Low Calories, or Low Carbs? What is better.....
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It is very well known that exercise alone is not an effective way to lose weight. Diet is far more important, and the problem is people are told that cutting calories is the solution, but it is not because it is unsustainable.
guess what, low carb diets work exactly the same as all over diets, a caloric deficit
Yet by simply eliminating certain food groups, you can still eat as much as you want and your body needs and lose weight. That is much better than a diet where you have to count calories and starve yourself in the process.
The magic of a low carb diet is because it is closer to the way humans were designed to eat, it allows the body to naturally regulate itself to avoid obesity. This is certainly not the case when eating mostly carbs.
actually you can't eat as much as you want if you eliminate certain food groups as you must maintain a consistent caloric deficit
and studies have borne out that the more restrictive a diet ie eliminating or severely limiting an entire macro , are the worst in terms of adherence, which is one of the most important things for any diet
Even with the assumption that you are correct about a caloric deficit, the low carb diet is superior because the body does not crave as many calories as it does on a high carb diet. So the caloric deficit comes naturally with no effort to suppress eating. The only thing the person needs to do is not eat certain foods.
The only reason a low carb diet would fail with long term sustainment is because the individual person does not like the food choices available to them. I am fine with low carb foods and have no problem giving up sweets. But I am not fine restricting calories while remaining high carb and feeling starving all the time. It is 100 times harder when I run a lot also.0 -
Forget all the fad crap, and use good old fashioned common sense and logic. It's a lot less complicated than you think plus listening t your body helps a lot too. After a big run I sometimes crave carbohydrates and sugars...and rightly so! I've just used a whole load of stores and as a regular runner it wants to make sure I have enough "easy" energy as possible to go again!
When people listen to what their body wants, they overeat and become obese when following the recommendations of organizations that are supposed to know about diet and nutrition. Sure as an endurance runner myself, my body rightfully wants me to weigh 200 lbs? For what, so I can get injured from all the pounding on my joints? No, because my body is addicted to foods that it is not designed to eat. Primitive human civilizations did NOT have access to carbohydrates the way they do today.
Most people become obese due to sedentary lifestyles more than through overeating carbs. When it comes to carbs the type matters much more than the amount.
^^AGREED... I did say about being sensible and using common sense... what I was trying to imply is, that if I feel like I want carbs I will have them...but also count them towards my calorie intake. I haven't gained weight because I ate carbs ever. Only through gluttony. My "diet" and we're not talking in the weight loss sense (up to christmas) was mostly carbohydrates derived from oats, wholewheat/wholemeal, potatoes and fruit/vegetables and things like treat sized chocolate. I lost weight on this (It was balanced...plenty of protein too and obv as carbs/sugars also coming from veg/fruit I was getting all essential vitamins and minerals too) no problems. Christmas have been a pig... overeaten, known it and inevitably gained a pound of actual fat. 4 or 5lbs of water too which came off quickly.
How can you say you only gain weight by gluttony? Gluttony is completely driven by the body, and Taubes' whole point is that carbs and insulin are the root cause of gluttony. This is exactly what my own experience has shown. Ever since I cut carbs out of my diet, I don't ever binge eat like I used to.0 -
for me its about carbs. I gain weight the minute i touch them.
Id rather eat high calorific foods such as avacado, nuts, salmon oils than any type of starchy carb.
Having said that, i do allow myself rice noodles.
This!! Although I would say it does matter how your body reacts to carbs and what kind of carbs you are eating.LIke past posters have said even if you are low carb but are blowing your calories out of the water you will not lose weight. I chose to go low carb but I refuse to cut out my nuts, veggies and fruits which is where most of my carbs come from
Good luck id say try both for a week or two each and see what results you get :-00 -
I agree with ACG67 for the most part!!! No matter what your carbs are, if you eat in a surplus consistently you will gain.
I for one have tried low carb diets several times in the past and after sticking with it for a few weeks and gaining weight even with PCOS I realized it just doesn't work for me. I also think a diet that restricts fruit and veggies is just nuts....(and the reason I say this is because when I do low carb, the things that I eat that have any carbs are the fruits and veggies)0 -
Even with the assumption that you are correct about a caloric deficit, the low carb diet is superior because the body does not crave as many calories as it does on a high carb diet. So the caloric deficit comes naturally with no effort to suppress eating. The only thing the person needs to do is not eat certain foods.
