Low carb or calories, which is best? which will work?

becs3578

I am no expert but I will tell you my abbreviated history.

I used PALEO (no grain, no sugar, no diary) to jump start my weightloss last year about 2 months after starting crossfit. And I lost weight. I didn't count any calories at all. As long as it was paleo I ate what ever I wanted and I went to crossfit 4 times a week. As I got closer to goal, and missed bread, and the weight wasnt coming off as much......... a friend told me about MFP. I choiced 85 days ago. Since starting I have lost over 10 lbs and I am now only about 3 or 4 lbs away from goal.

So for me.. cutting carbs was the start, counting calories is the finish!

I am down 32lbs from feb 2013 and 46 lbs overall from my highest. And I have a TON more muscle. STRONG NOT SKINNY!

jamiesokd

I am no expert but I will tell you my abbreviated history.

I used PALEO (no grain, no sugar, no diary) to jump start my weightloss last year about 2 months after starting crossfit. And I lost weight. I didn't count any calories at all. As long as it was paleo I ate what ever I wanted and I went to crossfit 4 times a week. As I got closer to goal, and missed bread, and the weight wasnt coming off as much......... a friend told me about MFP. I choiced 85 days ago. Since starting I have lost over 10 lbs and I am now only about 3 or 4 lbs away from goal.

So for me.. cutting carbs was the start, counting calories is the finish!

I am down 32lbs from feb 2013 and 46 lbs overall from my highest. And I have a TON more muscle. STRONG NOT SKINNY!

That was my original plan! But the low carb isn't having the effect I wanted and I find it very restrictive so I thought I would change now...

Way to go you!!! You look incredible!! The difference in those pictures -wow!!!!!!

killingrosh

Isn't it wrong to lose a lot of weight really fast? My Dr. has me restricted to losing no more then half a pound a week so I don't do any damage to my body and so my body can get accustom to eating less/exercising more (starting with leisure walking 15 min and working my way up to an actual exercise regimen).

Ang108

So if I read your reply correctly, I am either eating too much, or not enough, and I should eat less or eat more to fix it?? LOL

I get what you are saying though...

I do not weigh my food, I have just been measuring with cups, tablespoons, etc, so I guess there is some room for error - but when the majority of my food has been veggies I can't see that any errors would put me wayyy over calorie wise...

As for exercise, ha. I kinda don't. I had MFP give me a recommendation based on mostly sedentiary and I do work on my feet all day. I have been working two full time jobs so I haven't had time to exercise, that is why I was focusing on my food. My recommendation was 1750 calories a day, and I have usually been at or under. Even today I cheated with a cupcake and I am still under calories...

I think most of all you have to be honest with yourself. You seem to have convinced yourself that you eat a lot of vegetables. You actually don't. If you say that the " majority " of food you eat is vegetable, it means that you eat more vegetables than anything else. You don't even get to the bare minimum most days.
Also you mention that you eat low carb.....which is also not exactly accurate. I am pointing this out not because it is either bad or good, but because believing in something as far as diet is concerned that is actually not true makes it really difficult to develop a functioning food plan.

jamiesokd

So if I read your reply correctly, I am either eating too much, or not enough, and I should eat less or eat more to fix it?? LOL

I get what you are saying though...

I do not weigh my food, I have just been measuring with cups, tablespoons, etc, so I guess there is some room for error - but when the majority of my food has been veggies I can't see that any errors would put me wayyy over calorie wise...

As for exercise, ha. I kinda don't. I had MFP give me a recommendation based on mostly sedentiary and I do work on my feet all day. I have been working two full time jobs so I haven't had time to exercise, that is why I was focusing on my food. My recommendation was 1750 calories a day, and I have usually been at or under. Even today I cheated with a cupcake and I am still under calories...

I think most of all you have to be honest with yourself. You seem to have convinced yourself that you eat a lot of vegetables. You actually don't. If you say that the " majority " of food you eat is vegetable, it means that you eat more vegetables than anything else. You don't even get to the bare minimum most days.
Also you mention that you eat low carb.....which is also not exactly accurate. I am pointing this out not because it is either bad or good, but because believing in something as far as diet is concerned that is actually not true makes it really difficult to develop a functioning food plan.

I feel I eat a lot of veggies- volume wise, I definitely eat mostly veggies. multiple cups of lettuce and spinach, cut veggies, etc. every day. That is pretty much how I maxed out my 20 carbs each day. What do you feel I eat more of?? And bare minimum? What is the bare minimum? I had no idea MFP gave you a veggie minimum? I just ate the max I could for my carbs allowed.

As for here, no, I will say that my diary here has not been only low carb. Prior to tracking here, I was tracking with another program. On there, every single day was below 20 carbs. Here, I started that way, lol, then I just couldn't handle the restriction and so tried adding some more things. The past few days- no, I haven't been watching my carbs at all. My recent entries are no the best example of how I was eating- but I am being truthful and so logged my food anyway. That's why I am wanting to go to calorie restriction, then I wouldn't be "cheating" just by having some greek yogurt.

tennisdude2004

So if I read your reply correctly, I am either eating too much, or not enough, and I should eat less or eat more to fix it?? LOL

I get what you are saying though...

