LCHF or Count Calories?

twest78

Interesting topic here, as I was just wondering the same thing. I had cut out wheat products (thereby cutting out most of the carbs I ate on a regular basis besides fruit/veggies) and lost weight faster and felt much better (wheat allergy, so I felt much better getting those products out) physically. However, when I did slip and started eating wheat again but still counting calories, I still lost weight although it was at a slower rate and I had a few weeks where the scale didn't budge or went up a little even when counting calories and sticking to my allotted daily amount.
So, I could say that cutting down carbs definitely was better for me in the long run, but I can't say if it was due to cutting out a food I was allergic to and reacting to in a bad way, or if it was from the carb count being lower.

Jay_Jay_

LCHF ketogenic diet here, down 169 lbs since August 2010. The majority of which was lost eating... bacon. The first 60 lbs I lost by calorie counting and reducing my carbs to under 100g per day, I always felt hungry, I was eating frankenfoods like low fat mayo, turkey bacon and fat free products loaded with sugar and chemicals. The weight was coming off, but it was miserable. On a ketogenic low carb diet I have lost the majority of my weight, I am never hungry, I Recently switched to intermittent fasting 18/6 because it's so easy to keep satiated. The weight is flying off, 3-6 lbs per week depending on how much I exercise. I eat eggs, bacon, steak, burgers, chicken, fish, sausage, cheese, salad and green veggies. Counting calories works, but it doesn't work well. And that's because not all calories are created equal, the types of calories also matter. I keep a 60/35/5 macro and I eat between 1200-2000 calories per day. I eat more when im hungry, which tends to be on the days I exercise. I eat less when i'm not. My body no longer has a carbohydrate fog to confuse it into being hungry when its full, I know when I should eat and when I should put down the fork without counting a single calorie. Before LCHF I would wake up in the morning, puke up acid from the disgusting crap I ate the night before, and then sit around for an hour until I was well enough to go to work. These days I wake up and often walk a mile before I leave, I feel great, my energy is boundless and LCHF is the only lifestyle I could ever recommend to someone morbidly obese or diabetic.

Jay_Jay_

Low carb is quick and easy to start with. You lose a bunch of water weight right away. But it's not sustainable. Calorie counting is much more about retraining you how to eat healthy, be satisfied, not deny yourself your treats-- for the long haul.

lol Not sustainable on low carb? Guess my existence proves you wrong. Going strong since August 2010.

Chood5

Low carb is quick and easy to start with. You lose a bunch of water weight right away. But it's not sustainable. Calorie counting is much more about retraining you how to eat healthy, be satisfied, not deny yourself your treats-- for the long haul.

I think eating low carb is very sustainable. I just think people need to find a plan that works for them and stick with it.

lyttlewon

I lost 30lbs on LCHF, but gained it all back in the first year. Calorie counting I have lost the same amount of weight but kept it off for over two years.

tyoung8

I love low carb! most foods that are low carb are low calories as well. I Feel like with low carb I can snack alot on cut up sausages, and things of that nature.

graelwyn

I stick to controlling my calories and trying to balance things out. I do eat below Mfp's goal of 55% carbs, and try and keep to 45% but other than that, I eat sweet potatoes, brown rice, occasionally a baked potato and my rice cakes. I also incorporate some treats like chocolate, ice cream and cake and find that given I exercise daily, this works best for me. I actually find it hard to maintain my weight eating a load of protein than eating my carbs. and having my protein higher than a certain % tends to put me at over 144g, which I feel is too much for my 126Ib weight. I also question whether there is any longterm risk associated with ingesting vast amounts of protein and fat, as opposed to a more balanced intake.

I could never sustain lifelong on low carb as it takes out so many food options which is the only reason it works so well for people.
Fine if you can live that way for the rest of your life, but better not ever fall off the wagon as the weight will fly back on and some extra.

I could only hope to follow it if I were not so active, as I found when I did eat more protein, less carbs, my energy levels seriously dropped.

sleepytexan

LC people, how low is low? 25 grams a day?

I'd appreciate your thoughts on my recent "lower" carb experiment. My diary is also open.

I've been easing into primal for the past two weeks, after losing my weight and maintaining via calorie counting alone. I'm still counting calories, but now shooting for fewer than 100 gr carbs per day. I used to eat easily 250+ carbs a day. The range I have hit over these past two weeks is 78 - 113 per day, with an average of 95 gr per day. This is out of appx. 2000 calories per day gross, and about 1550 net.

I'm 44 yrs old, 5'4, 132 lbs. with a TDEE of about 2500. I work out 7 days, any combo of dance, powerlifting, paddleboarding, spin, and cycling. There is always a light day in there as a recovery -- maybe 1 day of just 45 minutes slow ballroom dancing (no more than walking pace really).

