Low-Calorie vs. Low-Carbs

fearlessly

Oh all-knowing MFP members, please tell me what's the way to go!

I wrote a whole autobiographical bit leading to a question, but I think I'd just like to open this up for any comments regarding a low-calorie diet versus a low-carbohydrate diet. What do you do? What works best? Good/bad experiences on either?

spunkbeer

I will always stict to low calorie.
Because you do need some carbs in your diet.

AnitaAntone

I've been thinking the same thing,which is best? I 've tried low carb before and it was effective but at 20-25 carbs a day for the plan I was on, I couldn't stick with it and gave up 6 months in with 50lbs lost. Gained them back plus more!Trying calorie resrtiction this time with moderate diet and exercise and waiting to see how it works for me. So far its working ok. The weight seems to be coming off slower but I'm older by 5 yrs. Time will tell, but I admit the low carb thing is tempting me(the not having to count calorie and the heavier protien and fat diet satisfied me,and new med studies I have heard cited). The calorie restriction has variety going for it and no foods are out of bounds so you can use the calories as wisely or a foolish as you want, also it seems maybe a more doable" lifestyle" choice forever. That is important to me because I know I need to find a healthy way of eating ,exercising and moderation that I can keep up for a lifetime or I 'm just going to keep finding myself weighing more and more. I'm trying to "listen to me body" and see how it reacts and try to go from there, but I sure would love to hear more opinions and experinces!

JennLifts

you seriously need carbs. Id say limit them, but low calorie for sure..

chrisdavey

Generally low carb diets work because they are reduced calorie So it isn't a choice really.

Carbs hold onto water so if you were wanting to rapidly drop weight then going low carb will help e.g. weighing in for a sporting event.

Long term, I prefer to consume carbs for breakfast (to restore liver glocygen) and then the majority peri-workout. I typically consume about 100-150g on light training days and about 250g on training days. That is with around 2500-3000 cals intake so light days 20% and heavy days 33% (which I just realised isn't that much :P)

4theking

What Chrisdavey said. All you need to do to lose weight is reduce calories or burn more through exercise. Just eating low carb will do nothing for your fatloss without a reduction in calories.

kimwig

Oh all-knowing MFP members, please tell me what's the way to go!

I wrote a whole autobiographical bit leading to a question, but I think I'd just like to open this up for any comments regarding a low-calorie diet versus a low-carbohydrate diet. What do you do? What works best? Good/bad experiences on either?

Watching calories is critical. You can still gain weight on low carb diet because you can still eat a lot of high cal foods.

Eat less (get most nutrition you can for your calories) and move more. It is a simple formula. You just have to figure out what suits you and your lifestyle, as you need to change eating patterns for the rest of your life.

Keeping trim and healthy does not stop when you have lost weight, it has to become your lifestyle, it becomes who you are.

kevanos

to lose weight you need to create a calorie deficit.

1st thing to is find out how many calories you burn per day on average, you Total Daily Energey Expenditure (TDEE). Use this calculator to find your TDEE: http://www.fitnessfrog.com/calculators/tdee-calculator.html

2nd: Subtract 1000 calories form your TDEE: that is the number of calories you have to eat to lose 2lbs per week.

Now divide your calories like this 55% carb, 30% Protein, 15% fat. There are 4 calories in a gram of Carbs and Protein, Fat has 9 calories.

Example:

TDEE = 3000 calories
3000-1000= 2000 calories / day.

carbs = 2000cal x 55% / 4 = 275g
protein = 2000cal x 30% / 4 = 150g
fat = 2000cal x 15% / 9 = 33g


a diet of 275g Carb, 150g Protein, 33g fat will be exactly 2000 calories. You can put these value sinto your goals section of MFP, much better than what they propose in my opinion.