Which is better for weight loss ..less calories or carbs?

west virginia girl

Hi I am lost as well as what the best way to go is. With what foods to eat and the best exercise to do for certain parts of the body. I guess any little bit of exercising helps though and with the carbs and calories I think you need to watch both and don't over eat to many on both things. Not sure how many is to many though. But I read somewhere that some people wasn't losing the weight on the Adkins diet and it was because they didn't eat any carbs but they went way over board and was eating way to many calories.

tamaralynn2

Think of it this way, the man who created the Atkins diet, had died because of severe health problems due to a low carb life. Stick to low-fat/low calorie diet and plenty of exercise, even if it's just walking or swimming, and you'll lose the weight.

Christin

It makes sense to me why people lose weight quickly on low-carb plans, but I don't know how sustainable/healthy it is in the long run. Personally, I am WAY addicted to all of the bad carbs...white flour, processed sugar, and junk food type stuff. So getting rid of those things makes sense to me, but I just can't see myself staying on an ultra-low-carb "diet". I think it seems healthier to just limit yourself to only "good" carbs. But what do I know, I am 100 pounds overweight right now...just wanted to share some thoughts

west virginia girl

You are on the right track girl!
You know in your mind whats right for you and whats not. We all can't do the same diet and be alright with it and just aknowledging that you know that shows you're doing whats right for you and you also know thats not eating everything and anything.
You're doing good

tamaralynn2

I'm currently on a low fat diet

I have a site on this, but I'm not sure if I'm allowed to post it :S (it is a record of EVERYTHING that I have eaten, and done for exercise since I started it last tuesday - including my whopping 101 grams of fat intake last monday - eating what I thought was moderate meals)

I started off at 235 lbs this weekend. With plenty of exercise and sticking to a low fat diet (no cheating!) it is now Thursday and I'm 232!! (awesome )

Breakfast: Bowl of fruit

Lunch: 1 peanut butter sandwich (1 tbsp pb) and Grape jam on whole wheat (Sobey's High Fibre/Low fat - tastes GREAT!!) - 1 "Cup-a-Soup": (Lipton, beef noodle) - 18 baked corn chips with salsa - 1/2 cup fat free cottage cheese

Dinner: 1 chicken breast - 2 skewers of shrimp (both grilled on bbq) - 1/2 cup cottage cheese & small salad with 1/2calorie dressing (1 tbsp French Kraft Dressing)

Believe it or not, your body burns between 30 - 40 grams of fat naturally during the day (with moderate exercise - walking...)

My entire daily fat intake was less that 15 grams of fat.

It seems like a LOT of food, it's high in protein and low in fat. If you feel you're hungry in between, munch on some fruit and drink PLENTY of water. (I drink 2000ml a day - 8 cups)

modert

I just responded to a similar question in the "weight loss" forum - here is my answer from that thread:

First of all, you are comparing apples to oranges - the question you are asking really cannot be answered. All foods have calories, including carbohydrates. Whether you count calories or not, you may or may not be consuming an appropriate amount of carbs. It is possible to restrict carbohydrates while counting calories, and many people do. It is also possible to consume too many calories while restricting carbs.

Carbohydrate deprivation does result in faster weight loss - primarily water weight and loss of lean muscle mass. While its true that a carb-restricted diets leads to increased fat burning, the body will typically get 60% of its required fuel from protein and muscle mass. Then when the diet is abandoned, at least 1/3, but often all of the weight lost will be gained back, unless the individual takes specific and precise actions to prevent this from happening.

It is slower, but a much safer and long-term approach to weight loss includes balancing the diet and aiming to strengthen the metabolism. This does not necessarily mean that you need to restrict calories any further than you would on a carb-restricted plan - it just means that you are counting/balancing all your macronutrients (carbs, protein, and fat) to ensure the diet is balanced and nutritous. There are other strategies that can help with weight loss, all focusing on strengthening the metabolism - eating smaller meals more often, increasing hydration, decreasing exposure to toxins (chemical additives and preservatives in foods), and increasing activity.

One of the most important factors is LEARNING how to eat properly. Most people don't know and never learn. Once you learn how easy it is to eat a balanced diet, weight loss loss and maintenance becomes effortless and without hunger.

Lakers2005

Hello...

I've done a lot of research on weight loss and have come to the conclusion that you should cut BOTH carbs and calories.

