If I cut carbs do I still have to count calories?

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Forum -> Health & Wellness -> Healthy Lifestyle/ Weight Loss/ Exercise

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amother

Red

Sun, Feb 26 2017, 10:42 pm

A few diets swear that if u cut out all carbs (including fruit and some veg) u can eat unlimited protein and even fat?
Anyone try these?
I'm very used to limiting my proteins and always feeling like my portion is too big, without carbs I'll prob need even more to get full so makes sense I can't limit them so much but they have a lot of calories?

Trying something new since limiting calories is becoming harder when I don't have time to prep my own food and I'm also not being careful enough. Need a reboot and to curb my sweet tooth

Anybody with experience on dukan or Atkins that can share? Did u limit what kind or how much protein u ate?

amother

Papaya

Sun, Feb 26 2017, 10:48 pm

I'm insulin resistant (plus I always have gd pregnancies) so I eat under 100 grams of carbs per day (with most of those coming from fruit). You can't disregard calories entirely- like if you eat 3000 calories a day, you're going to gain weight- but eating those extra protein and fats pretty much ensures that you don't overdo the calories. It really does keep you more satisfied so you don't end up eating so many calories.

amother

Red

Sun, Feb 26 2017, 11:04 pm

amother wrote:

Thank u for replying. So the theory is that if I eat those food I'll be more full so then I'll eat less?
I'm just scared to let go because I do have a crazy appetite... like I can easily eat a 16 oz steak and def overeat on dairy ( I believe that that's limited either way?!... )

amother

Smokey

Sun, Feb 26 2017, 11:25 pm

I started a diet a week ago where I cut out flour. You shouldn't eat unlimited protein or fat, but some fat is fine. Mainly try to fill up on vegetables, cooked or raw. In the week since I started it, I lost 3 pounds. (I also went on the treadmill 3 times last week.)

For breakfast, I had 2 eggs with sauted vegetables and a huge Israeli salad. I fried the eggs with a little butter, and put a little cheese into the eggs. So that's the fat. Don't sweat it, but don't go overboard.

Honestly, I was hungry 2 hours later, still too soon for lunch, so I had more salad.

Lunch was zucchini lasagna (strips of zucchini instead of pasta). Used farmer cheese which is healthy, but also mozzerella which is fattening. Again, didn't sweat it. Used jarred marinara which has some sugar. I made a 9x13 tray, and had a piece for lunch for 4 days. It was filling, but I was hungry by supper time.

Supper was salmon with quinoa, and a side of grilled squash or grilled peppers and onions. One night I had steak with sweet potato and green beans. I think regular potatoes are debatable on the diet.

You can also have tuna with salad, burgers with salad or grilled vegetables, or vegetable soups, turkey soup, etc. Friday night I had grilled chicken with chumus and sweet potato.

I found that I did not miss the bread at all. What was hard was, I'm in the habit of snacking a LOT during the day. On cookies embarrassed

I snack a little on raw almonds, and allow myself 2 cups of coffee with milk and sugar.

Also, these meals definitely take a few minutes of prep time. I used to snack so much because I was skipping meals. I'd grab my kids' school snacks instead of eating properly.

On this diet I made myself a rule: I can cheat a little bit, but NEVER on an empty stomach. In the morning I'm fantasizing about the danish on the counter, but really I'm just hungry. After I finish my breakfast, the danish loses its appeal. Iow, I'm making myself follow the same rules I make for my kids!

And in that vein, it's important to make sure your meals are ready on time. I can't decide at 7pm that I'm starving but I don't know what to eat, because I will DEFINITELY end up eating garbage. Before going to bed at night, I need to know what I'm eating for all 3 meals the next day, and have the ingredients in the house.

Hth

amother

Aquamarine

Mon, Feb 27 2017, 12:50 am

I'm on a version of Atkins-Induction, basicallY I don't eat more than 20g net carbs per day. I do not limit fats, but I do also try to eat a light dinner. Lost 40 lb over 5 months.

chani8

Mon, Feb 27 2017, 1:27 am

The answer to your question, do you have to count calories if you count carbs is...it depends. On how overweight you are now and on how much food you eat. I was maximum 30 pounds overweight and could not lose weight counting carbs, and had to count calories as well.

amother

Navy

Mon, Feb 27 2017, 3:13 am

In my experience I definitely have to count both. I've done counting carbs only diets and at best I didn't gain weight- but definitely didn't lose. I have/had lots to lose -think about 100+lbs. But I have definite metobolic issues so I have a much harder time losing weight and keeping it off. I lose when my calories are below 1300 and carbs below 30. Its hard but doable. I used myfitnesspal to track calories and carbs and for peer support.

saw50st8

Mon, Feb 27 2017, 7:53 am

If you do atkins, you don't need to count protein or fat, just carbs.

I'm a big eater too and that's one thing I find very appealing about atkins. It really works for me and my digestive system.

amother

Lemon

Mon, Feb 27 2017, 8:28 am

Check out DietDoctor.com. Also my dr. told me it's normal for a woman to lose 1/2 to 1lb per week. If you add in exercise you can lose more. I found this very helpful because I always used to get discouraged right away cuz I thought I was supposed to be losing faster.

amother

Smokey

Mon, Feb 27 2017, 8:54 am

The short version to my overly long-winded post is that, cutting out sugar was a lot easier than I expected, once I was actually eating decent amounts of protein and vegetables for meals. I'd thought about dieting for a while but thought it would be impossible to give up the junk.

