Low Calories, or Low Carbs? What is better.....

grinch031

I was on the diet for 4 months, twice.

Too many variables at play here in your case. Low-carb doesn't go well with everybody. But still, I don't like to hear when experts tell others that low-carb diets cause lethargy or decrease performance, because most people who respond well to the diet (at least weight-wise) also significantly improve their performance and feel more energetic, likely because their cells are no longer starved since fat stores are no longer inhibited by excess insulin. But for aerobic activity, carbs are just not that necessary.

kateroot

I know I'm super late to this discussion, but I really think it depends on what works for you. I can't eat low calorie. If I try to eat anything less than 1600 calories a day, I'm ravenously hungry all the time, have terrible mood swings, and at least 1 hypoglycemic episode daily. If I eat low-carb and around 1800 calories, I lose weight, have tons of energy, and no hypoglycemic symptoms. Another person may have the exact opposite thing happen. I think it's trial and error, and figuring out what works for your body.

MissKim

I was on the diet for 4 months, twice.

Too many variables at play here in your case. Low-carb doesn't go well with everybody. But still, I don't like to hear when experts tell others that low-carb diets cause lethargy or decrease performance, because most people who respond well to the diet (at least weight-wise) also significantly improve their performance and feel more energetic, likely because their cells are no longer starved since fat stores are no longer inhibited by excess insulin. But for aerobic activity, carbs are just not that necessary.

This is so true. I was lethargic eating a high carb diet, but now that I'm off grains and sugars I feel awesome! and I get up every morning before work to do cardio and have more energy than ever! (i'm insulin resistant)

Brassteacher

I could not find the original post on this to reply to the author. I googled my soon to be bio degree.

This person is incorrect about the biology of energy. The primary source of fuel the body uses to make ATP is dietary fat. Dietary carbs are second.

Can't maintain low carb long term? I'm finishing year 8 and I know lots of people that have gone longer than that. Low carb is the easiest diet to maintain long term because you never have to be hungry. Then they say people regain weight after going back to eating carbs! Duuuhh!

You can have low energy on low carb for the first week or so while your body still has too much insulin. Once insulin is stable, your energy is stable. You can ask Olympic champion and elite athletic endurance coach Joe Friel about having all the energy you could ever want eating low carb.

RonSwanson66

This person is incorrect about the biology of energy. The primary source of fuel the body uses to make ATP is dietary fat. Dietary carbs are second.

Care to back that up there, sparky?

bakrgirl74

I haven't read through everything, but for me I tend to lose better when I eat lower carb. Or better carb.. I cut down on pasta and try to use whole wheat when I do eat it. Same with breads, I chose the whole wheat, whole grain breads. I focus on getting most of my calories through veggies, fruits, and lean proteins. but I know I am carb sensitive, if that makes sense. Carbs do effect me quite a lot. I get bloaty from eating too many. So I believe it is a Your mileage may vary (ymmv) type of thing... I think the most important thing for me is to try to eat in moderation and to balance everything out...

dls06

Healthy eating and portion control.:flowerforyou:

bakrgirl74

Healthy eating and portion control.:flowerforyou:

Yep that is what I am don't this time around. But this time around my thinking is totally different. I am not on a diet. I am eating healthy and moving more. I try to keep most of my calories and carbs, from whole, not processed foods. But I am not ruling anything out. If I really want a cookie, I eat a cookie, but not every day, and I only have one. If I want pizza I have pizza, but Will do veggie lovers, and thin crust, and only have a slice and add a big salad on the side.. I think before I have restricted myself too much.. Now I don't feel that I am missing anything....

But back to the original topic..... Moderation...

Cparent04

The biggest thing for me is craving junk food. Since the New Year I have cut out all refined sugar and still count my calories. I find that since I cut out "bad" carbs and eat more protein and veggies I don't feel starving all the time. I am better able to control myself when the junk food is around. Part of the problem that has led to my weight gain is that I have absolutely no will power when there is something yummy at my disposal.

I still get ample carbs to fuel my body from the right sources (fruit, sweet potatoes, Quinoa, ect) and I try to chose carbs that metabolize slower. I also try to eat my carbs during the day and have low carb dinners. So far this works for me.

Everyone's body is different and my body just seems to like to hang on to carbs. A no carb diet is dangerous and unhealthy. I notice now that I look at how many grams of sugar are in food and make decisions based on that. Ultimately you have to do what works for you and your body type keeping in mind that you still need to take in the right amount of calories.

