Some folks seem to be under the impression that low carb is the only way to lose weight. Calorie restriction works too. The reason was I was losing weight eating 180-270g of carbs a day was because I eat 500 fewer calories a day than I require, and on top of that, I exercise.

I am starting to reduce my carbs and now fall into the 90-180 range. I'm still counting my calories, though. I do so, not for weight loss, but for health. The carb restriction is working for the weight loss.

I'm aiming at LCHF, not from counting carbs, but working on my ratio of carbs/fats/proteins. Last week I was 50% fat, 31% carb.

Lee

For me, low carb is low cal. I can't eat huge calories by eating meat, fish and chicken. I can easily do it with cookies and bread. My belief is that I lose on LC because I eat far fewer calories on it than I do when allowing carbs. And it helps that LC kills my hunger and carb cravings.

You are correct. But It is also correct that a person can allow themselves a treat, in moderation. Like the occasional Mexican dinner, or nachos (mmmm nachos).


One has to know/learn themselves. I do sometimes have trouble eating 2 and not 3 slices of pizza. So perhaps I shouldn't have any.

For me, the tools of portion control and moderation, help me enjoy my diet leading, I hope, to actually sticking to it this time. Carb cravings can be destructive to success....but so can deprivation.

Well that is the experiment I am now conducting. Believing that maintenance is a whole 'nother animal, I am trying to find -- by experiment and empiricism -- how much I can add without gaining. I suspect that anything that is an occasional exception will be fine.

Amen, good luck finding your balance

I wonder what the macro ratios of the SAD are?

Most diets are lower carb than the SAD. Maybe not by ration, but by grams consumed. Simply by reducing calories you're going to reduce carbohydrates.

I think there's nothing wrong with slowly reducing carb content. Maybe as you read a bit more you'll find your interest in improving your health even more will out-weigh your desire to keep consuming carbs.

Cutting down on smoking is better than not cutting down. Quitting entirely is better yet. That sort of principle applies to lots of things.

Another thing you might consider doing is alternating lower and higher carb days.

I've been doing that, but I'm going to go back to stricter low carb. My vanity demands it. I don't want all that sugar/insulin to age me any faster than I currently am!

hello leebase,

You might be interested to read Jonny Bowden's Shape Up!: The Eight-Week Plan to Transform Your Body, Your Health and Your Life. This program guides you to cut carbs gradually .. week by week, not cold turkey. This sounds a bit like what you're trying to do. He also includes some guidelines for increasing exercise .. again, no instant jump from the couch to a marathon, just a gradual increase week by week.

Check your local library if they have a copy of this book which you can borrow. No need to buy anything .

Jonny Bowden is also the author of Living Low Carb: Controlled-Carbohydrate Eating for Long-Term Weight Loss, in which he reviews many of the low-carb and lower-carb plans currently in vogue. He even recommends our forum .


Hope this is helpful


Doreen

Great job on the loss, I too found that with exercise a good amount of carbs could be tolerated while losing. Have been experimenting with calorie restriction myself lately and find it to be quite productive.

*This is an old post, but there are few in this section, so thought it worth a recent comment.

I have tried low cal and i do ok...but my body just seems to need me to cut the carbs in order to let go of the fat stores. I believe there are many ways of losing weight and what works for one person may not work for another.....i tend to eat less calories when im LC. I am going to however start paying attention to both carbs and calories....since my weight loss has slowed (15 lbs from goal)

I cannot lose weight merely by calorie counting. For my body, a calorie does not equal a calorie. I can eat more and still lose weight if my carbs are low. By the same token, consuming the same number of calories, I can gain weight if my carbs are super high. Everyone's body is different.

I climb the walls with hunger and cravings on a low cal diet. At the moment, I seem to have lost and am maintaining on a good 2000 cals a day on average and only around 30 carbs. That keeps me in ketosis, which helps to control my appetite and because I know longer eat bad carbs, I know longer crave them!! I previously lost 80+lbs by eating low carb and around 4000 cals a day, altho I was alot younger then!! As for exercise - nah, walking to the car is about it lol!!

"Horses for courses" as they say


Jo xxx

I think it's worth mentioning that it seems men and women are VERY different in this regard. Most women I know struggle to lose weight on a low calorie woe. There are many who would theorize that women's bodies "hold" fat stores more stubbornly than men's because we evolved with a necessity to have those stures during times when there is potentially less food available, since our bodies need to be able to support another life during any potential pregnancy. Add to that evolutionary mechanism all of the hormone variations we experience in comparison to males and you've got two VERY different pictures.

I grew up in an athletic family. My two brother's and I played hockey, soccer, were gymnasts. My father teaches Physical Education and Kinesiology. If any of the men in my family decide they want to lose 10 or 15 lbs they just cut out 500-600 calories for a few days to a week and workout for a couple of extra hours that week. Boom. That has NEVER worked for me. The fact that I got as fat as I did in the first place is a clear indicator to me that FOR MY BODY - all calories are NOT equal. I grew up in a healthy, athletic environment. We ate carbs. My athletic, weight-building brothers still do - they regularly carb-cycle (where they eat high carb one day, low carb the next). Regardless of my activity level, the amount of carbs I consumed still made me struggle with fat - I was muscular, but remember getting this little belly roll that I HATED. Then, when I was injured in a car accident and rendered bed-ridden for several months my carb addiction took over, and with little to no exercise for months afterwards, my muscles disappeared and I got even fatter. As I recovered I went low calorie to lose the weight. Initially I did lose some. About 20 lbs. Then I stalled. And I NEVER recovered close to the muscle mass I previously carried, even though I worked out regularly. There were days where I was eating as low as 600 calories (I was young and stupid, ok....I know that was dumb). And I would GAIN weight. I was doing this whole thing wrong, based on conventional wisdom - "burn more calories than you consume." Just plain doesn't work for me. Never will, since it didn't when I was thin and athletic either (ie. the little belly roll ontop of all my muscles).

As for pizza and nachos....well those are distant memories for me. At least if I want to be thin. I can't even eat strawberries or brussel sprouts without a gain....I'm betting Pizza and Nachos aren't going to happen for me. You men really are lucky (which I make sure to tell my husband regularly )

Me too!! I never realized how low cal I eat until I started tracking. It's pretty amazing. No cravings here! woop woop!

Also, that no/low eating carbs is a huge body fungus cleanser. Eating low carb is healthy for you like you can't even imagine!!

I can lose weight on low cal low fat, but I have major cravings and quite a bit of hunger.

I can lose weight on low carb with absolutely no hunger, but the weight loss is slow because I tend to eat more calories.

What I do now is low carb and calorie count at the same time. That way I get the results of both and lose about twice as fast. I do intermittent fasting, fasting 19 hours with a 5 hour eating window.