For weight loss, should I focus on carbs or calories?

Bump, to read later!

I think it's whatever will work best for you. It can take some time to figure that out.
I've done both ways. I spent 6 months following the high-carb ("healthy whole grains!"), restricted-calorie "diet" that the USDA guidelines recommend. I did quite a bit of exercise. (also a lot of reading and research). And I dropped 10lbs - my weight goal of 120lbs since this was my lowest as an adult (main goal was to eat better and get healthy). But I was eating 5-6 times a day. I was constantly hungry. I was weighing and logging foods and counting calories. My entire day seemed to revolve around food. And while I lost weight my body didn't look all that different. I had some really solid muscle but I was all puffed up, had no energy, my IBS was still a mess.
May of last year I decided to experiment with Primal Blueprint. I cut grains, beans, sugars (already had done this), flours (stopped bread 3 weeks before) and most fruit and dairy. I seriously increased my fat intake. I started eating real, whole foods only.
I had an immediate positive response. I lost 5" off my natural waistline in 4 weeks. I dropped 7lbs the first six weeks. This was at a healthy weight - supposed to be impossible. This was water and fat (I no longer retain water unless my carbs go up). I have seen 108lbs and prefer to stay between 110lb and 113lbs. I feel amazing and I have a flat belly and nice muscle mass without a ton of exercise. I sleep better. I don't get sleepy during the day. All my digestive problems, sinus problems, anxiety problems, weight problems went away. And it turned out that the RAVENOUS feeling I was getting from oatmeal and fruit was REACTIVE HYPOGLYCEMIA aka prediabetes. I can't fix it but focusing on carbs keeps my blood sugar normal and my weight normal. I maintain (and even fight to keep from losing too much) by getting plenty of fat and protein and keeping a close eye on carbs. (All carbs - if I need glucose I will eat a starchy root or tuber)
All of this was pure experiment. Think about it. The body uses protein (amino acids) and fat (fatty acids) for growth and repair - not for energy and a calorie is a unit of energy ONLY. Can we count that protein and fat toward energy intake? It's not being stored or used as energy. And I'm sorry but my body doesn't incinerate food (they figure calories by burning food - lighting it on fire and see how much energy it puts off as it burns). The body processes what we eat and applies it to what we need at that time. Okay, now I'm rambling.

This is my N=1. Maybe start with calories at first but keep an eye on the carbs you eat. At least the quality of carbs. But eat real, whole foods first and foremost (low-carb and sugar-free processed pseudofood is still processed pseudofood). Overweight or obesity means your metabolism is screwed up (our weight should be maintained by hormones. But you screw with one - say insulin or leptin or cortisol - you affect them all). Check out Mark's Daily Apple or gnolls.org. What I do is follow a Primal/Paleo template also known as Functional paleo. I think this is the best way to learn your N=1.

Good luck.

What's really interesting is when my weight drops below 110lb my appetite kicks in and start vaccuuming up food until it hits around 112-113 then it tapers off. And exercise only makes me want to eat.

Mananging calories is first priority. Managing all your macro nutrients is your 2nd. But that said, they do go hand in hand.

...It's horrible to say, but the only way you can lose weight is by burning more calories than you eat. Oh- and if you do go low carb, you'll drop between 5 and 15 pounds of water in a week for various reasons which *will* mostly go back on when you go back to regular carb.

Good advice..

I agree with this.

Thanks chap/chapess.

Skip to the bottom if you're interested in a general adaptable nutrition plan, here's a little bit on why some things work for some people and some don't for others.

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And to the people talking about meal frequency, I do a 14-20 hour fast every day depending on what engagements/priorities/how much protein I ate the night before to have a nice long period of low insulin in order to basically burn more fat. It would burn more muscle but as the protein from whole foods, dairy and meat is digested at anything between 2 (casein) - 10 or so (whey etc) grams per hour, you tend to prevent muscle loss. If you are doing this and training, have some BCAAs about half an hour before you start. 10 grams is 40 cals and won't shoot insulin up too much.

I basically work somewhere between Martin Berkgjskfjskje and Lyle MacDonald. I don't like meal frequencies being high because I like to go big on meals.

But back to the original question - what's really important is that you work out what feels good for you. I happened to read stuff that said 'eat lots of protein and fast for a while every day' essentially, and that's what feels good for me. I realised after 3 weeks in and out of ketosis (the state at which the brain uses more ketones than glucose for fuel) that ketosis didn't feel good and I didn't have a lot of energy. So I push myself to have between 130 and 170 grams of carb a day (at maintenance to 20% caloric deficit levels), because it basically makes me feel better. But I don't want to feel sluggish, so I go for low GI carbs in order to prevent a massive rush of blood sugar- note insulin spikes aren't a big deal and are completely natural -and then the subsequent crash.

Think about how you feel after you eat carbohydrates. Imagine you eat a whole bunch of white bread (very high GI food- it increases blood sugar a lot). Shortly after, do you feel sluggish? This would suggest you oversecrete insulin. If you feel sluggish on generally high (say 3-400 grams carb a day) carbohydrate diets then you probably are fairly resistant to insulin. If either, this would suggest your body could use some time in ketosis to take a break from overproducing insulin and try some methods to reduce your insulin resistance (there are many ways to do this but generally eating healthier and eating whole foods and low GI foods will help over time, dairy also helps).

But if you don't feel good on low carb diets, then don't do one.
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I would personally start here:

0.6-1 grams of protein per pound of lean body mass per day (at 209 lbs total mass I end up eating roughly 140-160 grams of protein a day) depending on activity levels and budget (protein is expensive although making your own cottage cheese is pretty easy)

Medium carb and medium fat. Say 100-150 grams of carb and 50-100 grams of fat.

This will give you between 400 and 600 calories of carb and between 450 and 900 calories of fat, respectively. Add that to your, well, 400-600ish calories of protein a day and you get somewhere between 1250 and 2100 calories a day.

Adapt that to your own resting metabolic rate. This is essentially 12 cal/lb of body weight per day, give or take one or two, but 12 is a safe guideline. Then work it out so that for the week you're down anywhere between 3500 cal and 7000 cal. This will, eventually, even out so that you lose 1-2 lbs of (hopefully) mostly fat a week, ignoring water weight losses.

Hope this helps someone.

From a pure weight loss stand point it is calories in vs. calories out. Caloric deficit leads to weight loss.

I'll just throw in my 2 cents, i've payed no attention to carbs, i still eat white bread, baked potatos and all that, i've only payed attention to calories and i've lots 10kg, now. I guess though, it would be both in moderation. Like you don't want to not focus on one. But it's up to you, i know calories works so i'd say calories.

Everyone is different. Some are more sensitive to carbs than others. You need to make sure you do eat enough carbs for energy and exercise. May have to see what works for you or a combination of both.

I watch calories first and make certain I'm eating less than I burn. I like carbs and eat a lot (250ish) daily. I didn't like who I was when I did lower my carb intake, not quite as low as a true low carb diet, but damned low for me.

I would do both!

I say both. Monitor your calories while watching the carbs. I LOVE carbs but really want to cut them at least in half! There are SO many healthy replacements out there. Cauliflower and Squash I am finding to be my favorite. Me and my friend (she is doing Atkins, while I am focusing on Calories) and we have made pizza crust, spaghetti, almost carb free lasagna, chips!!

There is a difference between low-carb and no carb.