Calorie Counting hasnt worked for me....so counting carbs in

HI there,

Since April 2010 I made it my mission to lose the additional stone I have carried for a while, I began bootcamp training, zumba and a whole host of other exercise sessions to decrease my weight, as well as counting calories. Including a bootcamp weekend which ended with a run up a mountain.

Now from the generic tool I used I should be eating 1200 calories a day to lose weight uping them a bit when training....i did this for a year and did not lose weight and did not tone, I also became very tired and in December 2010 came down with the flu and have been ill on and off ever since (I used to never be ill). I became obsessed and could not figure out why I could not lose this weight...surely if it is all about calories in/calories out I should have lost my stone and more!!!!

SO at my wits end one day I decided to go for some metabolic testing....the best thing I could have done....it confirmed my body does not burn fat at rest. I burn 85% Carbs/15% protein..also my body fat was 25%, and very little lean muscle (the rest is water) I also had a fitness test and I am not that fit either so for a year of training and calorie counting I have nothing to show for it!!!!!!!

The testing also showed for me to function on a daily basis I need at least 1500 calories a day so I need more than that to do my normal daily activities and even more before training...has my body shut down and gone into starvation mode, is my body clinging on to every bit of fat I eat (which is little as been on low fat diet) and storing instead of burning?? How do I fix it??? Does anyone else have this problem??

After the testing I decided not calorie count and stop training. I put on a few pounds and felt much healthier for it, however the additional pounds obviously started to get me down.

I started to read books on hormones/insulin and carbs and read tons of research and it seems for some people carbs are really evil and I think I am proof of this as I have cut my carb intake and my weight is beginning to drop quite easily, I have also increased my fat and protien (mentally that is really hard as surely Fat make you Fat !!)

I still eat fruit and lots of veg and I am lovin it... before I ate because I loved eating and food was constantly on my mind ..now I am only eating when I feel hungry and only feel it is a necessity sometimes I am forcing myself to eat even though I dont feel like it and I have energy again..I will over time find my own magic carb number i,e how many carbs can i eat before I gain weight and I look forward to getting to that stage too.

I hope to lose this last stone by autumn..but I am in no rush, this will be my life from now on and my body will be a fat burning machine not carb burning machine even at rest...

Any comments welcome as would love to hear peoples thoughts and opinions. I know this goes against the grain,,,,but it is working for me and thought I would share my experience.