Doesn't Counting Calories Count?
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lisawinning4losing wrote: »CICO worked for me in the short term, but ultimately led to the all too familiar roller coaster. I hate having to restrict food. That kind of life only lasts for so long. I'm going to up my "calorie goal" to 1,800 a day, which is supposed to be maintenance for me right now, and have faith that low carb will work. Thank you so much for the inspiration. Let's see how it goes!
@lisawinning4losing Are you expecting to lose eating your maintenance calories? Can you please keep us updated on your results. I have been thinking about upping my calories to my goal weight maintenance calories..0 -
No problem! I'll keep you posted.
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That's an awesome video, thanks for sharing. I think it's well worth the watch, but, for those who don't have time or patience, this is basically an abbreviated version of it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U36XJaETbh8 0 -
Great links and video. Thanks for sharing @slimzandra and @lisawinning4losing.1
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Thanks to all of you for your comments. Newbie on LCHF (10 weeks), and stalled at the initial 4.5 kilos (9lbs) loss. In desperation, I began to count calories on MFP, but you have all made me realise that it's futile to count cals, and I had better only take notice of the carb grams. Will anyone dare to suggest a Carb limit for a newbie? My levels have ranged from 30-80 grams per day, so far.
Fit Goat, thanks for the encouragement to 'trust my body's instincts' (as I did when a very skinny child).
I'd like to inform you all that there's a noticeable improvement in 'body-texture', flesh is firmer, and skin feels more like a baby's flesh to touch. That's wonderful for a 73 year-old female, who was drooping noticeably.
Nothing is going to deter me from continuing on LCHF.......... I'd just like to lose some more weight!
Jeanieneni2 -
Yay to all of you who can do a non calorie counting keto. I cannot. I did this for 2 years and put on almost 20kg (44pounds) now counting ive moved 12 (27) of them in 2 months which is huge for me.
I think pushing of no counting is not productive as it will not always work for everyone.
People will figure out if no counting works for them.3 -
I've done LCHF a few times in the past, always with good results, without calorie counting. I tend to adjust well to Ketosis and as I've got a lot of fat to burn so there is an ample supply of fuel! However, this time I am incorporating an extensive training regime into my program and have been calorie counting - not for the sake of the food I'm eating which is extremely low carb with an approx. 80/20 split between fat and protein - but so that I can track my inputs against my outputs and make sure that I'm getting 'enough' exercise on each day. It's a bit of a crude measure of course but I find it quite useful, but don't get hung up on what the numbers actually are!1
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jeanieneni wrote: »Thanks to all of you for your comments. Newbie on LCHF (10 weeks), and stalled at the initial 4.5 kilos (9lbs) loss. In desperation, I began to count calories on MFP, but you have all made me realise that it's futile to count cals, and I had better only take notice of the carb grams. Will anyone dare to suggest a Carb limit for a newbie? My levels have ranged from 30-80 grams per day, so far.
Fit Goat, thanks for the encouragement to 'trust my body's instincts' (as I did when a very skinny child).
I'd like to inform you all that there's a noticeable improvement in 'body-texture', flesh is firmer, and skin feels more like a baby's flesh to touch. That's wonderful for a 73 year-old female, who was drooping noticeably.
Nothing is going to deter me from continuing on LCHF.......... I'd just like to lose some more weight!
Jeanieneni
I suggest a reframing of your mindset. You're losing nearly a pound a week. That's fantastic! Keep on keeping on and remember to look at the other benefits you're experiencing.1 -
this is my first go at keto, I've done atkins many many many times in the past and never left the induction phase. I never counted calories just stayed strict low carb or so I thought. Though I did do well with atkins I never reached my ideal weight and eventually would plateau for months which would lead to trying something different which would lead to eating carbs and the cycle would repeat. When I started keto I started tracking everything including my blood sugar because I wanted to see the big picture of what really is keeping me fat, were too many carbs creeping in because I wasn't tracking? I know I was eating too much protein on atkins. It my not be for everybody but tracking is works for me, makes me feel like I'm in control and I'm down 30 pound in 3 1/2 months.2
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We all count one way or another. I weight myself daily to track net CICO. Yesterday blood pressure was up 30 points over last month. Over the holidays I started eating tangerines so I stopped eating them yesterday to see if blood pressure and slight temple pain will resolve.
Seems this tangerine effect is known in Germany. Others associate fructose with these side effects.
Even a slight headache after no headaches for two years on LCHF was stressing me as to the cause.
