Counting Calories vs Counting Carbs??

meg099

Hi! So I'm new here and I noticed that the food journal is heavily based on the calories you consume daily. I've been to a weight management center where they emphasize counting carbs (limiting daily carb intake to 20 carbs per day if you're trying to lose). I'm just wondering if anyone has any experience or knowledge regarding the difference between the two: which would show better results, which would be healthier,etc.

katierrt

http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/health/twin-doctors-experiment-low-fat-low-sugar-diets-article-1.1597066

I know this doesn't fully answer your question, but its interesting nonetheless. It will answer a bit about your carb portion of the question.

My personal story, I lowered my carbs to around 120 for the last 12 lb loss. I didn't really lose any energy doing so, but I stuck to only natural sugar carbs.

meg099

Thanks so much!

feedthebohemian

It's a little bit of both especially when you are working out. Excess calories/calorie deficite will determine weight loss, but macros will determine body composition. 20 grams of carbs sounds unrealistically low, discouraging and frustrating to me. I'm hypoglycemic, and my nutritionist said I'm allowed to have 1300-1400 calories per day. 3 large meals with 30 grams of total carbs, and 3 snacks with 15 total grams of carbs and no more than 10 grams of sugar per snack. She said to also set a goal of having 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight per day. So I'm having anywhere from 110-170 grams of protein per day. I eat small meals every two hours. My food diary is all messed up online, and for some reason only works properly on the app (I only log food on my phone app, and blog online) but to give you an idea, a typical day looks something like this for me:

6:00- multivitamin shake
8:00- 1\2 cup of cottage cheese, 1\4 tbs chunky peanut butter
10:00- 1\2 slice pumpernickel, 1\4 tbs peanut butter
12:00- 4 oz grilled on chicken tenderloin in lettuce wrap with mustard
2:00- 6 oz plain fat free Greek yogurt
4:00- 17 grams almonds, 1 low fat stuck of string cheese
6:00- 4 oz grilled chicken tenderloins with mustard
8:00- pre work out protein
10:00- post work out protein, 1/2 cup cottage cheese with 6 oz Greek yogurt
Check my food diary for nutritional info and daily macros, sorry the online version puts it all under breakfast?
At first it's annoying and tedious and time consuming, but it becomes a habit very quickly.

Hope this helps!