Lower Cals, Lower Carbs, Both?

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presbyreformed
presbyreformed Posts: 36 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I have a question. I know the basic gist of weight loss is eating fewer calories than I burn. But if you spend much time on fitness or bodybuilding websites many people talk about the keys being different.

Eat lower carb, higher protein.

So, what is working for you folks? Eating fewer overall calories, just watching your carbs/sugar, or both? Or neither? (just added that to see if you were paying attention! LOL)
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Replies

  • jwdieter
    jwdieter Posts: 2,582 Member
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    Get enough protein and eat at a caloric deficit. It's not terribly complex.
  • ladymiseryali
    ladymiseryali Posts: 2,555 Member
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    What's been working for me is low carb and high fat. I've shed almost 30 lbs and my body looks so much better. PLUS I'm now in single digit sized pants!
  • presbyreformed
    presbyreformed Posts: 36 Member
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    What's been working for me is low carb and high fat. I've shed almost 30 lbs and my body looks so much better. PLUS I'm now in single digit sized pants!

    "low carb and high fat"? The latter seems non intuitive. My opinion until now has been to minimize carbs as much as possible, and concentrate on higher protein while not worrying too much about fat, but I have not thought about raising fat.
  • Keiras_Mom
    Keiras_Mom Posts: 844 Member
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    Whatever you can stick with is what will work best. I did low carb and lost pretty well, but found it too restrictive. I always gained back what I lost on low carb, not because it doesn't work, but because I personally couldn't stick with it. Now I just worry about calories, via intermittent fasting.
  • ladymiseryali
    ladymiseryali Posts: 2,555 Member
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    What's been working for me is low carb and high fat. I've shed almost 30 lbs and my body looks so much better. PLUS I'm now in single digit sized pants!

    "low carb and high fat"? The latter seems non intuitive. My opinion until now has been to minimize carbs as much as possible, and concentrate on higher protein while not worrying too much about fat, but I have not thought about raising fat.

    Well I'm doing keto, which is low carb, moderate protein and high fat.
  • ldrosophila
    ldrosophila Posts: 7,512 Member
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    Unless you are diabetic or have some other diagnosed insulin resistance I will always vote for calorie deficit. Eat less then what you were eating to get heavy. Normal human body does pretty good at managing all 3 of the macronutrients.
  • presbyreformed
    presbyreformed Posts: 36 Member
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    I believe I am hearing all of you so far saying keep with general calorie deficit and don't obsess over what foods to avoid.

    Am I reading that right?
  • LatinaGordita
    LatinaGordita Posts: 377 Member
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    I second low carb high fat, moderate protein. I'm 2 weeks from my 2 month mark and have done very well.
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
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    You *have* to have lower calories. There's no choice on that.

    Whether you want to get there by primarily reducing carbs or fat is up to you, your lifestyle and your preferences.

    But no matter what, you will have to reduce *something*....
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,411 MFP Moderator
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    I believe I am hearing all of you so far saying keep with general calorie deficit and don't obsess over what foods to avoid.

    Am I reading that right?

    If you want to make it simple, post your height weight age and workout routine. Then we can set your calories and macros.. Outside of that, make sure you have a foodscale to accurately measure calories and log every day.
  • presbyreformed
    presbyreformed Posts: 36 Member
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    49
    5' 10"
    185
    40 mins day/5 days bike commute to work
    45 mins day/5 days strength training
    2 days rest

    I do post every day but not as regularly on weekends. I absolutely watch how much I eat and try to eat at a deficit of what MFP is suggesting. Since I restarted my routine 4 months ago with workouts and eating habits, at first I gained a little more than 5lbs but in the last 3 weeks have seen a little more than 5lb loss.
  • geebusuk
    geebusuk Posts: 3,348 Member
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    Weight loss=eat fewer calories.
    Fat loss = make sure protein levels are high.

    Currently for me - same protein everyday.
    Similar fat, but a bit less on workout days.
    About 1000 more calories of carbs on workout days (fuel to get the body repairing it's self.)
    Not many carbs on rest days.
  • davert123
    davert123 Posts: 1,568 Member
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    The stuff I'm going off it out of "the triathletes training bible" where the author refers to research which say to lose weight you need to eat a calorie deficit but if you don't want to lose LBM then you need to keep your protein level at near non deficit levels. This matches advice I have seen on MFP. I tend to pin my protein at around 150 -180 (ish) grams per day. Eat a relatively high level of fat as a percentage of what is left as a base ( (pre exercise) but then eat carbs to make up the additional calories I burn during exercise. It seams that just cutting calories without taking care of protein will cause a significant weight loss to start with but this tapers off and some of the weight is lost LBM (I suppose this leads to the tapering) . I'm guessing this is why whacky diets like jucing fool their victims into thinking they have found such a great way of getting into shape when in reality they are destroying the best bits of their bodies but I'm sure thats for another thread :-)
  • davert123
    davert123 Posts: 1,568 Member
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    Weight loss=eat fewer calories.
    Fat loss = make sure protein levels are high.

