Low carb vs 5-2

Lembasts
Lembasts Posts: 5 Member
edited November 16 in Food and Nutrition
A month ago I started on the low-carb diet. After two weeks I heard about the 5-2 diet and switched.
I found the low carb diet way too restrictive. However I know they both work. I have friends who have lost a lot of weight following the low carb diet to the letter. I also have friends who followed the 5-2 diet to the letter and lost a lot of weight. The science behind both methods appears sound.
What I find interesting is that one food can be a dream in one method and poison in another. For example, the low carb diet allowed me to have bacon and eggs and cheese every morning - no problem. Yet that is a disaster for a Kilo-joule based diet. And bread, pasta and rice are fine in moderation on a kilo-joule diet but poison in a low carb diet. You would think that science would say that poison is poison so to speak, but the body appears to be adaptable to either method.
So even though I'm doing the 5-2, I have also dropped my carbs a bit.

Replies

  • Marillian
    Marillian Posts: 3,892 Member
    I think there is a common misconception is that when you eat low carb, you can have unlimited amounts of bacon, cheese, etc., which isn't true. I'm not familiar with the 5-2 WOE, I'll have to look it up. I eat very low carb because I have Type 2 diabetes, and my blood sugar numbers have dropped significantly when I started eating that way. As seska already said, you need to find a way of eating that is sustainable for life.
  • Lembasts
    Lembasts Posts: 5 Member
    It's not 'poison' in the literal sense.
    MFP seems to be set up for what is called the 7-0 diet. You put in your goals and as long as you stay below the recommended calorie intake, you're OK. Has anyone here done that? If so, did you eat anything you like as long as you stayed below the number? And if so, what was your rate of weight loss?
    As for the low carb diet, the proponents do say that its only the carbs that matter. It's apparently irrelevant how many Kilojoules you consume per day.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    Lembasts wrote: »
    A month ago I started on the low-carb diet. After two weeks I heard about the 5-2 diet and switched.
    I found the low carb diet way too restrictive. However I know they both work. I have friends who have lost a lot of weight following the low carb diet to the letter. I also have friends who followed the 5-2 diet to the letter and lost a lot of weight. The science behind both methods appears sound.
    What I find interesting is that one food can be a dream in one method and poison in another. For example, the low carb diet allowed me to have bacon and eggs and cheese every morning - no problem. Yet that is a disaster for a Kilo-joule based diet. And bread, pasta and rice are fine in moderation on a kilo-joule diet but poison in a low carb diet. You would think that science would say that poison is poison so to speak, but the body appears to be adaptable to either method.
    So even though I'm doing the 5-2, I have also dropped my carbs a bit.

    Science does, it's the diet industry that has the problem...
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    edited March 2017
    To lose weight, you need to be in a sustained calorie deficit. It's not hard to dream up a diet that provides a calorie deficit. Add some magically-sounding and some sciency-sounding words, and some catchphrases that exploit at least one of our inherent negative emotions, and you have a bestseller.

    Every diet that provides a calorie deficit, makes you lose weight as long as you stick to it.

    The problem with every weight loss diet, is that they suck. No, the problem is that in the beginning, you don't notice how much they suck, so you go all-out, and then you hit the wall. Then you blame yourself for failing your diet.

    The only way to lose weight and keep it off, is to have a diet that never starts to suck. You are the one who has to follow it, so you are also the person best suited to compose it.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    Of course your body is adaptable - we wouldn't have survived as a species otherwise in such diverse climates, situations and different diets (noun).
    Science is very clear what poison is, it's not food or different eating patterns!

    Weight loss is about calories. Adherence is about finding out what works for you.
    Experimentation is a good thing, even when you try something and it doesn't work you gain knowledge about yourself.



  • Lembasts
    Lembasts Posts: 5 Member
    I know about the Ricky Gervais diet - Calories in, calories out. What I found interesting is that the low carb diet says nothing about calories. You could have thousands per day and still lose weight.
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
    Lembasts wrote: »
    I know about the Ricky Gervais diet - Calories in, calories out. What I found interesting is that the low carb diet says nothing about calories. You could have thousands per day and still lose weight.

    Only if you burn more calories than said thousands. The premise of low carb is that by limiting choice it limits calorie options and many of the foods people tend to overeat, plus the fact that some people get an appetite reduction effect which may lead them to eat fewer calories without even counting. Not everyone is as lucky to be easily affected by these aspects. Some people are capable of eating too many calories on a low carb diet and gaining weight.

    Both low carb and 5:2 follow the principle of calories in<calories out for successful weight loss, but differ in the way they encourage achieving that deficit. Ultimately, pick the plan that allows you to achieve a calorie deficit easier than other plans.

    P.S: I have eggs and cheese for breakfast sometimes and I don't follow a low carb diet. You don't need to follow a specific plan to eat the foods you love on a diet.
  • flumi_f
    flumi_f Posts: 1,888 Member
    You can combine the two, if you like. My digestive system doesn't like grain carbs much, thus I limit them. And on fast days I definitely don't eat them, because the are cal denser than veggies and lean Protein. And they tend to make me hungry. It's trial and error and you need to find what works for you and your body longterm.
  • StealthHealth
    StealthHealth Posts: 2,417 Member
    The two diets you speak of are just methods of inducing a calorific deficit. 5:2 and LC diets can fail to show weight loss if the dieter eats too many calories.

    A low carber can eat so much fat and protein that they are eating above maintenance. Similar a 5:2 er could eat more on their non-fasting days that the deficit on their fasting days.

    What I think science tell us so far is: You need a calorific deficit to lose weight.

    What anecdotal evidence (and probably some studies also) tells us is that: There are lots of way in which you can choose to reach that deficit.
  • crzycatlady1
    crzycatlady1 Posts: 1,930 Member
    edited March 2017
    Lembasts wrote: »
    I know about the Ricky Gervais diet - Calories in, calories out. What I found interesting is that the low carb diet says nothing about calories. You could have thousands per day and still lose weight.

    That's just not true though, unless that person is burning more calories than their maintenance calorie range ie CICO. There's been plenty of people here who've shared their stories of weight loss stalls/gains while doing low carb-because they were eating too many calories.

    For weight loss the only thing that matters is that you're hitting the correct calorie deficit for your weight goals. There's all sorts of ways to go about that, but the underlying premise of any successful plan is a calorie deficit.

    As for 5:2IF, I did that for a bit and it worked well for me, during that phase in my weight management plan (I used it during the transition period between my weight loss phase and then maintenance), but again-it created the necessary calorie deficit that I needed :)
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    I've done 5:2, alternate day fasting and low carb, I counted calories doing all 3.

    For me, it was slightly harder to overeat on low carb because it did reduce my appetite and cravings, but others could pound down the fat and calories and put on weight. Individual diets work differently person per person. But regardless of any diet choice you may choose, calories are the most important thing if you're looking to lose weight.
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