Welcome to Debate Club! Please be aware that this is a space for respectful debate, and that your ideas will be challenged here. Please remember to critique the argument, not the author.

Low calorie or low carb what really works?

2

Replies

  • Avidkeo
    Avidkeo Posts: 3,190 Member
    rhondafae wrote: »
    While I've never posted here in all the time I've used MFP, I felt that I had to jump in, here. I started a Keto diet 10 days ago. It's easy, but expect to cook your own food, and make those WHOLE foods! Meals can be so simple...today I had a grilled center-cut pork chop and sauteed spinach. Grilled chicken wings are DIVINE and I find it easy to stay, "low carb". The one drawback is that while everything I eat now is delicious, my appetite has diminished to the point that I'm struggling to make my daily minimum. As a result, I've lost 8 lbs in ten days. My waistline has been the most dramatic change, although I typically lose weight from the top down. I do need to add that as it's springtime in southwest Mississippi, I have been working outside nearly every day, sometimes logging 19,000 steps a day. I'm probably not typical, but I feel fantastic with more energy than I know what to do with!

    But to answer your question, yes, CI/CO is the trick, however a low-carb diet will cause your appetite to decrease and while you'll eat healthier, you may struggle to take in enough calories. I've added multi-vitamins and drink only water or lemon-ginger tea. The first couple of days saw a few light cravings, but those passed after the first week. Hey, I can do ANYTHING for a week!

    I'd like to lose about 10 more lbs and once I accomplish that, re-introduce a few old favorites back into my diet such as a glass of wine or slice of bread. Even still, Keto will always be a part of my life, maybe a week out of every month just to make sure I don't go off the deep end.

    Good luck, you!

    But what is a whole food? A whole loaf of bread? A whole pumpkin? A whole head of lettuce? If I did that diet, I'd still be gaining weight!
  • psychod787
    psychod787 Posts: 4,088 Member
    Avidkeo wrote: »
    rhondafae wrote: »
    While I've never posted here in all the time I've used MFP, I felt that I had to jump in, here. I started a Keto diet 10 days ago. It's easy, but expect to cook your own food, and make those WHOLE foods! Meals can be so simple...today I had a grilled center-cut pork chop and sauteed spinach. Grilled chicken wings are DIVINE and I find it easy to stay, "low carb". The one drawback is that while everything I eat now is delicious, my appetite has diminished to the point that I'm struggling to make my daily minimum. As a result, I've lost 8 lbs in ten days. My waistline has been the most dramatic change, although I typically lose weight from the top down. I do need to add that as it's springtime in southwest Mississippi, I have been working outside nearly every day, sometimes logging 19,000 steps a day. I'm probably not typical, but I feel fantastic with more energy than I know what to do with!

    But to answer your question, yes, CI/CO is the trick, however a low-carb diet will cause your appetite to decrease and while you'll eat healthier, you may struggle to take in enough calories. I've added multi-vitamins and drink only water or lemon-ginger tea. The first couple of days saw a few light cravings, but those passed after the first week. Hey, I can do ANYTHING for a week!

    I'd like to lose about 10 more lbs and once I accomplish that, re-introduce a few old favorites back into my diet such as a glass of wine or slice of bread. Even still, Keto will always be a part of my life, maybe a week out of every month just to make sure I don't go off the deep end.

    Good luck, you!

    But what is a whole food? A whole loaf of bread? A whole pumpkin? A whole head of lettuce? If I did that diet, I'd still be gaining weight!

    Actually bread would fall under nova class 3. So, it's not exactly a "whole" food. If you ate a whole pumpkin with a whole head of lettuce, doubtful you would gain much body fat. Might gain weight and a little stomach discomfort though. I suggest to the poster that a whole foods low carb diet can, in many people, reduce appetite. So can a whole foods high carb vegan diet. Or a whole foods paleo...insert "diet" here. It's not magic.... we have seen in multiple studies, that a more whole foods based diet people generally spontaneously eat less... why? The mechanisms are still being worked out. Trouble I see with these diets are that the practitioners never learn how to flex when they need to.
  • psychod787
    psychod787 Posts: 4,088 Member
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    rhondafae wrote: »
    While I've never posted here in all the time I've used MFP, I felt that I had to jump in, here. I started a Keto diet 10 days ago. It's easy, but expect to cook your own food, and make those WHOLE foods! Meals can be so simple...today I had a grilled center-cut pork chop and sauteed spinach. Grilled chicken wings are DIVINE and I find it easy to stay, "low carb". The one drawback is that while everything I eat now is delicious, my appetite has diminished to the point that I'm struggling to make my daily minimum. As a result, I've lost 8 lbs in ten days. My waistline has been the most dramatic change, although I typically lose weight from the top down. I do need to add that as it's springtime in southwest Mississippi, I have been working outside nearly every day, sometimes logging 19,000 steps a day. I'm probably not typical, but I feel fantastic with more energy than I know what to do with!

