If its really about calories then explain to me why.....

Low-carb diets are known for yielding fast weight loss. Shedding up to 15 pounds in two weeks on Atkins, for example, isn't out of the ordinary. However, much of what's initially lost on low-carb diets is water, not fat, because these diets have what's known as a diuretic effect. That's true of many other diets, too, and is a major reason researchers don't judge diets based on a few weeks of results.

HOWEVER....you're going to get an opinion anyway, now that I've answered your question. If you really need to lose some weight that fast, then go for it. But if you want to sustain the loss and build a healthier diet, I wouldn't stay on low-carb for long. You will rapidly find yourself fatigued, for one thing.
I am a bit biased, I'm a runner so I NEED my carbs! Carbs are fuel!

This. From my experience, you lose a lot of water on low carb/no carb. When I did it, I lost weight fast at first but as soon as my weight loss caught up with my calorie deficit, I stopped losing weight. I am petite and the most I ever had to lose was 25 lbs., so I don't know how it works with really heavy people, but I do know that everyone I know who tried this approach lost weight and then gained it all back. When you cut out a whole food group, you initially cut calories automatically. When you eat high protein, you lose a lot of retained water (anyone who has had edema while pregnant is usually told to increase protein to lose the water - so it's likely the increased protein that causes one to de-bloat). I also know people who were gluten intolerant who lost a lot of bloat when they cut out gluten grains. They could eat rice and other grains, but usually they ended up cutting calories significantly too because they did not find a substitute for ALL of the carbs they had been eating. Anyway, I think these are reasons why. I love my oatmeal any my whole grain English muffins too much to eat low-carb, and I'm losing weight at a healthy rate anyway.

A little searching on the web for the way the body uses carbs, fat and protein for energy and what it does with them when not needed would do more to inform than reading this thread. :yawn:

Wow.. sat here and watched how many people were not even paying attention to you and just wanted to hear themselves speak, per-say...

i would think it's because not everything lost with weight is fat.

for instance, carbs can lead to water retention and some people are more effected by that than others.

Hi Amy this study came out and i thought id look it up for you, anyway found an article relating to it today.

Follow the link, http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/health/story/2012-06-27/calories-low-carb-weight-loss/55843134/1

Basically the low carb diet showed that participants burned 300 cals more than the other 2 study groups, low cal, low fat and 150 more than the low GI diet daily. Why the scientists arent really too sure. It does go on to say about heart health etc anyway read the article maybe you will find it interesting, maybe it'll just mean more questions.

Hey 300 cals thats a Burn!

Interesting read. Im a clean eater and naturally low carb as have issues with refined grains however I get plrenty of carbs in my diet from vegies fruit, quinoa.

http://weightology.net/weightologyweekly/?page_id=319

Still wondering WHY if its calories in calories out that matter!! Why they are able to lose soo much faster??

It has to do with how your body metabolizes sugar, which is what net carbohydrates (total carbs-fiber) are. Put simply, insulin is responsible for moving sugar from the blood to the appropriate storage facility. Too much sugar means too much insulin which can result in a cellular inability to use that sugar for energy. That excess sugar is then stored as fat. If you control your carb intake, you control your sugar, which results in less insulin, less triglycerides (that's the fat storage), and a more efficient cellular metabolism which can then start to use the existing triglycerides for energy.

EUGEPAE! :drinker:

I don't know if this will help....

Carbohydrates are required by our bodies at a cellular level for our muscles to function. Excluding carbohydrates forces our metabolism to resort to Ketosis (as previously discussed) to break down fat and muscle as an energy source. One of the major negatives of this type of eating pattern is that it forces the byproducts of this into the kidneys (ketones) which can have a negative effect on the kidney function if it is followed long term (many years) (particularly if the person has altered renal function or they are at risk to start with). And as others have said low/no carbohydrate diets are very difficult to stick with long term and tend to result in rebound weight gain.

Some research conducted in Australia by the CSIRO (national research organisation) looked at all of these different diets a couple of years ago and found that high protein (300g/day) and reduced carbs per day (105g/day of wholegrain breads/cereals) resulted in greater and more sustained weight loss when compared to high carbohydrate diets and was easily modified for maintenance of weight loss afterwards. More info can be found here

http://www.csiro.au/Outcomes/Health-and-Wellbeing/Prevention/Total-Wellbeing-Diet.aspx

I don't think they know why, on a cellular level these diets are more effective than others (exact amount of carbohydrate intake that is most effective; but many theories are around). I have used this diet and have found it easier to stick to than others, but that is only my personal opinion. For me, that has helped me stay on track for longer periods of time which has resulted in more sustained weight loss as well as not gaining as much weight back when i am "off track". I do still use other diet programs when I am finding it hard to restrict my carbs to 105g (although I don't lose as much weight during those times).

I hope this helps answer some of your questions without too much unwanted info.

Still wondering WHY if its calories in calories out that matter!! Why they are able to lose soo much faster??

I don't really see how they are losing any faster than anyone else. Last year I lost 38 lbs in 3 months by restricting calories and working out pretty hard on a daily basis. No restriction on carbs, whatsoever.

Are the people you talking about only restricting carbs and not counting calories? Even then, a diet low on carbs isn't necessarily healthy, and isn't health the aim vs. the number on a scale?

I love how so many people are bashing low-carb diets/dieters by saying "when they go back to eating carbs, it all comes back." Who's to say that low-carbers all go back to gorging on carbs once they've reached their goal? I think just like people using other eating plans/methods to reach their goals, many low carbers plan to eat this way for life. I know I am one of those people. I drastically cut my carbs and keep them below 100g/day, and it's very manageable for me. I don't crave carbs. I view this the same as many of the people who are simply watching their calories and fats. When you reach goal, you find a level a maintenance and the idea is you'll stick to it.

Ketosis, baby! :drinker:

I lost over 60 lbs in about 5 months by counting calories. Not by restricting carbs. It works both ways.

Because what ninerbuff told you is true, most of the initial weight loss on low carb diets that you seem to be asking about is WATER and not fat. There is *very* little difference when you are comparing the rate of fat loss between low and moderate/high carb. But, low carbers will gain weight afterwards, not necessarily fat, but definitely water, when they reintroduce carbs to their life.

Also, low carbers typically eat the same amount as high carbers...the calorie deficit causes the fat loss, not the carb deficit...protein is very filling, so they eat less at meals naturally.

^this, IMO.

Why is it that sooo many people lose weight so much quicker when they eat less than 20 grams of carbs per day? I see soooo many success stories where people lose 50-60 lb in 5 months (for example) these are people who are not extremely obese either..whereas counting calories you rarely see where they lose that much in that short period of time? So is it really the deficit in your daily calories that count? All these numerous stories I read & see lose so much so quick eating low carb!!

I'm on 200g of carbs per day, and I've lost almost 60 pounds in seven months. I don't know why anyone would go as low as 20g of carbs. Even diabetics can eat more carbs than that.

I've recently reduced carbs (within the past 2 weeks to 80p/d or less and only from 1 serv fruit, rest veg) to go with my pcos/prediabetic, im curious about the ketosis though!

But have increased my protein/fat (Hey i exercise and lift ) but to be honest, I feel fantastic, not bloated, not tired and not as upsey or downsey as I would of been from eating pasta/rice/etc (sugar spike/fall)

I'll be going by measurements of -2 inches so far.

For alot of people it is a perm change, as if some of us dont sort out the diet, properly, we wont be around to enjoy it. And basicaly i dont wanna get diebeties type 2.