Do people on low carb diets count their calories?

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  • judychicken
    judychicken Posts: 937 Member
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  • bertabird
    bertabird Posts: 52
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    I'm low carb'n it and I still count my cals. I count my sodium, fat, protein, carbs, fiber (so I can get net carb counts) and cals. It's all related, you know? What goes in is all nutrition and I count it all, even when I screw up! ;o)
  • dbritt07
    dbritt07 Posts: 17 Member
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    "So to circle all the way back to your question; yes of course you. If you eat less carbs, yes you will retain less water, your "fat" loss will progress more smoothly in a visible sense on the scale and in general fluctuations in weight a person goes through just in a day, but it all breaks down to calories in versus calories out."

    I wish you were right with those last few words in your last sentence. Maybe that works for some people but it doesn't for me. I have actually tested myself. I ate "healthy carbs" like Flax Oatmeal, apples, some whole grain organic bread, whole wheat pasta, sweet potatoes, during the week etc.. and of course my proteins. All of them measured or weighed to what is supposed to be an exact portion size, btw. I kept it all at or just under a normal caloric count for my age and weight. I have also done this test by cutting these "healthy carbs" almost completely out of my diet and adding instead more nuts, more protein, low carb veggies. In test 1, I would gain weight immediately. Switch to test 2 and I drop weight FAST. So it has to be our glycemic levels that play a large part and therefore I can't buy that a calorie is a calorie anymore. I wish you were right though, I'd be carbo-loading all the time.
  • snaapz
    snaapz Posts: 41 Member
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    I've manually adjusted my carbs to 120g per day, it is working for me. I don't really count my cals anymore... but I get no where close to going over. (1100 - 1200 per day; male over 200lbs)
  • sammichPG
    sammichPG Posts: 30
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    If calories in vs calories out isn't everything, do people on low carb diets still consider how many calories they've eaten?

    I've been eating relatively low carb (70-80g per day) and on a calorie deficit for a few weeks, and I'm losing nicely and feel good on the low carb diet, but my hubby tells me I'm too obsessed with the calories, and that the calories don't matter ... I should just count the carbs.

    Any thoughts?

    calories in VS calories out should be your biggest concern, macro ratios are important as well

    you could easily gain weight on a full keto diet (almost no carbs) by eating over your TDEE
  • ashleab37
    ashleab37 Posts: 575 Member
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    My carbs are quite low (less than 30g a day) so I don't bother with counting calories as well. I generally aim for a certain level of hunger.

    just curious, since the primary function of this site is to count calories, why are you on this site? did you switch to not counting calories after you found this site?
    I am a low carb lifestyler (making it back on track) who isn't interested in calories as a marker. I am on this site because I don't want to do it alone. I need encouragement and a "high five" every once in a while. We are all on different journeys and arrive here on MFP for a variety of reasons. Why be such a putz?
    Seemed like genuine curiosity to me, why be so rude and defensive?
  • ashleab37
    ashleab37 Posts: 575 Member
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    My carbs are quite low (less than 30g a day) so I don't bother with counting calories as well. I generally aim for a certain level of hunger.

    just curious, since the primary function of this site is to count calories, why are you on this site? did you switch to not counting calories after you found this site?
    I am a low carb lifestyler (making it back on track) who isn't interested in calories as a marker. I am on this site because I don't want to do it alone. I need encouragement and a "high five" every once in a while. We are all on different journeys and arrive here on MFP for a variety of reasons. Why be such a putz?

    was just curious...sorry for putzing on your parade

    Your curious way of asking a question was a bit "nasty" or condescending in tone. That is why I reacted the way I did.
    There is no tone in text other than perceived tone.
  • etoiles_argentees
    etoiles_argentees Posts: 2,827 Member
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    Well, I haven't tried a low carb diet for several years, when I did I stayed at 70 grams or under and lost way too much weight in 4-6 weeks. No counting of calories. I'm already thin and experimented with it just for the experience.
  • darrensurrey
    darrensurrey Posts: 3,942 Member
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    I was low carbing just before joining this site and felt something wasn't working right so decided to use MFP to log my intake. Turns out I was maybe eating 1000 calories a day on average.

    I had been told that I may have been eating too much because you can still eat too much even if you are low carbing.
  • lolagurlx0x0
    lolagurlx0x0 Posts: 149 Member
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    YES- The reason people go low carb is because if you are not working out or training hard for something they are not as necessary- before I was told I was supposed to be eating only 62 carbs a day- I was at like 250 or 300- Lowering carbs alone is not going to make you lose weight generally. (I say generally because everyones machine runs differently with different fuel.)
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,018 Member
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    If calories in vs calories out isn't everything, do people on low carb diets still consider how many calories they've eaten?

    I've been eating relatively low carb (70-80g per day) and on a calorie deficit for a few weeks, and I'm losing nicely and feel good on the low carb diet, but my hubby tells me I'm too obsessed with the calories, and that the calories don't matter ... I should just count the carbs.

    Any thoughts?
    I count periodically to make sure I'm eating enough.....If I don't do that I lose too much weight, which is not my goal.
  • lolagurlx0x0
    lolagurlx0x0 Posts: 149 Member
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    My carbs are quite low (less than 30g a day) so I don't bother with counting calories as well. I generally aim for a certain level of hunger.

    just curious, since the primary function of this site is to count calories, why are you on this site? did you switch to not counting calories after you found this site?
    I am a low carb lifestyler (making it back on track) who isn't interested in calories as a marker. I am on this site because I don't want to do it alone. I need encouragement and a "high five" every once in a while. We are all on different journeys and arrive here on MFP for a variety of reasons. Why be such a putz?

    was just curious...sorry for putzing on your parade

    Your curious way of asking a question was a bit "nasty" or condescending in tone. That is why I reacted the way I did.
    There is no tone in text other than perceived tone.

    This could turn into an english and composition debate right quick. It was a ridiculous question anyways- As MFP is for tracking THINGS and MFP also has a carb counter. So it is a great tool for both carb and calorie counting. Of which I do both. The composition of his sentence did seem to imply condescension. BUT could have been unintentional or out of ignorance.

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