    But to answer your question, yes, CI/CO is the trick, however a low-carb diet will cause your appetite to decrease and while you'll eat healthier, you may struggle to take in enough calories. I've added multi-vitamins and drink only water or lemon-ginger tea. The first couple of days saw a few light cravings, but those passed after the first week. Hey, I can do ANYTHING for a week!

    I'd like to lose about 10 more lbs and once I accomplish that, re-introduce a few old favorites back into my diet such as a glass of wine or slice of bread. Even still, Keto will always be a part of my life, maybe a week out of every month just to make sure I don't go off the deep end.

    Good luck, you!

    I'm glad you found something that works for you :)

    However, while low carb may have caused YOUR appetite to decrease, this is not universally true.

    For example, while I love fat, I don't find it especially satiating.

    I've never had such a high percentage of carbs in my life as when I was in Costa Rico, living on rice & beans, tropical fruit, and veggies. I had mangoes and bananas several times a day, every day. Never-the-less, I found this filling, effortlessly and unconsciously created a calorie deficit, and dropped a size without even trying.

    However, foods made from flour, like bread and pasta, I don't find filling at all, and can eat and eat and eat them.

    Kinda what I was getting at ma'am. 😉
  • JoeyTheWanderer
    JoeyTheWanderer Posts: 224 Member
    Calories in vs Calories out is how most people loose weight. Roughly 3500 calories is equivalent to a pound. If you have a 500 calorie deficit everyday; you would loose a pound per week.

    MFP calculates your calories based on basal metabolic rate + activity levels. BMR is your calorie expenditure at rest; based of your weight/age/height. Generally the heavier you are; the more you need to maintain.

    If you get meet your nutritional needs and have a deficit~ You will loose weight. If you don't~ Then you either haven't given it enough time ;have miscalculated in some manner or if all us fails you "Might" have a metabolic disorder that needs to be diagnosed by a doctor.




  • bmeadows380
    bmeadows380 Posts: 2,982 Member
    And to go along with what Anne says, there are a lot of different calculators out there that can give you different estimates - sometimes as much as 200-300 calories different, so finding that appropriate calorie intake to lose weight is definitely a process and shouldn't just automatically be assumed to not be working just because the initial calculated estimate is off.
  • pandaapo
    pandaapo Posts: 10 Member
    Low carb because more volume more satiety... also trying to eat every 3 hours( waiting more if ure not hugnry) works. but i love carby foods i have them too sometimes.
  • jcking12ck7910
    jcking12ck7910 Posts: 0 Member
    Mm.
    Mmm.
  • i8my4re
    i8my4re Posts: 4 Member
    My personal experience is any calorie deficit food plan will result in weight loss. It's probably pretty clear that what goes in your body has various health benefits, but strictly speaking on weight loss - a calorie deficit means you will lose weight based on the fact you are burning more than you are taking in.

    I've been pretty strict for the past 6 months with simply counting calories (using the app) and keeping a realistic weekly weight loss goal (1.5-2lbs) and have dropped 40lbs and not given a single concern of where my calories are coming from... Which drives my wife crazy lol. She's done many different fad style diets and just doesn't seem to be able to stay with any one for a long enough time to see the results. While I plod along and just count those calories and watch those lbs melt away ha ha. On top of that I am also pretty regimented at this point about getting my fitness in as well, minimum 3x per week for about an hour each time.

    Just my thoughts.
  • threewins
    threewins Posts: 1,455 Member
    When I was doing low carb I did notice that occasionally I would lose weight quite quickly, probably too quickly to be healthy. That's because I had no appetite and I chose low carb food which I didn't particularly enjoy.

    So if you are doing low carb it's probably a good idea to track your intake, at least initially or once in a while.