Carbs vs. calories

alexmose
alexmose Posts: 792 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi this may be a dumb question, but how important is it to remain within your carb limit? I stay within my calorie limit. Has anyone had success ignoring their carbs and paying attention to only calories and vice versa? I am not interested in Keto or fad diets. I obviously like carbs a bit too much.
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Replies

  • dragon_girl26
    dragon_girl26 Posts: 2,187 Member
    My split is basically 50% carbs, 30% fats and 20% protein. I go over my carb goal pretty frequently and it hasn't affected my weight loss because calories are what matter for that.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    I like carbs too. :smiley:

    When I lost my excess weight I set minimum goals in grams for protein and fat and the rest of my daily calorie allowance could come from whatever macro I wanted or needed on any particular day within the context of an overall healthy diet.

    As a long distance cyclist I have some spectacularly high carb days but my weight tracks my long term calorie intake.
  • confidenceinrain
    confidenceinrain Posts: 104 Member
    I don't restrict my carbs at all, just make sure they fit into my calories. Down 26 pounds so far. A calorie is a calorie.

    The caveat being that some types of carbs (GARLIC BREAD UGH) can make you hold on to some water weight and make the scale look higher than it should be. Don't mistake water weight for fat gain, as long as you are sure of your food weighing etc you should be fine.
  • Panini911
    Panini911 Posts: 2,325 Member
    I've lost over 40pds ignoring carbs. I just watch overall calories and keep an eye on say protein, sugar and fat. (I tend to eat too much sugar and not enough fat so that's more a health thing than a weight loss thing)
  • zeejane03
    zeejane03 Posts: 993 Member
    edited February 2019
    Back during my active weight loss phase I didn't track macros at all-only my calorie intake (did the fancy paper/pencil tracking method lol). Lost the extra weight and improved all my health markers.

    Fast forward to now, I'm in a small weight loss cut to get rid of some vanity maintenance pounds. At this point in the process (7ish years), I've got a good handle on what foods are more filling for me etc. Tracking my intake right now and I'm eating over 200 carbs most days. Still losing weight right on schedule, because I'm hitting my calorie targets.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    I got at least 60% of my calories from carbohydrates when I was losing weight, it didn't seem to cause any problems for me. As long as you're getting sufficient protein and fat, how many carbohydrates to eat is just a matter of personal preference.
  • garystrickland357
    garystrickland357 Posts: 598 Member
    I lost 80 pounds last year and never worried about carbs. If you manage a consistent calorie deficit you'll lose weight. I'm a cyclist and runner as well - some days I eat loads of carbs. The only macro I pay attention to is protein. Fat and Carbs fluctuate depending on what I eat.
  • HereToLose50
    HereToLose50 Posts: 154 Member
    I pay attention to the calories mostly for my overall day.


    I'm not low carb but I do have better results by delaying the bulk of my carb intake until afternoon or evening. I found if I have a carb heavy breakfast without much protein or fat that I am hungrier more often through the day. Balancing carb/protein/fat at breakfast does improve my hunger/cravings, but I still end up wanting to eat more than normal.

    With that in mind, different people have different results. Some people can eat carbs all day long and not trigger extra hunger and easily stay within calorie limits.
  • alexmose
    alexmose Posts: 792 Member
    I should have been more specific. I am in recomp, not loss.
  • ahoy_m8
    ahoy_m8 Posts: 3,053 Member
    alexmose wrote: »
    Has anyone had success ignoring their carbs and paying attention to only calories and vice versa?
    Yes. I also ignore carbs, but not fiber. My goal is a minimum 25g fiber, 50g fat & 100g protein (within calorie goal). This will keep me full regardless of what I eat after these minimums are met. It’s a bit more fat & protein than the formulas say I technically *need* but it’s the key to satiety for me. Some days I’m 50% calories from carbs, some days only 30% carbs. There’s a broad range that works for me.
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,968 Member
    alexmose wrote: »
    Hi this may be a dumb question, but how important is it to remain within your carb limit? I stay within my calorie limit. Has anyone had success ignoring their carbs and paying attention to only calories and vice versa? I am not interested in Keto or fad diets. I obviously like carbs a bit too much.