Symphony6

I was on the diet for 4 months, twice.

Too many variables at play here in your case. Low-carb doesn't go well with everybody. But still, I don't like to hear when experts tell others that low-carb diets cause lethargy or decrease performance, because most people who respond well to the diet (at least weight-wise) also significantly improve their performance and feel more energetic, likely because their cells are no longer starved since fat stores are no longer inhibited by excess insulin. But for aerobic activity, carbs are just not that necessary.

LOL. You guys aren't reading what I am posting. I hope the OP gets the message. I did not say I felt more lethargic or less energetic on a low carb diet. I said that my performance differed on low carb as opposed to what you guys are calling "high carb", which wasn't really "high" at all, just HIGHER. I used HR as a gauge to measure this performance. If you want to discount my experience to "too many variables" ...then you are in denial. Personally, I advise anyone who is interested in a low carb diet to try it out for 2 weeks. I am sure you will find it will work for you...maybe for a long time, maybe only for a little while, but personally, it does not work for me. I believe that is what the OP was asking and what I had every right to answer.

grinch031

I was on the diet for 4 months, twice.

Too many variables at play here in your case. Low-carb doesn't go well with everybody. But still, I don't like to hear when experts tell others that low-carb diets cause lethargy or decrease performance, because most people who respond well to the diet (at least weight-wise) also significantly improve their performance and feel more energetic, likely because their cells are no longer starved since fat stores are no longer inhibited by excess insulin. But for aerobic activity, carbs are just not that necessary.

LOL. You guys aren't reading what I am posting. I hope the OP gets the message. I did not say I felt more lethargic or less energetic on a low carb diet. I said that my performance differed on low carb as opposed to what you guys are calling "high carb", which wasn't really "high" at all, just HIGHER. I used HR as a gauge to measure this performance. If you want to discount my experience to "too many variables" ...then you are in denial. Personally, I advise anyone who is interested in a low carb diet to try it out for 2 weeks. I am sure you will find it will work for you...maybe for a long time, maybe only for a little while, but personally, it does not work for me. I believe that is what the OP was asking and what I had every right to answer.

You said your performance decreased (more effort to get the same work output), and I said I don't like experts saying low-carb diets generally cause decreased performance because it is largely untrue. I think you are getting defensive over nothing. The point is, there is no general consensus that low-carb diets decrease performance. It only affects probably the most elite athletes, but the average joe eats far more carbs than they could possibly need.

Too many variables means I can't draw any real conclusions based on your story because I dont have enough information.

Trying out a low-carb diet for 2 weeks doesn't give it a fair chance since it can take up to 6 weeks to adjust to it as far as athletic performance goes. I was lethargic during my workouts for about 3 weeks.

When you eat a diet consisting of mainly carbs, then you burn mostly glucose and much less fat. This can cause excessive hunger if you deplete your glucose stores or lethargy if you try to manually restrict calories against the body's will to eat. That is why low-carb diets work for so many people.

Symphony6

I was on the diet for 4 months, twice.

Too many variables at play here in your case. Low-carb doesn't go well with everybody. But still, I don't like to hear when experts tell others that low-carb diets cause lethargy or decrease performance, because most people who respond well to the diet (at least weight-wise) also significantly improve their performance and feel more energetic, likely because their cells are no longer starved since fat stores are no longer inhibited by excess insulin. But for aerobic activity, carbs are just not that necessary.

LOL. You guys aren't reading what I am posting. I hope the OP gets the message. I did not say I felt more lethargic or less energetic on a low carb diet. I said that my performance differed on low carb as opposed to what you guys are calling "high carb", which wasn't really "high" at all, just HIGHER. I used HR as a gauge to measure this performance. If you want to discount my experience to "too many variables" ...then you are in denial. Personally, I advise anyone who is interested in a low carb diet to try it out for 2 weeks. I am sure you will find it will work for you...maybe for a long time, maybe only for a little while, but personally, it does not work for me. I believe that is what the OP was asking and what I had every right to answer.

You said your performance decreased (more effort to get the same work output), and I said I don't like experts saying low-carb diets generally cause decreased performance because it is largely untrue. I think you are getting defensive over nothing. The point is, there is no general consensus that low-carb diets decrease performance. It only affects probably the most elite athletes, but the average joe eats far more carbs than they could possibly need.

