Low carb diet vs. Low calorie diet?
 

Hey guys...

I know us people here on GFY have alot more time on our hands than your average human.

Thus we spend lots of time researching all kinds of shit...


I wanted to know your opinion on diets... low cal vs. low carb/sugarbusters/atkins?


Are they both just as good as each other?


THANKS!

stay away from low carb diets in my experience. You can loose alot of weight on them but you put it back on once you go off just as fast. Low carb is a lifestyle not a diet :2 cents:

I dont understand these fad diets. Just burn more calories than you consume. Its not too hard to understand.

the
 

the only free diets that works, is the diet where you exercise more and eat healthy. Exercise is SO important in order to maintain a healthy body and weight

Low fat :2 cents:

I'm down close to 8 kilos now the past 5 weeks by controlling my portions - I don't watch my carbs/calories etc... at all.

For my weight, I am allowed to eat the following portions to lose weight:

5x starch
3.5 x protein
4x fruit
4x vegetable
3x dairy
2x fat

So I try to eat exactly that everyday, and try to spread it over at least 4 or if I can 5 meals.

The portion sizes are whats important. For example 1 protein could be a can of tuna or it could be 120g of chicken or one veggie burger pattie etc...

Drinking was my biggest thing, but I've fit that in. 1 light beer = 1 starch, 1 glass of wine = 1 fruit, 1 shot of alcohol (vodka, whiskey, tequila, etc...) = 1 starch. Thus I'm never drinking reg beer again only light, so I can have double the amount. I'm also only drinking vodka straight now or shots, no mixer whatsoever.

Drink lots of water too it's very important.

Just like with one of those low calorie diets then. + that your body will think it's starving so it will make fat of everything it can when your done dieting.

Low carb diet does work and is much easier to stay on than regular diets. And you lose weight much quicker + you don't have to go around hungry all day.

But it doesn't matter what kind of diet you're on, you have to change the way you used to eat when you're done dieting.

The right calories and the right carbs...that is what has seen me drop 90lbs so far after a lifetime of fad diets. I count calories and try to get the majority for healthy sources and I do my best to eat slow burning carbs that help to control hunger and insulin levels. People try to hard for quick fixes rather than just learning to eat to nourish their bodies. Lord knows it took me long enough to get the message.

I'm on a high protien diet ... no carbs what so ever except on cheat days ...

I find this diet to be incredible, sheding wieght and sculpting my body .. it works quite well .. though your bowels will go F^%#$^% crazy

I tried the no carb diet and it worked for about 2 months and after that, I was always hungry. It was too crazy for me!!!

I just stick with exercise now

I lost 160lbs on a low carb diet and have only put back 20 in the last 3 years. Though I have been up and down up and down as I work out and change my mind of athletic look or buff mean fucker look

What kind of food do you eat now when you stay on the same weight?

go low carb, only whit results

I like to try to eat low carb and low glycemic index all the time. I just feel better and higher energy. Eating no carb is a great way to drop weight short term, but it's super unhealthy to do for a long time. Sadly there is no substitute for working out.

high protein, medium carb, low fat = long term weight loss plan

most of the stuff we eat is shit and filled with all kinds of preservatives and sugars. Low carb worked fine for me, I lost like 10% bodyweight within a month, and lemme tell I was never hungry during that month. Then I picked up again, but it took me about a year. There is no problem switching back to low carb diet because its full of fish, vegetables and fresh juices, which is quite tasty.
I don't believe in low calorie diet because its a proven myth. It says you need to eat at least 1000 calories per day to live. But occupants of the nazi labour camps were getting 500-600 calories per day and they managed to survive for a few years, some of them at least, how come? They are underfed, they should've been dead in a week.