I do not weigh my food, I have just been measuring with cups, tablespoons, etc, so I guess there is some room for error - but when the majority of my food has been veggies I can't see that any errors would put me wayyy over calorie wise...

As for exercise, ha. I kinda don't. I had MFP give me a recommendation based on mostly sedentiary and I do work on my feet all day. I have been working two full time jobs so I haven't had time to exercise, that is why I was focusing on my food. My recommendation was 1750 calories a day, and I have usually been at or under. Even today I cheated with a cupcake and I am still under calories...

I think most of all you have to be honest with yourself. You seem to have convinced yourself that you eat a lot of vegetables. You actually don't. If you say that the " majority " of food you eat is vegetable, it means that you eat more vegetables than anything else. You don't even get to the bare minimum most days.
Also you mention that you eat low carb.....which is also not exactly accurate. I am pointing this out not because it is either bad or good, but because believing in something as far as diet is concerned that is actually not true makes it really difficult to develop a functioning food plan.

I eat just enough veggies.

NicholasTan93

do both! low carb and count

naglady

From looking at your food diary, I see your eating foods that impact your glycemic index.. you need alot more fiber,

Easy way to figure a good food item.
take your fiber amount x 7 and if it is lower then your carb amount its a good food.

let say your carbohydrate is 34
your fiber is 5

5 x 7 = 35 that is higher then your carbohydrate so you can eat it, but since its close to your original carb amount i wouldnt eat alot of it.

you can eat bread,snacks, but you have to be able to pick and choose the right ones.


get your fiber up to 30 gms a day..

eat your meals, do fiber bars instead of granola bars.. you can either buy fiber plus ones, or they sell generic ones at wallmart and savalot.
I eat aunt millies high fiber bread, and even the 35 calorie bread has alot of fiber. replace your regular

you can eat alot of foods its just replacing what you want to eat with a higher fiber version
.

Ivana_KillerBody

So I've been working on losing weight for a few months now. I started just watching calories and lost 4 lbs slowly over a few months, then went to low carb.I lost great my first 2 weeks - 13 lbs. Then for the last 6 weeks, I've consistently lost one more pound and have gone up and down between another 2. 1 lb in 6 weeks does not seem good to me??

I am also finding low carb very restrictive. I would like to go back to counting calories, but I'm afraid it won't work. Now the thing is, by going low carb I have also managed to cut calories. I am usually under what MFP tells me should lose me about a pound a week. So how have I only lost 1 lb in 6 weeks??

Low carb isn't working. Low calorie isn't working. How do I get one of these methods to work?

If you can accept the restrictions, Low Carb works, I mean it did extremely well for you in the first weeks! Congratulations on that. It's working for me better than anything else ever did. There must be something else. Are you not eating enough and put your body in metabolic hibernation state? Cheat days are supposed to be good once a week to prevent this, sort of like a metabolism reset. Are you eating breakfast within 30 minutes of waking with lots of fiber & protein? Are you keeping up with water intake? Are you using artificial sweeteners? Milk, dairy and potatoes are all high carb. Other foods like hot dogs, sausages, any type of sauce (on meat) or store salad dressing usually all have sugar added. I was only able to find one brand of hot dog that has no sugar. I had to learn to use spices instead of sauces. It really takes a lot to figure out at first, but I am happy to give up my breads, sweets and flour to feel full everyday. It's a personal choice of course. I could eat a lot more calories if I burned them off; but I don't love doing cardio so I would have to eat like a bird. Low Carb and weight training is my choice of attack. That's another thing that is supposed to help: weight training. Everytime you add muscle, that extra muscle burns more calories. You may want to consider weight training if all else seems good. Good Luck.

KimberlyinMN

Amazon.com has mini digital scales that work great too! I keep one at work in my desk drawer. I bought mine at a previous job when they were clearing out stuff that they found in some cabinets. I only paid a dime for it, but it is GREAT! Anyhow, if you check out Amazon, search for a digital pocket scale.

Dallymomma

mission - I have lost 18 lbs so far, and I am happy with it, don't get me wrong. But 13 of those lbs happened in two weeks. The other 5 lbs have been spread out since January. So really, a little over a pound a month? I should be losing more than that.

trog - I have not been weighing my food, but I do measure it carefully. I already tend to come in between 100-500 calories below my goal, or I have for the last 6 weeks. well. I would say 3/4 of the time I am lower, the other 1/4 is at or slightly higher. So if I am to reduce by 100, I have still mostly been eating at that level. So should I go even lower?

