Low Calories, or Low Carbs? What is better.....

What is meant by low carb? Is that low total carbs or low net carbs?

Who are you asking?

For me, low carb is 80-100 per day. I count total, not net.

Anyone who will answer (thanks for doing so). I see that term on boards a lot but it is rarely defined.

I read a post the other day where the poster said he ate low carb and tried to stay below 150 carbs, which I thought sounded pretty high. I've seen others say they try to stay < 50, which seems incredibly low to me.

I guess maybe there is no standard definition of a low carb diet??

Fiber never counts for your carb intake because they don't get digested for energy. Sugar alcohols (usually found in sugar free candies/sweet foods and some protein bars) are debatable. Some people count them, some count them partially, some don't count them.

My mom lost weight with a Low Carb diet... that said, I am starting to think it was more because she was making better food choices all around then because they were low carb. When you do any sort of "diet", you are really looking at what you are eating and making different, healthier choices when you were before. As such, you lose weight!

I have done low carb in the past and am now just watching calories (and eating better as a whole). I have lost the SAME amount of weight in the same amount of time. The biggest difference? I think I can actually keep doing what I am doing now!

Ditto. I did a version of South Beach when I was 19, dropped 30+ pounds but I couldn't maintain it because I never phased up. (Three phases, first to "reset" your cravings, second to add in a few things while still losing weight, third to maintain. I was young and stupid, never went into phase 2) If you need a diet plan to follow that speaks to you, I've seen great results with SB, but you have got to follow it to a T.

I am currently just counting calories, enjoying fruit and bread, and I feel fabulous. You have to do what speaks to you :flowerforyou:

CALORIES!!!! How many you take in & how many you burn! This is the trick to weight loss for most woman! CARBS works more for men. But we are all different. I guess, its just what your body responds to. For me... Its Calories! Good luck!

What is meant by low carb? Is that low total carbs or low net carbs?

Who are you asking?

For me, low carb is 80-100 per day. I count total, not net.

Anyone who will answer (thanks for doing so). I see that term on boards a lot but it is rarely defined.

I read a post the other day where the poster said he ate low carb and tried to stay below 150 carbs, which I thought sounded pretty high. I've seen others say they try to stay < 50, which seems incredibly low to me.

I guess maybe there is no standard definition of a low carb diet??

Most of the standard low-carb diets have phases where you start out lower carb, usually 20 grams/day, usually lasting for only about two weeks and then gradually add back in carbs until you find your sweet spot where you can still lose weight without feeling deprived. So what works for me isn't going to be what works for someone else.

So, yes, I suppose you could say there is no standard definition. Although I think most people would consider anything under around 200 grams/carb per day to be low-carb or, at least, restricted carb, when compared to the food pyramid and the standard American diet.

Exactly what vitamins and micronutrients am I missing by limiting grains and fruit? Please be exact.

I'd be willing to bet that nobody can answer this, because there are none. Anything that you can get from a fruit or a grain you can get from a vegtable of some kind without the sugar or carbs associated with the other two. There are also quite a few vitamins/nutrients that are only found in meat (though I don't think that we are debating veganism here).

Exactly. And that was my point. And why I don't understand why some people get so freaked out when some of us choose to restrict our carbs by eliminating or greatly reducing the amount of grains in our diet and, for some, fruits as well.

I have done th Atkins thing low carbs, if you are looking for a quick way to lose a few pounds then low cards are the key but it is not lasting. I did Atkins for a month I lost 23 lbs and that was it after 2 months I had not lost any more weight at all infact I gained 4 lbs eating the exact same things I was eating to lose the weight. Low carbs only can take you so far.
I have now been doing low calorie/ low fat for about a month and my body looks better than it did with Atkins/ low carb. I consume at most 800 calories a day and it is spread out throughout the entire day. I have not jumped on a scale yet but I see and feel the difference. With the low carbs I was always hungry, and felt weak after the first month. With the low cal/ low fat I feel great. I think the best part is that i can eat what I want like frozen yogart, pretzels, a sandwich, and still be on track with my diet. your body will tell you what is right you just have to listen to it.
Example I wake up and eat a dannon lite n fit yogart, within 2 hours I feel metablism burning it up and it is time to eat again. so I grab a bag of popcorn and eat a few handfuls and I am full, but 2 hours later I feel that burning again and eat a little more popcorn, then 2 hours later I will eat a half a sandwich or half of a soup, this continues throughout the day. I think the best part of what I am doing is that I have retrained my stomach to portion size and I am forcing my metablism to constantly work, litterally it does not rest until I go to bed and even then I drink water which keeps it going.