My call is, stop counting calories, and start to choose wisely what you eat. Main enemy is sugar. If you look at the food we buy it contains sugar, I mean ALL of it! Bread, cookies, yogurt, conservated food, ham, sausages, some conservated fish, artificial juices, pick anything and see if it contains sugar, and lemme tell you in 99% of the occasions it does. Sugar makes you fat, because you don't need that much sugar

what he said :2 cents:

My avg daily meals are

5 egg white scrambled + 1/2 cup oatmeal for breakfast

then 3 small meals consisting of 4oz low fat protein, 1/2 cup brown rice or black beans or chick peas or other healthy carb and 1 cup fibrous veggie ie broccoli or romaine lettuce.

the for dinner 6 oz low fat protein and 2 cups fibrous veggie.

you can add a lower sugar fruit in there somewhere for a snack.

you will find the weight will melt off you doing this and your eating everything your body needs for a healthy lifestyle.

low fat [2]
lol

Calories in = x
Calories out = y

Make sure y is greater than x

It's really not hard

Fad diets are marketing scams, imho

Calories is bullshit, your body does not work like some kind of oven.

I'd like to move out of my High protien to a high protein/low carb diet .. I jsut hate what the High protien diet is doing to my bowels .. though I've never looked better.

It's been almost 2 1/2 months, I've lost 25 -30 pounds, Got some good muscle definition. follow a strict wieght training regiment 2 days on one day off.

however the last few days have been hard on my stomach, been getting his harsh pains.. waking me up at night .. I seem to get the pains late night and early morning .. anyone know if this is normal ?

In Dr Atkins first book, he made it a point to say that CALORIES ARE IMPORTANT. He just thought that carbs were more important.

For instance, according to his research, if you ate 1500/day calories low carb, you would lose weight faster than if you ate 1500/day calories high carb.
The calories still matter.

All of these diets where people think they can eat unlimited quantities of food so long as they cut out one form of macronutrient (carbs, fat, protein) are one of the reasons we're fatter than ever.

If you eat an excess of calories you'll gain weight, regardless of what kind of calories they are (protein, carbs, or fat)...if you eat less than you burn, you'll lose weight, regardless of what kind of calories you're eating.

It's pure mathematics....everything else doesn't matter. Everyone is going to have a theory....but if they lost weight it's because they ate fewer calories than they burned. Simple as that.

Take some digestive enzymes with every meal, it really helps allot.

If you are weight training you must consume carbs especially pre and post workout, if you want to use something that gets into your blood stream quick and wont bloat you use "waxy maize".

Oatmeal is another real good healthy source of some carbs.

Another product that really works is xpel, its a real powerful natural diuretic, will rid a few lbs of water off you to make you look even more defined.

3,500 calories = 1lb of fat

An average person burns 2,000 calories at rest so lets say you burn 2,500 calories because you do not exercise and you set all day.

You need to limit your calories to 2,000 calories per day to loose 1 lb per week. If you add exercise into the mix than you can loose 2 lbs per week.

Try to eat heathy and watch your calories to loose weight right.

I went to school for exercise and science and was a personal trainer for over 8 years. take it from me don't do any fad diets.

JUST EAT BALANCE MEALS AND WATCH YOUR FOOD INTAKE ; )

Eat Less.
Eat Better.
Eat More Often.
Exercise.

Don't avoid carbs. They are not your enemy like some would lead you to believe. Without them, your energy levels will be shit.

Focus on eliminating sugar and eat frequent small meals to lose weight. When it comes to calories, more is always worse, but quality of calories is pretty important also.

Sugar is the devil. All this fat free shit they push on us -- no one ever bothers to read the label and see that while there's 0 fat, they put about 50 grams of sugar in, which will make you fat as fuck.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laws_of...mics#First_law

"Energy can neither be created nor destroyed."

Translation: If you're wearing it, you ate it. You can mess with your metabolism a bit by tricking it through various means (ketosis, stimulants, etc.), but ultimately, calories in versus calories burned is all that matters, given adequate nutrition. If you establish a calorie cap and keep a food journal (very important, and the first thing I had my clients do when I was a personal trainer), you'll also start making the right choices pretty quickly. For instance, if you have a 2000-calorie limit, you can max that out pretty fast eating Twinkies, and you'll wind up hungry. On day 2, you'll probably skip the twinkies and add something less calorie-dense with more fiber, vitamins, etc., like real food. Ditto for that piece of fatty meat. If you only get 2 oz. of it, that 6 oz piece of chicken breast looks a lot better.