While I'm not really finding this difficult to keep carbs under 100, I am finding it VERY hard to make my calories without carbs. My average macros these past 2 weeks have been 30 protein, 20 carbs, 50 fat.

I am very short on calories; yesterday I even drank an espresso au lait with heavy cream for 480 calories just to get the number up. It was hard to finish.

I have not lost any weight during these 2 weeks, but I am perfectly happy to keep at it.

Interesting things I have found while doing this:

1. I guess I'm not really lactose intolerant. I have thought for years that I was, but since eliminating grains I have had no problems, so I suspect that maybe wheat combined with dairy was my problem, not dairy on its own.

2. Dairy doesn't make me break out on its own -- same experience as above; it must have been the grains or the grains/dairy combo.

3. I am not more tired with fewer carbs.

tigersword

Studies show that a low GI (glycemic index) diet is superior to either. But, of the two you are interested in, low carb is best. Again, science shows that people who count calories regain all their weight plus more within two years while the other group (the majority of the group) maintains their loss.

Care to share these "studies?" Considering science has pretty much discredited the GI system as ineffective, I'd love to see this magical study that proves that science is all wrong. And actually, it's the crash dieters that regain weight, calorie counting is the only system where people consistently maintain weight loss.

yarwell

Low carb is quick and easy to start with. You lose a bunch of water weight right away. But it's not sustainable.

Why is it not sustainable ?

LCHF tends to result in low calories without the need to count, as the restriction of a major macro group that is favoured by society limits food choices. Foods high in protein and fat tend to be more filling, unlike the "eat now, hungry in an hour" effect of carbohydrates.

I don't believe any peer reviewed study has shown high carb to be a better diet for fat loss, some have come out in favour of LCHF with statistical significance and many have ended up inconclusive.

tigersword

Protein is filling, but fat doesn't really have any effect on satiety. Carbs and protein both help you feel full, fat doesn't. It's biological design, as otherwise, humans never would've eaten enough when food was available to store enough calories to survive famines when hunting was scarce. Insulin is the reason carbs and protein satiate, as insulin has an appetite blunting effect, and fat doesn't really register an insulin response.

This is why you could (although I don't know why anyone would) drink an entire bottle of olive oil (all 6,000 calories of it) at once and not feel full.

Glucocorticoid

Protein is filling, but fat doesn't really have any effect on satiety. Carbs and protein both help you feel full, fat doesn't. It's biological design, as otherwise, humans never would've eaten enough when food was available to store enough calories to survive famines when hunting was scarce. Insulin is the reason carbs and protein satiate, as insulin has an appetite blunting effect, and fat doesn't really register an insulin response.

This is why you could (although I don't know why anyone would) drink an entire bottle of olive oil (all 6,000 calories of it) at once and not feel full.

During the meal yeah, but fat tends to keep folks full for a longer time between meals

Ahanaz

Please make sure you use the term, "lose" weight, not "loose" weight in your paper.

Loose is as in, "My pants are loose! I'm losing weight!"

Please take this correction as a kindly one.

blessings.

Thank you, I do get confused sometimes by this. English is not my original language. I do see myself as a fluently speakeri n English and most of the time in writing too, but some spellings are confusing and sometimes I forget which is which. Thanks for the note :flowerforyou:

songbyrdsweet

Counting carbs is great if you prefer a relaxed way of dieting and lifestyle. All you truly need to do is be reasonable, and the offensive foods most people overeat (i.e. cookies, cake, carbs) are eliminated so there's no issue there.
Calories are a mathematically correct way to lose weight, however, if you eat terribly then you can't out exercise a bad diet.

Personally, my body finally got over leaky gut syndrome and I eat better knowing I can't have carbs at all.. everyone's different.

How did you assess the leaky gut syndrome?

Crochetluvr

LOOOONG time ago, there was a precursor to Atkins called the Air Force Diet that was, essentially, low carbs. I had never done that before and I tried it and it worked. And that has been what has worked for me every time I tried to lose weight. My downfall was thinking I could just go back and eat the way I used to.....I didnt realize that its low carb for life for me. Now that I have T2, I dont have a choice. But at least I KNOW I can lose even though my Dr. seems to think its going to be very difficult. He dont know me that well.

Ahanaz

Thank you everyone! I will have to turn my paper in after this weekend, so right now from what you are saying(and in other forums and facebook too), I get this feeling:

To loose weight fast, the LCHF seem to work best. But for those who like potatoes and things not allowed in LCHF, it's seem easy to fall back and eat it again once they get to their goal weight, and then they gain all the pounds again.

My conclusion is a mix of them. Start LCHF to boost the start of weight loss, then try to stick around 100carbs and keep an eye of the cal count at the same time.