Eating on cruise control fails sooner or later in my case it seems.2 -
I always count, doesn't matter how I eat, if I don't count, I overeat.5
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I typically count. I'm trying not to count for a while with a few exceptions particularly around trying new recipes or eating at recipes. I would have no idea how much I'm consuming if I have never ate it before. But for my typical tried and true recipes, my meals day in and day out then I'm just trusting that I'm choosing good portion sizes and that I won't overeat. So I'm going to do this method for another few weeks and we will see what the scales look like.2
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Hello all! I never really paid much attention to calories when doing LCHF since I mostly eat this WOE for T2D management. In the beginning, the weight just fell off with not additional effort other than keeping my carbs at less than 40 net per day.I lost about 20 pounds from May to August. Then in August I began to incorporate fitness (kettlebell) which I love btw, but my hunger increased. So I found a TDEE calculator and increased my calories from a 1200 to 1400. I didnt lose weight but I did lose inches (fat). Then my work schedule went crazy and I no longer have any time for fitness
ok I'm exaggerating but it's a been a struggle to find dedicated time for fitness. So I went back to a pretty sedendary life but I did not lower my calories since frankly I enjoyed eating at that place lol. I still lost an additional 5 pounds from Sept to Jan but I decided to see if by staying LC (of course) and eating at a deficit might lose a little faster. Im on week 2 of this experiment and I have lost 3 lbs. My hunger is satiated due to LCHF and serious mind over matter. I did realize that some times I ate out of fear of being super hungry later on not truly being hungry. I will continue like this until my body levels out again. All I imagine is my body happily chomping away at my internal fat haha 3 -
@FIT_Goat, anything against trackng protein?
I'm not opposed to tracking; I am opposed to choosing an arbitrary number and restricting to stay below it. If you like tracking and want or need the data, that wouldn't really contradict anything I have written. I use "counting calories" as it's the common way to refer to conscious calorie restriction. You can even count calories, if you want, as long as you aren't using that number to cut yourself off when you would otherwise eat.
I would only worry about protein if I was concerned about being low. I also tend to "do my own thing" when it comes to protein. I pretty much ignore the calories from it when looking at calories. It's not like we use protein for energy. It's a building block. I essentially would only worry about fat if I was counting calories. The error from ignoring what few calories might come from protein is tiny.
I know others are concerned about high protein. I don't think that should be general advice though. If someone is diabetic or otherwise is likely to respond poorly to high protein, they might want to track it and see if it is a problem for them. Then again, I'm not "keto" even though I eat fewer carbs than they do. I don't worry about excess protein lowering ketone levels.5 -
Well I started LCHF in Aug. after I had stopped losing with CICO method. I still log everything, but it is a record of what I am doing.
If I go over on calories, I REALLY DON'T CARE. I want to know how much fat and protein I am getting. Eating this way, I often have a hard time hitting the 1000 cals. other days, I might get to around 2000, I am short and older. With this WOE, I am not hungry all the freak'n time like before. I feel great 99% of the time and have more energy. If I miss logging a day of food, I really don't care anymore. I just pick up where I left off. I am losing slowly, but that is okay because I feel so good, while I am losing.3 -
At what carb intake does this rule apply? Does this apply only to a ketogenic diet or will be effective at moderate low carb level? Im keeping to 30-max 40 gms carbs per day. Ive only been on for a week and feel pretty good but not like im in ketosis. Thanks!0
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shanstilts wrote: »At what carb intake does this rule apply? Does this apply only to a ketogenic diet or will be effective at moderate low carb level? Im keeping to 30-max 40 gms carbs per day. Ive only been on for a week and feel pretty good but not like im in ketosis. Thanks!
It's not a rule exactly.
The idea is that you reduce carbs as low as you need to in order to prevent cravings and stop any desire to eat when not hungry.
Then, you don't need to count calories because you're only eating when hungry and you're not getting false hunger signals related to sweet cravings or habit eating. If you only eat when hungry, you won't overeat. But each of us has a certain limit for carbs that we stay below in order to keep those false hunger signals away. This is also often true for eating low carb sweet things as well.
It's not that calories suddenly don't count.... you simply don't have to count them. IF you only eat when hungry, and until not hungry anymore.
Limiting calories that you or some calculator decided on by going hungry for the sole purpose of not going over that number isn't sustainable long term. Certainly not forever. It's a better strategy to learn to eat in such a way that you naturally don't overeat without having to count anything.6 -
Ty, @Sunny_Bunny_ 1