    I lost 75 pounds eating as many carbs as I could fit into my calories. Literally paid no attention to them. Lost weight because I was in an energy balance.

    I ate too low carb for a while and was not able to perform at a high level on a road bike or cross country skiing.

    "Blue zones" are places where people live much longer and healthier than average. They're also places where people get most of their calories from carbs.
  • SeattleBebop1
    SeattleBebop1 Posts: 26 Member
    As kimny72 said, individual satiety is key. I started avoiding carbs for breakfast (like HeretoLose) because it spiked my blood sugar up too high and really made me hungry. I eat bacon and eggs instead, and then for a midmorning snack, I have veggies like carrots and tomatoes instead of the Cutie mandarins.

    However, I do not pay attention to carbs when hiking and I simply eat whatever my body tells me it needs.
  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 9,282 Member
    You will only lose weight if you eat low calorie - low enough to be less than you burn. That is regardless of whether you eat high carb, low carb, pay no attention to carbs.

    I doubt anyone recommends eating huge quantities of cheese, bacon etc or cutting out fruit and veg - but that is a separate issue to low calorie.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    Luciicul wrote: »
    Depends on the person.

    Interestingly I saw a BBC doco last night called The Truth About Carbs and they showed a quick test anyone can do to see if they are the type of person who can eat loads of carbs, should minimise them, or eat in moderation:

    Time this: Chew a plain unsalted unsweetened cracker (don’t swallow). If it starts to taste sweet in under 15 seconds, your body metabolises carbs well and you can eat plenty of carbs, if it takes 15-30 seconds to taste sweet, you can eat a moderate amount of carbs but not too much, and if it doesn’t taste sweet for you in 30 seconds, you should consider eating a lower carb diet because your body doesn’t handle carbs as well.

    Some people have more enzymes for carbs than others, and the breakdown process begins with saliva.

    Crackers never taste “sweet” to me, and this confirms what I already found with my own trial and error that I can’t lose weight on a moderate carb diet even if in calorie deficiet because the effect on my blood sugar affects my metabolism etc.

    It’ll be a completely different story for someone else.

    I'm not vouching for the scientific validity of this, but did the same test with raw potato years ago. (I would never have unsalted crackers in the house, lol.)

    https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/cracker-test-carbs-how-many-should-you-eat-calculator-a7377231.html
  • mmapags
    mmapags Posts: 8,934 Member
    Ziaki wrote: »
    Just my personal experience.

    Last year at work we did a Biggest Loser Challenge. I've lost weight before (even getting down to my goal weight) so I know what works for me. I counted every calorie that went into my mouth.

    My friend also participated and decided to try Keto but very loosely counted her calories.

    Guess who won. . .

    (Spoiler alert)

    It was me. I beat her by 4%.

    Neither of us really stuck to our diets over the last year and I gained about 5 lbs back of the 25lbs I lost. She gained all of her weight back.

    We are doing another biggest loser challenge this year. She's doing the keto thing again. And I'm counting my calories again. I'm fairly confident I'm going to win again, at least between the two of us.

    Ultimately it is whatever works for you but I'll stand by calorie counting over worrying about carbs any day.

    For some people, keto can be a perfectly valid way to eat. The key is sustainability for that individual. If it fits their preferences and they are happy and satisfied on it, it can work fine over time.

    If someone is just using as a quick fix, like it sounds like you coworker was/is, the likelihood of regaining and essentially yoyo-ing is high.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    alexmose wrote: »
    Hi this may be a dumb question, but how important is it to remain within your carb limit? I stay within my calorie limit. Has anyone had success ignoring their carbs and paying attention to only calories and vice versa? I am not interested in Keto or fad diets. I obviously like carbs a bit too much.

    Calories drive weight management...they are the unit of energy that fuels your body. Carbs are just one of three macro-nutrients...outside of certain medical conditions, they don't really matter for weight management.

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