The important thing is that you find what works for you. I was not happy with low carb, I could not eat things that I like, fruit is out of the question, veggies are limited, no bread, dessert, cereal, nothing, just mainly meat, our bodies need the fruit, veggies n bread.

What is meant by low carb? Is that low total carbs or low net carbs?

Who are you asking?

For me, low carb is 80-100 per day. I count total, not net.

Net cards is the way to go it only counts the carbs that your body does not digest naturally, carbs from sugar alochol for example or carbs from protein, these carbs do not count because you digest them naturally and they fuel your body. Carbs from regular sugar and flour are the carbs that take longer to process. I think the best way is to go natural, if it comes from the ground, it is ok if it is created by some ab somewhere then you need to be careful.

Anyone who will answer (thanks for doing so). I see that term on boards a lot but it is rarely defined.

I read a post the other day where the poster said he ate low carb and tried to stay below 150 carbs, which I thought sounded pretty high. I've seen others say they try to stay < 50, which seems incredibly low to me.

I guess maybe there is no standard definition of a low carb diet??

Atkins says 24-26net carbs for the first week to 3 weeks

Most of the standard low-carb diets have phases where you start out lower carb, usually 20 grams/day, usually lasting for only about two weeks and then gradually add back in carbs until you find your sweet spot where you can still lose weight without feeling deprived. So what works for me isn't going to be what works for someone else.

So, yes, I suppose you could say there is no standard definition. Although I think most people would consider anything under around 200 grams/carb per day to be low-carb or, at least, restricted carb, when compared to the food pyramid and the standard American diet.

I don't think you can really use a specific gram number to determine low carb or not. I would guess it should be percentage based.

300 carbs a day could seem high, but on a 3,000 calorie a day diet, it's only about 40%, which I would consider moderate. 200 would be low for a 3,000 calorie a day diet, as that would be about 25%. For me I consider anything under 30% as low carb, as I personally think a 1/3rd balance of each macro is ideal.

And yes, I know 3,000 calories a day would be high, I was just using it for perspective. For a 2,000 calorie diet, 200 grams would be 40%. I would say low for 2,000 would be about 150 grams.

I don't think you can really use a specific gram number to determine low carb or not. I would guess it should be percentage based.

300 carbs a day could seem high, but on a 3,000 calorie a day diet, it's only about 40%, which I would consider moderate. 200 would be low for a 3,000 calorie a day diet, as that would be about 25%. For me I consider anything under 30% as low carb, as I personally think a 1/3rd balance of each macro is ideal.

And yes, I know 3,000 calories a day would be high, I was just using it for perspective. For a 2,000 calorie diet, 200 grams would be 40%. I would say low for 2,000 would be about 150 grams.

Yes, the percent does make more sense. My average is about 30% calories from carbs, but it does vary greatly day to day.

usually if you cut out carbs all together when you start introducing them into your diet again you gain back all of your weight plus some. Its better to balance everything as a whole instead of getting rid of them

And therein lies the issue most people fall into. They go back to "normal" Standard American Diet (SAD) eating with the same habits they had before that made them fat to begin with and blame it on low carb diets being flawed. I never hear of people that go on low fat diets that go back to eating "normal" blaming it on low fat diets, they just blame fat and most people seem fine with the idea of cutting fat permanantly from a diet, but mention carbs and they go nuts.

You basically have a few choices in my opinion:

1. Eat less on a calorie restriced diet. Generally obsess about food and start and end each day hungry.
2. Eat a low fat diet. Salivate over your co-worker's steak lunch because it smells great and wonder why they can eat that and stay slim. Generally obsess about food that you can't have and start and end each day hungry.
3. Low carb diet. Generally don't think about food because you're never hungry. Long for bread and pasta occasionally and perhaps endulge occasionally. Start and end each day feeling satisfied.

This comes from my experience anyway. There is no reason at all to "add carbs back in" as most people always say because they are generally unnecessary, or at least in the form that Americans consume them. If I "needed" carbs for more energy because of a specific activity I would supplement with things like sweet potatoes, not starchy wheats and other processed junk.

Well said. You don't tell an alcoholic to gradually start introducing drinks back into their life, otherwise they will revert back to their old ways. Its a slippery slope.

My motto is you don't use temporary solutions to solve permanent problems.