The good news about calorie management vs. gimmicks:

* It's scientific and predictable.
* It builds long-term discipline.
* It makes you an active participant in your health through observation and decision-making.
* It allows you understand the full impact of your dietary and exercise choices.
* When you reach your target weight, you actually get to eat (slightly) more, since you no longer have to run a calorie deficit, so you get rewards beyond looking better naked. :)

And don't forget:

* Fiber
* Water
* Exercise

I've been on this diet cumming 3 months now (protien only) .. And it's worked with a strict training program . .I just feel like results too a complete slow down in the last month . and to top it off my stomach has been killing me for the past three days.

I'm defenitly gonna try adding a digestive enzymes .. as for adding carbs, I thought I could only do that after work out once my body fat is low enough (under 10% for men) ... I do have a cheat day every 5 days, and I usually start of the cheat day with ither High carb cereal or oatmeal ... I'm not too sure about adding carbs daily .. My trainer would kill me for doubting her .. LOL

some good info in this thread

People don't need to eliminate anything. They need to control the amounts of them. As c-luv said, it is just a math thing. No carbs, is ridiculous since vegetables are carbs. The right carbs is a good thing. Like Amelia, I aim to eat slow burning, energy sustaining carbs which are the kind grouped into Low GI. It isnt' something I did on purpose but as I have insulin issues and that is essentially a diabetic friendly way of eating (low gi carb burn slower and help to control your insulin resulting in you feel full for longer). Plus, the Low GI choices tend to just be healthier foods anyway. None of which is about 'fadding' as it is about nourishing your body. People need calories, people need carbs, people even need fat. However, with all of these things they need the right kinds of them and not to be shoving down a doughnut and figuring that counts as the carbs, calories and fat.

I like how you say that completely casually like it's gospel when in fact you're completely wrong.

I've lost 25lbs in the past 35 days by reducing my portions and drinking a lot of water. My only exercise at this point has been walking and hiking.

After I got used to eating less I started feeling fuller faster and actually wanting to throw food away from my plate. It's become a lot easier and I don't feel deprived or hungry. I have been avoiding fast food as much as possible as well as reduced my alcohol consumption. My only liquids have been water, green tea and coffee.

I hope to start weight lifting soon and my goal is to loose another 25lbs.

I can attest to low-carb diets' effectiveness in losing weight. However, don't confuse "low-carb" with "high meat". It's very easy to get elevated cholesterol levels with a low-carb diet due to this confusion. I suggest ramping up soy or plant-based protein consumption or fish.

25lbs in just over a month? That is a bit too fast. A healthy rate is between 1 and 2 pounds a week with extra the first few weeks due to water weight.

yep it can be that simple

If you haven't got off your ass to:

- Do pushups, situps, squats, lunges
- Run, jog, walk, swim, bike

Then learning any of this shit isn't going to help you, at all, ever.

You don't need research. You need to get off your ass. The floor is right there, sucker. Get on it. Get off it. Repeat. All you need is your already overweight body and the floor.

Do that for 30 days as much as you can, and then allow yourself to waste some time researching.

Imho.

I lost almost 10lbs the first week just by drinking a ton of water so I am guessing I had a lot of water weight?

On Oct 13, when I started, I was at 255.5. On Oct 31 I weighed 244.0lbs which is down 11.5 in 18 days and today I weigh 231.5 so that is about 12.5lbs in 21 days.

As much as I like to see results I do not want to lose too fast if it is unhealthy.

All diets are fads, and you'll find someone who will praise them as well as someone who will condemn them.

Ultimately you need to be aware of what you are putting into your body. Not just the quantity, but the quality. Don't do it for a day, or a week or a month, make it a lifestyle. Drinking a glass of sunny D, for instance, isn't the same as drinking a glass of 100% natural orange juice.

People look at the labels for numbers but not what's in food, and that can be misleading.If your cheese isn't actually cheese but "cheese product", chances are, it isn't good for you. If they pump something full of chemicals to give it a ridiculously long shelf life, it will be more difficult to digest.

People drink a ton of high fructose drinks that account for a ton of bad calories AND bad carbs. Illiminating soft drinks alone will make a huge difference.

Make sure you get enough vitamin B and drink water. Drinking bottled water was the hardest thing for me to get used to after drinking a retarded amount of pepsi, but I've lost 20lbs this year, and that's a huge factor. I put the weight on, because I went from being on my feet all day and walking a lot, to sitting down at my desk all day.