Low carb versus low calorie

A calorie deficit is how you lose weight, period. However you may see a slight increase in weight from upping your carbs as you increase your glycogen stores.

That said, how many calories are you currently eating a day and how are you measuring your intake?

landrum46 wrote: »

I recently lost 17 pounds on low carb (not keto) diet (over 6 mo). I have now hit a plateau for about 6 weeks, although I have stayed within my calorie limit. Would It be okay to switch from low carb to low calorie to start losing again.

It is really important that you learn the mechanics of dieting as @malibu927 said you create a calorie deficit which makes your body make up the difference by using fat stores. Low carb, keto, atkins, weight watchers are all means to the same end. Switching will not jump start anything.

You are averaging about half a pound a week which means your average daily deficit has been ~250 calories which leaves little room for error. For the next 30 lbs you need to stay at the 250 deficit but you are going to need to really nail down everything you log.

Kudos for 6 months of dieting though and being patient to lose the weight at an appropriate speed. Nice job!

landrum46 wrote: »

Would It be okay to switch from low carb to low calorie to start losing again.

It's calories that matter. Go back to basics:

• Calories are units of energy.
• Your body fat is a store of energy.
• To deplete that store of energy you need to be in an energy (calorie) deficit.

You could lose weight no carbs, low carbs, moderate carbs or even high carbs. Many of the world's slimmest populations ("blue zones") have high carb diets - but they also eat less calories and tend to have higher activity levels. Calorie balance is king.

For adherence the proportion of carbs that help or hinder adherence to your calorie goal is very personal. If you like a low carb eating style then continue, if it hinders your compliance then change.

In reality the simplest thing would be to reduce your current calorie goal and keep everything else the same.