General Consensus...Please Vote?

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elfie9863
elfie9863 Posts: 337
in Health and Weight Loss
I am having a hard time deciding between Low Carb or Low Cal (MFP Plan). I have had luck doing both in the past, and now am launching into a full fledged fat attack after coming off a pretty bad injury and gaining almost 40 lbs. GAWWWWWW! :sad:

Heading back to the gym tomorrow and I really want to get the most out of my effort and energy. I would really appreciate any of you who would like to voice an opinion. I find that I HAVE to make a decision and stock up and get on with it. Thinkin I may have been delaying the issue because of indecision.

Any advice/personal experience/biased opinions gladly appreciated!

Replies

  • erinsueburns
    erinsueburns Posts: 865 Member
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    Umm, why do the two need to be mutually exclusive, the bottom line for weight loss is always about eating at a calorie deficit. How you get there is up yo what works for you. Over half of my daily calories come from fats like nuts, nut butters and olive oil. Who cares as long as I am eating at a calorie deficit. I would say just make very certain that what carbs you do get are from healthy fruits and vegetables and not grains, so as to maximize nutrients.
  • SKP1986
    SKP1986 Posts: 392 Member
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    I am doing low cal and reduced carb intake. I was eating between 500-600 a day and have dropped now to under 200. Seems to be working so far. They don't have to be mutually exclusive. Try it together and experiment until something works for you.
  • roselover58
    roselover58 Posts: 96 Member
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    Umm, why do the two need to be mutually exclusive, the bottom line for weight loss is always about eating at a calorie deficit. How you get there is up yo what works for you. Over half of my daily calories come from fats like nuts, nut butters and olive oil. Who cares as long as I am eating at a calorie deficit. I would say just make very certain that what carbs you do get are from healthy fruits and vegetables and not grains, so as to maximize nutrients.

    Personally I like low-carb, but overall, you need to be low cal too - less going in than what's coming out, or you won't lose.

    Stock up on raw veggies and fruits, and keep it simple protein. Good luck (hope the injury is all better!)
  • Elleinnz
    Elleinnz Posts: 1,661 Member
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    Personally I go for "lower carb", bit higher protein, healthy controlled calories..... I don't deny myself anything, but understand that every choice I make has consequences - lower weightloss, more time on the elliptical :-)

    In the end you want this to be my last time "controlling limited calories" and know that once I reach maintenance I have learnt a new way of eating that I can sustain....
  • Strive2BLean
    Strive2BLean Posts: 300 Member
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    I have been doing Weight Watchers and was at a plateau after losing 20 lbs in one year which I know is very slow. I joined MFP in May and since then have lost an additional 11 lbs. in only 12 weeks. I am thrilled. I count calories now not points but what has really helped is that I changed my eating plan. I now DO NOT eat anything made with any kind of flour. It is not carb free cause I eat whole grains like wheat berries and brown rice , whole wheat pasta in limited quantities.I also eat only whole foods, fresh fruits and veggies, lean protein like chicken/fish and of course my Fage plain no fat greek yogurt. I work out doing cardio 3-4 days a week and stick to the calories MFP has worked out for me. I usually don't eat back my exercise calories unless I feel hungry for more. So getting back to your question, I would definitely go with counting calories. Low carb diets just make people miserable (me anyway). Good luck and keep us posted on what you decide.:smooched:
  • rraallpphhccuurrtt
    rraallpphhccuurrtt Posts: 133
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    For me, my priority is #1 is low balance of net calories, and #2 is low anything else. If weigh loss is the goal it can only be about calorie intake vs burned. Once that's set there is a whole discussion about how to do it in a healthy way to optimize the energy you need for the way you intend to live. It is all important and you will get tons of advise but remember, if you want long term healthy weight, it all starts with the right caloric balance first. Low cal then low carb
  • dawneekoz
    dawneekoz Posts: 18 Member
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    I would say eat healthy carbs and healthy fats. Have whole grains, veggies and such. And avocados and nuts and such. Just stay within your calorie limit that you are deciding on to lose weight.
  • jmgj27
    jmgj27 Posts: 531 Member
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    I go for low calorie primarily and keep an eye on fat/sat fat and sodium. I don't pay much attention to carbs as I do an absolute ton of exercise and if I try to cut my carbs below 150 - 200 I can't put as much effort in with the exercise and that's no fun for me at all and slows my weight loss down. It really is different strokes for different folks though - I would say if you're primarily diet focussed, try low carb - if you're primarily exercise focussed try low cal. Good luck either way though!
  • MrsCon40
    MrsCon40 Posts: 2,351 Member
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    I am doing low cal and reduced carb intake. I was eating between 500-600 a day and have dropped now to under 200. Seems to be working so far. They don't have to be mutually exclusive. Try it together and experiment until something works for you.