But once I was eating healthy meals, suddenly I wasn't craving the sugar all the time. Hatzlocha.

amother

Red

Mon, Feb 27 2017, 8:57 am

saw50st8 wrote:

If you do atkins, you don't need to count protein or fat, just carbs.

I'm a big eater too and that's one thing I find very appealing about atkins. It really works for me and my digestive system.

Did u end up eating less because u filled up from little protein or do u think u were still eating big ish amounts and losing?
Did u ever cheat (on vegetables not cake... trying to figure out if I can manage limiting my veg intake)

amother

Red

Mon, Feb 27 2017, 8:58 am

chani8 wrote:

So this is my gut feeling and what I'm worried about :/
Are u not hungry with no carbs and limiting calories?

amother

Red

Mon, Feb 27 2017, 9:01 am

amother wrote:

So ducan and Atkins both limit vegetables (some days completely...) definitely no sweet potatoes.... the food ur eating sounds like my reg eating habits more or less and I find I'm overeating and have gained weight so looking to restrict a little more for a while ...

amother

Smokey

Mon, Feb 27 2017, 9:49 am

amother wrote:

Interesting. I have a friend who has ulcerative colitis and is on the Specific Carb Diet (SCD). Her diet is mostly protein with some limited vegetables. She lost tons of weight, but the reason I'm mentioning it is, despite the limitations, she says there are still so many options that it doesn't feel limiting.

Maybe it's worth looking into? They claim it's a healthier lifestyle for everyone, not just for people who have colitis.

causemommysaid

Mon, Feb 27 2017, 9:57 am

amother wrote:

You are lucky. If ate like this I would gain weight. At best I would maintain and not lose an ounce.

amother

Smokey

Mon, Feb 27 2017, 10:04 am

causemommysaid wrote:

You are lucky. If ate like this I would gain weight. At best I would maintain and not lose an ounce.

Really? On no flour or white sugar? (ok I cheated with the marinara sauce). Or are you saying because the portion sizes, although I didn't list those.

saw50st8

Mon, Feb 27 2017, 10:19 am

amother wrote:

I'm pretty strict, but not as strict as some people. I pretty much stick to 20 g of carbs a day. Cheating on atkins is really killer in the beginning.

In the beginning, I tend to eat just as much, but slowly I eat less and less. I restarted a few weeks ago. I took a six month hiatus where I gained the weight back but that's because life was stressful and I ate everything in sight. Atkins had a good system of transitioning towards a lifestyle goal. It also clears up lots of health issues for me. Apparently, I don't digest grains very well.

saw50st8

Mon, Feb 27 2017, 10:20 am

amother wrote:

Really? On no flour or white sugar? (ok I cheated with the marinara sauce). Or are you saying because the portion sizes, although I didn't list those.

I totally would. But that's because I eat in volume....

amother

Khaki

Mon, Feb 27 2017, 10:56 am

You can't eat unlimited anything except possibly green vegetables and lose weight.

One of the drawbacks of the low carb diet to lose weight is that ultimately for most people it's not possible to sustain for a lifetime and therefore you will not learn new habits that will help you maintain weight for your lifetime. Losing weight is easy (or relatively so) - the trick is keeping that weight off.

INHO, one of the reasons most people can lose weight on low carbs is because if one is doing it correctly - I.e. not using it as an excuse to eat enormous quantities of high fat meat and cheese, the calories are self limiting.

So you can have fat - butter. Whoop to do as what are you going to have it on as most people combine fat with carbs in some way. Most trigger foods are combinations of simple carbs and fat - cakes, pastries, snack foods etc. I realize there is no chaserei with low net carbs but I am not sure how much of this stuff can be eaten and still have results. I remember at the heydey of low fat diets, all of these low fat cookies were produced like Snackwells and none of them ultimately helped with weight loss and were, in fact, found to be counter productive.

Not to rain on Amother Smokey's parade, but depending on what your weight was to start with and what your diet consisted of, 3 pounds lost in the first week of any diet plan is really not that "awesome" as almost everyone loses weight on any plan because they are eating less food (which weighs as it passes through your system) and generally less processed foods containing sodium which retains water.

I did Atkins once and did lose weight - but not more than I would have with a plan like WW. There is just so much chicken or steak that one can eat so I found it to be self limiting as well as completely restrictive.

I have currently lost over 60 pounds on WW and I am always very full and satisfied with my diet and don't feel any restrictions. As an example of how I eat

Breakfast - Strawberries which are 0 points, egg white omelet with sauteed veggies

Lunch - Large Salad, large roasted chicken breast, raspberries

Dinner - Ratatouille, Salmon (large piece); 1/2 sweet potato, cherry tomatoes

Snacks

2 Pepperidge Farm Milano Cookies
100 calories bag of pretzels
2 tangerines

This actually came out to less than my allocated points and I almost never use my 42 weekly points. I could use these weekly points to "buy" some kind of more calories/pointed choice during the week - whatever rocked my boat but I am so full and satisfied that I rarely use these.

amother

Papaya

Mon, Feb 27 2017, 11:23 am

amother wrote:

What makes you think low carb is not sustainable? Ever since I found out I'm basically a ticking time bomb for diabetes, it's been very sustainable.

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