do not feel tired or miserable any longer. Every body reacts differently, methinks the trick is to find one's own happy, healthy lifestyle.

    I don't think anyone should eat things that make them feel poorly. It's just common sense that anyone who finds they react in a negative way to certain foods or macro distribution would avoid that in their diet.



  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,968 Member
    If I want to retire comfortably, should I pay attention to my savings, or the number of times the letter B shows up in headlines on Sunday?