From my closest friends, this seems to have worked the best. To kickstart the weight loss through LCHF, then start eating what they like/want again, but keep track of the cals. As some of you has mentioned, high carb foods are also high cal foods, so by eating low cal foods, you automatically cut down on the high carb too.

And which way works best, seems to be individual as I mentions earlier in this post. I think it all depends on how badly you like/want those carbs. If you don't really miss the carbs while on LCHF I guess it's easy to stay on the diet for the rest of your lives. But for me, who lives in Sweden, where the majority of all dishes includes potatoes, and if not potatoes it's rice, it's hard to stay on LCHF. You are used to potatoes, you're grown up on it, and I personally LOVE it! So by counting cals AND keep track fo the carbs, is for me the best solution in the long run. I will try to do pure LCHF for a month to get started, then I don't mind slowing the weight loss down. I don't think it's healthy to loose too much, too fast for too long. Not for me at least, I am not in risk soon (yet) for either diabetic or heart problems or other overweight health problems. I started in time I guess. So I'd like to go a little faster than I am right now, but after loosing maybe 10-20 pounds, then I can go back to this slower rate.

I hope no one feels left out now. As I said, it's individual what works best in the long run for people, but I must admit, LCHF definitely seems like the most effective and quickest way to start loose those first pounds. Then the long run is up to each and everyone.

Again Thank you all so very much! :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: :happy: :happy:

ShaSimone

I don't do one exclusive of the other. I have found though when my 'diet' includes good fats I lose weight, I have more energy, and feel good overall. I eat Avocados, walnuts, peanut butter, olive oil, and chocolate everyday. All in moderation and counting calories.

Glucocorticoid

Thank you everyone! I will have to turn my paper in after this weekend, so right now from what you are saying(and in other forums and facebook too), I get this feeling:

To loose weight fast, the LCHF seem to work best. But for those who like potatoes and things not allowed in LCHF, it's seem easy to fall back and eat it again once they get to their goal weight, and then they gain all the pounds again.

My conclusion is a mix of them. Start LCHF to boost the start of weight loss, then try to stick around 100carbs and keep an eye of the cal count at the same time.

From my closest friends, this seems to have worked the best. To kickstart the weight loss through LCHF, then start eating what they like/want again, but keep track of the cals. As some of you has mentioned, high carb foods are also high cal foods, so by eating low cal foods, you automatically cut down on the high carb too.

And which way works best, seems to be individual as I mentions earlier in this post. I think it all depends on how badly you like/want those carbs. If you don't really miss the carbs while on LCHF I guess it's easy to stay on the diet for the rest of your lives. But for me, who lives in Sweden, where the majority of all dishes includes potatoes, and if not potatoes it's rice, it's hard to stay on LCHF. You are used to potatoes, you're grown up on it, and I personally LOVE it! So by counting cals AND keep track fo the carbs, is for me the best solution in the long run. I will try to do pure LCHF for a month to get started, then I don't mind slowing the weight loss down. I don't think it's healthy to loose too much, too fast for too long. Not for me at least, I am not in risk soon (yet) for either diabetic or heart problems or other overweight health problems. I started in time I guess. So I'd like to go a little faster than I am right now, but after loosing maybe 10-20 pounds, then I can go back to this slower rate.

I hope no one feels left out now. As I said, it's individual what works best in the long run for people, but I must admit, LCHF definitely seems like the most effective and quickest way to start loose those first pounds. Then the long run is up to each and everyone.

Again Thank you all so very much! :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: :happy: :happy:

As I said in the very beginning, which is best would depend on the individual. Some folks do well on low carb/high fat, some folks do better on the opposite. Some folks do best on moderate fat/carb. A fortunate few will do well on any. Low carbs don't offer any metabolic advantage as opposed to high carb, so your paper would not be very accurate.

Ahanaz

As I said in the very beginning, which is best would depend on the individual. Some folks do well on low carb/high fat, some folks do better on the opposite. Some folks do best on moderate fat/carb. A fortunate few will do well on any. Low carbs don't offer any metabolic advantage as opposed to high carb, so your paper would not be very accurate.

Thank you for the thought. I am well aware that it won't be accurate since I have to restrict it and only compare 2 diets. It's only a 4page paper (MLA format, doubled space and everything) so I have to restrict a lot of factors that wont make it accurate in many ways.

RayRay1500

I have to say low carb. I have tried both. On low fat I was dizzy, always hungry, and not losing very much weight. I could not wait for my cheat day. On low carb I feel great, I am losing weight and inches, and I do not even have cheat days anymore. This is totally sustainable. Out with the junk and eat naturally with meats, seafood, and veggies!!