Have you re-evaluated your calorie needs by editing your diet/fitness profile (under the "home" tab in settings)? I've read others who say you should put in your new information ever 5lbs lost since your caloric needs will change with how much you weigh and how active you are.

bootsncatsnboots

.deleted.

debbieannbuck

A 100 calorie cookie vs. a 100 calories worth of celery?
Obviously, the celery is a smarter choice (assuming you can eat that much lol)

Although calorie counting is essential, carbs have a lot to do with weight loss.
Just a note, almost all foods have carbs in them, even if it's a veggie!!!

If you intend to cut out starchy carbs (potatoes, rice, noodles, bread, etc), I would suggest you count calories and fat.
If you want to keep the starchy carbs in your diet, then I would count carbs.
It's really all about the lifestyle you want to maintain.

As for us, we have cut out all starchy carbs and replaced them with veggies.
Instead of spaghetti noodles, we use spaghetti squash and we are okay with this lifestyle.
Whichever way you choose, just know that weight loss can happen quickly but the moment you reach your goal and resume normal eating habits, the weight will creep back on. So just choose how you want to live.

Just a little about our weight loss journey.
My husband began at 414 lbs and lost 104 lbs in eight months.
I lost 48 lbs and believe it or not, without any exercise.
Of course exercise is important, we just didn't have time for it....seriously.

Anyway, we cut out the following items from our lifestyle:
-sugar (we use sweet n low),
-ALL milk products (because milk is digested as a solid...NOT a liquid. Think about it, how does a newborn baby form poop on a milk only diet?),
-All oils; except for zero calorie non-stick cooking spray (like Pam),
-ALL starchy carbs,
-NO CANNED FOODS ALLOWED
-nothing breaded

We then added:
-fresh herbs,
-fresh veggies,
-two LARGE veggie sides with dinner (so no macaroni or other starches)
-homemade carrot juice as soon as we wake up to kick start metabolism.

And no matter how good baked fish is for you.........we STICK to a 4-6 oz. portion of fish.
We have boneless skinless chicken breast Monday thru Friday and fish on the weekends (usually Tuna or Salmon).

There you have it and the weight fell off.
I did hit a plateau for about 3 months which is what may be happening to you, but stick with it and you'll break it!!!
Now as for our weight loss story...everything has been on hold for 6 months because of my husband being diagnosed with Brain Cancer and we haven't gained any of it back.
We just started our diets back up a couple of days ago (now that hubby's cancer is stable).

Best of luck to you.
Try to pick what's right for your life and not the quick way to lose weight; otherwise you will probably gain it back later.

debbieannbuck

Oh my.........get rid of the pop/soda and change your desserts to fresh fruit.
Instead of pineapple bread pudding...enjoy some fresh pineapple (not canned).
Start with small changes and it will all come together for you.

heybales

Have you re-evaluated your calorie needs by editing your diet/fitness profile (under the "home" tab in settings)? I've read others who say you should put in your new information ever 5lbs lost since your caloric needs will change with how much you weigh and how active you are.

MFP auto-adjusts every 10 lbs lost, and asks you to do it automatically.
It's takes about 10 lbs to make a big enough difference in the eating level to matter.

yarwell

MFP auto-adjusts every 10 lbs lost, and asks you to do it automatically.

I found that confusing - it automatically adjusts, or it prompts you to make the adjustment ?

yarwell

hahahah! You make it sound like I ate all of those every day! LOL! the cupcake was a one time thing on Thursday, I was feeling discouraged and thought "screw it". As for the other days, yes I ate a BCP with either eggs or a MIM - the general consensus on the low carb boards was I was not incorporating enough fat, so I added it to my coffee. I hadn't been doing that for too long.

LOL, but the point remains that BPC is an adequate breakfast for many - as opposed to BPC plus other things.

I can't understand from your diary what you're trying to do any more, I see zero fat items and lean meats.

heybales

MFP auto-adjusts every 10 lbs lost, and asks you to do it automatically.

I found that confusing - it automatically adjusts, or it prompts you to make the adjustment ?

Ya, latter first - prompts for fact due to weight loss yadda, yadda, yadda, if you say yes then auto-adjusts eating goal lower.

In this case, no bad stuff happening in that yadda part.

Joanne_Moniz

So I've been working on losing weight for a few months now. I started just watching calories and lost 4 lbs slowly over a few months, then went to low carb.I lost great my first 2 weeks - 13 lbs. Then for the last 6 weeks, I've consistently lost one more pound and have gone up and down between another 2. 1 lb in 6 weeks does not seem good to me??

I am also finding low carb very restrictive. I would like to go back to counting calories, but I'm afraid it won't work. Now the thing is, by going low carb I have also managed to cut calories. I am usually under what MFP tells me should lose me about a pound a week. So how have I only lost 1 lb in 6 weeks??

Low carb isn't working. Low calorie isn't working. How do I get one of these methods to work?

Low carb WILL work but the carbs that you are eating must be quality calories. It's less about the quantity of calories and more about the quality!

Joanne Moniz
The Skinny on Obesity Group