Chances are, you are a carbohydrate-sensitive individual and reducing carbs to about 40-45% of your total calories would be appropriate. You have to understand your bodytype and how it reacts to certain foods. Refined sugars/carbs are absolutely worthless and should never be eaten. I'm suggesting you eat a moderate amount of carbs, but natural ones such as yams, oatmeal (quaker oats, not the processed and sweetened junk), sweet potatoes, etc. In addition, you should eat fruits, however, in moderation. Fruits contain simple sugars while oatmeal and yams, for example contain complex carbohydrates, which will not raise your blood sugar and resulting insulin levels as quickly as do simple sugars/refined carbs. This in turn will make it easier to lose fat. The ideal meal combination should include a complex carbohydrate and a lean protein. You should eat 5-6 small meals per day, and this alone is the single most effective way to speed up your metabolism. Here is an example of a great meal: 1 cup Quaker Oats, 1 cup egg whites. I would recommened a 40-30-30 diet plan, with 40% carbs, 30% protein, and 30% fat, YES FAT! Fat is a great way to control insulin levels. However, fat should come from good sources such as nuts and NATURAL peanut butter.

As far as calories go, you can't lose weight unless you eat less calories than your body expends or burns in a day. So in turn, when you cut carbs, you are mainly just cutting calories (each gram of carb has 4 calories). Say my metabolism burns 2700 calories a day. To lose weight, I have to eat less than 2700 calories per day. 1 pound of fat is tantamount to 3500 calories, so if I ate 2200 calories per day I would be in a 500 calorie deficit and would lose 1 pound in 7 days. Now if I wanted to lose 2 pounds per week, I could cut my calorie intake to about 1700 calories. I would NOT recommend losing more than 2 pounds per week, as this increases the chances of your losing lean muscle tissue, which is your metabolic furnace! When you first begin a diet and restrict carbs, you may lose a lot of weight coming from water, which is perfectly ok. But make sure you increase physical activity rather than cutting calories. When you cut calories DRASTICALLY, your body thinks its starving and in turn tries to conserve energy in the form of stored fat. Simply put, whatever you eat gets stored as fat!! So eat every 3 hours and workout 3-4 days per week. Remember, too much of anything is bad, so relax and eat a moderate amount of carbs, fat, and protein (skinless chicken breasts, egg/egg whites, whey protein, lean cut fish, such as halibut, tuna, and orange roughy). Take one day per week and enjoy a 'cheat meal' to keep your sanity!

If you have any more questions let me know!

Good Luck!

auntjudyg

Different approaches work for different people. Read a couple of books about different approaches . . . the main ideas and theories behind most diets only fill a chapter or two, so it does not take long. I also suggest reading the books themselves rather than going by information people post on the internet which is so often incorrect. See what hits you as true to your situation; what plan would by sustainable for you; and go from there.

Gopherhead

This is just plain not true. It's similar to me saying "The earth is flat" - there's lots of evidence out there to prove me wrong.

The best way to lose fat is to take in fewer calories than your burn, but only slightly less, and to increase exercise. Digesting food causes metabolism to rise; cardiovascular exercise cause metabolism to rise. Restricting calories too much slows metabolism, so you need to find the right balance between eating enough but not too much and not eating too little. It also helps to eat every few hours - because digesting food causes metabolism to rise. There's a trend here

Nat

__________________
A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.

liza

Actually, that is not true.
In a carb restricted diet, as long as the person is eating right, ie: Lean cut meats, fish, chicken breast, healthy foods, you will not lose muscle. You need protien in your diet. Studies have been done that prove that a healthy low carb diet will burn fat not muscle.

Gopherhead

Very true. It's a overly restrictive caloric deficit that results in muscle wasiting, not simply carb restriction. Low carb regimes tend to be protein adequate, far more so than typical low fat diets. A positive nitrogen balance is what ensures muscle is not wasted and this comes from eating sufficient protein and adequate calories.

Water weight is typically lost initally on any plan that requires a cut in calories, particularly since most also include a dramatic reduction in refined carbs.

Nat

__________________
A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.

washee

It's all about the calories!!! Calories in need to be less than energy out and you will lose weight. Low carb diets can be dangerous, and the reason people lose weight on them so fast (at first) is because it is water, and then eventually it is muscle that is being lost. I believe in not restricting myself to any food as long as its in my calorie range.

Gopherhead

I must be a genetic freak then. Over the course of 4 years I've lost 90 lbs of water and put on 13 lbs of god knows what - however it's improved my leg press 200% and I have these wonderfully strong muscles I never had before. Go figure.

A few scientific studies proving just the oppositve of what is posted above:

http://www.healthboards.com/boards/showthread.php?p=1143010#post1143010

Nat

__________________
A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.

auntjudyg

Yes, it is all about calories . . . as far as that goes. But there is an awful lot it leaves out of the equation, like how some people react (or overreact) to certain foods.

The danger of plans like Atkins has been debated seemingly endlessly without conclusive evidence. And I don't know how anyone (not matter what their own inclination) can condemn some of the other low carb plans (most of them, in fact) as dangerous unless they are just reading hype and haven't research the matter at all.

This muscle loss thing seems to be the new attack. On what is it based? Was there some "study"?

Portion control works for many people. More power to them. It does not work for others. Low carbing is a blessed discovery for many of them.