The only reason a low carb diet would fail is because the individual person does not like the food choices available to them. I am find with low carb foods and have no problem giving up sweets. But I am not fine restricting calories while remaining high carb and feeling starving all the time. It is 100 times harder when I run a lot also.
Rosen JC, et al. Mood and appetite during minimal-carbohydrate and carbohydrate-supplemented hypocaloric diets. AM J Clin Nutr. 42:371-9.There was no support for the idea that a minimal-carbohydrate, protein- supplemented fast decreases appetite and elevates mood more in comparison with a similar diet containing enough carbohydrate to minimize ketosis.
http://www.ajcn.org/content/42/3/371.full.pdf0 -
It is very well known that exercise alone is not an effective way to lose weight. Diet is far more important, and the problem is people are told that cutting calories is the solution, but it is not because it is unsustainable.
guess what, low carb diets work exactly the same as all over diets, a caloric deficit
Guess what, not necessarily true. I did Atkins years ago and was eating easily 3k calories a day and lost 105lbs in less than a year. Didn't do any exercise other than walking during work as part of my job and was going to college full time as well. The only reason I gained the weight is that I fell off the wagon of eating good natural foods and started eating carb-y BS with sugar and wheat again. Now that I am back to eating low carb/Paleo weight comes off without thought and I can assure you while I don't bother to track calories religiously (no reason to on low carb) I'd be willing to bet that I take in quite a bit more caloricly than MFP would recommend by their numbers.
So you can eat in a caloric surplus and lose weight doing paleo/primal/low carb?
In my particular case that happened to be true, some people may be a bit more metabolically resistant, but I know that during my first weight loss stint with Atkins there was no way in hell that I was expending more calories than I was eating. I didn't really exercise (yet maintained the muscle I had under the fat) and actually spent most of my days sitting in class or at work. I might have walked for a total of 45 min a day. At home I sat around eating meats and nuts and playing video games, I only averaged about 4-5 hours of sleep a day and still managed to loose 105lbs in roughly 9.5 months.
It's all about chemistry, hormones and science. Carbs may not affect everyone outwardly, but there is much more to the low carb/paleo lifestyle than just loosing weight (though why most people seem to go that direction in the first place).
The real issue is that low carb has a stigma attached to it, but if I said that this year I've eaten more vegtables each month than I might have in the previous year, everyone would say "GREAT!". I say I've cut out processed foods and almost all sugar, but eat fruit in moderation people would say "That sounds healthy!" If I say I cook more, and eat out at fast food less, people would say "Good for you!" But as soon as I throw out the phrase "low carb" I'd likely actually be branded a fool and get comments like "That will kill you!" I just said the same things but differently....0 -
How can you say you only gain weight by gluttony? Gluttony is completely driven by the body, and Taubes' whole point is that carbs and insulin are the root cause of gluttony. This is exactly what my own experience has shown. Ever since I cut carbs out of my diet, I don't ever binge eat like I used to.
Then how do you get fat, if not by overeating, is it that evil carbs can make you fat while eating in a caloric deficit?0 -
for me its about carbs. I gain weight the minute i touch them.
Id rather eat high calorific foods such as avacado, nuts, salmon oils than any type of starchy carb.
Having said that, i do allow myself rice noodles.
This!! Although I would say it does matter how your body reacts to carbs and what kind of carbs you are eating.LIke past posters have said even if you are low carb but are blowing your calories out of the water you will not lose weight. I chose to go low carb but I refuse to cut out my nuts, veggies and fruits which is where most of my carbs come from
Good luck id say try both for a week or two each and see what results you get :-0
Right if you eat more calories than you need, you will burn just the calories you consumed recently and not really burn stored fat. While its still rather debatable that you can actually gain fat on a truly low carb diet, I didn't have a problem with that over the holidays when I know I was eating an ungodly amount of meat. I didn't gain at all, but i didn't lose either. My wife on her high carb diet did gain over the holidays.0 -
In my particular case that happened to be true, some people may be a bit more metabolically resistant, but I know that during my first weight loss stint with Atkins there was no way in hell that I was expending more calories than I was eating. I didn't really exercise (yet maintained the muscle I had under the fat) and actually spent most of my days sitting in class or at work. I might have walked for a total of 45 min a day. At home I sat around eating meats and nuts and playing video games, I only averaged about 4-5 hours of sleep a day and still managed to loose 105lbs in roughly 9.5 months.
