Struggling, low carb vs counting calories....which is best?

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agrube1968
agrube1968 Posts: 132 Member
in Motivation and Support
I thought I knew what I wantes to Do.... low carb....i did well for a few weeks but fell off the wagon and haven't been able to get 100% back on track yet. Not sure if I should continue low carb or just count calories. With low carb I lose quickly but there are so many food restrictions and as soon as you do mess up you generally gain it back. However with counting calories you can really eat whatever you want as long as you count it, but then again you don't lose as quickly and can also mess up eating bad choices. So I'm sitting here discouraged and not sure what to do. Only thing I do know is i have to continue on with something and lose weight, I need to lose over 100 lbs honestly right now it seems impossible!! Any suggestions or help regarding low carb or counting calories or any help or advise is greatly appreciated!!!

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  • MichelleSilverleaf
    MichelleSilverleaf Posts: 2,028 Member
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    It's not impossible, when you know how many calories you're consuming each day. Perhaps the restriction of low carb isn't for you? With low carb you lose a lot of water weight in the beginning, your gain is probably partly from replenished stores. Quick loss is not always better, what's your idea of 'slow' and 'fast' loss? At 100lbs to lose you could likely comfortably lose 2lb a week. That's plenty fast.
  • staci2476
    staci2476 Posts: 42 Member
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    I'm doing low carb for now. I suffer from carb to mouth syndrome! It was nothing for me to sit at work and eat a bag of chips because I could. So now I'm retraining myself. After a few weeks (or longer) I'll start counting calories again. Learning to live without all of the carbs and making healthier choices.
  • Orphia
    Orphia Posts: 7,097 Member
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    Low carb doesn't automatically mean you're going to lose weight. You still need to eat less calories than you burn, whether you count them or not.

  • sytchequeen
    sytchequeen Posts: 526 Member
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    I eat a lower carb way, it suits me and has a lot of variety if you know what you're doing. But I also keep an eye on my calories, too much food is still too much food, no matter how you set your macros.

    Low carb is just one way of creating a calorie deficit. Maybe its not for you.

    I blew my low carb "lifestyle" yesterday (eating out after a funeral), but it doesn't matter. I'm just back to normal today. I won't "gain it all back" as you put it, because one meal is not failure. Whatever way you decide to go with, remember that. CICO proponents also have blips. It's all about how you get back on track.
  • ElizabethAN2017
    ElizabethAN2017 Posts: 570 Member
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    It still boils down to CICO (calories in - calories out). The only issue that you will find is that if you eat more carbs you will likely find you are up for a few days or so, due to more water retention, and this will go away (unless you have certain health issues with kidneys, etc). Try not to stress about it and trust the process. I find it is still important to consider macros, particularly with regards to protein, so that as you lose weight, you will not lose considerable muscle mass. How low carb are you trying to go? You could work on your menu to find a wider variety of choices, so you do not feel so restricted. And do you subtract your fibre from your carb count (some do and some don't - I subtract them). I personally like low carb/keto due to health reasons and the direct benefits it has on these health issues. *hugs
  • sytchequeen
    sytchequeen Posts: 526 Member
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    ElizabethAN2017 wrote: »
    And do you subtract your fibre from your carb count (some do and some don't - I subtract them).

    If I may... this depends where you are. Carb content is calculated and labelled differently in the U.S. to Europe. Where it is shown as FIBER on a label it has been calculated the American way and should be deducted from total carbs to give a net carb figure. In Europe it will be labelled as FIBRE, and the carb count not require deduction.

  • carolsoules
    carolsoules Posts: 34 Member
    edited April 2018
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    Little column A, little column B. Usually if you want to lose weight but retain muscle mass, you need to keep your protein intake high. Lowering carbs allows you to keep your protein where it is and reduce overall calories. Whether you're trying to lose or maintain, fat should generally be about the same, 25%-35% adjusted as necessary so you can get your protein in (because high protein foods usually have fat too--think meat, dairy, nuts).
  • ElizabethAN2017
    ElizabethAN2017 Posts: 570 Member
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    sytchequeen wrote: »
    ElizabethAN2017 wrote: »
    And do you subtract your fibre from your carb count (some do and some don't - I subtract them).

    If I may... this depends where you are. Carb content is calculated and labelled differently in the U.S. to Europe. Where it is shown as FIBER on a label it has been calculated the American way and should be deducted from total carbs to give a net carb figure. In Europe it will be labelled as FIBRE, and the carb count not require deduction.