    Currently for me - same protein everyday.
    Similar fat, but a bit less on workout days.
    About 1000 more calories of carbs on workout days (fuel to get the body repairing it's self.)
    Not many carbs on rest days.

    I wish I had read this before I started typing lol
  • fruttibiscotti
    fruttibiscotti Posts: 986 Member
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    What's been working for me is low carb and high fat. I've shed almost 30 lbs and my body looks so much better. PLUS I'm now in single digit sized pants!

    "low carb and high fat"? The latter seems non intuitive. My opinion until now has been to minimize carbs as much as possible, and concentrate on higher protein while not worrying too much about fat, but I have not thought about raising fat.

    Well I'm doing keto, which is low carb, moderate protein and high fat.

    Same here, I do high fat, moderate protein and low carb. It's an approximate 10% carbs, 20% protein and 70% fat.

    I tried low carb - high protein - low fat but that didn't work well for me. It was very hard to follow, I had massive food cravings, and I noticed my skin was drying up, and headaches galore. The fat component was too low.

    I switched to low carb, moderate protein and high fat, and the cravings went away, and I started feeling and looking healthier (skin, sleep, etc), and I consistently lose more than 1 lb per week. This way of eating is something I can stick to as well, I love the food and it provides satiety.

    Low carb high fat works for me. I hope you find what works for you. Good luck.
  • topazora
    topazora Posts: 82 Member
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    I'm trying to do low carb, high fat and high protein, while still doing 1200 calories a day. Since the holidays are horrible for my will power (I have none- I want my spiked pumpkin pie dammit). I need to do a little extra to loose weight, especially during times of lots of eating with friends and family.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,411 MFP Moderator
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    49
    5' 10"
    185
    40 mins day/5 days bike commute to work
    45 mins day/5 days strength training
    2 days rest

    I do post every day but not as regularly on weekends. I absolutely watch how much I eat and try to eat at a deficit of what MFP is suggesting. Since I restarted my routine 4 months ago with workouts and eating habits, at first I gained a little more than 5lbs but in the last 3 weeks have seen a little more than 5lb loss.

    Personally, your stats would suggest 1800 to be a good goal. I would also set macro's around 35% carbs, 35% protein and 30% fats. This will enable you to hit 1g of protein and .35g of fat per lb of lean body mass. I would ask though, can you open your diary? And do you use a food scale for measuring foods?
  • leudey
    leudey Posts: 8
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    I think you just need to see what works for you! I do keto as well, low carb, moderate protein and high fat with some carb cycling. But that works for me because I just cannot regulate and restrict myself on a deficit if I'm eating moderate-high carbs, it makes me hungry all the time! This way I can eat whatever indulgent fat filled things I like but still lose while cutting out a lot of junk food.

    Also I think I just love eating dessert for breakfast, keto cheesecake or cookie with double cream...yes please!!
  • Bobbie8786
    Bobbie8786 Posts: 202 Member
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    I just do calorie deficit. I have tried low carb and am unable to stick with it.
  • presbyreformed
    presbyreformed Posts: 36 Member
    Options
    49
    5' 10"
    185
    40 mins day/5 days bike commute to work
    45 mins day/5 days strength training
    2 days rest

    I do post every day but not as regularly on weekends. I absolutely watch how much I eat and try to eat at a deficit of what MFP is suggesting. Since I restarted my routine 4 months ago with workouts and eating habits, at first I gained a little more than 5lbs but in the last 3 weeks have seen a little more than 5lb loss.

    Personally, your stats would suggest 1800 to be a good goal. I would also set macro's around 35% carbs, 35% protein and 30% fats. This will enable you to hit 1g of protein and .35g of fat per lb of lean body mass. I would ask though, can you open your diary? And do you use a food scale for measuring foods?

    When I first started this current program I was using a food scale and measuring cups pretty regularly. Now I feel I can estimate it pretty well and I am so motivated I don't even try to cheat. If anything I aim 'heavy' on my food estimates to avoid fooling myself into thinking I am eating less.

    One note. I am absolutely 100% committed to lose my 10+ pounds and building muscle. Also, with the holidays upon us, I know that making any drastic change in carbs in my house will be next to impossible.

    I can open my diary and will do that now. BTW, what do you mean by "This will enable you to hit 1g of protein and .35g of fat per lb of lean body mass."

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