It's all about chemistry, hormones and science. Carbs may not affect everyone outwardly, but there is much more to the low carb/paleo lifestyle than just loosing weight (though why most people seem to go that direction in the first place).
Then do tell what happened to the excess energy you think you were taking in?0 -
How can you say you only gain weight by gluttony? Gluttony is completely driven by the body, and Taubes' whole point is that carbs and insulin are the root cause of gluttony. This is exactly what my own experience has shown. Ever since I cut carbs out of my diet, I don't ever binge eat like I used to.
Then how do you get fat, if not by overeating, is it that evil carbs can make you fat while eating in a caloric deficit?
My point was there is no such thing as gluttony as I interpreted the context used by the poster I was quoting. People don't willingly overeat. They overeat because their body is driving them to do so. Carbs and insulin prevent a caloric deficit by forcing the person to eat more. Its either eat more, or suffer 24/7 with hunger.0 -
There is a lot of arguing about what is best (and I'm betting that the people arguing are happy with whatever they chose) but here's the best advice I have on this:
Do Whatever YOU think YOU can stick with long term. Any diet plan will work if you can realistically stick with it. You may even decide to try a hybrid and just eliminate starchy/processed carbohydrates (white carbs: white sugar, potatoes, white flour, etc.) and moderate calorie diet. Try each for a week or two. See how it makes you feel and if you want to keep going.
I've tried both. And I lost about the same amount of weight with both. Low carb worked faster but I couldn't stick to it long term.
If you can get past the third day of each it's not too bad.
Low Carb: Atkins isn't really a long-term plan. I stayed on it for only a couple of months. I don't know of anyone who has been able to stay on it without adding at least healthy carbs back. I had a couple problems:
1. I got bored. Eating unlimted amounts of bacon and eggs sounds amazing, for a couple of days. Even if you change it up and experiment with different types of protien, unless a new animal is discovered, you are going to eventually be stuck eating the same thing a lot. If you are the type of person that can eat the same thing 3-4 nights in a row, you may not mind. I couldn't look at an egg for months afterward.
2. It is hard to be flexible. Birthdays, special occasions, and holidays aren't going to go away. If you are low carbing you are going to have a much bigger challenge avoiding temptation while staying on track than low cal-ers. Low carbing takes a lot of disipline.
Low Cal: I stayed on 3 months before I fell off the wagon the first time. But I keep coming back, and I've never quit, so that's a huge plus for me. I had a horrible diet before and it was easier for me to transition. It's a lot more flexible than low carb because as long as you fit your splurges into your calorie allotment, nothing is off limits. I'm not saying you should eat 1400 calories worth of candy a day, just that you could. I'm assuming that getting healthier is your main goal so we'll pretend you won't lol You can also customize your eating more. I just started staggering my calories because I tend to eat more on the weekends so I am trying to make up for it by doing really well during the week.
I hope you find your path! Good luck!0 -
I'm quoting my own post because I want people to read it. Yep, I'm shameless... but I'm HEALTHY, which is what is important!I've shed 125 pounds and cut my Body Fat by 33% (from extremely unhealthy to "fitness" levels) and never cut out - or really decreased - my carb intake. I love carbs - fruits, veggies, whole grains - they not only provide fuel, but they also provide nutrients that you can't get from any other source.
The key for me has been consuming nutritious, WELL-BALANCED meals and snacks in sensible portions, drinking plenty of water, and moving my body.
That well-balanced part? Yeah, it totally includes carbs (in fact, I have a banana sitting on my desk right now, just waiting to be eaten).0 -
There is a lot of arguing about what is best (and I'm betting that the people arguing are happy with whatever they chose) but here's the best advice I have on this:
Do Whatever YOU think YOU can stick with long term. Any diet plan will work if you can realistically stick with it. You may even decide to try a hybrid and just eliminate starchy/processed carbohydrates (white carbs: white sugar, potatoes, white flour, etc.) and moderate calorie diet. Try each for a week or two. See how it makes you feel and if you want to keep going.