    What I find works best is scanning the product directly from the barcode and depending on where you live, you would know what to do with the numbers ... Hopefully. I know with one product i use from the US (I am in Canada), they have already deducted the fibre from the carbs ... I find that where I do deduct the fibre count, I am more cautious to know what the numbers represent. Thanks for pointing it out though, as it may have led some down the wrong path. :)
  • sytchequeen
    sytchequeen Posts: 526 Member
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    ElizabethAN2017 wrote: »
    (I am in Canada)
    I should have guessed from your correct spelling of fibre ;)

  • guy_1987
    guy_1987 Posts: 48 Member
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    Each to their own but every time I've lost weight significantly it is by using calorie counting.

    I've lost significant weight twice in past 6 years and both times I could not have done it without counting.

    Being organised and knowing everything of what's going in and exercise tracking is essential for me.
  • estherdragonbat
    estherdragonbat Posts: 5,283 Member
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    I'm vegetarian. Low-carb is definitely possible that way, but it's much harder. I feel like I'm living in a Reese's Peanut-Butter Cup parody.

    -"Hey! I got carbs in my protein!"
    -"Hey! I got protein in my carbs!"

    Two great macros that go great together...

    Basically, I've lost over 103lbs counting calories and focusing on hitting protein and iron and letting the rest fall where it falls. Which is generally day-to-day hovering around MFP's 50% default carb target and coming about 75% of fat. It varies.

    Note that it's extremely possible that I'm currently eating fewer carbs than I was pre-MFP in order to get my protein numbers up. Since I wasn't tracking anything pre-MFP, I can't be sure, of course, but it wouldn't shock me.
  • garystrickland357
    garystrickland357 Posts: 598 Member
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    As others have said, each of us has to find eating habits that are sustainable and allow us to lose weight (calorie deficit).

    Like others, I have lost significant weight before and then gained it all back. What's different for me this time is - I eat whatever I want to eat. I just log the calories. By doing that I have lost 31 pounds this year.

    It has been empowering for me to know that nothing is off-limits. I just have to decide if the amount of calories in a particular food are worth the "cost" in my budget. I can have to wine, I just have to have less of _____. Sure, eat the piece of cake. I just need to have less of _______. It's often not worth it and I choose healthier options. I know now this is a pattern I can sustain indefinitely.
  • JBApplebee
    JBApplebee Posts: 481 Member
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    Always track your food! If you don't, you can't see where you went wrong the day before. Also, you can compare numbers for a new food with a previous one. I'm low carb & I log everything I eat.
  • Gummiebear1
    Gummiebear1 Posts: 3 Member
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    That was honestly my biggest problem. I struggled with carbs. Counting calories is nice but allot of math involved. I have found instead of doing calories alone, counting complete macros works better. Because then you know what you need in each category. Carbs, fats and proteins. This works well but I still struggled with carbs until I found the joy of CARB CYCLING! OMG it's amazing. I choose what days off the week too cut carbs and then what days I replenish them. It's a healthy balance and it has worked fabulous. I exercise too in-between. I started at 270 lbs and I'm already down to 210 in just 8 months. If you struggle with carbs you should look into it.
  • rj0150684
    rj0150684 Posts: 227 Member
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    JerSchmare wrote: »
    You still have to track all of your calories eating low carb. Who ever told you didn’t is a complete idiot. That’s nonsense.

    I get what you meant to say by this, but as you wrote it, it’s not exactly accurate. You don’t need to track calories to lose weight (or eat low carb). You need to eat fewer calories than you burn to lose weight, but whether you track them or not won’t impact whether you lose weight, most people (many people?) just find it easier to make sure they’re eating at a deficit if they track.
  • rheddmobile
    rheddmobile Posts: 6,840 Member
    edited April 2018
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    The quick loss you are describing with low carb is because you aren't really losing weight. Your muscles store glucose along with water, and when it's depleted by a low carb diet, the water goes away too. Then when you eat normally again your muscles fluff back up and the weight comes right back, because you never really lost any fat, just water.

    All true weight loss - by which I mean fat loss - comes from eating fewer calories than you expend. Low carb is just a way of doing that, so if it's hard for you, don't do it that way. If you want your weight loss to be permanent you need to learn to eat in a way you can sustain for the rest of your life.
  • bbell1985
    bbell1985 Posts: 4,572 Member
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    I know people who have lost weight eating low carb and not calorie counting. I think that calorie counting no matter what is beneficial though, because then you really understand HOW AND WHY you are losing weight, and you can decide how to arrange your diet to fit your lifestyle. If that's low carb, fine. Just understand that the reason you're losing weight is because you're in a deficit.

    If you don't log your calories and you're just low carb, it's easy to start overeating fats and even protein and not being able to get yourself back into a deficit if you slip into maintenance.
  • agrube1968
    agrube1968 Posts: 132 Member
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    Would love to know more about carb cycling. How many carbs do you eat on the low days how many on high days? How many days do you do each? This might be what I need to try just need to find out more about it.

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