2 ways to lose weight....which one do you favor?

megalooch
megalooch Posts: 8 Member
edited September 21 in Fitness and Exercise
Ok so I've come to learn there are two schools to thought on losing weight.
A) there is the low calorie way
B) there is the fuel your furnace way

I've done low calorie so many times I can't stand it. It is called "yo yo" dieting b/c i gain the weight back and do it again over and over. In some way, shape, form or fashion. The other way is to take your basil metabolic rate (at rest) add in what you think you will burn with cardio, create a 20% deficit and eat that. Meaning your calories could be a larger number like 1,800 to 2,000 and you do that to fuel your body as you workout and you give it enough food for it to not think it is starving and allows the weight to shed.
Now the key to that way is to eat the right things, not just things that will get the calorie count up.

SO which way do you do it? Which way is working for you?

Replies

  • deNachtzuster
    deNachtzuster Posts: 3
    Walking and rowing my buns of to get to those nice doritos.... Take a dog, it helps ;)
  • wrevhn
    wrevhn Posts: 864 Member
    i choose low calories. but i eat 6 times a day, starting 30 mins after i wake up and not after 7. so i think i fuel my fire ok. i dont like everything healthy so i (on good days) take my kb instructers advice, no sugar after noon. and if i eat alot of sodium i take a water pill. its worked for me so far. but then again, i dont starve myself as alot of ppl do on low cal diets. i eat between 1200-1600 cals. my maintainence is 1800ish. so i eat under enough to burn and work out alot.
  • megalooch
    megalooch Posts: 8 Member
    What kind of water pill? Just over the counter diuretic from like a Walgreens or CVS or something?
  • hollijensen
    hollijensen Posts: 15
    I am doing the metabolic rate. I am actually seeing a Dr for it. Went in for a test to actually find out what my rate was. I had all i could do not to fall asleep during the test! Anyways...it is so working for me I have lost 45 lbs since June!
  • PJilly
    PJilly Posts: 22,186 Member
    Ok so I've come to learn there are two schools to thought on losing weight.
    A) there is the low calorie way
    B) there is the fuel your furnace way

    I've done low calorie so many times I can't stand it. It is called "yo yo" dieting b/c i gain the weight back and do it again over and over. In some way, shape, form or fashion. The other way is to take your basil metabolic rate (at rest) add in what you think you will burn with cardio, create a 20% deficit and eat that. Meaning your calories could be a larger number like 1,800 to 2,000 and you do that to fuel your body as you workout and you give it enough food for it to not think it is starving and allows the weight to shed.
    Now the key to that way is to eat the right things, not just things that will get the calorie count up.

    SO which way do you do it? Which way is working for you?
    I choose B, and it's working fabulously well for me! I work out six days a week and eat 1,900 calories a day currently. I lost my weight eating 1,700 to 1,800 calories a day, which I'm going to go back to for a bit in an attempt to get off this last bit of body fat.
  • junebug523
    junebug523 Posts: 196
    B. Low calorie makes me sad. :frown:

    Seriously, though, I love the fact that I'm eating a net of around 1400-1500 calories per day, and still losing! It's been a slow process, but that's mostly because I keep thinking I should reduce my calories. And what happens when I do that? I plateau. Lesson learned. I'll keep my calories in the happy zone.
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
    The most important thing is maintaining a negative energy balance. Exercise assists in that process. It is also thought that if you go too low in calories (e.g. below RMR), the stress on the body can actually work against your efforts (I'm not sure it's actually "starvation mode", but it certainly seems counterproductive).

    So, in my mind, it's not a choice between "going low" or "fueling", but more only one choice--maintaining a reasonable "lower limit" of total calories and doing enough activity/exercise to maintain a deficit--with many different ways to implement that "choice".
  • megalooch
    megalooch Posts: 8 Member
    Junebug523 I have that same problem....i'm doing the fuel my body thing or eating enough calories so that my workouts are productive and all that (around 1900 cals) but yet my mind keeps wanting the weight loss to go faster and i keep wanting to eat lower calories.....but alas, i'm going to do this the slower way.
  • VickieMW
    VickieMW Posts: 285 Member
    The first although I yo yo like crazy. I had a personal trainer and he gave me 1600 calories plus strength training exercizes and I run ALOT. Only when my calorie count is between 1200 - 1400 do I lose weight.
  • edorice
    edorice Posts: 4,519 Member
    Fueling the furnace. Powering through my workouts. That is what works for me.

    It is now 9pm, I just finished logging the rest of my dinner calories. I've been up since 4:30am, did P90X, went to work, jogged at lunch, went back to work, got off work, picked up kids, went grocery shopping, watched TV....can't do that on 500 calories a day.
  • Rappla88
    Rappla88 Posts: 185 Member
    Well I've tried A several times and each time I gain the weight back and then some!! I'm currently at the highest weight I can ever remember. That being said, I'm currently doing plan B. I must say plan B has been the easiest and by far the most effective than anything else I have ever tried! In 2.5 weeks, I've lost about 3 pounds. I'm a very SLOW loser so the fact that I've already lost that much is a huge success! I will NEVER do plan A again!!! Also, I'm doing P90X so I need to be sure I haven enough in me to be able to bring my very best to each workout. Doing this has already been a life changing expierence, and I have a loonngg way to go to get to my 90 days but I'm loving every little step along the way!
  • rybo
    rybo Posts: 5,424 Member
    In my opinion for anyone that doesn’t have extreme amounts to lose, the best way is fueling that furnace, working out consistently and dropping the weight gradually. Eat what you need to have energy & perform your workouts. Stop at a small deficit and you’ll feel good as you lose the weight.

    I suppose for those only using diet as their weight loss tool, low calorie can work, but it would be very difficult for me personally to walk around hungry 24/7.
  • DJH510
    DJH510 Posts: 114 Member
    So you're saying there's a choice between a calorie deficit, and a smaller calorie deficit!? Go for the large calorie deficit, just don't overdo it.
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