counting calories vs low carb

I do low carb ( I stick below 50g a day) but I also calorie count.

I do both. I lose weight both ways but I lose weight lowering carbs faster than counting calories.

I eat whatever I want... all the food.

Just curious of how many people have actually lost weight doing low carbs vs calorie counting and if so what was your carb allowance?:huh:

They both work exactly the same way, a calorie deficit, so do whatever you find easier to adhere to

Yup...though I would add, as someone who's done a few different low carb program diets...they teach you nothing about actual calorie control...you just eat what they say to eat...so when you get off the diet, you have no idea what you are doing or what is necessary to maintain. At least calorie counting, you learn a whole bunch in RE to what is necessary for your body to lose, maintain, and gain.

I've been doing low carb/keto (under 20g net carbs daily) for 2.5 months. I first watch my macro percentages, and my net carbs, and then calories. I'm almost always under my calories. When I get to my goal weight, I will consider adding in minimal new carbs, only healthy/clean ones; like sweet potatoes and oatmeal every now and again. If I have a social event where I know I'm most likely going over calories, I never get kicked out of ketosis, because I know what foods I can and cannot eat. And I'm good with them. This works for me, because I've finally found the "diet" that can and will be a lifestyle for me beyond my loss.
Whatever you choose, calorie counting, low carb, or any other "diet", choose one that you truly believe will work for you now, and in the long term. One that you can control your cravings is key too. Stick with it, look at your patterns and tweak when needed.
Good luck!

Low carb works for me and I don't imagine I'll ever go back to eating the traditional diet that's recommended for good health and weight loss. Here's my cut-n-paste reply to the calories vs. carb question:

I don't have to count calories eating a LCHF wholefoods diet -- not because the calories in the food I'm eating don't matter -- but because my diet is just naturally satiating. But I counted my calories for months and months just because I was afraid I'd backslide and even now I've started logging my calories again for the holidays just as a reminder to keep things in check.

It's hard getting used to eating until I'm full to be honest because in the past if I was full and satiated it meant I ate a massive amount of calories to get there so I like to log every now and then to be sure my calories aren't out of control.

A similar question came up recently in the low carb forum and this was my response to that thread:

"It's been a couple of months since I've counted carbs or calories and I'm still losing weight. It's not that calories don't matter it's that for a lot of people eating a low carb diet is just a naturally satisfying way to eat.

My calories are anywhere between 1,000 - 2,000 a day and my carbs are usually well under 50g although the days I indulge in more fruit than my usual berries they're much higher. I think it's working for me still because I don't eat the low carb diet products (Joseph's bread, Dreamfields pasta etc.) or make all of the low carb recipes for breads, pancakes and that sort of thing.

Meat with the fat and skin on, all the non-starchy vegetables I want, a bowl of berries almost every day and as much fat as I can possibly add to each of my meals. I cook in lard, butter and olive oil and often add more than I really need like why fry my eggs in 1 tablespoon of butter when I can use 2 -- that sort of thing. I use cheese, sour cream and heavy cream a lot too. I eat until I'm absolutely full (sometimes stuffed just because it tastes so good) and then I don't eat again until I'm hungry. So I usually eat 2 high calorie meals a day (500 - 800 calories) and maybe a 300ish calorie snack just because I like to eat at night.

It feels like I eat an absolute ton of food and none of it's deliberately low calorie which is why I think they say that calories don't matter. Eat bacon, eggs and cabbage with a bowl of berries for breakfast and then follow that up with a big steak w/ butter and a nice salad with as much full fat dressing as you like and then maybe a big serving of sour cream and onion dip with veggies for a snack later and it really does seem like calories don't matter. No disgusting 0 calorie frankenfoods, dipping your fork into salad dressing on the side, or putting your fork down between each bite, drinking a glass of water before you eat, going to the gym so you can "afford" to eat more or any of the other weird little tricks people come up with -- just a whole lot of delicious food -- that's probably only about 1,600 calories total for the day even though none of it is diet food and all of it seems pretty indulgent.

Calories do matter but if you eat the right foods you don't even need to think about it, the same with carbs."

I did a low carb diet for a year and a half. Lost an insane amount of weight. Eventually I realized that even though I might eat a lot of fat and protein without realizing it I had significantly cut down my calorie intake. I think it's kind of a trick.