Explain diets that don't count calories to me

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VelveteenArabian
VelveteenArabian Posts: 758 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
How do diets like Atkins work if you're not counting calories? I don't think everyone that has followed it has been a flat out failure - otherwise the products wouldn't sell. Since weightloss seems to be all about calories in < calories out, how does weightloss happen if you're not counting calories?

(No I'm not interested in trying Atkins. I need my carbs. This is just pure curiosity.)
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  • stevencloser
    stevencloser Posts: 8,911 Member
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    They're usually forbidding your from eating certain foods that are known to be overeaten by people. By cutting them out, you automatically take (much) fewer calories to you than you usually would, resulting in weight loss.
  • _Zardoz_
    _Zardoz_ Posts: 3,987 Member
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    They're usually forbidding your from eating certain foods that are known to be overeaten by people. By cutting them out, you automatically take (much) fewer calories to you than you usually would, resulting in weight loss.
    in theory
  • stevencloser
    stevencloser Posts: 8,911 Member
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    In theory, yes.
  • cardinalsfootball
    cardinalsfootball Posts: 167 Member
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    By eliminating foods, you focus on only certain foods, and pretty soon get full/sated/sick of them and as a result eat fewer total calories. If sustainable (you can stop yourself from eating carbs!) can be extremely effective. Problem is, very few people can keep it up for long.
  • whitebalance
    whitebalance Posts: 1,655 Member
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    Broscience.
    Yeah, by cutting out certain foods or food groups, either you'll avoid some common food sensitivity you didn't know you had (according to the diet's rationale) or you'll get full before you ingest a lot of calories.

    Basically broscience.
  • SKME2013
    SKME2013 Posts: 704 Member
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    One diet where you do not have to count calories EVERY day is ADF or also called the Every Other Day Diet (book by Dr. Krista Varadi and all based on clinical trials)

    With this diet you eat as a woman up to 500 cal and as a manup to 600 calories one day and the next you can eat what you want and how much you want - so no calorie counting on day 2. You will alternate between "fasting" and "feasting".

    In general though, as research has shown, people do not tend to completely go overboad on their feeding days and so they create a weekly calorie deficit that should lead to weightloss.

    Stef.
  • kewpiecyster
    kewpiecyster Posts: 154 Member
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    Yes - with Atkins you are cutting out the breads, chips, and all the sugary sweets. You could gain weight on Atkins - but I think that generally people feel fuller on the protein and veggies and then don't eat as many calories as compared to the chips and sweets and such.

    It is all theory. If you applied yourself, you could totally gain weight on Atkins. :) I did Atkins 10 years ago - lost 40 pounds, and then gained it back when I stopped. Way too easy to binge on sweets and chips for me.
  • Spacegirlley
    Spacegirlley Posts: 80 Member
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    It can depend on why your doing these diets as well. Atkins for example cuts sugars and carbs I believe. Someone like me who is sucrose intolerant would lose a lot of weight going on an Atkins diet due to the lack of sugar in the diet alone. Unless you know how many calories you are eating and using, I don't think you can really lose weight on any diet though.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 33,962 Member
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    Low carb diets like Atkins by necessity force you to eat more protein and fat, both of which are very satiating, so people naturally eat less. Plus low carb diets deplete water storage in the body, resulting in more perceived loss than is actually occurring.
  • acogg
    acogg Posts: 1,871 Member
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    By eliminating foods, you focus on only certain foods, and pretty soon get full/sated/sick of them and as a result eat fewer total calories. If sustainable (you can stop yourself from eating carbs!) can be extremely effective. Problem is, very few people can keep it up for long.

    ^^^^This. I have lost weight on Atkins, mostly to support my husband who was on it. At that point in my life I didn't actually care if I lost or not because I was only 20 lbs overweight. It was kind of fun at first, but then boredom set in and eating became a chore. We did lose weight, but it was not a sustainable lifestyle.
  • VelveteenArabian
    VelveteenArabian Posts: 758 Member
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    One diet where you do not have to count calories EVERY day is ADF or also called the Every Other Day Diet (book by Dr. Krista Varadi and all based on clinical trials)

    With this diet you eat as a woman up to 500 cal and as a manup to 600 calories one day and the next you can eat what you want and how much you want - so no calorie counting on day 2. You will alternate between "fasting" and "feasting".

    In general though, as research has shown, people do not tend to completely go overboad on their feeding days and so they create a weekly calorie deficit that should lead to weightloss.

    Stef.


    Wait...what? How do you eat like a woman and eat like a man? Use utensils one day and a trough the next?
  • VelveteenArabian
    VelveteenArabian Posts: 758 Member
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    Just looking at Atkins for example.

    I LOVE bacon. I could easily make a meal out of a big pile of bacon. Except that would be a HUUUUGE amount of calories - I don't see how I would be able to lose an ounce that way!