    This may be effective but is no way healthy. 500-600 calories is not adequate nutrition for any one.
  • erinsueburns
    erinsueburns Posts: 865 Member
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    Umm, why do the two need to be mutually exclusive, the bottom line for weight loss is always about eating at a calorie deficit. How you get there is up yo what works for you. Over half of my daily calories come from fats like nuts, nut butters and olive oil. Who cares as long as I am eating at a calorie deficit. I would say just make very certain that what carbs you do get are from healthy fruits and vegetables and not grains, so as to maximize nutrients.

    Personally I like low-carb, but overall, you need to be low cal too - less going in than what's coming out, or you won't lose.

    Stock up on raw veggies and fruits, and keep it simple protein. Good luck (hope the injury is all better!)

    I am a bit confused, were you quoting me to disagree?

    Oh, and I forgot to add that I also use nutritiondata.com to track my micros, because limiting carbs also tends to limit those things. Nutritiondata.com lets you see which things are low on and then you can get options for what to add. Its how I ended up switching from regular lettuce to baby spinach in my salads. Not much in the way of carbs there but plenty of nutrients.
  • SoCalSwimmerDude
    SoCalSwimmerDude Posts: 480 Member
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    I vote: Low cal while being smart about the amount and types of carbs you eat. Seems simple enough!
  • junipuni
    junipuni Posts: 264 Member
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    I am doing low cal and reduced carb intake. I was eating between 500-600 a day and have dropped now to under 200. Seems to be working so far. They don't have to be mutually exclusive. Try it together and experiment until something works for you.

    This may be effective but is no way healthy. 500-600 calories is not adequate nutrition for any one.
    Maybe it was carbs, not calories.
  • junipuni
    junipuni Posts: 264 Member
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    I agree, they don't have to be mutually exclusive. I would do whatever you think you can keep up for the long run. I also think that lower carbs is preferable to low carbs. See what you're eating now and try to lower it - I think for most people doing very low carb is not something they want to do forever so it isn't maintainable.

    I know I couldn't (and don't want) to eat very little carbs but just lowering them so they were 40% of my total daily intake has helped a great deal. That is something I can maintain forever so I feel good going that route.
  • Kalrez
    Kalrez Posts: 655 Member
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    I'm doing low-cal, lower-carb. I try to keep around 100g-150g of carbs/day and around 1500 cal/day.

    The two do not have to be mutually exclusive. I would say to do something that you feel you can live with forever, not just something you can deal with for a few months in order to drop a few quick pounds.
  • CRody44
    CRody44 Posts: 776 Member
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    I am no health expert, but I am a type 2 diabetic and have noticed that pastas (and probably the sauces that go with them) spike my blood sugar to where it would not come down to a healthy range for a day or so. I have completely eliminated pasta since discovering this. I also have cut back drastically on my bread intake, which kills me, because I used to make my own sourdough bread with about 18 cloves of garlic imbedded in it. I have been placed on an 1800 calorie, low sodium diet, so I have to count the calories. I now eat lots of organic farmer’s market fruits and veggies and have been losing weight, and I am able to keep my blood sugar within the proper range. I have been counting potassium instead of Carbs, but just switched my food log to see what my carb level was, and except for eating a 6” loaf of garlic sourdough bread, I have been under on my carbs and calories all week. So in answer to your question, I do both.

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