I've tried both. And I lost about the same amount of weight with both. Low carb worked faster but I couldn't stick to it long term.
If you can get past the third day of each it's not too bad.
Low Carb: Atkins isn't really a long-term plan. I stayed on it for only a couple of months. I don't know of anyone who has been able to stay on it without adding at least healthy carbs back. I had a couple problems:
1. I got bored. Eating unlimted amounts of bacon and eggs sounds amazing, for a couple of days. Even if you change it up and experiment with different types of protien, unless a new animal is discovered, you are going to eventually be stuck eating the same thing a lot. If you are the type of person that can eat the same thing 3-4 nights in a row, you may not mind. I couldn't look at an egg for months afterward.
2. It is hard to be flexible. Birthdays, special occasions, and holidays aren't going to go away. If you are low carbing you are going to have a much bigger challenge avoiding temptation while staying on track than low cal-ers. Low carbing takes a lot of disipline.
Low Cal: I stayed on 3 months before I fell off the wagon the first time. But I keep coming back, and I've never quit, so that's a huge plus for me. I had a horrible diet before and it was easier for me to transition. It's a lot more flexible than low carb because as long as you fit your splurges into your calorie allotment, nothing is off limits. I'm not saying you should eat 1400 calories worth of candy a day, just that you could. I'm assuming that getting healthier is your main goal so we'll pretend you won't lol You can also customize your eating more. I just started staggering my calories because I tend to eat more on the weekends so I am trying to make up for it by doing really well during the week.
I hope you find your path! Good luck!
I agree with this, the only reason Atkins doesn't work is because people don't want to give up the foods they are tempted to eat on a daily basis. If everybody in the world ate low carb, there would be no temptation to eat birthday cake and pizza. Restaurants would all offer low carb foods that taste great. Most people would be thin.
The reality is that low carb diets require avoiding temptation like happy hours, birthday parties, etc. They also require alot of creativity and meal preparation because they are going against the grain of society. I spend a lot of time cutting up green veggies, preparing salads, etc. It is work that I didn't have to do when I was eating crap foods high in carbs.0 -
How can you say you only gain weight by gluttony? Gluttony is completely driven by the body, and Taubes' whole point is that carbs and insulin are the root cause of gluttony. This is exactly what my own experience has shown. Ever since I cut carbs out of my diet, I don't ever binge eat like I used to.
Then how do you get fat, if not by overeating, is it that evil carbs can make you fat while eating in a caloric deficit?
My point was there is no such thing as gluttony as I interpreted the context used by the poster I was quoting. People don't willingly overeat. They overeat because their body is driving them to do so. Carbs and insulin prevent a caloric deficit by forcing the person to eat more. Its either eat more, or suffer 24/7 with hunger.
IOWA STATE RESEARCHERS STUDY RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN OBESITY AND HORMONE THAT STIMULATES FOOD INTAKE"Dietary composition did not significantly alter ghrelin concentrations in either the normal or overweight women," Bohan said. "So, this study supports the hypothesis that ghrelin is controlled by caloric content, rather than the concentrations of proteins, carbohydrates and fats in the diet."0 -
Then do tell what happened to the excess energy you think you were taking in?
That I can't tell you specifically, I'm not a bio chemist or have any real expertiese in the area other than my own experiences and readings. All I can tell you is that as a general rule, when low carb you don't have to work out like a maniac to stay thin, you don't need to obsess about calories and deficits or really track anything, my blood work has always improved markedly when on low carb (triglycerides, bad LDL, etc) and I don't loose any muscle while doing it. And while you COULD amplify your results by exercising, and are encouraged to do so, there's no reason to get stuck doing hours at the gym and getting caught in the cycle of chronic cardio.
While any of the low carb/paleo bashers out there will probably call him a hack/quack too, I look at Mark Sisson at 58 years old looking better than most people in their 20s following this way of eating and recommending shorter workouts and not doing a ton of cardio, because there is no need to. Mark is a former Olympic marathon runner and professional runner, so I'd say that he speaks from experience.
http://www.marksdailyapple.com//welcome-to-marks-daily-apple/#axzz1hqxnwGox
Long story short though is that I know this works for me, I like eating this way, the food tastes better and I'm loosing weight, so I don't really care what anyone says, just as the opposite side of the fence probably doesn't give a crap what I say
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uote]How can you say you only gain weight by gluttony? Gluttony is completely driven by the body, and Taubes' whole point is that carbs and insulin are the root cause of gluttony. This is exactly what my own experience has shown. Ever since I cut carbs out of my diet, I don't ever binge eat like I used to.
