Low carb or calorie deficit more effective?

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Msdwyer17
Msdwyer17 Posts: 18
in Health and Weight Loss
Low carb more effective for weight loss with a deficit, or just a deficit?
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  • thavoice
    thavoice Posts: 1,326 Member
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    Low carb more effective for weight loss with a deficit, or just a deficit?
    A deficit is going to be better for you long term, and much easier to do. You can pretty much eat any thing you want and just stay under the limits, whereas low carb you really have to watch what you eat, and if (when) you trip up it can spiral you upward.

    I did low carb before, and it worked, but when there were times when I ate "normally" and the weight seemed to jump back quicker..
    On the low calorie it is a simple numbers game and the times I go over it doesnt sabatoge me so much.
  • Ainar
    Ainar Posts: 858 Member
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    Just a deficit if you want to lose fat. Deficit with low carb if you want to lose fat and also water weight.
  • WendyTerry420
    WendyTerry420 Posts: 13,274 Member
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    Eating less of any macronutrient only helps if those calories are not replaced by another macronutrient. Without a calorie deficit, it's impossible to lose weight. Eating less food is required, regardless of which food you choose to eat less of.
  • aetzkorn14
    aetzkorn14 Posts: 169 Member
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    I have to agree. Low-carb can set you up for failure if your not careful. You will loose a lot of water weight which people mistake for fat loss and as soon as you slip and have a carb day you will gain some water weight back. Low-carb does put your body in a fat burning zone since it takes a lot more energy for your body to break down protein for fuel. However, I slip up on low carb and cant stay that restricted. I love me some pop-tarts
  • farrellz
    farrellz Posts: 23 Member
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    I have used a low carb diet in the past and lost 20 lbs in 4 months on 3 different occasions. Then each time I gained it back over the next 6 months.

    I have been on low carb for the past 2 months and dropped 10 lbs. 2 weeks ago I stumbled on MFP. I am now trying to focus on my net calories and keep my carbs low if I can. On many days my carbs have exceeded my max target of 25 grams, but I have dropped 3 lbs in these 2 weeks.

    I have 9 more to lose to meet my goal. I think the combination of exercise and net calories will help me lose the weight and maintain it.
  • Booksandbeaches
    Booksandbeaches Posts: 1,791 Member
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    Here are 23 studies comparing low carb and low fat. http://authoritynutrition.com/23-studies-on-low-carb-and-low-fat-diets/
    You can draw your own conclusions from it.

    I low carb. I eat vegetables every day. It's not some protein feast as some would believe.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
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    Eating less of any macronutrient only helps if those calories are not replaced by another macronutrient. Without a calorie deficit, it's impossible to lose weight. Eating less food is required, regardless of which food you choose to eat less of.

    This!^

    I prefer to make lifestyle changes. I don't want to lose the weight "one way" and then figure out how to keep it off when I eat "regular" food again. A few permanent changes will go a long way.
  • BlueBombers
    BlueBombers Posts: 4,065 Member
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    Cutting calories is what has worked for me.

    Edit as I can't spell today
  • CovingtonDavid
    CovingtonDavid Posts: 4 Member
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    I like low carb. Nothing is faster to get the weight off and get ripped. Discipline and exercise will keep it off no matter what method you used to get it off. Just my opinion.
  • swaggityswagbag
    swaggityswagbag Posts: 78 Member
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    I find low carb helps with discipline. Low calorie can turn into "I'll have a cheat day" which turns into "I'll have a cheat week". Low calorie usually means "a couple extra calories isn't bad!" Low calorie is "I ate all 1500 calories I'm supposed to but I'm STARVING!"

    Low carb, for me, avoids all that. Yes, I actually have foods that I restrict myself from eating, unlike low calorie, but that just means that everything I eat is nutritious and filling and not calories that don't keep me full.
  • chloematilds
    chloematilds Posts: 111 Member
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    calorie cutting.

    Low carb can be deceiving in a way you will lose water which creates the illusion that you are losing fat by losing weight

    Glycogen binds with water. So if you deplete your glycogen stores, you lose the water which create weight loss but NOT fat loss if you do not create a deficit. Creating a calorie deficit "burns" stored fat.

    Try going low carb for a few days, weight your self, then eat your carbs at the same calorie amount and your weight shoots up
  • adamsgifty
    adamsgifty Posts: 1 Member
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    Low carb worked for me at sometime. I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes and was to count and monitor my carb grams intake. I lost about 5lbs in a week. yes, if you start eating 'normally' again, the weight gain seems quicker
  • Jestinia
    Jestinia Posts: 1,153 Member
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    You still have to eat at a deficit to lose weight no matter what you eat. But low carb helps some people have less appetite. Some don't even have to count calories, they stay under without double checking. When I'm on low carb I do still count, though.
  • helizi
    helizi Posts: 30 Member
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    The idea of 'eat what you want and still lose weight' on low-carb is a holdover from the Atkins days, and it's untrue. Whatever diet you go on, there'll be no weight loss without a calorie deficit.
  • ladymiseryali
    ladymiseryali Posts: 2,555 Member
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    For me, it's both. The low carb helps keep my calories down, but it also helped budge some stubborn inches and lbs.
  • Branstin
    Branstin Posts: 2,320 Member
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    I prefer just a calorie deficiency because I don't like having my foods restricted. I am fine with eating less but I don't want to be confined to certain foods with low carbs.
  • MityMax96
    MityMax96 Posts: 5,778 Member
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    Low carb more effective for weight loss with a deficit, or just a deficit?

    Make sure you are in caloric deficit any way you go.
  • chloematilds
    chloematilds Posts: 111 Member
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    I think people need to do away with the "weight loss" mentality and shift to "fat loss". After all, it is the excess fat that is harmful.

    Technically many people who are muscular are likely to be categorized as overweight or obese but many of them have ideal body fat percentage so they do not suffer the diseases related to obesity (being overfat)

    To summarize in a pic

    fat-loss-vs-weight-loss.jpg
  • DeadliftAddict
    DeadliftAddict Posts: 746 Member
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    for most, eating low card is going to put them in a caloric deficit which caused the weight loss. They didn't replace the calories from the carbs with anything else. So it's still all about the deficit.
  • ChristineMiller2
    ChristineMiller2 Posts: 116
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    You have to have a deficit to lose weight. You have to burn more calories than eat. I tried low carb....yeah not happening. I do low calorie and the pounds shed.

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