    (When I went on a cruise, I had a big pile of bacon on one plate every morning for breakfast. Along with a bunch of other crap, but I was running around so much and doing so many activities, it worked out okay weight wise).
  • MaggieGiamalvo
    MaggieGiamalvo Posts: 397 Member
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    One diet where you do not have to count calories EVERY day is ADF or also called the Every Other Day Diet (book by Dr. Krista Varadi and all based on clinical trials)

    With this diet you eat as a woman up to 500 cal and as a manup to 600 calories one day and the next you can eat what you want and how much you want - so no calorie counting on day 2. You will alternate between "fasting" and "feasting".

    In general though, as research has shown, people do not tend to completely go overboad on their feeding days and so they create a weekly calorie deficit that should lead to weightloss.

    Stef.


    Wait...what? How do you eat like a woman and eat like a man? Use utensils one day and a trough the next?

    She's saying that if you are a woman, eat 500 calories on Day 1. If you are a man, eat 600 calories on Day 1. Then, on Day 2, eat what you want.
  • Alexdur85
    Alexdur85 Posts: 255 Member
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    One diet where you do not have to count calories EVERY day is ADF or also called the Every Other Day Diet (book by Dr. Krista Varadi and all based on clinical trials)

    With this diet you eat as a woman up to 500 cal and as a manup to 600 calories one day and the next you can eat what you want and how much you want - so no calorie counting on day 2. You will alternate between "fasting" and "feasting".

    In general though, as research has shown, people do not tend to completely go overboad on their feeding days and so they create a weekly calorie deficit that should lead to weightloss.

    Stef.


    Wait...what? How do you eat like a woman and eat like a man? Use utensils one day and a trough the next?

    She said 'as a woman' and 'as a man' meaning.. if you are a woman your calorie intake is 500 and if you are a man your calorie intake is 600.
  • maillemaker
    maillemaker Posts: 1,253 Member
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    Atkins and similar low-carb diets work by cutting out foods heavy in carbohydrates you are also cutting out a lot of highly palatable, calorie-dense foods. This makes it harder to overeat until you find highly palatable, calorie-dense substitutes. :)

    Studies have shown in controlled environments that there was no difference in weight whether the diet was 10% fat or 70% fat. See the 49:40 mark of this video:

    http://videocast.nih.gov/summary.asp?live=2993&bhcp=1

    Pay special attention to the 50:58 mark.

    Ultimately, what you eat may help you stick to a diet, but as far as your body weight is concerned it all boils down to calories in, calories out. In a controlled study over 30 patients, Diet composition does not affect body weight.
  • SKME2013
    SKME2013 Posts: 704 Member
    Options
    One diet where you do not have to count calories EVERY day is ADF or also called the Every Other Day Diet (book by Dr. Krista Varadi and all based on clinical trials)

    With this diet you eat as a woman up to 500 cal and as a manup to 600 calories one day and the next you can eat what you want and how much you want - so no calorie counting on day 2. You will alternate between "fasting" and "feasting".

    In general though, as research has shown, people do not tend to completely go overboad on their feeding days and so they create a weekly calorie deficit that should lead to weightloss.

    Stef.


    Wait...what? How do you eat like a woman and eat like a man? Use utensils one day and a trough the next?

    She said 'as a woman' and 'as a man' meaning.. if you are a woman your calorie intake is 500 and if you are a man your calorie intake is 600.

    Thanks. English is not my native language.
    Stef.
  • beeblebrox82
    beeblebrox82 Posts: 578 Member
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    TOPIC: Explain diets that don't count calories to me


    Fads.


    /Thread.
  • arrrrjt
    arrrrjt Posts: 245 Member
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    In THEORY you do not "need" to count calories in a paleo lifestyle - fruits, veggies, meat. Of course, if you eat a pound of bacon, it's not exactly the BEST idea. It's not really a diet, but a lifestyle though. Lots of info here - http://www.marksdailyapple.com/welcome-to-marks-daily-apple/#axzz2swMDKZ29

    Of course, you can still count calories while doing it, it won't hurt.
  • msf74
    msf74 Posts: 3,498 Member
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    They create a spontaneous calorie deficit (in theory) due to people eating less through restriction of choice and boredom with eating due to lack of choice.
  • HappyStack
    HappyStack Posts: 802 Member
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    You don't need to count calories at all, in theory.

    If you follow principles like, half a plate of protein, a quarter starches and a quarter veggies, with fruit or limited "treats" between it's fairly easy to not overeat. I spent a year without logging and eating this way and it was largely successful, I only put on about 8lbs (I didn't weigh myself at all, either).

    But restricting one of those foods, usually starches because they're inexplicably demonised, often yields a calorie deficit.

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