Then how do you get fat, if not by overeating, is it that evil carbs can make you fat while eating in a caloric deficit?
My point was there is no such thing as gluttony as I interpreted the context used by the poster I was quoting. People don't willingly overeat. They overeat because their body is driving them to do so. Carbs and insulin prevent a caloric deficit by forcing the person to eat more. Its either eat more, or suffer 24/7 with hunger.
IOWA STATE RESEARCHERS STUDY RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN OBESITY AND HORMONE THAT STIMULATES FOOD INTAKE
[/quote]"Dietary composition did not significantly alter ghrelin concentrations in either the normal or overweight women," Bohan said. "So, this study supports the hypothesis that ghrelin is controlled by caloric content, rather than the concentrations of proteins, carbohydrates and fats in the diet."
So can you explain to me why people who go on Atkins because they consume too many calories and obviously have a problem regulating their intake can suddenly allow their body to naturally regulate their intake properly simply by removing carbohydrates if it has nothing to do with the concentrations of fat, protein, or carbs in the diet?0 -
So can you explain to me why people who go on Atkins because they consume too many calories and obviously have a problem regulating their intake can suddenly allow their body to naturally regulate their intake properly simply by removing carbohydrates if it has nothing to do with the concentrations of fat, protein, or carbs in the diet?
they get tired of eating meat? lol jk0 -
So can you explain to me why people who go on Atkins because they consume too many calories and obviously have a problem regulating their intake can suddenly allow their body to naturally regulate their intake properly simply by removing carbohydrates if it has nothing to do with the concentrations of fat, protein, or carbs in the diet?
they get tired of eating meat? lol jk
That's a valid point, but let me tell you why I don't buy it. While training for a marathon, on a given weekday I would run maybe 8 miles on the treadmill after dinner. So at dinner I would eat 3-4 slices of pizza, then go to the gym about 2 hours later. I'd get home after the run, and would get the worst food craving known to man. I would eat another 3-4 slices of pizza (if available), and then want more food! I'd have to sit there and fight myself until I went to bed. So I just ate 6-8 slices of pizza that night, completely negating the entire fat loss effect of my 8 mile run, and even ending up on a calorie surplus.
Now that I'm low carb, this does not happen to me. I LOVE meat. But I eat what I need and I'm satisfied. I comfortably eat 2000-2500 calories a day, whereas I used to eat 3500-4000 when training for a marathon, even on days when I was not even running or doing short runs.
So to summarize my point, I find it difficult to manage portions while eating a high carb diet. When adding exercise to the mix, I find it exceedingly difficult, and when I'm training for a marathon, I lose absolute control of my portions. Its like my body wants to slowly gain weight, and there's nothing I can do about it except remove the offending foods.0 -
Hi CiciPorcayo,,,,,,,,,,,, I have done Atkins, South Beach, Nutrisystem and most recent, Fat Flush and Detox. I have done well on all, especially the 11 day Detox (by Ann Louise Gittleman). You clean your liver and your metabolism explodes. It goes to show all the crap we eat in todays canned goods that are full of preservatives, fruits and veggies loaded with pesticides, it shows what it does to your body. I drop 10 pounds in that 11 day detox which I try to do 2 or 3 times a year. My favorite is a 1,000 calorie diet following Nutrisystem (which is expensive) diet of portions and cooking my own food that I portioned, worked the same and with less sodium. My biggest problem with losing weight is I LOVE to eat. As for Carb or Calorie, your body needs carbs to make energy, but your body only needs a certain amount of carbs. More than that and that is when it is stored in your body as fat. Make sense? The Atkins diet shows you how to find out how much your body needs. Not sure what all diets you have tried but if find one you like and it works for you, stick to it. Good Luck0
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CoryIda,,,,,,, Well the evidence is in your weight loss,,,, congrats on what you are doing.0
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