Too many variables means I can't draw any real conclusions based on your story because I dont have enough information.

Trying out a low-carb diet for 2 weeks doesn't give it a fair chance since it can take up to 6 weeks to adjust to it as far as athletic performance goes. I was lethargic during my workouts for about 3 weeks.

When you eat a diet consisting of mainly carbs, then you burn mostly glucose and much less fat. This can cause excessive hunger if you deplete your glucose stores or lethargy if you try to manually restrict calories against the body's will to eat. That is why low-carb diets work for so many people.

First of all, when you eat a low-carb diet, you effectively deplete your glucose stores. Your body is given no choice but to turn to your fat stores for energy. Burning these fat stores is more difficult for your body because the fat must first be converted into glucose before it can be burned. This process costs you an ATP molecule during glycolysis that burning carbs doesn't. So, It stands to reason that if your body is working hard converting, you are going to have a bit less energy. Fat oxidation also requires more oxygen than carbohydrate oxidation. I really do not understand how you think this is "largely untrue." You can poo poo the experts all you want, but this is a biological fact, and I would believe my prof who has a masters degree in human kinetics and a CSEP-CEP.

The reason you get hungry on a high-carb diet is because carbs are easier for your body to digest, not because of burning mainly glucose. Regardless of what you eat, your body burns the most readily available source first, i.e. carbs. Then, when your glucose stores are depleted, it switches to mainly burning fat. Lethargy comes from not having enough energy from your food, i.e. cutting your calories too low for your body to function.

Acg67

.

Jambe

It's virtually impossible to exceed your calorie goal if you workout fairly regularly and go for low carbs and just focus on hitting all your other nutrient goals. At least, I've found it very difficult. I exceed most of it by 2000 calories... that leaves another 1k ( or 5000 if I just wanted to maintain my weight )

There is a very noticeable difference on days when I eat 200+ carbs and days I only eat 50. At least, as far as running goes.

There is also a very noticeable difference in how fast I drop weight on days where I consume 50 compared to 200+.

There is a third variable though. One that's largely unknown and foreign to most and is just barely catching on And it has to do with intermittent fasting. You can actually adapt your body to become efficient at using fat as a fuel source.

I did mostly low carb diet for the past... oh... 7 months now ( 140 lbs lost ) There is still a difference. Days where I consume an entire Large pizza I can sprint a 5k fairly easily. Days where I get 50carbs... I kind of struggle a bit to make it. Definitely takes more effort.

RonSwanson66

It's virtually impossible to exceed your calorie goal if you workout fairly regularly and go for low carbs and just focus on hitting all your other nutrient goals. At least, I've found it very difficult.

n=1

Just because your appetite works that way, don't assume this applies to the rest of the population.

Acg67

There is also a very noticeable difference in how fast I drop weight on days where I consume 50 compared to 200+.

There is a third variable though. One that's largely unknown and foreign to most and is just barely catching on And it has to do with intermittent fasting. You can actually adapt your body to become efficient at using fat as a fuel source.

might you be confusing water weight with actual fat loss?

geistmadl

I am for a healthy lifestyle. I have to limit my carbs anyway, so I just try to follow a lower carb, low fat diet.

HangoverSquare

I've never worried about carbs, frankly, and I've lost nearly 30 lbs. since August.

Calories are all I keep track of, and it seems to be working for me. Moderation is key, I suppose.

Jambe

I guess there's a small chance that my scales wrong, but it's been consistent since I started in how the way I ate carbs effected my weight.. It also measures water weight pretty accurately, which I do midfast to get an accurate read. I do keep track of my waist, though, and that doesn't lie. Day 1 of fast I dropped all the water weight ( 9lbs ) Since then it has been consistent in the drop of actual weight. The fat % has also been steadily going down... BMI .. eh. Does anyone still bother to use that ?

My walls always seemed to occur during weeks with lots of snacking on carb foods. Example- Low fat Yogurt VS Peanuts. Special K Snack crisps VS Cottage Cheese. Similar calories... just lots of carbs. I still lost, just not nearly as fast. Weight always would jump up like 10 lbs from water. Then a few days would pass. I would take a few days easy with carbs and I would be like maybe 1/4 a lb below where I was before once the water weight was gone.

JennieAL

Bump